The Gopher women play an exhibition tonight vs. Winona State. I cannot make the game but was very interested to see the starting lineup.
C- Zoe Harper, 6-3 freshman from Australia
F- Leslie Knight, junior from Hopkins
G- Kelly Roysland, Emily Fox and Brittany McCoy, 5-10 freshman from Chicago
If Ashley Ellis-Milan, the 6-2 redshirt freshman from St. Paul Central, is not starting, there is a reason. I always said she was too slow, too immobile to be an impact player in the Big Ten. I wonder if Pam Borton regrets now not recruiting Jenna Smith or Cory Montgomery. Well, maybe not, depending on how good Harper is.
And the 3 guard offense...well, consider Roysland to be a forward, which she has mostly played in the past as the Gophers have had a lot of depth at guard in recent years. Still that is a small lineup. Also apparently McCoy is ahead of Korinne Campbell, the 6-foot freshman from New Jersey who was generally regarded as the best of the incoming freshman, but maybe not.
If Gopher football can lose to NDSU (well, they could have), the Gopher women will struggle this year against D2 opponents, beginning tonight. But I do see them being back as a very strong program in the next few years. A big part of that will be the recruiting class of 2008-2009.
They announced the verbal commitment of Jackie Voigt, 6-1 forward from Park-Cottage Grove, yesterday. She joins Kiara Buford of St. Paul Central, and the twin sisters Brianna and Nicole Mastey of Becker.
I wonder how many scholarships they have available? Because in my opinion the best junior in the state this year will be Crookston guard Kamille Wahlin, not that I've seen everybody in the state, but she was the best of a truly spectacular sophomore class at the state tournament last year*--better even than Buford. Buford has the skills but was notable for repeatedly making bad decisions on the court--bad shots, bad passes, bad defensive gambles--while Wahlin has both the skills and a great head for the game. She reminded me of Lindsay Whalen, and I mean that.
* 3 sophomores started in the Class A final between Fulda and Granada-H-EF
* Kelli Smart was Ada's second best player (best was her 9th grade sister Nicole)
* Jenny Gilbertson, Winona Cotter, 6-0 center
* The younger Montgomery, Alex, at Cannon Falls was a soph
* The next Noreen, Jennie, at Albany was a soph
* 8 of the 9 Crookston girls who scored were sophomores, Wahlin is a pass-first point guard who scored 62 points
* Over half of the Rogers roster was sophomores
* Caitlin Rowland of Hopkins
* Buford scored 69 points in the 3 games
* The other best player in Class AA was Hannah Linz of Eden Valley-Watkins, and she was a 9th grader too
I can't find the list of recruits for 2007-2008 but I know the "big one" is 6-5 Janessa Wolff of Park Rapids.
Minnesota girls high school ball is going through a period of vast improvement right now, which should keep the Gopher women going well for the foreseeable future--after this year, that is.
The Gopher women varied their script a bit today, trailing Michigan State most of the first half and by as many as 5 points, before taking their first lead at...
And Fox is a world champion in sport stacking, listed in the Guiness Book of Records and appearing on Jimmy Kimmel. Talk about all around talent! ... ...
The Gopher women avoided the fate of the Wisconsin men, beating North Dakota State 79-70. But it was a game. The Gophers took a 12-2 lead but trailed 28-26...
For the fourth time this year, the Gopher women were unable to hold a double-figure lead at home. Early in the year, they squandered big leads to Nebraska and...
The Gopher women have a verbal commitment from Kiara Buford of St. Paul Central, a 5-11 G-F. She averaged 21 points and 7 boards last year. She will be just a...
They've been busy, having announced yesterday the signing of a 6-4 center from Indiana, Kristen Dockery, who said she selected the Gophers over Purdue, Iowa...
The Gopher women play an exhibition tonight vs. Winona State. I cannot make the game but was very interested to see the starting lineup. C- Zoe Harper, 6-3...
Kudos on last night¹s 78-66 win over Charlotte. Big trouble continues to loom in the middle however, where Zoe Harper and Ashley Ellis-Milan combined for 10...
No, no new results to report. Well, except that Nebraska beat Stanford 3-1 to win the NCAA volleyball title. Most of you probably remember that the Gopher...
The Gopher women stayed with Ohio State for about 24 minutes, even leading 39-38, but Ohio State then ran of an 11-0 run (and extended it to 17-3 and then...
Wisconsin led the Gophers 7-6 after 5 minutes of play, but the Gophers went on a 24-9 run over the next 14 minutes as Kelly Roysland out-scored the Badgers'...
They squeaked out another one 65-63 at Northwestern. Emily Fox stole the ball from Melissa Miller with 6 seconds left and hit a jumper at the 2 second mark for...
The Gopher women held an early 8-6 lead, but then Illinois went on a 28-8 run for a 34-16 lead at the 2 1/2 minute mark. By half-time they were back within...
The Gopher women have played Iowa twice. The Gophers won the first halves 73-36, while Iowa won the second halves 94-55. Fortunately, the Gophers won the OT...
Kelly Roysland was injured‹she jammed her shoulder into a defensive pick‹and left the game. The box says she played 23 minutes so I guess it happened early...
Things went about the way you might have expected today. You certainly might have hoped for better, but, hey Wisconsin 70 Minnesota 57 under the circumstances...
PS. Forgot to mention, Emily Fox made the coach¹s 2nd and the media 3rd team all-Big Ten. Kelly Roysland made the media 3rd and the coach¹s honorable ...
So far so good. Gophers 60 Northwestern 43. The Gophers were never really threatened‹the game was tied at 2-2, the Gophers quickly made it 7-2, then 14-4,...
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