B1G Game 2: Gophers host Penn State (12-28-24)

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Ignatius L Hoops

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After a long run of Gopher dominance over Penn State (12 wins and 2 losses), the Lady Lions have rallied sweeping three games from Minnesota with each win providing a memorable kick.

The first went down at Target center when the Big Ten Tourney finally rolled into Minneapolis. A 72-67 Lady Lion win triggered Lindsay Whalen’s dismissal and added a buzz to the proceedings.

The second memorable PSU victory was an 80-64 January final at Williams Arena. Mara Braun had suffered a regular season ending injury in the previous game versus Illinois. This loss served notice that Braun was Plan A and there was no Plan B. Minnesota finished the regular season losing 8 of 9 with the only win coming against hapless Northwestern.

The final, most embarrassing, tweak to Gopher pride was the 90-34 end of the regular season beat down of Minnesota in Happy Valley. The 56 point deficit tied for second worst in Gopher history. Brynn Senden was Minnesota’s leading scorer with 10 points. Forget Plan B- Senden as leading scorer would’ve been Plan 9 from Outer Space.

Anyway, Penn State finished last season 9-9 in the B1G, were selected for the WBIT, and played their way to the semifinals before losing to Villanova. PSU’s final record was 22-13.

We can forget most of what we knew about last season’s Lady Lions because once again head coach Carolyn Kieger has revamped the lineup. Some starters like Ty Valladay, Ashley Owusu, Leilani Kapinus, Makenna Marisa and Ali Brigham left through graduation and some like Shay Ciezki transferred to Indiana to fill Sara Scalia’s roll.

In their place we now find players like Moriah Murray in her second year from Drexel who averaged 4.3 points per game last season in limited action. This season as a starter Murray a 5’8” sophomore guard averages 15 points and 2.6 rebounds in 31.3 minutes per game. She is a three-point threat hitting 44-103.

Another returner is 5’8” senior guard Jayla Oden in her second season from Illinois who averages 9.5 points and 2.1 rebounds in 25.8 minutes. That’s about a 10 minute per game increase in playing time.

Alli Campbell is 6’0” graduate guard averaging 8.8 points and 4.6 rebounds in 30.9 minutes. Her playing time has doubled since last season.

Gabby Elliot, a Michigan State transfer, is a 5’10” graduate guard averaging 8.2 points and 5.2 rebounds in 24.7 minutes. Elliot is coming off back-to-back season ending injuries.

Then there is the transfer from Bellarmine, Gracie Merkle. The 6’6” sophomore center averages 20.3 points and 9.7 rebounds in 23.4 minutes. She also has 23 blocks.

Penn State wants to push the pace off turnovers. If you can handle their 1-2-2 press it turns into a half-court game where you need a plan to handle Merkle. Both teams are 0-1 in the B1G and are desperate for a win.

Penn State is 9-3 with wins over: Bucknell 90-68, Canisius 89-57, Duquesne 92-83, Niagara 101-45, Monmouth 100-55, Marshall 74-59, Georgia 67-47, Drexel 86-78 and Providence 68-57.

And losses to: St. Johns 67-76, Indiana 60-75 and Kansas 65-68
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Curious if the trend of the first home conference game being a wild ride this year. Last two seasons, both wins, the first home conference game were intense and entertaining.

2 seasons again, against Penn State, winning in Double OT when it basically came down to the three freshmen outlasting Penn State after Rose and Katie B both fouled out.

Full Game Highlights

Then last year, the down-to-the-wire 2-point victory over Purdue after a disastrous 3rd quarter. Amaya Battle late free-throws clinched the victory.
 

bball_craz_31 said:
. . . Then last year, the down-to-the-wire 2-point victory over Purdue after a disastrous 3rd quarter. Amaya Battle late free-throws clinched the victory.
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I’m always surprised when players don’t know the game is tied. Jeanae Terry intentionally fouling Battle after a turnover with 3 seconds left in a tie game might have been the dumbest play of the BIG season last year.
 
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BigTenGuy said:
I’m always surprised when players don’t know the game is tied. Jeanae Terry intentionally fouling Battle after a turnover with 3 seconds left in a tie game might have been the dumbest play of the BIG season last year.
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I think based on her reaction, she thought she had tied up Amaya for a jump ball. First, the ball still would have been Gophers, even if it was a jump ball. Secondly, it is still dumb to try and go for a reach-in when in the bonus and tied game under five seconds.
 

