Game 6: Gophers Host Bryant (11-26-19)

[Ignatius L Hoops]

Earl of Tupper

Bryant University (1-4) occupies a 400 plus acre campus in Smithfield, Rhode Island of which 220 acres were donated by Earl Tupper in 1967. Yes, the donor was Earl Tupper of Tupperware fame. This donation allowed Bryant to relocate from Providence to a new Smithfield campus on Tupper’s former estate in 1972.

The Bulldogs were pre-season picks for 5th (tied with St. Francis Brooklyn) in the NEC (Northeast Conference). Robert Morris, financial warrior of the American Revolution, was tagged for 1st. Robert Morris has been the NEC’s NCAA representative four of the last six seasons and a particular nemesis of Bryant’s quest for the NCAA. The Bulldogs have lost several NEC tournament match-ups to the Colonials.

In this season’s lone win, the Bulldogs battled Brown in a game virtually devoid of offense before emerging with a 45-44 victory. Bryant shot 28% from the field and 0-11 from three. Brown committed 20 turnovers and Bryant 22. Bryant was helped to the win when Brown missed two free throws with 41 seconds remaining.

The Bulldogs and the Gophers have a common opponent in Vermont. Bryant trailed 25-14 at the end of the first quarter before rallying to take a one point lead into the 4th. It didn’t last as the Catamounts won 71-66.

Today in Champaign, the Illini sprinted out to a 15-2 lead (21-12 at the end of one). Then Bryant fought back to 28-26 before another Illini run made it 39-26. It was the beginning of an eight minute scoring drought for the Bulldogs which pretty much sealed the loss. Beyond how much playing time to give the bench players, there didn’t seem much for the Gopher staff to worry about on Tuesday night.

Mary Burke is entering her 29th season as Bulldog head coach. She managed the transition from D II to DI. During her time Bryant has made one appearance in a DI post season tourney. It was the 2013-14 WBI. In the following year, the Bulldogs won the NEC regular season title, 2014-15; but that was the second of four consecutive losses to Robert Morris in the NEC tournament.

Win: @Brown 45-44
Losses: New Hampshire 56-68, @ Vermont 66-71, @ Holy Cross 75-81, @ Illinois 55-69

More than you want to know Bryant notes: Bryant was founded in Providence, Rhode Island as National Business College in 1863. It was a for profit school or as Bryant’s history notes “a part of a national chain of private co-educational commercial college”. Following some ownership changes over the years, Bryant became non-profit in 1949 and a four year accredited college in 1964. After struggling financially in the 90’s; Bryant emerged as a University in 2004. More important to us, Bryant’s women’s team became Division I for the 2008-09 season and is facing the Gophers for the first time.


Probable Starters:

G 5’8” Sr Masey Zegarowski: 11 points versus Vermont
G 5’10” Sr Sydney Holloway: 15 points versus Brown
G 5’8” Sr Taty LaFrance Boyee: 14 points verus Vermont
G 5’8” Fr Nicole Gallagher: 21 points versus Vermont
C 6’3” Jr Brook Bjelko: 13 points versus Vermont

Others:

G 5’7” Fr Alana Perkins: 21 points (6-8 from three) versus Holy Cross
G 5’9” So Trinity Bravo: Such a wonderful name.

 

[tripledouble]

Love the first year guards. Scalia with 20 points, 7 boards. Powell with 14 points, 7 assists, no turnovers. Good to see Adashchyk (9 points) and Staples (6 points) making contributions. T. Bello with a double-double in limited minutes; her sister with 8 points. K. Bello clearly in the lead for backup post position. The competition will go up a few notches when the Gophers travel to South Bend to face Notre Dame in their next game.

 

[Katogopher]

Dominated a team that they should’ve beaten. Good to see the fast start by team and Gadiva. Nice to see the effort in rebounding as well, hope it continues to improve. yes the freshmen guards are special, contributions in points, assist, rebounds and steals. I thought K Bello was on her way to a double double but foul trouble limited her momentum. Hope this games serves as a confidence booster heading into South Bend

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

Yes, it was freshman night-Powell and Scalia were fun to watch. Powell with a couple of half court pass assists (perhaps her best wasn't a an assist-it was a long outlet to Adashchyk who zipped it out to Staples for three). For good measure Powell added a couple of buzzer beaters-a length of the court drive to end the 1st quarter and dribble to kill time jumper to end the third quarter.

