I've been watching a lot of basketball, naturally, and I think the most fun I've had is yesterday's game between the Gopher women and Wisconsin-Green Bay. I didn't turn it on till half time, when the Gophers were behind by ten points. Did they switch jerseys with some new players in the locker room? After losing the first half, 42-32, Minnesota won the second by 57-35. Fifty-seven points is an almost impossible tally for just a half of a college basketball game, and, as improbable as it seems, Wisconsin-Green Bay had the best defense in the country as measured by average points allowed per game: 46.1.
No typos, reader. The other team on average allowed fewer than 50 points per game and the Gophers scored 57 in the second half. Minnesota has the third highest scoring offense in the country at 85.2 points per game.
I haven't followed the team at all, but it looked to me as if they have an unambiguous super star: Kenisha Bell, pictured above. I see that she's averaged around 21 points a game this season. She's a 5-9 guard, kind of slight, and maybe she was getting knocked around or something in the first half because she scored just two points. In the second half, she scored 24 points. Wisconsin-Green Bay had no one quick enough to stay with her. She'd beat her defender off the dribble and either pull up for mid-range jumpers or go all the way to the basket, where she'd usually get fouled. She made 14 free throws in the game, and the Gophers, as a team, made 22 of 23 free throws in the second half.
I guess that's the way to score more than fifty in a half--make 22 free throws, when the clock isn't moving. The Gophers also made 10 of 18 three-point attempts, which, though she didn't even try one, should probably be attributed to Bell as well: it looked to me like Wisconsin-Green Bay's players were so worried about helping to contain her drives that they sagged off their assignment, and Gopher players were able again and again to catch and shoot from just behind the arc.
Bell also had five rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
The outcome was if anything a bit of an upset, since the Gophers were a ten seed and Wisconsin-Green Bay a 7. Next game is against 2-seed Oregon, 9:30 tomorrow evening, on Oregon's home court in Eugene. I'm going to guess that a team good enough to earn a 2 seed has someone who can keep her body between Bell and the basket. But maybe the Gophers can make it interesting.
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