2008-09 season review
Game 5 (Subway Classic) Minnesota 87 Yale 63 November 23, 2008 • Williams Arena • Minneapolis • Attendance: 5,568 Recap: Minnesota had three players score 15 or more points as a balanced effort helped the Golden Gophers capture the title in the Subway Classic with an 87-63 victory over Yale at Williams Arena on Sunday, Nov. 23. Senior Emily Fox paced the Gophers with 17 points and seven assists and was named the Classic most valuable player for the second consecutive season. Yale (2-2) played inspired basketball in the first half, sticking with the Gophers who held a 35-34 lead at intermission. Late in the half, the Bulldogs even owned a four-point lead. The five minutes of the second half proved to be the difference in the game. Minnesota fired out of the gates hitting on seven of their first 10 shots in the half, including thee-point field goals by three different Golden Gophers. Kiara Buford, who joined Fox on the all-tournament team, swished a long three from the right wing to cap off an 18-6 Gopher run and give Minnesota a 53-40 lead with 15:05 to place. The Bulldogs closed to within single-digits twice, the last being a nine-point deficit at 59-50 with 9:42 remaining. The Gophers took control down the stretch with a 10-0 run from that point. Katie Ohm, who struggled with foul trouble versus American in the Gophers’ previous game, was flawless from long range hitting her third three-pointer to finish the day a perfect 3-for-3 from behind the arc. Buford added her second three-pointer of the game. With the game well in hand, the Gopher bench saw plenty of action and the lead continued to swell. Redshirt freshman Kristen Dockery saw the first action of her collegiate career and hit two free throws with a minute left to match the Gophers’ biggest lead of 27 points (87-60) and receive an ovation from the Gopher crowd of 5,568. Minnesota Ellis-Milan, F Voigt, F Fox, G McCoy, G Ohm, G Harper Buford B. Mastey Sylva N. Mastey Dockery TEAM Totals
Min FG-A 22 3-9 22 5-7 30 7-13 28 1-6 22 5-9 16 2-3 20 2-5 12 0-4 20 6-7 6 0-0 2 0-0
R 11 7 1 2 1 6 2 2 1 1 3 3 200 31-63 18-23 40
17 87
Yale Wright, F Gobrecht, F Colborne, G Lillemoe, G Van Horne, G Carter Greenfield Cashen Sigenson Easley TEAM Totals
Min 33 26 28 13 27 15 20 13 20 5
A Pt 0 15 3 7 4 19 1 0 0 3 0 2 0 5 0 2 1 8 0 2
FG-A 4-12 3-6 6-12 0-1 1-5 1-4 1-3 1-4 1-6 1-2
FT-A 0-0 4-6 3-3 2-2 2-4 3-4 0-0 2-2 0-0 0-0 2-2
FT-A 7-8 1-2 7-8 0-0 0-0 0-0 3-4 0-0 6-6 0-0
R 9 5 4 0 1 1 1 5 3 0 7 200 19-55 24-28 36
A 1 2 7 3 0 0 0 0 4 0 0
Pt 6 15 17 5 15 7 6 2 12 0 2
9 63
Halftime: Minnesota 35, Yale 34 3-Pt Goals: Minnesota: 7-14 (Ohm 3-3, Voigt 1-2, Fox 0-3, McCoy 1-1, Buford 2-3, B. Mastey 0-2); Yale: 1-6 (Van Horne 1-5, Easley 0-1) Turnovers: Minnesota 15, Yale 21 Personal Fouls: Minnesota 24, Yale 21 Technicals: none Fouled Out: none
Game 6 (Colorado Coors Classic) Minnesota 74 Drexel
50
November 28, 2008 • Coors Center • Boulder, Colo.• Attendance: 478 Recap: Senior Kay Sylva scored a career-high 17 points to lead Minnesota to a 74-50 victory over Drexel in the Colorado Coors Classic in Boulder, Colo. The Golden Gophers, 5-1 on the season, advanced to meet UMass in the Classic title game. After holding only a 32-27 halftime lead and seeing their leader Emily Fox without a point in the first half, the Gophers broke the game open early in the second half behind their senior captain. Fox, playing in the Coors Event Center for the first time since winning her third state title in as a high school senior at ThunderRidge, buried a three-point field goal with 16:50 left to play to break into the scoring column. Seconds later Fox grabbed a steal and went coast-to-coast continuing a scoring streak that would extend to 11 straight points to give her team a 14-point lead with 13:49 left. Minnesota connected on 56.5 percent of its field goal attempts in the second half, building as big as a 26-point lead late. Fox scored all 13 points in the half, while Sylva attacked the basket for 10 of game-high 17. The Gophers also controlled the boards, outrebounding Drexel (2-3) by a 24-13 margin and pressuring the Dragons into shooting 29.6 percent for the game. Jackie Voigt was the standout in the first half, not with a big offensive display, but with a solid defensive performance on Drexel senior Gabriela Marginean. Marginean, voted the preseason Colonial Athletic Association Preseason Player of the Year and entering the game averaging 29.5 points a game, was held to just six points on just 1of-6 field goal attempts in the first half. Marginean finished with 15 points, nearly half her season scoring average, and hit on just five of 14 shot attempts. When Voigt was out of the game, Brittany McCoy took over on Marginean in the second half and finished the task on defense. Minnesota Ellis-Milan, F Voigt, F Fox, G McCoy, G Ohm, G Harper Buford B. Mastey Kay Sylva TEAM Totals
