B1G Game 6: Gophers visit Wisconsin (1-17-19)

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Ignatius L Hoops

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One Streak Must End

Last Sunday Wisconsin (1-4) endured a first quarter (37-14) blitz by the Hoosiers (4-1) at the Kohl Center then launched a spirited if unsuccessful comeback. The Badgers won the next three quarters 54-38, before falling to Indiana 75-68. Which is one way of saying there are some indicators that, unlike Jonathan Tsipis’ first two Badger squads, this one may be improving as the season progresses. Take, for example, Wisconsin’s starters at the post positions, Imani Lewis and Marsha Howard. Against Minnesota (1-4) in the B1G opener, Lewis and Howard were limited to 6 points each. In the next four B1G contests Lewis has averaged 13.5 points and Howard 11.5.

A stronger indicator of Badger improvement was their 76-69 victory over Purdue. Wisconsin led 34-31 at the half. Then the Badgers took control in the third quarter outscoring the Boilers 27-15. At one point, the Badgers led by 21. Kelly Karlis scored 17 points and was 3-4 from three in the victory. The win puts Wisky one win away from matching last seasons’ B1G conference win total of two.

Minnesota, after winning 56-74 at Williams earlier in the season, steps onto the Kohl Center ice looking to notch their 13th consecutive victory over the Badgers. During the Tsipis era, the Badgers (including B1G tournament games) are 5-33. Unfortunately, a positive Gopher streak is clashing with a negative one. Minnesota’s loss to Iowa pushed the Gopher’s current losing streak to four. Minnesota’s last four game losing streak was January 2013. The next potential negative milestone on the horizon is a seven game losing streak during the 2010-11 season. That streak included two losses to the Badgers. Looking ahead, after Wisconsin we travel to Lincoln and then return to face Purdue.

On a much needed positive note, while we are tied for last with two teams (Illinois and Wisconsin), we are only one game out of sixth place with six teams tied with 2-3 records.


Random Numbers (B1G Games Only):

Offense: Minnesota is 8th with 65.4 points per game and Wisconsin 11th with 63.4.
Defense: Minnesota 14th 73.0 points per game and Wisconsin 12th with 72.0.
Side Note: Last season Minnesota gave up 75.7 points per game in the B1G.
Scoring: Kenisha Bell is the only scorer in the top ten with 17 points per game.
Rebounding: Taiye Bello is tied for 5th with 9.8 per game, Howard 7th with 9.2 and Lewis 9th with 8.0.
Minutes Played: Bell and Pitts are tied for 2nd with 38.2 minutes per game.


Wisconsin B1G Records:

B1G Win: Purdue 76-69

B1G Losses: @Minnesota 56-74, @ Penn State 64-71, @ Iowa 53-71, Indiana 68-75


Starters:

6’0” F Sr Marsha Howard (20 points and 15 rebounds versus Penn State)
6’2” F G Kelly Karlis (17 points versus Purdue)
6’1” F Fr Imani Lewis (22 points and 11 rebounds versus Iowa)
5’10” G Jr Kendra VanLeeuwen ( 9 points and 5 rebounds versus Indiana)
5’4” G Jr Suzanne Gilreath (10 points versus Penn State)


Others:

5’7” G So Niya Beverly (15 points and 7 rebounds versus Indiana)
6’3” F Jr Abby Laszewski (10 points versus Iowa)
 

https://madison.com/wsj/sports/coll...cle_2d847f74-2022-5440-8df5-aac4745930b1.html

Niya Beverly's surgically repaired ankle led to repaired jump shot.


Following her freshman season as point guard for the University of Wisconsin women’s basketball team, Beverley underwent ankle surgery to repair ligament damage and remove bone spurs.

It meant spending much of the spring and summer in a cast and severely curtailed her basketball activities.

But it might have been the best thing that could’ve happened to her, at least from a basketball sense.

“Actually, that injury helped me in a way because I was able to get back to the fundamentals and the basics,” Beverley said. “I had to sit on a chair and shoot. I had to work on form shooting a lot and I think that helped me because my form was a big issue my freshman year.”

...

Beverley is coming off her best game as a Badger with career highs of 16 points and seven assists, with no turnovers, Sunday against Indiana. Her numbers for the season have shown modest improvement — 6.2 points per game and shooting 38 percent — but she’s averaging 8.4 points and shooting 43 percent in Big Ten games. She also shares the Big Ten lead in assist/turnover ratio with 53 assists and just 19 turnovers.

That improvement has come despite missing time with a series of injuries. Shortly after being cleared to begin preseason workouts, she was sidelined by a concussion. Then she suffered a second concussion on the last play of the overtime victory over IUPUI and sat out three games. And recently she’s been limited by back spasms.

