B1G Game 12: Minnesota Visits Wisconsin (2-6-20)

Ignatius L Hoops

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FIFTY FOUR!

Not: “Fifty Four Forty and Fight!”.

More Like “Fifty Four and No Fight!”



The Rutgers “55” is a more fearsome pair of digits; but 54 was terror enough for Gopher fans a few games back. That’s the number of paint points Wisconsin racked up defeating Minnesota in Minneapolis 72-62. The game wasn’t all Badgers. Minnesota led 37-34 at the half and, with 5:18 remaining in the third, a Jasmine Brunson jumper tied the game at 45. Then Laszewski, Stauffacher, Hilliard and Lewis scored on consecutive layups giving the Badgers a 53-45 lead heading into the third quarter. The Gophers never recovered.

While “Fifty Four!” isn’t much of a rallying cry it will provide service as a reminder. Post game Whalen said, “In Big Ten play they averaged 31 points per game [in the paint], and our goal was to keep them to 27, but they got 54”. When you miss your goal by 100%, it’s likely “54” will be revisited again and again.

For Wisconsin, forward Imani Lewis posted 23 points and 16 rebounds. Her fellow forward, Abby Laszewski, contributed 12 points and 7 rebounds. Minnesota was led in scoring by Hubbard and Brunson with 12 each. Jasmine Powell contributed 11 points with Sara Scalia the other Gopher in double figures with 10. Taiye Bello scored 9 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in 31 minutes.



Side Note: Points in the paint during B1G season:

PSUOSUNEBNWILLIWPURWISIUNEBRut
MIN3026322030323230202222
OPP3836282438322454264234


I’m looking for Taiye Bello being assigned to guard Lewis early on. Last game I think Taiye spent most of her time on Laszewski giving Lewis free rein for too long.

A Close Loss in Madison:

Jonathan Tsipis called the win over Minnesota “Huge” for the program. And the Badgers are playing better even if the only trophy for their recent efforts is Goldy’s spinning head. Following the win at Williams Arena, they welcomed Nebraska to Madison. The Huskers escaped with a 72-71 victory despite Wisconsin leading 57-47 heading into the fourth quarter.

By the 5:29 mark, Nebraska recovered to tie it at 61. Imani Lewis, hitting her only three point attempt of the season, gave the Badgers a 68-67 lead; but Nebraska answered with a three and a couple of free throws to seal the win. Lewis paced Wisconsin with 21 points and 6 rebounds and was joined by Laszewski with 14 points and 9 rebounds. Suzanne Gilreath did her part with 11 points (3-5 from three) in 14 minutes.

A Close Loss in Bloomington:

Wisconsin opened the contest on a 20-4 run and the Hoosiers spent the night battling to stay relevant. A slow IU comeback received a boost at 2:55 of the fourth quarter when Laszewski fouled Mackenzie Holmes for a three point play tightening the score to 58-53. Just as important, it was Laszewski’s fifth foul and she left the game with 8 points in 27 minutes.

The IU comeback was completed when Jaelynn Penn nailed a game tying three making it 61 all with 14 seconds remaining. In the OT, the Hoosiers jumped out 8-0 and eased home. Indiana finished with a 37-17 run in the fourth quarter and overtime. Lewis was held to 10 points; although freshman guard Sydney Hilliard filled some of the slack with a game high 23 points and freshman guard Julie Popisilova added 10 points and 5 rebounds.

A Win in Champaign:

Compared to Minnesota coming off a hard fought, two overtime victory, Wisconsin should be well rested following a 73-64 win at Illinois. A 25-11 advantage in the second quarter helped the Badgers to a 37-25 half-time lead. Wisconsin never looked back. Points in the paint? Wisconsin 38 and Illinois 18. If the Illini can hold the Badgers to 38 paint points…

The Badger Starting Posts-Lewis and Laszewski:

Imani Lewis: Here are her last six games:

TeamPtsRebAsstMinFoul
Michigan1761341
Iowa1890363
Minnesota23162343
Nebraska2162362
Indiana1071324
Illinois1131242


Abby Laszewski: Here are her last six games:

TeamPtsRebAsstMinFoul
Michigan630294
Iowa14120361
Minnesota1271332
Nebraska1491274
Indiana851275
Illinois1670271

B1G Wins: Penn State 71-65, @ Minnesota 72-62, Illiniois 73-64

B1G Losses: Rutgers 61-64, @ Purdue 61-72, @ Nebraska 50-65, @ Michigan State 52-69, Michigan 52-69, Iowa 78-85, Nebraska 71-72, @ Indiana 65-75.