Min FG-A 27 4-8 27 2-5 29 4-10 28 0-2 27 2-7 13 1-4 21 4-8 4 0-0 24 5-7
R 10 5 3 3 7 5 6 2 1 5 200 22-51 26-36 47
11 74
Drexel Stjarnstrom, F Hester, F Marginean, F Peterson, G Rosseel, G Hale Crane Lee Nackaite Cornish TEAM Totals
Min 11 29 35 37 23 13 24 5 15 9
A Pt 1 0 4 5 1 15 3 7 2 9 0 2 2 4 0 2 1 6 0 0
FG-A 0-0 2-4 5-14 1-5 3-12 1-3 1-5 1-5 2-6 0-0
FT-A 5-8 1-1 4-4 3-8 3-4 3-3 0-0 0-0 7-8
FT-A 0-0 0-0 5-7 5-5 0-0 0-0 2-6 0-0 1-3 0-1
R 1 2 9 2 3 2 2 0 5 0 4 200 16-54 13-22 30
A 0 0 2 4 2 1 1 0 1
Pt 13 5 13 3 9 5 9 0 17
Game 7 (Colorado Coors Classic) Minnesota 86 UMass 67 November 29, 2008 • Coors Center • Boulder, Colo.• Attendance: 1109 Recap: Minnesota rallied from an eight-point halftime deficit with a blistering second-half performance to capture an 86-67 win over UMass in the championship game of the Colorado Coors Classic in Boulder, Colo. Emily Fox scored a season-high 24 points, while Katie Ohm added a career-high 20 points and Ashley Ellis-Milan posted a double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds. Minnesota, winners of six straight games, is 6-1 on the season. Fox was honored as the Classic MVP, her second honor in as many weeks. Ellis-Milan joined Fox on the all-tournament team. “I told the team at halftime that we were hurting ourselves and that we need to get out there and play our game,” said Golden Gopher head coach Pam Borton. “We had so many people step up in the second half. Once again, we had several players who deserved all-tournament honors. It was great to see Emmy play well in front of her home-state family and friends. Ashley took control of the boards, Katie made some huge shots. I could go on and on.” Fox started the second-half barrage with a three-pointer after the Gophers extended the possession with two offensive rebounds. The triple started a 10-0 run erased UMass’ halftime lead and with an Ellis-Milan bucket, only on a secondchance opportunity, gave the Gophers a 38-36 lead, their first since early in the first half. What Fox started after intermission, Ohm continued. The Gopher junior sharpshooter caught fire from behind the arc hitting four three-pointers and scored 16 points to finish with a career-best six treys in the game. Ellis-Milan grabbed five offensive rebounds to fuel a huge rebounding performance that capitalized on a 27-7 advantage on the boards in the second half. Minnesota collected plenty of second chances pulling down 16 offensive rebounds to just two for UMass in the game. UMass (3-3) tied the score one more time at 4141, but Minnesota ran off 12 straight points to take complete control of the outcome. Brittany McCoy dished out seven assists in the second half to finish with 10, her second double-digit outing of the season. Five different players hit three-pointers for the Gophers in the second half, including Fox with four. The first half was a completely different story. The Gophers struggled on both ends of the court, shooting just 33 percent from the field and leaving too many points on the free throw line, converting just 5-of-13 attempts. UMass made 6-10 threepointers and 10-12 free throws to take advantage of the Gophers’ sluggish start.
Minnesota Ellis-Milan, F Voigt, F Fox, G McCoy, G Ohm, G Harper Buford B. Mastey Kay Sylva N. Mastey TEAM Totals
Min FG-A 25 4-4 25 3-7 31 8-14 29 1-9 29 7-13 15 2-3 23 2-8 6 1-2 14 1-4 3 0-0
R 14 7 3 4 2 2 3 1 4 0 0 200 29-64 14-25 40
A 2 2 6 10 0 0 0 0 3 0
UMass Wright, F Mosgrove, G Benton, G Hill, G Gerardot, G Howard Avebe Teuscher Young Danella Jones TEAM Totals
Min 17 32 20 26 25 5 10 6 27 19 13
A 0 0 0 3 2 0 0 0 5 0 0
FG-A 1-5 5-9 2-3 1-2 3-7 0-1 0-1 0-0 2-6 1-2 0-1
FT-A 3-6 2-2 4-5 0-2 0-0 1-2 2-6 0-0 2-2 0-0
FT-A 0-0 2-2 1-2 0-0 7-10 2-2 1-2 2-2 6-6 6-6 0-0
R 2 3 0 1 3 2 3 0 6 5 3 0 200 15-37 27-32 28
Pt 11 9 24 2 20 5 7 3 5 0
23 86 Pt 2 17 7 2 15 2 1 2 10 9 0
10 67
Halftime: UMass 36, Minnesota 28 3-Pt Goals: Minnesota: 14-34 (Voigt 1-2, Fox 4-7, McCoy 0-3, Ohm 6-12, Sylva 1-3, Buford 1-5, B. Mastey 1-2); UMass: 10-19 (Mosgrove 5-9, Benton 23, Gerardot 2-4, Young 0-1, Danella 1-2) Turnovers: Minnesota 11, UMass 20 Personal Fouls: Minnesota 21, UMass 19 Technicals: none Fouled Out: none
14 50
Halftime: Minnesota 32, Drexel 27 3-Pt Goals: Minnesota: 4-12 (Voigt 0-1, Fox 1-2, McCoy 0-1, Ohm 2-5, Sylva 0-1, Buford 1-2); Drexel 528 (Hester 1-3, Marginean 0-2, Peterson 0-3, Rosseel 3-11, Hale 0-2, Crane 0-3, Nackaite 1-4) Turnovers: Minnesota 21, Drexel 24 Personal Fouls: Minnesota 21, Drexel 27 Technicals: Buford (M) Fouled Out: Hale (D), Nackaite (D)
105 * Minnesota Basketball