Game 3: Gophers host UMass Lowell (11-12-24)

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Ignatius L Hoops

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We Got the Beats

Minnesota faces its second America East opponent in five days when UMass Lowell follows Vermont into Williams Arena. The River Hawks were projected seventh in the nine-team conference ahead of NJIT and New Hampshire.

The University of Lowell was birthed out of a 1975 merger between Lowell State and Lowell Tech. This event was somewhat overshadowed by the 1975 reading at Lowell native Jack Kerouac’s grave by Bob Dylan and Allen Ginsberg.

Bob Dylan & Allen Ginsberg Visiting Jack Kerouac's Grave (Lowell, MA., 1975)

In 1991, the University of Lowell became part of the UMass system. This prompted a shift in athletic team’s nicknames from “Chiefs” to “River Hawks”. Despite the changes, UMass Lowell did not make the jump to Division 1 until the 2013-14 season. The River Hawks feature a brief and beatable D1 basketball legacy. And, like frenetic typist Jack Kerouac, they appear adrift in the experience of the open scroll.

UMass Lowell opened last season 0-13. A three-win flurry featuring victories over American East mates New Hampshire, NJIT and UMAC wasn’t enough to stem the River Hawks roll to a final record of 4-25. This led to a NET rating of 333 of the 360 NCAA teams. The record was not atypical of UMass Lowell history.

During their first five D1 seasons, the River Hawks went 30-114 (13-67 in AE). Then came the glory years. Former NBA guard Tom Garrick was hired as head coach. In his first season, UMass Lowell was 3-13 in America East. But that season was followed by two consecutive third place conference finishes with an 11-5 record in 2019-20 and 10-5 in 2020-22.

Unfortunately for the River Hawks Garrick was married to UConn assistant Shae Ralph. He relocated to Vanderbilt after Ralph was hired to revive the Commodores.

Denise King, an assistant, was elevated to head coach replacing Garrick. King’s record after three years is not promising. She is 20-43 (16-33 in AE). And now, following losses to Colgate and Holy Cross they are on the road to Minneapolis.

Players to Know:

UMass Lowell skews young with a short bench. Head coach Denise King used seven players in the opening 62-74 loss at Colgate including three sophomores and two freshmen. In game two, a 49-61 home loss to Holy Cross, she played nine. Two of the sophomores were last season’s America East All Rookie Team members; 6’1” sophomore forward Rayne Durant and 5’8” sophomore guard Abby Lindsey. Both are returning starters. In the first two games Durant averaged 14.5 points, 6.5 rebounds in 32.5 minutes and Lindsey 9.0 points, 3,5 rebounds in 30.5 minutes.

A third returning starter is 5’8” sophomore guard Maddie Rice who is averaging 10.5 points, 6.0 rebounds in 34.0 minutes.

5’5” red shirt senior guard Sydney Watkins led the team in assists last season and is averaging 8.0 points, 4.0 rebounds in 30.5 minutes.

The final starter is one of the international players on the River Hawk roster: 5’5” freshman guard Carla Subirats from Spain. She is averaging 6.5 points, 2.5 rebounds in 25.5 minutes.
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Longtimegopherfan said:
Thanks for the insight. A chance for some of the deeper bench players to get some playing time?
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It is going to be a tough long big ten schedule again this year, so it hopefully would be great to see some deeper bench players get some action. They are going to need many to contribute at times in the long season.
 




Frink said:
We're absolutely certain Lowell is Division I?
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Really hard to extrapolate any conclusions from this one. I am not kidding when I say a decent 5th or 6th grade boys travel team could beat this UMass Lowell squad.

41-14 at halftime and one could argue that the Gophers should be up by quite a bit more.
 

GameDay said:
Really hard to extrapolate any conclusions from this one. I am not kidding when I say a decent 5th or 6th grade boys travel team could beat this UMass Lowell squad.

41-14 at halftime and one could argue that the Gophers should be up by quite a bit more.
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Completely agreed. I just told my dad we should have at least 50. I'm not of the mindset that you shouldn't have cupcakes on your schedule but this is really bad
 




I don't mean to be negative but this is really really poor basketball on both ends tonight. Hard to watch.

The positive is that Mckinney is really asserting herself. She looks like she'll be an active playmaker for the Gophers for many seasons.
 

GameDay said:
I don't mean to be negative but this is really really poor basketball on both ends tonight. Hard to watch.

The positive is that Mckinney is really asserting herself. She looks like she'll be an active playmaker for the Gophers for many seasons.
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Yeah tough game to play for both teams. Hard to take it serious and full throttle for the gophers and hard to compete for Umass. Surprised Coach P didn't go deeper into the bench earlier. I know you want to get conditioned, but unless some are going to redshirt, would have liked to see them get some minutes earlier.

Going forward Coach P will need to look to keep these teams off the schedule.

Not the less. It is a W and move on!
 


I do NOT get to see practice, and I’m Not positive if she can run a PG position, but from what I’ve seen so far. Johnson may be better than Rose. However….i have not seen Johnson pass the ball much. Will be interesting to keep following.
 




BigTenGuy said:
This year’s schedule is Coach P’s schedule. She is playing the level of teams she wants to play.
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Yes, I understand but each year will need to step up some competition as the gophers hopefully continue to get deeper and more competitive.

1) Fans buying season tickets will want competitive games
2) Top players want to play top competition.
 

drewhaus7 said:
Yes, I understand but each year will need to step up some competition as the gophers hopefully continue to get deeper and more competitive.

1) Fans buying season tickets will want competitive games
2) Top players want to play top competition.
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I hear what you are saying but why/how at this point in Coach P's career would you think that she would think this year's schedule would be appropriate no matter what?
You are in the Big Ten. (Say that for point emphasis for like the first 25 points) By far the best way for your players to improve individually and as a team is to be challenged.
100% your points #1 and #2.

Coaching: At what level do you not demand you pressure the ball handler? We do not.
At what level do you encourage the live ball defender to jump up and down?? We do that!

So many things I don't see how she has the resume she is credited with including scheduling philosophy, sideline demeanor (scowling/yelling) defensive philosophy and offensive philosophy. I like that Sophie buries her defender deep and we look for her. I agree shooting and making threes should be a team strength. Everybody dribbling to no where is not cool. How many Gopher one dribble drives to the hoop has anyone seen? (You can easily get to the rim on one dribble from the three point line if you practice it.) Move the defense with passing, attack quickly, before the help defense can react.
If they cheat and get there to cut you off, you dump to who they were defending on the slash and they shoot the layup. Not going to happen for Coach P. Attacking the basket is how you get to the easiest place to score...the free throw line.
 
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Johnson is certainly making a case for more minutes..13 points in 9 minutes ... not sure she has missed from 3...she gets to the free throw line and hasn't missed from there.

Woodson, Stewart, McKinney need solid consistent minutes and Johnson needs Rose's minutes.
 

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