B1G Tournament Game 1: Gophers vs Penn State (3-1-23)

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They get discombobulated but they don't quit!
 

Ugly offense and foul urgency in last minute, Pedo St tried giving away the game and let them have it right back
 





If it wasn't for that awful first quarter, Gophers could've won this one. I guess now we'll see who stays and who goes.
 


Roland Brooks said:
Coach needs to establish a culture/system that can minimize turnovers… give your players the best chance to compete they deserve it
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1 turnover in the 4th and they almost pulled off the victory. 5-point differential was at the FT line losing 13-8. PSU was 13-22 and MN 8-10. MN with 14 offensive rebounds and still lost. Unfortunately, only the final score matters in the end.
 



Down by three, seconds left, drive for a layup. Another heady point guard play.
 

MN played the whole game like a JV high school team. Hard to know whether to attribute that to the players or the coaching.
 

BBJones said:
Down by three, seconds left, drive for a layup. Another heady point guard play.
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30 second so it's not a bad play as they could still foul. Would have liked a better shot however. Obviously coach likes her on the drive.
 




MaxyJR1 said:
30 second so it's not a bad play as they could still foul. Would have liked a better shot however. Obviously coach likes her on the drive.
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Too often she just puts her head down and drives for the basket regardless of the situation. There was no attempt to swing the ball and get an open look for Mara or Gladwell or even Heyer. We should expect more from a point guard.
 

Roland Brooks said:
Battle back to the inbounder late to
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BBJones said:
Too often she just puts her head down and drives for the basket regardless of the situation. There was no attempt to swing the ball and get an open look for Mara or Gladwell or even Heyer. We should expect more from a point guard.
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We have had inconsistent PG play all season. Overall, I like Battle but like most freshman she makes mistakes. The best explanation I have heard is from a local sports announcer . She admittedly has a positive Whalen bias. I asked her why she thought we struggled every year @ this key position. Her reply was that since Whalen was a star PG she had strong opinions on how the position should b played and difficulty finding the right fit. Seems obvious but I’m hoping if Battle n others stay we can develop a quality PG.
 

MaxyJR1 said:
30 second so it's not a bad play as they could still foul. Would have liked a better shot however. Obviously coach likes her on the drive.
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Actually, if it had been a layup (with a potential foul, likely since Penn State was fouling cuts to the basket) that would have been fine. Instead, it was a pull up jumper
 

GringaGopher said:
We have had inconsistent PG play all season. Overall, I like Battle but like most freshman she makes mistakes. The best explanation I have heard is from a local sports announcer . She admittedly has a positive Whalen bias. I asked her why she thought we struggled every year @ this key position. Her reply was that since Whalen was a star PG she had strong opinions on how the position should b played and difficulty finding the right fit. Seems obvious but I’m hoping if Battle n others stay we can develop a quality PG.
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Whalen may have strong opinions on how a PG should play and maybe some former and current players think that their former coaches know better. However, with the wealth of knowledge and experiences that Whalen and Banham have, some players should be like sponges and soak it up.
 


thatjanelpick said:
Actually, if it had been a layup (with a potential foul, likely since Penn State was fouling cuts to the basket) that would have been fine. Instead, it was a pull up jumper
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You're right. I should have said baseline jumper. In any case, I'd like to see less hero ball and more ball movement. And again, Katie and Battle had more turnovers than assists.
 


Unfortunately I was unable to watch or listen to the game. But I'm not surprised at the outcome. Seems like when they win a game or have a good game but lose (OH St) we hear the "we're going to bring this to the next game". They don't. Comebacks are nice but not always successful. And back to the multiple turnovers/bad passes. Would've like to have seen them carry over successes from wins to the next game. Hopefully with a year under their belt it will be better.
 

ASAP Sports Transcripts

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Penn State's post game presser

March 1, 2023​


Carolyn Kieger​

Leilani Kapinus​

Makenna Marisa​



Penn State Nittany Lions​


Penn State - 72, Minnesota - 67

CAROLYN KIEGER: First and foremost, I just want to say how proud I am of this week. They've been fighting, battling all year. To win a close one at the end like that when obviously we lost Shay and Leilani fouled out. Can't say enough about our toughness. How we've been working on end-game scenarios for the last three weeks because we knew March comes down to ATOs and down the stretch, and I think they handled it really well.