“It’s been a difficult year for Niya because of the limited practice time she’s had,” coach Jonathan Tsipis said. “She’s such a vital part and a difference maker for us.”

Beverley is expected to be full speed tonight.
 

Isn’t that Hubbard at the far left in the Minnesota warmup top?
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Tomancova in a practice uniform likely means more than Hubbard in a warmup.
 


Ignatius L Hoops said:
Tomancova in a practice uniform likely means more than Hubbard in a warmup.
Click to expand...

Bingo. Hubbard was getting shots up in one of the ig stories but i dont think shes playing tonight but obviously getting close.
 

So far so good. 35-17 at the half. It was a little troubling when the Badgers started isolating Laszewski against Lamke; but a timeout seemingly provided a remedy. Badger's are tossing the ball away and their guards have been MIA for the most part.
 

Ignatius L Hoops said:
So far so good. 35-17 at the half. It was a little troubling when the Badgers started isolating Laszewski against Lamke; but a timeout seemingly provided a remedy. Badger's are tossing the ball away and their guards have been MIA for the most part.
Click to expand...

Bell was terrific on both ends that 1st half, wisconsin went to a zone here in the 2nd half, hopefully gophers can hit some shots.
 

Perez 2-2 from three. Nice to see. She's been too timid to shoot lately.
 



Bell secures her double-double with an assist to Perez, who is now 2-2 from three. Lamke and Bello also flirting with double-doubles.
 


So far, Bell with 25 pts on 8 of 13 from the field. 10 assists and only one TO.
 




Byrne looking like a perennial bench player.
 

Summary...

Minnesota 12 turnovers to Wisconsin 16. We do well when our opponent out-turnovers us.

Good assisting, 18 to their 8.

Rebounds our 37 to their 28.

Almost same FTs taken, but we got 8 more points out of them with our 72.7% FT shooting.

60% three point shooting, 49.1% overall shooting.

Staples with a 3 and Perez with 2 threes, also threes from Brunson, Bell and Pitts. We do better when we spread the three shooting around, rather than cross our fingers and watch a heavily guarded Pitts go 2-9 from deep.

Lamke and Bello combine for 29 points and 18 rebounds, both just missing a double-double.

Bell does get a double-double with 10 assists and 25 points.

Brunson in foul trouble, yet got 4 steals in 22 minutes.
 
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One down side, we got blocked 7 times. Didn't matter in this game, but maybe could work on that minor point (if you're shooting against the trees, think about kicking it out instead, or dump it off to our own trees, Lamke or Bello).

Other than that, this was a model game that one could aspire to.
 

https://uwbadgers.com/news/2019/1/17/womens-basketball-uw-drops-border-battle-at-home.aspx

Jonathan Tsipis quotes:

"I think the easiest place to start is that I didn't feel like we were ready to play. Hats off to Minnesota, obviously they had some struggles coming into this game. Today, Kenisha Bell showed why she is an all-conference player from the very start in the mode she was in.

"I did think it was one of our best two or three shoot arounds of the year today. Our kids had great energy, they were locked into what we were trying to do from a defensive game plan.

"As much as we were locked in and played with great effort, today I think Minnesota wanted the game more. It's a rivalry game, it's the second time around, we're both hungry to get a Big Ten win. I think the stat sheet is very telling, but I think our group is capable of a lot more. We've got to be able to get the quick turnaround and just get ready for Northwestern."
 

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Threes done right.
 

StarTribune article http://www.startribune.com/kenisha-...ers-to-end-four-game-losing-streak/504520442/


Interesting quote from Bell:
“The pace was faster than normal, we pushed the ball and had a good tempo throughout the whole game,” Bell said. “We didn’t let up on the tempo.”
Bell said Whalen kept an even keel during the Gophers’ losing streak.

“She stayed positive the whole time,” Bell said. “Once you face adversity, you’ve got to learn how to tough it out, and your time is coming.
“She remained positive and we didn’t [keep] our heads down, and it’s worked out. We had team bonding sessions, and keeping us together had an impact on this win.”
Managing expectations and steering away from the here-and-now approach are Whalen’s priorities.
“My challenge and my thoughts have been trying to take myself out of some of the results and realizing that we’re building something here,” she said.
“I want to win like everybody, but keeping the big picture in mind helps.”
 

EaganGopher22 said:
StarTribune article http://www.startribune.com/kenisha-...ers-to-end-four-game-losing-streak/504520442/
Interesting quote from Bell:
“The pace was faster than normal, we pushed the ball and had a good tempo throughout the whole game,” Bell said. “We didn’t let up on the tempo.”
Click to expand...

Yes it's a much better team when they can consistently get out in space. Spacing and pacing is something that's been mentioned several times before; but not seen much in recent games where we've settled into the pro-style offense a bit too often.
 


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