Destiny matched Powell in the assist department early with 5. Destiny's weren't of the long laser pass variety; but they were nifty in traffic set ups.

Everyone available played. Sconiers, joined Ross, and Cummings (whom I don't believe was there) as non-combatants. Tomancova was the only Gopher not to score.

Minutes Played (Starters in Bold):

29 Scalia
24 Powell
23 Pitts
23 Hubbard
22 T Bello
18 Adashchyk
17 Staples
16 Brunson
15 K Bello
12 Tomancova

 

[EaganGopher22]

After watching today's game is it safe to say we won't be seeing Cumming, Sconiers, or Ross play for the rest of the season? And I am sure I missed it somewhere along the way, is Sissoko sitting out the year as a transfer? Hopefully, Pitts simply chose not to score points (she didn't make many attempts). Missing out on an opportunity to score in double digits in a game like this might possibly keep her from finishing her career with 2,000 plus.

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

Yes, Sissoko is sitting out the year as a transfer. Destiny did seem to be working on her low post game tonight. There were some different lineups out there this evening starting in the first quarter with the Bellos playing together and Powell running the point.

 

[Gophers112233]

RE: Cumming..

this is NOW the 2nd game she has been GONE... something is up and It would be wonderful if the media who covered this team would start asking questions...

if this was the Men's team.. we'd know why Cumming hasn't dressed yet along with Ross..

I know someone did say Carly said some players were fighting D2D injuries.. but now Grace not even being at another game... be nice if the media started to ask about this..

 

[whalenfan]

After watching today's game is it safe to say we won't be seeing Cumming, Sconiers, or Ross play for the rest of the season? And I am sure I missed it somewhere along the way, is Sissoko sitting out the year as a transfer? Hopefully, Pitts simply chose not to score points (she didn't make many attempts). Missing out on an opportunity to score in double digits in a game like this might possibly keep her from finishing her career with 2,000 plus.

Sconiers has already played 3 games so im guessing shes injured.

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

Postgame Quotes - University of Minnesota Athletics

Postgame Quotes

gophersports.com

Minnesota Head Coach Lindsay Whalen Opening Statement:

“I just want to say how proud I am of the team for the start of both the game and the half. They were focused, locked in, and these two right here [Sara Scalia and Gadiva Hubbard] were big catalysts of that. I’m proud of our rebounding effort and having 21 assists on the night.”

On goals for a game like this:
“We really focused on rebounding the last couple days. Montana State outrebounded us, and we’ve been outrebounded in a number of games, so rebounding was the big focus. We had to get back to that mentality of rebounding the ball at one end and sharing the ball at the other end. We only had seven assists against Montana State. We have great shooters and when we get open looks… I mean Sara [Scalia] went 8‐of‐11 and Diva [Gadiva Hubbard] went 8‐for‐14. We have really great shooters and that’s a really high percentage of efficiency. When we don’t have to take contested shots, we’re really good. So, making plays for each other at that end of the floor was on the top of my mind.”

On the Gophers’ high forced turnover rate and if it can counteract a size disadvantage:

“Well, that’s one way. That’s one of our strengths: all of our perimeter players bring something different to the table. The two Jasmine’s [Jasmine Brunson and Jasmine Powell] are really quick with on‐ball defense and can get through screens really well. The two girls here [Sara Scalia and Gadvia Hubbard] are really long, lanky and can get in passing lanes. I think Diva, at one point, was leading the conference in steals. Obviously, Taiye [Bello] with her length and [Destiny] Pitts’ reading and her communication. So, everybody brings something really good to the floor defensively. The turnovers have helped us so far this season make up the rebounding that we need to see improvement on. Tonight, when you add the rebounding with the turnovers, really good things can happen.”

On building the confidence in players who do not usually play many minutes:

“Our bench has been terrific. Our bench has been really good in a number of games and has been one of the strengths of our team. We bring players in who are really effective. Kehinde’s [Bello] rebounding per minute that she is out there is a high number. [Jasmine] Powell had seven assists tonight. Masha [Adashchyk] was in there with four rebounds and Babs [Barbora Tomancova] had four rebounds. You’re happy when everyone gets the chance to go out there and show what they’ve been working on. These kids work really hard every day, everybody does. So, you’re happy as a coach if they get to go out there and show it.”