Ali comes in the game, not playing a minute and knocks down two free throws. So I'm just really happy for them to get a win in March and play a really good Michigan team tomorrow.

Q. Either of the players, can you talk about the press and how you came out and how ready you guys appeared when this game started.

LEILANI KAPINUS: Yeah, we've been talking about good starts, and we've really been practicing that because we need that in March. Yeah, we've been practicing our press and getting into it. We know that gets us going, so that was really important for us and that was a key factor today in the win.

MAKENNA MARISA: That's how we like to play too. That's our strength. One of our huge strengths is getting up in people, pressing, creating havoc, creating turnovers.

That was something we haven't been doing before, but brand new start, new mindset today, and we did it, and we fed off each other's energy.

Q. Players again: You lost to these guys twice. They were both close games. The first one was a crazy game. Were you determined not to lose to this team a third time?

MAKENNA MARISA: Yeah. I mean, completely. Like you said, lost the first two times. We were extra amped up to get this win.

Q. This is for the coach: Again, the press was consistent for a majority of the game. Fourth quarter it seemed like you pulled back from it. Was there a reason for that? Just curious question for you.

CAROLYN KIEGER: Just the last five minutes, we didn't want to give up any open threes or any easy buckets. So we tried to contain them, keep in front.

We knew the only way we could allow them to come back in is if they got threes or got some and-ones. Unfortunately, we gave up threes in the half-court as well, but we wanted to take it off and play half-court basketball.

And we were in foul trouble as well. She starts at the press for us, so when she goes out, it's a little harder to press for us. Leilani that is.

Q. You have another chance tomorrow to avenge a loss against Michigan. Any plans to do something different than the first time?

CAROLYN KIEGER: I think Michigan is a really physical team, and I think the first time we played them really well in the first half, and I think their physicality kind of wore us down. We've got to match that. We have to be tough. We have to hit first. And we've got to make sure for 40 minutes we're bringing it, because that's what Michigan style of basketball is.

I think we weathered the storm the first half, but we need to play a full 40 minutes of toughness. So we'll go back, they'll have some rest, and we'll go right back to the game film and try to figure out a game plan.

Q. Coach, can you talk about your defense and how proud you are of them. Michaeux came in averaging 15 points per contest, and you held her to four field goals. Was that important coming into this game, limiting their inside touches?

CAROLYN KIEGER: Absolutely. Last game we played them at our home arena, she had 31 on us. She's a great low-post player. She's obviously really physical. Does a great job down low. So that was a big key to us, to make sure we pushed her off the block and use our physicality.

I can't say enough about our post players. It was a solid effort, not just by one. Even our guards got down there and mixed it up a little bit with her. That was a total effort down there on the block.

Q. Obviously when you go into a game, you're confident in your game plan. Even having said that, were you surprised at how effective that press was in that first seven minutes of that game?

CAROLYN KIEGER: Honestly, it was kind of a mirror of the first game that we played them. They turned it over in the first half and then they kind of calmed down. For us, we knew we could get after them and pressure them and kind of expose their experience a little bit here in March.

I thought our team did a really good job staying on their feet and corralling them into traps and honestly not falling. A lot of good job from the back row of our press coming up to get the steals. Credit total team defense for that, no doubt.

Q. I was wondering if you or Makenna could talk about the inbounds play on the three-pointer. That ended up being the biggest basket of the game. Was that what you were aiming for there?

CAROLYN KIEGER: Honestly, I thought she got fouled before. So on the layup I thought we were going to have two shots. So I guess it was good for us because we ended up getting the three-point shot.

That's a play these two work on a lot. Leilani was out of the game, and Chanaya threw a great pass. That was a great read by her. Makenna made a phenomenal read and bumped it and came right back to the ball. So that's all her.

Q. Is your point guard okay?

CAROLYN KIEGER: She'll be okay, yes. Thank you.

Q. My question for you is, given the way the season, the regular season ended, what were your talking points to the team coming into this one on that losing streak?

CAROLYN KIEGER: Well, first of all, we just wanted to lay it all out there. No regrets. Leave everything on the court and play with passion, have some fun, play together.

When we did that today, we shared the basketball, we did great things. For us, we kind of wanted to hit the reset button. 0-0, new season, new mentality. For us, this is a group that has a lot of potential, and we need to learn how to win, and we need to learn how to win close games.

