Game 7 Gophers Host Wake Forest (11-30-22)

We had a couple of calls go our way but there was no way that was a foul on Braun.

Certainly frustrated by the Miss layups and free throws but again the defensive effort was there tonight.
 

Disappointing. Too many bad passes in the paint. Braun should shoot every other time down the court. Braun taking a bad shot is still a higher percentage than many of the other players wide open. At times, they rebound well and other times they don't seem to want to fight for the ball.
 

Make our FTs and we win the game. Play D at the three point line would be helpful. Heyer needed to step out on the last one and at least contest the shot
 

way too many missed layups, someone needed to help Braun out and no one ever did. Our post defense is gonna be a struggle all year, Heyer isnt a good defender and Micheaux is a little undersized. This team does play really hard and fight all 40 minutes. Really tough night for our pgs.
 

way too many missed layups, someone needed to help Braun out and no one ever did. Our post defense is gonna be a struggle all year, Heyer isnt a good defender and Micheaux is a little undersized. This team does play really hard and fight all 40 minutes. Really tough night for our pgs.
Agreed I was noticing that Heyer really struggled to react when her player would set an on-ball pick, including the game winning three
 


Tough loss. Lotta missed lay-ups (which happens to teams from time-to-time) some unfortunate mental mistakes that inexperienced guards tend to make, & missed free throws, but I'm honestly encouraged. It takes a star player making an amazing shot to finally put the Gophers down for the night.

This team got knocked down a few times tonight, got up, made adjustments and kept competing.
 

The youngsters will learn from this. This is game at the end of the season the Gophers will win. Tough game for Mara, 27 points wow! They need someone to step up on offense to help her out, on to the next one.
 

I was at the game.

Amaya Battle has terrific moves and skills. She can do things on the floor driving that probably no other player tonight can do that well. Unfortunately her hands (or whatever) didn't cooperate. Maybe a lot to think about where what she naturally does wasn't happening for a very weird reason?

I'm guessing tonight's game, coinciding with the newspaper articles about Battle, would display what she can do. Others have mentioned that Battle is to more than just run the point. They want her to be an aggressive scorer, someone said.

I've been saying Battle at the more complicated point guard position needs a little time. She will wow people when it's time.

I'm thinking the Big Ten Tournament next spring is a good time marker -- patience -- and then next season. They are doing great for mostly freshman and sophomores.

If just a few of those went it... and I believe a year ahead they do.

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So... this team is NOT 2 seniors and 2 juniors starting like Indiana, Ohio State. They are doing super well for mostly freshman and sophomores.

Project what we saw tonight but one year ahead.

Destination 2023-24.

Now with that said, Gophers are now 1-2 in basically close one-shot games. Gophers need to be at 50% or just over on those games over the course of the season. Last season the team many times played toe to toe with top teams and lost it at the end. This season we need to see 50/50 on close ones by the end of the season.
 
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the play that imho kind of took the MO from us was that blocking call they called on Gradwell when it looked like an EASY CHARGE call.. and also that shot they said that hit rim with 3 seconds it didn't HIT rim because it hit the backboard and came STRAIGHT down.. it didn't change direction at all. not sure how they missed that.. the shorter ref was horrific tonight but she's been REALLY bad for years in the big ten
 



The Braun show is a blast; but we seriously could use some help for Mara. However, Clark versus Braun could be fun in Iowa City.

Perhaps the big play of the game was when Spear and Braun collided and Spear was assigned to guard someone else. From that point on, Braun went crazy free. Spear was shifted back on Braun late in the game but immediately picked up her third foul for shoving Mara in the paint. At games end, Megan Gebbia knew what Lindsay was going to run Mara ran right into it.

I don't recall Cayton having dustups last season with Nebraska; but this is her second consecutive game for mixing it up. She should probably ease up.

The crunch time lineup tonight had Borowicz at the point and Battle on the bench.
 

The Braun show is a blast; but we seriously could use some help for Mara. However, Clark versus Braun could be fun in Iowa City.