Minnesota redshirt junior Gadiva Hubbard

On her early game focus:

“I just wanted to have a better game than my last game. I don’t think I was playing how I usually want to play in my last game, so I definitely wanted to do better and I think my warmup (for tonight’s game) helped me play as good as I did.”

Minnesota freshman Sara Scalia

On finishing the game with a strong second‐half performance:

“Yeah, I think I had more confidence tonight than I usually have had in past games, and I think my teammates found me when I was open, and we work really well together.”

 

[fanfromthevalley]

One could always email [email protected] and ask him "why" he's not asking the injured player questions. I'm satisfied with the answer from Carly at the loyalty program event about day to day injuries. The coaching staff is not obligate to provide any more detailed information than that.

And, with federal HIPAA rules they are also very limited as to what they can share about someone's medical condition.

There could be all sorts of reasons that they let a player not be at a game if they are injured that could range from getting to a night class (some of the players have those) to who knows what else. Both Ross and Cumming had injuries coming into the season. And, Sissiko, as noted, is a transfer, and is also rehabbing some injuries.

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

Highlights include the three assists from Powell to Kehinde Bello. The first two are really nice. It also includes a good low post assist from Pitts to Taiye Bello.

 

[CutDownTheNet]

OK, here's a little factoid on the Bryant game: As a team, the Gophers hit 100% of their (11) free throws.

Love the first year guards. Scalia with 20 points, 7 boards. Powell with 14 points, 7 assists, no turnovers. ...

Yes, it was freshman night-Powell and Scalia were fun to watch. ...

Ditto on that one - it was a joy to watch the Frosh last night. I'd say that Scalia turned out to be as good (or probably better) of a player than I had expected (having seen her play in a Stillwater tournament game) - and it is true (to paraphrase an earlier post in another thread) that Scalia was "a steal of a recruiting bargain" in terms of what her ranking was by the scouts versus the quality player that showed up on campus this Summer. Her shot is impeccable. The only thing she needs to ditch is that tendency toward a Road-Runner-like spin-the-wheels travel when she starts a fast dribble from a standstill.

And re Jaz Powell, after she was recruited and signed (which I generally liked since I thought that we could re-establish the chemistry that she and Pitts had in high school), I had been a little concerned that her shortness in stature might be too much of a deficit for college ball, but that seems to be of little concern (although she may need to adapt a bit more for Big-Ten play). She seems to do a good job of compensating for being short while shooting - by taking either a more difficult or a fade-away shot to avoid the block. And one must concede that her small height acts as one of the enablers for her extreme speed. I really enjoyed (to the point of it almost being humorous) watching her defend the Bryant guards. They must have been thinking something like "Holy Crap! She's everywhere!". No matter where their guards tried to dribble the ball, she got there first and blocked their progress. It was almost like she was able to read their minds. They also must have been thinking something like, "Gee, do all the Big-Ten guards defend this well?" (the answer is no, of course).

Let's extend the praise a bit to include not only the Freshmen "new faces" but let's expand that group to include all those players who didn't play any games for the Gophers last season. You probably know where I'm going with this - let's include Diva in the group - which is almost "unfair" given how well (and rust-free) she played in the Bryant game (heck, she almost single-handedly outscored the whole Bryant team during the first quarter). And include transfers as well. OK, let's look at how well the Freshmen + new transfers + (welcome-back) Diva played in the Bryant game in terms of points, assists and rebounds ...

Player Points Rebounds Assists
Sara Scalia 20 points 7 rebounds 1 assist
Gadiva Hubbard 18 points 2 rebounds 0 assists
Jasmine Powell 14 points 2 rebounds 7 assists
Masha Adashchyk 9 points 4 rebounds 1 assist
Total "new faces + welcome-back faces" 61 points 15 rebounds 9 assists

OK folks, you read that right, fully 61 out of the 101 points scored against Bryant (that's about 3/5 of the points) were scored by players who did not play last year, either due to injury or simply not being here yet. Now granted, this was in an embarassingly lopsided game whose primary purpose (from the Gopher view) was to give the bench some quality minutes. But it is significant that those bench minutes were quality indeed (including 6 points from Staples and 8 points from K. Bello who got the Subway Sub of the Game award (hopefully it was a 12" sub so she could share it with her sister who got Heart of the Game)). Adding in the latter non-new-face 14 points, that gives a total of 75 points scored by the bench + new faces. Add in 26 points from the three other starters, totals our 101 points - the first time we broke a hundred this year so far.