This win is going to be huge for us as we move forward in the years to come. That's their first postseason win. Once you get that monkey off your back, now we can keep going and keep building upon it.

Q. Congrats on the win. This is for Makenna and Leilani: At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Chanaya had some of the biggest plays of the game, where she had that steal and then the fast-break layup, and then she got the offensive rebound and then the second-chance opportunity. It just seemed like that whole fourth quarter throughout the whole game, she was one of the most important players of the game, but she's also been one of the most important players this whole season. Can you just talk about the importance she has had for this whole team in the locker room and on the court all season long?

MAKENNA MARISA: Like you said, she had huge plays at the end, and she deserves so much credit for that and was just working her butt off in there. She's been doing that, too, in practices. In the games, she's really kind of defensive-minded in that area and she really likes to get up and pressure. You saw that at the end.

She did a really good job, and we're super proud of her.

LEILANI KAPINUS: Yeah, she's one of our biggest juice leaders. We know what she can do in that press. When she's being physical and bringing it on defense, it gives her energy. She got offensive rebounds too because of it. She just showed out today, and we needed her to do that.

Q. For Coach, you mentioned that full-court press, it was reminiscent of the one that you pulled out in the first game a couple minutes ago. When coming into this game, how important did you think that -- how much of a key did you think that was going to be in order to come out on top today?

CAROLYN KIEGER: We knew that if we made it a half-court game, they were going to force it inside. That's what happened the second time we played them, they scored tons of points in the paint. We wanted to alleviate that and make it a full-court game, so they wouldn't come down and bury the ball inside.

For us it was a huge key to our game plan. They executed phenomenally. Like I said, until we got in some foul trouble. Beyond that I thought our team did great. Made some great adjustments, we've been working on in practice the last week, and we carried a lot of that over. So really proud of them.

Q. Coach, you mentioned Shay was going to be okay. Do you anticipate her being available tomorrow?

CAROLYN KIEGER: I'm not sure yet. Sorry, don't know
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Gopher Presser:

March 1, 2023​


Lindsay Whalen​

Isabelle Gradwell​

Mara Braun​


Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

Target Center​

Minnesota Gophers​

Postgame Press Conference​


Penn State - 72, Minnesota - 67

LINDSAY WHALEN: So we talked at times in the first just how many possessions and how long postseason games are, and I'm so proud of the group for hanging in and believing that. It comes down to a late-game situation after the start.

Give Penn State credit, but I'm proud of how we battled. We've done that all year. I cannot thank our seniors enough for what they've done and for how they played this year. We'll carry that moving forward with this group we have. It's a special group.

Obviously we learned a ton, and this is a group that's only going to continue to get better.

Q. Isabelle and Mara, you guys visibly frustrated here. Are you frustrated the season ended the way it ended, or are you guys sad the way it ended? Just describe the emotions you're feeling after this game.

MARA BRAUN: I think a little bit of both. We fought. We gave everything we had. We came back from a huge deficit early on.

But I think the way we fought back, the way we came back, that just describes this team. It comes from leaders like Izzy. We'll miss her a ton next year and Mi'Cole. That energy is going to keep us going next year, and it's going to have a big impact. We'll play with a chip on our shoulder a lot next year.

ISABELLE GRADWELL: Yeah, I agree. Obviously sad. That was my last collegiate game with this group. When we had tied it up, I really thought we had it. So it was a frustrating way to end, but I'm really proud of how the team fought even whenever we were down in the first half.

I'm just really proud of them, and I know they're going to do great things in the future.

Q. Coach, I know we had quite a lot this year, but the turnovers, especially to start this game, the hole that was dug. As you move forward, anyone who watches this team knows they play hard all the time. But what is going to have to happen between next year and this year to take the leap in that department?

LINDSAY WHALEN: I think that's something that we'll continue to work on through individual workouts, team workouts, fundamentally just continuing to improve and continuing to get better as a group in that aspect.

I think tonight was an intensity. There's an intensity, and I'm really, really thankful that our group got to experience that, and now obviously there's things that we work on and improve upon going into the postseason and summer and whatnot.

Q. Mara, your first year is now done. Finished it strong. Can you just talk about like what are the top two or three things that you learned about this season that you'll be able to carry forward next year?

MARA BRAUN: I think -- I mean, this is a common theme, but especially as a freshman, just the physicality. The difference between high school, it's a huge jump. So that's something I'm really going to be focusing on in the off-season, and then just bettering my game.

