Game 10: Gophers @ Nebraska (2-4-17)

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Ignatius L Hoops

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The Battle for 12th

Amy Williams first season replacing Connie Yori has been a struggle. Opening with two close battles against Northwestern and Iowa, Nebraska proceeded put up an array of twenty point losses. Their lone victory was a four point win over Rutgers in Lincoln. In their last outing, facing the Buckeyes in Columbus, Jessica Shepard put up 28 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and dished out 4 assists. Shepard is close to averaging a double-double in B1G play.


Numbers:

Nebraska is turnover prone (17.5/game). Minnesota averages 16.7/game. From the three point line Nebraska is 59-204 (.289). Minnesota is 55-178 (.309). These numbers are way too close for comfort.

Nebraska, surprisingly is 14th in blocked shots (1.7/game) and the Gophers are 5th (3.8/game).

The Huskers average 61.3 points/game and give up 81.3. Minnesota scores 71.8 and gives up 78.1. The Huskers are 14th in scoring defense-the Gophers 13th.

No matter how you look at it, this would be an embarrassing loss.


B1G Win: Rutgers, 62-58.

B1G Losses: Northwestern, 62-58; @ Iowa, 75-72; Maryland, 93-49; @ Michigan State, 93-73; @ Illinois, 79-59; @ Penn State, 86-69; Michigan, 84-51; @ Purdue, 88-45; @ Ohio State, 95-75.


Last Meeting: Amy Williams’ South Dakota team defeated Minnesota 101-89 at Williams Arena in the WNIT second round. The Coyotes were 13-32 from three and Nicole Seekamp scored 18 points and dished out 14 assists.



Starters:

Jessica Shepard: 6’4” F So. (19.2 points/game and 9.9 rebounds/game) (30.8 minutes)
Allie Havers: 6’5” C Sr. (6.4 p/g and 5.1 r/g) (23.8 minutes)
Hannah Whitish: 5’9” G Fr. (9.5 p/g) (27.4 minutes)
Nicea Eliely: 6’1” G Fr. (6.2 p/g) (26.7 minutes)
Jasmine Cincore: 5’10” G Jr. (7.0 p/g) (26.4 minutes)


Others:

Rylie Cascio Jensen: (14.6 minutes)
Darrien Washington: 6’2” F So. (12.6)
 

Another one-player team Stollings will struggle in figuring out how to defend. Umm... Shepard.
 

Gophers should be able to run against the Huskers. Shepard is a very good player, but she doesn't run the court very well. I was surprised she stayed after last year's coaching change.
 

Battle of the worst! Let's gooooo!
 

http://www.omaha.com/huskers/blogs/...cle_24e20a80-18c7-5595-ae6a-8ec88fea0a6c.html

Scouting Nebraska: NU lost 95-75 at defense optional Ohio State, but Shepard had her best game of the season with 28 points and 13 rebounds. She appeared to have more lift and athleticism on her shots, and given Minnesota’s equally disinterested defense, she could be in for another big game against the Gophers. The question will be: Which Husker joins her? At Ohio State, it was Whitish, Cincore and sophomore Maddie Simon — all three of whom had badly struggled in the previous two games — who combined for 32 points on 12-of-25 shooting. The trio combined to hit six 3s, too. If the Huskers get that kind of production from those three — and slow down Minnesota’s shooters, who aren’t as good as Ohio State — Nebraska has a shot for its second win of the Big Ten slate. NU will take anything at this point.

Scouting Minnesota: The Gophers play an up-and-down style similar to Ohio State, which just beat the Huskers by 20, but they don’t have anywhere near Ohio State’s talent. Minnesota has lost two WNBA draft picks over the last two seasons, and what’s left is, at least for now, pretty mediocre. Minnesota is 0-4 in Big Ten road games and all seven of its losses in league play have been by double digits. The Gophers have used 13 starting combinations in 22 games, and no combination has started three straight games. Minnesota is usually a more prolific — and better — 3-point shooting team than it has been this year, but Wagner is fourth in the league in 3-pointers made. Three freshmen are heavy contributors and junior center Jessie Edwards — 7.1 points and 7.1 rebounds per game — is likely to play a lot to help Minnesota defense Jessica Shepard. The Gophers are ripe to be beaten
 


The team passing has been a little better and Brunson has really stepped up. Good to have that second foul on Shepard. Team needs this W to climb out of the cellar.
 

First time I've watched this year. Oy what a collapse to end the half.
 

Edwards with a good second quarter - 8 points and 4 rebounds. The only miss she had was her easiest shot, wide open, point blank off the inbounds pass and bricked it off the glass.
 

Will Bell ever be able to see the floor? I believe it is something that cannot be taught. You either can or can't see and Bell can't see.
 



samloupete said:
Will Bell ever be able to see the floor? I believe it is something that cannot be taught. You either can or can't see and Bell can't see.
Click to expand...

Agreed. She could however be coached to the bench for rarely looking for her teammates. She has talent but the endless run n gun is not working.
 

Bell blocked Havers. lol

If Bello could make layups consistently she would be a beast.
 

overpass said:
Bell blocked Havers. lol

If Bello could make layups consistently she would be a beast.
Click to expand...

T. Bello has the potential to be a great player. I am glad the Gophers did not collapse in the OT. Good W.
 

I watched the first half before heading to Mariucci. Then before going to our seats, we were able to catch the Gophers last play in regulation. Damn, it was an obvious and almost perfect set-up for Bello. Stollings can coach up inbound plays. Well, it's time to watch the rest of the game on replay. And it was a good Gopher day, in addition to taking down the Husker, there was the MBB win at Illinois and a puck victory over Penn State.

Minutes Played with Starters Bolded:

45 Wagner
43 Bell
32 Tinjum
29 Hedstrom
28 Edwards
27 Brunson
16 T. Bello
4 Starr
2 Fernstrom
 



Carlie was terrific. Her drives to the bucket with several nifty lefty finishes elevated her game to "All-Big Ten" level. Plus, no turnovers.

Something does seem to have clicked with Taiye. Early in the season Bello was noticeably aggressive to the ball; but then she started to look lost. Now, in the last two games, she's looking like a B1G player. I expect her to have a good game at Penn State. If she can just control her shot around the basket...
 

I was not hopeful after that first sequence -- the Gophers missed five baskets on that possession, I think? -- but the team seemed to be working together pretty well.
 

Although Bello is still very raw, I really like the way she goes after rebounds. Too many other Gophers are willing to wait for rebounds to come to them, including Edwards, Fernstrom and Hedstrom. I'll ask for maybe the hundredth time, why so many minutes for Hedstrom? 0 points in regulation for her. I'm hoping Hubbard will be back soon. They mentioned concussion issues on Saturday's broadcast. I'd been thinking it was a broken nose. And , yes, Wagner was very solid. One thing that often goes unmentioned about her is her conditioning. Bell and Edwards with decent games. Bell with a couple of bad turnovers, but also some nice passes and some solid D. Brunson showed some promise, especially in the early minutes, but she'll have to work on her shot a bit to be a consistent contributor. If she can do that, I would think that would make Bell a better player as she wouldn't have to handle the ball so much.
 


As I recall, Banham was the first (of many) to mention Wagner's conditioning -- in summer workouts before Wagner's freshman year.
 

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