Game 3: Gophers host VCU (11/16/17)

[Ignatius L Hoops]

http://ladyswishwbb.com/2017/10/comings-goings-vcu-2017/

Yes, it's also early for the actual VCU game preview; but Lady Swish put together a good recap of the comings and goings at Marlene's previous team, VCU. Minnesota will be the Rams second game so we will know a little bit more before we play them.


Make no mistake, though, this is O’Boyle’s team. When she became the 13th head coach in VCU history in 2014, she had a roster filled with young talent — Marlene Stollings recruits, many of them stunned when Stollings left for Minnesota after her second season.

Coaches like to bring in their own kids, and O’Boyle has finally been able to do that, and she is enthusiastic about all the youth. “This is the group of recruits we’re going to build a program around,” she said.

O’Boyle’s class is ranked 30th nationally and only real games will tell us just how good these guys are. Truth be told, we’re not sure what these Rams are going to look like, and O’Boyle will admit to the same thing. The starting five at the beginning of the season very well not be the top five at the middle or end of season, she said.

The early good news from practice: “These guys can shoot from the outside at a higher clip than we have from the past,” she said.

The Rams are guard-heavy. Robinson continues to heal from an injury and won’t be ready from the jump. Archie is healthy after spending much of her high school career on crutches. O’Boyle nnoted, “She’s full go. We almost have to hold her back in practice.”

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

On the A10:

Hoping to double up on A10 (and Rams) wins, Minnesota hosts the return match with VCU. VCU is picked for 11th in the A10; but that may be wishful thinking. The Rams are young; 6 freshmen, 4 sophomores and 2 juniors make up their roster. None of the starters in last season’s VCU/Minnesota game return. And as noted above, they are a guard oriented team with their best freshman guard recovering from injury.

Last season VCU finished 16-15 (8-8 in conference).The Rams are coached by Beth O’Boyle whose record at VCU is 56-40 (25-23 in conference).

VCU (0-1) dropped their home opener to Norfolk State. Norfolk led 35-18 at the half and cruised to a 66-52 win aided by VCU’s 27 turnovers.

Last year in Richmond a 29-9 second quarter spurt launched a Gopher 79-69 win. Minnesota’s leading scorers were Wagner, 26; Bell, 24 and Edwards, 12.


The most notable VCU players in the Norfolk State loss were:

5’10” So G, Jailyn Maddox with 18 points
6’0” Fr G, Tera Reed with 12 rebounds
6’1” Jr. F, Bria Gibson with 15 rebounds

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

http://www.gophersports.com/sports/w-baskbl/stats/2017-2018/vcu.html

Minnesota scored 25 points in the first 5 minutes setting the pace for a 108-63 win over VCU. The Gophers scored 58 points in the paint and went 24 of 26 from the line. Kiki Bell led the charge (it would be good to inject a little of her early game energy into Wagner and Hubbard). Bell looks like she's upped her game and is becoming the teams primary driver.

The starting line up remained unchanged. Pitts was the first off the bench replacing Kaposi. I think Stollings and McGillan were a little unhappy with Kaposi's positioning on a couple of trips down the court.

The early Gopher press was a little leaky. It was a game where everyone played and only Lamke, K. Bello and Kaposi did not score.


Minutes Played: Starters in Bold

28 Wagner (17 points)
28 Hubbard
25 Bell (20 points and 10 assists)
22 Pitts (20 points and 12 rebounds)
19 T. Bello (10 points and 10 rebounds)
19 Gonzalez
16 Brunson (10 points)
12 Fernstrom (10 rebounds)
9 Kaposi
9 Edwards
7 Perez
4 Lamke
2 K. Bello

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

http://www.gophersports.com/sports/w-baskbl/recaps/111617aae.html

Stollings On Pitts’ rebounding:

“The thing with Destiny that we do know is that she is very coachable and she absorbs information very well. She is mature beyond being a freshman, and I think that’s what separates her a little bit being a freshman that she can absorb that information and she can go put it in. If we tell her something simple like, ‘Hey, boxing out tonight is going to be really important at your position,’ she takes that information and puts it into action. A lot of young kids can’t do that, especially freshmen. She is very fundamentally sound. It doesn’t matter if someone is 6-2 or 5-10, and I think that she understands that her positioning is proper and she fundamentally boxes out.”

 

[tripledouble]

Random thoughts: Pitts seems to have a nose for the ball. Stollings is right...Pitts seems to be fundamentally sound and she's not playing like a first year player. I continue to like what I see in Gonzalez. Bell was very good against VCU. i love her speed and she had some great assists. Still no frontrunner in the post position. I like the athleticism of Bello. I haven't seen her put the ball on the floor and take it to the hoop. If she could do that, she'd be eligible for minutes at the PF position. It also appears that Brunson has improved her game, although we haven't been able to see enough of her to really notice. The young VCU team was not much of a test for the Gophers.