This group of "new faces + welcome-back faces" also garnered 15 of our 43 rebounds. As others noted, that's the sort of rebounding improvement we'd like to see, so as not to have to rely completely on "Bello & Bello Incorporated" (13 total rebounds in the Bryant game) for all our rebounding.

Now mind you, we can't expect such spectacular results against Notre Dame (even though it's a rebuilding year for them). Yet, I feel that the quality minutes that the bench and the new faces had in this game, prepares us as well as we could ask for, to do battle with the Irish. How many times have the Irish broken a hundred this year?

Our shooting efficiency (aided by our assisting efficiency) was great in the Bryant game. As a team we hit 50.6 % of our field goals against Bryant (41/81). And 38.1% from deep. But let's take a look at the field-goal shooting efficiency of our most scoring-efficient players in that game (while recalling that we also made all our free throws) ...

Player Field-Goals/Field-Goal-Attempts Shooting-Percentage
Taiye Bello 4/4 = 100%
Kehinde Bello 4/5 = 80%
Sara Scalia 8/11 = 72.73% (including 4/5 from deep)
Gadiva Hubbard 8/14 = 57.14% (including 2/6 from deep)
Jasmine Powell 6/13 = 46.15%
Jasmine Brunson 4/9 = 44.44%
Mercedes Staples 2/5 = 40% (including 1/3 from deep)

The remaining players not listed above (notably Destiny Pitts) did not shoot as well in this particular game, but taken as a group, the above seven most-efficient shooters shot about 59% on field-goal attempts. And on this particular night, that doesn't even include Pitts - who normally is a shooting-efficiency leader. This bodes well for the team if we can continue to do such efficient shooting, along with the excellent defense that we've been demonstrating (which, of course, will be much more difficult against the Big Ten and Notre Dame), along with minimizing our turnovers and maximizing the opponent's turnovers, while continuing to improve on rebounding.

Specifically, what the above shooting efficiency hints at, is that we have at least 8 really good shooters on our team, and if 7 out of 8 of those shooters can show up and "actually" shoot efficiently in a given game, then we're capable of scoring 100 points (minus whatever the opponent's defense can take away from us). Also, it takes a bit of the burden off Destiny Pitts' shoulders. We now know that she doesn't have to put the team on her back for every single game. Unlike last year, where the scoring burden fell mostly on the shoulders of Pitts and Keke Bell and to a certain extent T. Bello, this year we have lots of scoring options.

In the Bryant game, Pitts was relaxing a bit and just taking what the defense gave her, including 4 out of 4 free throws and 5 assists. And that's fine. Hubbard was on fire, so Pitts made the proper executive decision and fed the hot hand of Diva. As the game results show, she didn't need to score as much as usual. Her 8 points was more than sufficient when added to the 61 points from the "new and welcome-back faces." I particularly enjoyed watching Pitts (and others) on the sidelines in the role of cheerleader for the excellent play of the bench.

Minnesota Head Coach Lindsay Whalen Opening Statement:

“I just want to say how proud I am of the team for the start of both the game and the half. They were focused, locked in, and these two right here [Sara Scalia and Gadiva Hubbard] were big catalysts of that. I’m proud of our rebounding effort and having 21 assists on the night.”

On building the confidence in players who do not usually play many minutes:

“Our bench has been terrific. ... [Jasmine] Powell had seven assists tonight. ..."

Powell again had zero turnovers to complement her seven assists. In fact, Powell is still tied for 13th place in the NCAA Div I for assist-to-turnover ratio at 4.40. That's 22 assists to 5 turnovers. That also ranks her first in the Big Ten, with Ali Patberg (Indiana) and Ashley Owusu (Maryland) not far behind at 4.14 (29:7) and 4.00 (36:9), respectively. Presumably, the latter played more minutes than Jasmine.

Taiye Bello got three more blocked shots (and Kehinde got 1). That puts her in a tie for 21st place (2.50 blocks per game) in NCAA Div I with Mackenzie Holmes (Indiana). Ahead of them in the Big Ten are Ae'Rianna Harris (Purdue) and Kate Cain (Nebraska) at 2.75 and 3.33 (6th place), respectively.

Taiye is currently in a tie for 5th place in the NCAA Div I for total double-doubles at 4 of them in 6 games. The leader in that category has 6 in 8 games.

