WBB: Gophers v. Ohio State-B1G Game 17 (2/24) Senior Day

Donate To GopherHole
I

Ignatius L Hoops

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 9, 2015
Messages
10,564
Reaction score
3,378
Points
113
It’s Senior Day!-(enough about the Buckeyes):

No group has given more of their hearts and souls to a team than seniors Mikayla Bailey, Rachel Banham and Shayne Mullaney. As a bonus, they’ve posted a winning record (5-3) versus the Buckeyes. A quick recap:


2012: (Rachel was a freshman):

In Williams Arena the Gophers defeated #9 Ohio State, 76-65. (Banham with a game high 20 points in 30 minutes).
In Columbus the Buckeyes won 81-56. (Banham with 18 points in 32 minutes).


2013 (Mullaney and Bailey were freshmen):

In Minneapolis the Gophers won 83-74. (Banham with 24 points in 37 minutes).
In Columbus the Gophers won 57-56 (Banham with 17 points in 37 minutes and the game winner).
In the B1G tourney Ohio State defeated the Gophers 58-47 (Banham with 20 points in 39 minutes).


2014:

In Minneapolis the Gophers won on senior day, 74-57. Banham scored 27 points and captured the B1G scoring title (23.3 points/game).


2015 (Banham out with ACL):

In Columbus the Gophers won 76-72 (Mullaney with 10 assists and Bailey with 16 points).
In the B1G tourney Ohio State won 83-71.


There were many memorable moments along the way:

Mikayla Bailey in 2014 had 10 assists and no turnovers in a win at Northwestern. That same season Mikayla helped fuel a Gopher win in Michigan with 17 points (6-8 from the field (4-5 from three)).
Bailey’s best Buckeye game was last season’s win in Columbus. Mikayla scored 17 points (5-11 from three). And four were crucial second half threes in a tight game. At 19:50 (30-28 Gophers); at 16:07 (41-36 Gophers); 14:42 (44-40 Gophers) and 12:24 (49-46 Gophers).

Shayne Mullaney, your prototype glue player, has contributed a solid senior conference season: 71-142 from the field (.500); 12-30 from three (.400) and 31-38 from the line (.816). Against the Buckeyes, last season in Columbus, Shayne went 7-8 from the line (4-4 in the final minutes) helping to seal the victory.

Rachel Banham, just this season, has filled an arena with memories. Of course, Rachel will also be remembered for her emotional, spinning, floating, wrist flipping, closely guarded, fifteen footer with 2 seconds remaining defeating the Buckeyes 57-56 in Columbus in 2013.

Rachel’s phenomenal last five games (@Northwestern, Nebraska, Iowa, @Indiana and @Michigan State):

69-134 from the field (51.5%)
28-52 from three (53.8%)
42-50 from the stripe (84%)
41.6 points/game (208 total points)
Rachel has played 191 minutes (38.2 per game


Mikayla, Shayne, and Rachel, many thanks for the hard work, the thrills and the memories.
 

Excellent recap, Iggy. Thanks.

GO GOPHERS!!!
 





ruppertflywheel said:
That's pretty much it bemidjigopher. Maybe one game in the tourney.
Click to expand...

You never know if they get in and Banham stays hot with a favorable match up in their opponent they could get a W. I think Banham and the other seniors are in reality that they are not built for a deep run. They want the experience of the dance and need to win this Wednesday to get in. I hope with as much effort as they have given to the program that their wish comes true. Go Gophers !
 

Good stuff Ignatius L Hoops - really appreciate your posts.

Go Gophers!!
 

A big thanks to ILH, Shades and the other refugees from Sue Short's board for the great insight on Women's Hoops.
 





GO GOPHERS!

9701106.jpeg
 

I got chastised for posting stuff from the ESPN bracket guy, but I'll live dangerously:

Out

Minnesota: Rachel Banham has been the most dynamic offensive player in the country in the second half of the season. She has carried Minnesota. Yet it's now almost certain she will be finishing her career in the WNIT. Minnesota has been one of the country's most discussed teams in recent days, in part because of Banham's scoring that even grabbed Kobe Bryant's attention, but also partly because of a misleading Big Ten record.

The league mark sat at 10-4 heading into the week and had the Gophers in third place, but they had yet to play any of the other top-four teams in the league. Combined with a résumé-crippling weak nonconference schedule, that really made Minnesota's status as a bubble team generous. Then the Gophers began the toughest stretch of their schedule with losses to Indiana and Michigan State this week, despite Banham's 81 combined points. The scheduling trouble and no true signature win leaves Minnesota with an RPI of 80, well out of range for teams historically included as at-large selections. Nothing short of a sweep of Ohio State and Maryland will get Minnesota seriously into the mix.

http://espn.go.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/14822789/breaking-bubble-teams
 




Time to prove why they deserve to be in the tournament. Next couple of weeks will either make or break them.
 

