Gopher Basketball
The Gophers collected road wins Wednesday over UW-Green Bay and Saturday over Santa Clara in preparing for their Tuesday showdown. In a tough 60-51 win over Green Bay, the Gophers handed the Phoenix their first loss of the year and their first home loss in 14 games. In a game played before an in-your-face capacity crowd of 1,800-plus, the Gophers again used tenacious defense and an interior size and strength advantage to hold off UW-Green Bay.
Senior post Janel McCarville, playing about an hour from her hometown of Stevens Point, led the Gophers in points (16), rebounds (12), assists (3), and blocks (2). Three other Gophers scored in double figures: Jamie Broback scored 12; April Calhoun and Shannon Schonrock scored 11.
The Gophers 69-42 win over Santa Clara was much easier and Coach Pam Borton was able to use her bench liberally against the inexperienced and undersized Broncos.
The Gopher defense held Santa Clara to 29% shooting from the field in the runaway win. Broback led the Gopher scoring with 21 points, despite losing minutes to first half foul trouble. McCarville followed with 17 points, including the first 3-point field goal of her college career. McCarville scored 16 points in 16 minutes of play in the first half.
With an 8-1 record, the Gophers can now focus their full attention toward the LSU Lady Tigers, 8-0 and the No. 1 team in both the Associated Press and the USA Today/ESPN polls.
Here’s a capsule preview of LSU and Tuesday’s game:
Like the Gophers, LSU lost in the semifinals of last year’s Final Four, losing to Tennessee.
The Lady Tigers have defeated two ranked teams this year, edging Baylor 71-70, and beating Brenda Freese‘s Maryland team, 64-51.
LSU is led by 6’1″ junior Seimone Augustus, the preseason pick to win the Wade Trophy–the women’s basketball player of the year award. Augustus received 38 votes; Gopher post McCarville garnered the second most preseason votes with 35. Augustus, the National Freshman of the Year in 2003 and a Kodak All-American last year, is a very versatile player who gets most of her points within 16 feet. She leads LSU in scoring with 20.9 points per game.
Gopher defensive specialist Shannon Bolden will try to add another notch to her belt, as she tries to shut down one of the best players in the country. Augustus is not much of a long-range threat, as she’s taken only four 3-point shots this year and has yet to hit her first. She’s an unselfish player who seldom forces shots and she’s very good at driving to the basket.
Temeka Johnson, a 5’3″ lightning bolt, is the table-setter for Augustus and her teammates. An honorable mention All-American for the past three years, Johnson leads the team in assists with 5.5 per game this year and she’s the all-time LSU assists leader. She had 10 double doubles last season, all of them consisting of points and assists.
The game will also feature an inside matchup of Shaq versus Baby Shaq. The Gophers’ McCarville, whose nickname is Shaq, will have her hands full in a matchup against 6’5″ LSU post player Sylvia Fowles, whose nickname is Baby Shaq. Fowles, one of the nation’s most highly touted freshman players, is averaging 13 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. She was the first girls high school player on record to dunk in a game, using two hands to dunk twice in a regional playoff game last year.
Notes and Observations:
- Gopher fans can hope that LSU will be a bit rusty. Their last game was November 30.
- It’s hard to say if LSU will be intimidated by the confines of Williams Arena and its fans. The Lady Tigers played in front of some large crowds in last year’s NCAA tournament, but most of those crowds were neutral or favorable. LSU has averaged just over 3,000 fans for their home games; I’d expect a crowd of over 10,000 Tuesday at Williams Arena.
- Despite LSU’s lofty position in the polls, this is a game that the Gophers can win. But in order for them to win, they’ll have to play solid defense. Bolden will have to stop Augustus from driving the lane. Calhoun, Schonrock, and Kelly Roysland will have to keep Johnson from penetrating and passing to open teammates. McCarville will have to control Fowles and dominate the boards. I think McCarville will be able to win the battle with the younger and weaker Fowles, but hopefully she won’t have to help out her teammates on defense a lot. If she does have to help a lot, she could get in foul trouble and that would be a problem for the Gophers. McCarville has a great track record of playing well against formidable post players; Bolden has a history of being able to shut down great offensive players. If McCarville and Bolden perform in these respects as they have in the past, and if their teammates play the asphyxiating defense they’ve played in recent games, the Gophers will have a chance to win this game.
- LSU has three players from the same high school team in Miami. Fowles, Scholanda Hoston, and Florence Williams all played at Edison High School.
- UW-Green Bay may have suffered an emotional hangover after its Wednesday loss to the Gophers. The Phoenix lost 79-76 to interstate rival Wisconsin in Madison on Saturday.
- Iowa continues to be the only remaining undefeated Big 10 team at 8-0. Like their male Hawkeye counterparts, the women have been raising some eyebrows, but are still expected to finish no better than sixth in the conference this year.
- 12th-ranked Michigan State had a tough time beating Detroit Mercy on Saturday. The Spartans beat Detroit, 73-64. Less than two weeks ago, the Gophers pummeled Detroit, 85-34.
- Penn State continued its brutal non-conference schedule Saturday with a 91-70 loss at No. 6 Baylor. The Nittany Lions are 4-4 on the season.
- Washington, the only team to beat the Gophers this year, also fell to 4-4 with a 72-58 loss Saturday to No. 7 Notre Dame.
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