Coach was kind of talking about this before, but every workout now in the off-season, just remember this feeling, remember the hurt, and come back hungry next year.

Q. Mara, this question is for you: You guys have laid a good foundation for what's to come. For recruits that are questioning whether to come to Minnesota, what do you hope they learned about your team and this program the last couple of weeks?

MARA BRAUN: That we're a bunch of fighters, no matter what. No matter how young we are, how inexperienced, we're going to give a fight no matter what. It doesn't matter if we're playing against fifth, sixth-years.

It's tough, but we're going to give everything we've got and we are going to go down with a fight every night.

Q. Lindsay, one thing at the end you came back and didn't turn over the ball. I think you were stuck at 22 for a while. What else did you do well there to get you back in the game? You got some good open looks.

LINDSAY WHALEN: I thought defensively there's a few really good possessions we were able to come over. I thought our midline as the game progressed got better. So just helping -- they do a really good job kind of in the middle third of going ball screens. I thought our coverage got better. I thought that obviously we picked up and pressed a little more. I think that that was effective.

Then we had some possessions where we moved it. We played inside out, and we were able to play a little bit around Rose. Got some draw-and-kicks, some kickouts. I know Amaya got downhill a few times. Both ends of the floor, we covered for each other. Offensively, we played inside out, draw-and-kicks. Defensively, we were there to help when we needed to be there.

Q. Mara, if I could ask, you spend that much energy coming back, and then you tie it with 45 seconds left. Are you still -- is the adrenaline running? Are you worn out? You expended a lot of energy coming back. I'm wondering how you guys felt at that point. Like Izzy said, "I thought we had it."

MARA BRAUN: At that point, you're working so hard to get back. So it's like you've got to find that second wind. When it comes down to it, you're going to do everything you can to win. We fought to the end, when people are laying out everywhere. So I think you really just find that second gear.

Q. Coach, speaking of the Xs and Os, what did that press do to you guys all game long? Penn State talked about them wanting to take away Rose Micheaux on the inside. She had 31 points the last time they played. What did that do to your game plan, and how did you plan to adjust after that?

LINDSAY WHALEN: I thought that when we kept our spacing and we played against the press with some pace, I thought we were able to break it. The times when we did turn over a little bit back on our heels, and we didn't provide outlets for each other. When we did, especially after the start, I thought it got better as the game went.

Obviously they're aggressive, a little more three-quarter fronting on Rose. So, yeah, she gets a lot of attention from everybody, from every team.

There was times when -- that we found her late. There's a couple times when we missed her. And so it's just -- obviously that's something that, again, moving forward, that we'll continue to work on.

Q. This is for Mara and Izzy: Obviously despite the 21-3 slow start, you guys proved you were fighters and did a great job coming back, especially in that second half. Was there ever a moment where you guys believed that you fully were able to snatch away all the momentum from that Penn State full-court press?

MARA BRAUN: I think Izzy talked about it early on. After she hit that three, we all thought, all right, it's go time. And Rose made a really nice finish. I thought we had it at the end. Rose got that tip. I tried to lay out just a little bit short, but I think this team knows the whole time that it's never over till it's over. It's kind of been a thing going on all season. We fought back from bigger deficits.

So I think just the whole idea of it's not over till the last buzzer sounds.

Q. This is for Isabelle: You spent a majority of your collegiate campaign at Cleveland State and spent your last year here at Minnesota. Just put it all into perspective how much this season has impacted you and the relationships that you've built over the course of this year.

ISABELLE GRADWELL: I mean, this is -- sorry. Despite our record, this was like one of my favorite years as a collegiate player. Just from my teammates, the coaches, just believing in me as a player, as a person, and really caring about me.

Coming in, I had reached out to the coaches, wanting to get closer to home, and Coach said, I don't know. I don't know if you're going to play a lot. We'd love to have your experience. She gave me a shot, and that was all I asked for. Man, I'm grateful I got this opportunity.
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Was surprised by some of the bench interactions today. Miller and Banham were doing a lot of hand-holding and cajoling of Battle today, sometimes while the rest of the team was huddled up. Also, Lindsay seemed to be trying to keep Braun from being frustrated, both during and after the game. Altogether, player body language and the bench-player dynamic did not seem great to me. Perhaps not surprising, given the season, but not a good look.
 


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