Two of the nation's top four scorers and most talked-about players face each other for the first -- and, likely, last -- time. And there's no TV coverage.
 

Maximus said:
Nothing short of a sweep of Ohio State and Maryland will get Minnesota seriously into the mix
Click to expand...

I would hope that beating either one of them would get them in. Any of you smart guys now what either win would do to their RPI?
 

thatjanelpick said:
Two of the nation's top four scorers and most talked-about players face each other for the first -- and, likely, last -- time. And there's no TV coverage.
Click to expand...

$9.99 gives you a month of Big Ten Plus.

I got it to watch a few games that way, and watched the Friday hockey game against Bucky, and wrestling vs ISU (on replay).
 

Ski U Mah Gopher said:
$9.99 gives you a month of Big Ten Plus.

I got it to watch a few games that way, and watched the Friday hockey game against Bucky, and wrestling vs ISU (on replay).
Click to expand...

Oh, I'll be there in person. It just seems crazy to me that a game with this much interest, and a player who has been spotlight on ESPN in three of her last four games, is not being televised.
 



thatjanelpick said:
Oh, I'll be there in person. It just seems crazy to me that a game with this much interest, and a player who has been spotlight on ESPN in three of her last four games, is not being televised.
Click to expand...

We have to have that big NU vs Michigan men's game...
 

Ski U Mah Gopher said:
We have to have that big NU vs Michigan men's game...
Click to expand...

Boring. Will be in the stands cheering for our 3 seniors all who made good contributions to this program. Will be interesting to see if anybody plays defense. The women must get this W to keep NCAA hopes alive.
 

34-30 OSU at halftime.

The offensive fireworks haven't been there for either team yet. Kelsey Mitchell is 1-8 from the floor and Ameryst Alston is 2-9. Banham is 4-11, Wagner 2-12.
 


Huge win beating #5 Ohio State at home.

How much will that help the RPI?
 

Followed the box score of this one online, what a crazy game. Gophers hit a shot with less than a second left in regulation to take the lead, but then Ohio State answers back to force OT. Then in OT, the Gophers again hit a shot with less than a second left to win it.

Great way to send out Banham beating a team that was 15-1 in conference play. Rachel had 35.
 

EG#9 said:
Followed the box score of this one online, what a crazy game. Gophers hit a shot with less than a second left in regulation to take the lead, but then Ohio State answers back to force OT. Then in OT, the Gophers again hit a shot with less than a second left to win it.

Great way to send out Banham beating a team that was 15-1 in conference play. Rachel had 35.
Click to expand...

Great W! Hope this is enough but think they need to go deep in the Big tourney to reach the Dance. So happy for our seniors but Wagner sealed the game.
 

Wagner with 26 and key buckets in both OT. Banham had 35. Edwards also with a big basket. I would hope this gets them in.
 

That's probably the hair-pullingest game I've ever seen the Gopher women play (but also maybe the most fun since Whalen came back to lead the Gophers over UCLA in the NCAA tournament her senior year). Wagner did make some key plays but she (along with Mitchell, fortunately) had a subpar game. Team-wise, only 10 turnovers against OSU is a pretty amazing stat.
 

thatjanelpick, after tonight you may want to think about changing your name to thatjessiepick. Edwards absolutely blew up one the OSU guards on the game winner.

That was a real roller coaster. Neither team shot well early on. The Gophs were able to hang in because they shot better from 3 than OSU. Wagner had some real tough moments but came up big on several plays in the 2nd half and overtime.

In bounds plays were key. OSU got a few easy baskets when their pressure forced turnovers and they got the bucket with .5 left to send it into over time. Stollings learned from her mistake on that one and didn't guard the player inbounding with .8 in OT. We got a few easy ones on inbound plays as well. Twice on plays under the basket they posted Edwards on the block in front of the inbounder then ran Wagner along the baseline, around Edwards like she is heading for the corner. Instead she curled all the way back around Edwards through the lane. Fooled OSU both times. She could have pretty much sealed it the second time but missed the wide open layup which led to Banhams 5th.

Great to see the Seniors get such a big win. Can't tell you how much I want to see them go deep in the B1G tourney and make the dance.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom