Gophers Fall to MSU in Big 10 Title Game

If Gopher star Janel McCarville sees Michigan State’s Kelli Roehrig again, it might be in a nightmare. Roehrig and her teammates held McCarville to 1 of 18 shooting from the field as MSU survived a determined Gopher team, 55-49, in the Big 10 tournament championship game Monday night in Indianapolis. The Gophers will wait until Sunday to find out who their opponent will be in the first round of the NCAA tourney.

McCarville, who has never fared well against Roehrig, had her worst shooting night as a Gopher. She was repeatedly challenged by Roehrig and her double-teaming teammates whenever she touched the ball in the lane. Michigan State played a zone defense most of the night and held McCarville and Jamie Broback scoreless in the 1st half. Despite first-half goose eggs from its 2 leading scorers, the Gophers trailed by only 5 at the half, thanks to tenacious defense inside-and-out.

Broback came out “el fuego” in the 2nd half, scoring 15 points on a variety of shot in the 1st 8 minutes of the half. She finished with 18 points against No. 7-ranked MSU.

The Gophers built 5 point leads a couple of times in the 2nd half, but the talented Spartans always answered. MSU wiped out a Gopher lead to tie the game with 3:54 remaining and the Gophers never scored again against the Big 10 co-champs.

The Gopher perimeter players were solid throughout the game. Shannon Bolden, April Calhoun, Kelly Roysland, and Shannon Schonrock held their own against a more athletic MSU backcourt. All played outstanding defense, and all contributed offensively. Bolden and Schonrock each had two 3-point baskets; Roysland had one.

The Gophers shot only 26.8% from the field for the game, but still almost avenged an earlier 31-point spanking at the hands of the Spartans earlier this year in Williams Arena.

McCarville, who may have been tired from working overtime the day before against Ohio State’s Big 10 Player of the Year Jessica Davenport, still owned the boards with 11 rebounds. She also defended well inside.

Notes and Observations:

• Although I’m not big on moral victories, I was OK with Monday’s loss to MSU. In watching the Gophers’ 3 games this weekend, it looks like they are tournament-ready for the NCAA tourney. McCarville’s bad shooting night wasn’t the result of a lack of effort. Sometimes shots fall, sometimes they don’t. She’s a big-game player and I expect her to bounce back in the NCAA’s, when it really counts. The Gopher backcourt held it’s own all weekend against more athletic backcourts, the kind that usually give them trouble. Shannon Bolden continues to show that she is 1 of the best backcourt defenders in the Big 10, maybe 2nd to only Penn State’s Tanisha Wright. She’s also worked much harder to secure rebounds. April Calhoun has established herself as a very consistent contributor. Jamie Broback was the best player in the Big 10 tournament…not just the Gophers best player, the best player from any team.
• The Gophers loss should mean they’ll receive a No. 4 seed when the NCAA tournament brackets are announced on TV Sunday. A win over MSU could have earned the Gophers a No. 3 seed. These seeds really won’t come into play much for the Gophers until they would reach the Sweet Sixteen, where they could immediately be matched against a No. 1 seed.
• MSU’s Kelli Roehrig is the 1 player I’ve seen who matches up well against McCarville. She’s taller, she’s wider, and she’s almost as strong. And she’s athletic enough to be able to defend the Gopher All-American.
• The game against MSU provided the Gophers invaluable experience against a very good zone defense., which they hadn’t seen often this year. The Gophers may see more zone defenses in the NCAA tourney, although most opponents won’t have the personnel to defend as effectively as the Spartans. The Gophers were hapless against the Michigan State zone in the 1st half, but they finally figured it out at the start of the 2nd half, when Broback went on her scoring spree.
• McCarville and Broback were named to the 5-person Big 10 tournament team. Broback has really emerged as a force to be reckoned with and we’ll have to see more of that in the NCAA tourney if the Gophers are to be successful.
• I’m not a bracketology expert for the upcoming NCAA tourney selections, but Big 10 teams Ohio State, Michigan State, Penn State, and Minnesota are sure to earn berths. Both Purdue and Iowa also deserve berths, but both teams are on the bubble.
• Gopher recruit Ashley Ellis-Milan, from St. Paul Central, added another post-season honor to her resume when she was recently named the Star Tribune’s Metro Player of the Year.

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