Perhaps the big play of the game was when Spear and Braun collided and Spear was assigned to guard someone else. From that point on, Braun went crazy free. Spear was shifted back on Braun late in the game but immediately picked up her third foul for shoving Mara in the paint. At games end, Megan Gebbia knew what Lindsay was going to run Mara ran right into it.

I don't recall Cayton having dustups last season with Nebraska; but this is her second consecutive game for mixing it up. She should probably ease up.

The crunch time lineup tonight had Borowicz at the point and Battle on the bench.
which was odd having Battle on the bench in crunch time.. since she's a bigger defender who could have been on Spears late.. not sure I liked that move..

I also wish we would look for Heyer more she rans the floor so much but nobody is looking to her.. Katie did once tonight but the pass was late and behind Mal.
 

Liked the defensive effort. 3rd quarter, we were standing around too much on offense. Starting moving again in the 4th quarter. I think this young team is still learning to play at a much higher and intense level than HS.
 

There were plenty of times that we were just standing around on offense. Not too hard to play defense against that. This team needs to do a better job of moving without the ball.
 



Very frustrating game with all the turnovers again. Our point guards were both 1.0 on assist to turnovers. Half of Battles were in the first 10 minutes and were more reminiscent of wild passes to know one that Katie does. We need more ball movement without turnovers and we still need to make it harder for the other team to score inside. We are better than last year in that respect but the other team did a better job of altering our shots inside than we did WF. It was a disappointing result given there was so much more we could have done. In the pre game radio broadcast Battle was supposed to be guarding Spear but in the second half it seemed if Katie was on here more than Battle although Braun was on her a lot too. Spear started her hot 3 point shooting in the 4th quarter on a late/slow closeout by Battle and the other consecutive 3 was with Katie guarding. I really expected to have fewer turnovers today, not sure how long it is going to take to get rid of these sloppy passes. Looking forward to Penn State game too. They lost to Virginia by about 20 points tonight. Looks like that game should be a good one too.
 

Very frustrating game with all the turnovers again. Our point guards were both 1.0 on assist to turnovers. Half of Battles were in the first 10 minutes and were more reminiscent of wild passes to know one that Katie does. We need more ball movement without turnovers and we still need to make it harder for the other team to score inside. We are better than last year in that respect but the other team did a better job of altering our shots inside than we did WF. It was a disappointing result given there was so much more we could have done. In the pre game radio broadcast Battle was supposed to be guarding Spear but in the second half it seemed if Katie was on here more than Battle although Braun was on her a lot too. Spear started her hot 3 point shooting in the 4th quarter on a late/slow closeout by Battle and the other consecutive 3 was with Katie guarding. I really expected to have fewer turnovers today, not sure how long it is going to take to get rid of these sloppy passes. Looking forward to Penn State game too. They lost to Virginia by about 20 points tonight. Looks like that game should be a good one too.
Watching who was guarding Spear and whom Spear was guarding was half the fun of the game. It was especially cool when Braun was D'ed up on Spear; although expecting Mara to be both the teams leading scorer and shutdown defender would be a bit much.
 


Condensed game video.

 

Trying not be so negative this year as they are a young team and I agree this team maybe would beat WF later in the year. One positive that has been evident this whole season is this team battles back they never back down. Hope this trend continues against stronger competition. Another positive is Braun‘s all around game, she may be the next Jersey rafter.
 


1st full game that I watched women's BB, I thought is was far more exciting then the men's. I saw a team with a lot of potential. They were energetic both offensively and defensively. Passes will improve as they understand they are no longer playing hs bb and the college competition is quicker and more anticipatory. Can't wait to watch this young team develop. GO GOPHERS
 

First time seeing them play and they have a lot of potential as they mold into a team. Their offensive passing is the issue right now. Plays they made in HS are not going to work at this level. First time down the floor and Battle throws a one-handed entry pass that is tough to handle. Too many catches in the paint and needing to dribble wasting time. It will come with maturity and strength.

Defense is pretty good.
 





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