Taiye is in 30th place at 4.3 offensive rebounds per game. Interestingly, Sydney Holloway of Bryant is in 18th place in total rebounds per game at 11.5, and had one more rebound than Taiye did in last night's game.

Destiny Pitts is in a tie for 46th place for free-throw percentage at 90% (18 out of 20 - of which she hit four more in the Bryant game).

On the Gophers’ high forced turnover rate and if it can counteract a size disadvantage:

“Well, that’s one way. That’s one of our strengths: all of our perimeter players bring something different to the table. The two Jasmine’s [Jasmine Brunson and Jasmine Powell] are really quick with on‐ball defense and can get through screens really well. The two girls here [Sara Scalia and Gadvia Hubbard] are really long, lanky and can get in passing lanes. I think Diva, at one point, was leading the conference in steals. Obviously, Taiye [Bello] with her length and [Destiny] Pitts’ reading and her communication. So, everybody brings something really good to the floor defensively. The turnovers have helped us so far this season make up the rebounding that we need to see improvement on. Tonight, when you add the rebounding with the turnovers, really good things can happen.”

The players that got steals in the Bryant game were ...

Player Steals
Jasmine Powell 5
Jasmine Brunson 3
Taiye Bello 3
Gadiva Hubbard 2
Sara Scalia 2
Mercedes Staples 1
Total 16

In addition, Bryant had 10 unforced turnovers, for a total of 26 Bryant turnovers (to the Gophers' 8 turnovers).

Whay notes that at one point Diva was leading the Big Ten in steals. Indeed, earlier in the season she was actually high on the NCAA leader-board in steals per game. She is still on the leader-board (top 300) tied for 181st place at 2.17 steals per game (13 steals in 6 games) - a position she shares with Jasmine Brunson (again, 13 steals in 6 games), Shakira Austin of Maryland, Jada Peebles of Illinois and Destinee Walker of Notre Dame (who we will not want to show the ball to in our next game).

Right behind Hubbard and Brunson in cumulative steals per game are Jasmine Powell (1.67 = 10 steals in 6 games), Mercedes Staples (1.33 = 8 steals in 6 games), Destiny Pitts (1.17 = 7 steals in 6 games), Taiye Bello (1.17 = 7 steals in 6 games) and Sara Scalia (1.17 = 7 steals in 6 games),

Hubbard and Brunson are bested in the NCAA steals-per-game statistics by Mael Gilles (Rutgers, 2.20), Janai Crooms (Ohio State, 2.20), Kierstan Bell (Ohio State, 2.20), Abi Scheid (Northwestern, 2.25), Kennedi Myles (Illinois, 2.33), Marta Sniezek (Notre Dame, 2.33, who we will also not want to show the ball to), Katlyn Gilbert (Notre Dame, 2.50, again don't dribble facing her within a few feet or let her in your passing lanes), Nia Clouden (Michigan State, 2.60), Khadaizha Sanders (Rutgers, 2.80), Grace Berger (Indiana, 3.00), Siyeh Frazier (Penn State, 3.33) and Veronica Burton (Northwestern, 3.75). Consider the latter a "list of who to be scared of" in future games. For reference, the current holder of first place in steals in the NCAA Div I has 5.00 steals per game.

On building the confidence in players who do not usually play many minutes:

“Our bench has been terrific. ... Kehinde’s [Bello] rebounding per minute that she is out there is a high number. ...”

I've stated in a couple previous posts that Kehinde's rebounding rate (in terms of rebounds per minute played) has historically been approximately equal to Taiye's rebounding rate. Call it the "Bello rebounding rate." It's just that she didn't get very many minutes until this year. The problem in the past has been that Kehinde seems to foul at about twice the rate of Taiye (and that still seems to hold true, excepting the first game where Taiye was in serious foul trouble). So, as noted in another post, Kehinde has improved sufficently so serve as backup to Taiye for a handful of minutes at a time. And during the time that the twins play tag-team, we can enjoy the Bello rebounding rate (or perhaps even a double-Bello rebounding rate when they play together - and to the extent that Whalen occasionally tries that tactic, I like putting Kehinde defending the opponent's taller post, not only to keep fouls off Taiye, but also to have Kehinde block out the biggest rebounding competitor while Taiye does some work). But Kehinde needs to work on avoiding fouls or else her sub minutes are limited. Fortunately, I think Tomacova and Sconiers can rebound at a pretty good clip too.