One of the things that makes young, high-level athletes what they are is the absolute belief that "I can make this play!". However unlikely from our viewpoint, they believe and don't hesitate. Age and experience usually makes them less likely to make the dumb play, but it can be extremely frustrating to go through their learning curve with them.

On the other hand, how many times have we (and the coaches) been yelling "No, No, NO!! OMG What a great play! Thank God we have a guy who can do that!". Then we show our friends the highlight and tell them "You should have seen it!". Part of the dread and exhilaration of watching sports is watching these young athletes pull off impossible plays (or not) in big moments.

I remember watching a guy locally, who used to pull off 1-2 of those moments every game. Athletic drives into the paint (that only he could even hope to accomplish) for a highlight shot, just when the team needed a big play. Sometimes, he would try it and turn the ball over. In most cases, the difference was a 10th of an inch (guy swiping at the ball barely got a finger on it and knocked it away, or missed by a 10th of an inch and our guy got the shot up and in). Pretty stressful and thrilling to watch. Luckily, he ended up winning more games that he cost by making some of those impossible plays.
 




The BTN announcer calling out the PSU “ brick “ was accurate but as an announcer his vocabulary needs to be more professional. We all saw the miss.
 




Anybody have questions you want me to ask Coach P or any players after today game?!
 






Is it too early to start complaining about the easy BIG schedule? (That's a joke.) Gophers played really solid defense., holding PSU leading scorer Merkle to 1 shot attempt. Random thoughts: Great all movement. Great games from McKinney, Battle, and Stewart. I doubt that McKinney is ever coming out of the starting lineup, even when Braun is healthy. Really looking like Rose has figured out how to be a good contributor off the bench. Geez, can Holloway jump. On to Madison. Had a chance to watch the Badgers get throttled by Indiana today. Badgers are definitely beatable if the Gophers can prevent Williams from going off. Gophers length on the perimeter should be a big factor in this one.
 




Willwin40 said:
Tori’s a great all-around player. Plays under control and does everything.
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Absolutely! She's very impressive. Who else recruited her?

Edit: Ah, now I see. Her final three were the Gophers, Northwestern, and Kentucky. I think she was a very, very underrated player coming out of high school.
 
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Probably their best game since their win at Michigan last year? Tori has been the best player thus far in conference games but really solid contributions from up and down the roster. You wonder if the loss at PSU last season stuck in their crawl
 

That was as good a game as I have seen Amaya Battle play at point guard. She was phenomanal today! I had to say it because she played great, passing, rebounding, defense all of it. She has taken her game up a notch. Like others said best game I have seen by a Gophers basketball team in some time, probably back to the Banham game where she set the scoring record. Outstanding rebounding and defense today. Tori Mckinney is great for a true freshmen, she is only scratching the surface of how exceptional she can be. If you haven't made it to the Barn to watch the Gophers play you are missing out. This is a really fun team to watch!
 
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Tori 25/5/4 -- 3s ( career high in points)
Amaya 17/6/7 -- 2s
Anni 15/5/1 -- 1s
Mal 11/4/2 -- 2s
GG 5/1/3
Sophie 5/2
Nia 4/4 -- 1s
Kenna 4 -- 1s
Rose 4/1/5 -- 1s

- 4 in double figures
- 7 players with at least ONE steal

Tori sure doesn't play like a TRUE Freshman at all.. Since joining the starting lineup she has avg 13.4 ppg.

Amaya had one of her BEST games in a Gopher jersey today.. had some pretty slick passes for some easy lay ups.

hopefully we don't over look Wisconsin on Tuesday.. we OWE them BIG BIG TIME
 


My favorite McKinney moment today was early in second half when she took the inbounds in the corner, beat the two pressing defenders, dribbled the length of the court and finished by driving the lane and stepping around Merkel for the layup
 

Ignatius L Hoops said:
My favorite McKinney moment today was early in second half when she took the inbounds in the corner, beat the two pressing defenders, dribbled the length of the court and finished by driving the lane and stepping around Merkel for the layup
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she went through the Penn State defense a few times with ease today... but yes this was one of my fav plays of the game as well..

Tori has a QUICK step and when she decides to blow by someone she does in a blink of an eye
 



How in the heck could McKinney not have been a class-of-2024 top-100 player? I know she was injured as a junior, but did she improve that much as a high school senior? In this day and age, I'm really already worried about being able to keep her here for four years.
 
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Suspect today was the last time Carolyn Kieger will patrol Williams Arena sidelines as PSU head coach.
 

Has anyone heard an update on Mara? Have they mentioned if she will be redshirting or being back this year?
 


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