Probable Starters (B1G Stats):

HGTPOSYRPLAYERMINAVGREB
6’1”FSoImani Lewis33.017.310.1
6’3”FSrAbby Laszewski30.011.36.6
5’11”GFrSydney Hilliard30.19.74.5
5’7”GJrNiya Beverly31.79.12.4
5’10”GSrKendra Vanleeuwen28.15.33.6


Bench (B1G Stats):

HGTPOSYRPLAYERMINAVGREB
5’4”GSrSuzanne Gilreath12.14.70.8
6’0”GFrJulie Popisilova18.03.62.1
5’11”FFrTara Stauffacher10.82.01.0
6’3”F/CFrSara Stapleton6.51.82.0
6’2”GRSoAlex Luehring2.30.70.0
 


Madison.com story on Badger freshman guard, Sydney Hilliard:

By her own assessment, it’s been an up and down season as she’s had to overcome a preseason knee issue and a concussion that sidelined her for two games, while transitioning from the Badger Conference to the Big Ten.

“At first, I’m not going to lie, I was a little timid because it’s a big step, seeing how big the girls are here and how physical they can be,” Hilliard said. “But after playing a few games, realizing I can still do what I did in high school, I felt better about it and I just want to build on that.”

A two-time first-team All-State player at Monroe, where she scored 1,991 points and led the Cheesemakers to the WIAA state tournament three consecutive seasons, Hilliard already has justified her status as Tsipis’ primary recruiting target dating back to that day in Stoughton.

She became the second in-state player to commit to Tsipis, following Beaver Dam’s Tara Stauffacher, and he hopes her early success will help encourage other state players to follow her example.

“She enjoys playing basketball the right way,” Tsipis said. “Younger kids in the state that I think are going to be very good players at the college level look up to her. It’s not just here’s a state kid, other kids will want to play with her. They want to play with her because of the type of kid she is and how she plays.”
 

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Per Coach Carly’s Instagram, Brunson is on the trip with the team. No announcement if she available to play.
 




Whalen said she's out tonight on the pregame, said she'd be questionable for Michigan. She didnt go into much detail but sounds like a concussion.
 

Now if the Gophers turn into world beaters with this lineup, it might be hard to switch back.

The Most Valuable Freshman is a one man wrecking crew!
 

Now if the Gophers turn into world beaters with this lineup, it might be hard to switch back.

The Most Valuable Freshman is a one man wrecking crew!
If she can consistently hit from outside she can be really good.
 






Gophers up big at half, but Powell is losing 17-19 to the entire WI team
 





Klarke (8) played more minutes than Taiye (7). And outscored her 3 to 2.
 



Does this preclude Klarke from being redshirted as many have speculated?
Pretty sure she wouldnt be eligible for a redshirt even before this game, She played against Iowa which was the teams 15th game, thats probably too late in the season for a medical redshirt waiver.
 


Powell has 20 pts in the third.
She might have to play the whole game since the Gophers don’t really have a garbage time PG.
 

Ugly quarter there, need Taiye to stay out of foul trouble in the 4th.
 




For f**k's sake, I'm getting sick and tired of blowing double digit leads in the 4th quarter of every single game.
 

I really hope Scalia isnt hurt bad, but im afraid it is.
 




Love the energy that Masha brings. Too bad she's a senior. K. Bello's rebounding a major factor in the outcome. The two frosh guards having to carry a lot of the offensive load. Second half too close for comfort, after a great first half.
 




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