University of Minnesota Athletics
Gopher Women's Basketball 2002-2003 Season Outlook
10/21/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
| Junior Lindsay Whalen |
Using that law of nature and relating it to the world of collegiate sports, the Minnesota women's basketball program is in motion, and in high gear. With a tidal wave of momentum built up from last season, it is without hesitation that one can say, as the Golden Gopher women's basketball team heads into the 2002-03 season, they do so with the highest expectations of any Minnesota squad in the 29-year history of the program.
"Because of last season, we have set our expectations high," said new Golden Gopher head coach Pam Borton. "We want to continue the excitement. These players believe they will win. We are focused on winning the Big Ten title and making a run in the NCAA Tournament.
"That's the difference between last year's team and this year's team, we believe that we can win a Big Ten title this year and not just be happy to get into the NCAA Tournament."
Minnesota has every element necessary in place to make a serious run at a Big Ten Conference championship and to advance deep into the NCAA brackets of postseason play.
Obviously these elements begin with the team. New Golden Gopher skipper Pam Borton has a squad loaded with talent ready to take on the season. A tightly knit group of 10 letterwinners, including all five starters, returns as the foundation of the Golden Gophers. Add into the mix a highly touted and anticipated class of recruits. The Gophers have the talent to make their dreams of postseason success a reality.
"One of the strengths of this team and this program is how tightly knit the players are," added Borton. "They are one big family. We have great team chemistry and that is something that you can't coach. It's something that just develops.
| Senior Lindsay Lieser |
"I could not ask for more from this team in regard to their work ethic. They have such a willingness to learn and to adapt a new system. They have an exceptional belief in each other and in this coaching staff."
The Gophers drew the attention of the national pollsters with their performance in 2001-02. Minnesota ended the season with a No. 18 ranking in the AP poll, No. 21 in the USA Today poll. As the 2002-03 season approaches, the national polls once again point to the Golden Gophers as a team to reckon with. Most preseason polls have the Golden Gophers ranked between 10-20, some place Minnesota as high as No. 13. National rankings are a sure sign that a program has arrived. The Gophers have arrived.
Minnesota's Team
When the Golden Gophers won over the hearts of their Minnesota faithful, the inspired play from point guard Lindsay Whalen paved the way. Whalen was nothing short of sensational in her sophomore season. A crowd favorite, Whalen soon earned the respect of coaches and media around the country. The quiet, even-keeled Whalen proved to be a juggernaut on the court. By season's end, Whalen was reaping the rewards reserved for a top player who turned her team into a top team.
Whalen earned a spot on several All-America teams, most notable were third-team honors by the Associated Press and honorable mention acclaim on the Kodak All-America team. Big Ten coaches and media selected the Gopher leader as the 2002 Big Ten Player of the Year, beating out a pair of opposing All-Americans: Penn State's Kelly Mazzante and Purdue's Shereka Wright. She became the third Golden Gopher and third sophomore to earn the conference's top honor. A natural shooting guard, rather than a true point guard, Whalen was still among the players listed as finalists for the Point Guard of the Year honors.
| Junior Kadidja Andersson |
Whalen and all four other starters from a year ago return to the Gopher lineup, making Minnesota a sure bet to enter the season among the Big Ten favorites.
Senior long-range shooter Lindsay Lieser has 63 starts to her credit and has not missed a single game in her collegiate career. Lieser owns every three-point field goal record in Gopher history. She enters the season with 190 treys, shooting just under 40 percent from behind the arc.
The Golden Gophers, especially the backcourt, will have the luxury of depth this season. Compared to last season, when Minnesota relied on a seven-player rotation, look for the Gophers to employ a more balanced attack. Shannon Schonrock, a highly rated freshman point guard, is expected to make an immediate impact. Schonrock, the first true point guard to join the Gophers in recent history, displays the natural leadership ability coaches love in a court general.
Other players who add depth to the Gopher frontcourt and small forward position are senior Trish McGhee at the point guard position, and juniors Leslie Hill and Kim Nelson, who can play at either the No. 2 or No. 3 positions.
| Senior Corrin Von Wald |
Von Wald will be a top contender to retain her starting spot at the small forward position, where she started all 30 games a year ago. Others who will contend for the starting spot and will see plenty of playing time this season are sophomore Tanisha Gilbert and freshman Shannon Bolden.
Gilbert and Bolden are similar players in that they are not only versatile, but also very athletic. Both are probably best fitted for the small forward position, yet both could move into the frontcourt at shooting guard or into the low post at power forward.
Gilbert is in her third year with the program, but has not seen the court since the first semester of her freshman season. Gilbert was ruled academically ineligible for the second half of her rookie season, then despite being academically eligible a year ago, missed the season after ACL surgery on her knee during the summer. Gilbert entered Minnesota with Nike All-America credentials coming out of high school. She was the second-leading scorer and top rebounder in her freshman season with the Gophers and now the Gopher coaching staff looks for a mature, experienced Gilbert to make a major impact on the squad this season.
Bolden is the fourth Minnesota Ms. Basketball to come play for her hometown university. She is a well-rounded player, who will see immediate action in her first collegiate season. Bolden, the Minnesota Co-Player of the Year in 2001, helped Marshall High School to consecutive state titles, including a perfect 29-0 state title march her senior season.
The Golden Gopher low point positions may not be heavy on numbers, but they are in talent. Led by 2002 Big Ten Freshman of the Year Janel McCarville, the Golden Gophers found the right combinations in the paint to compete well with the physical post play in the Big Ten. McCarville, also a second-team All-Big Ten selection, topped the Gophers in rebounding, pulling down 8.0 rebounds per game. The 6-2 sophomore also added 13.0 points per game, an average that increased in the big games when she scored 17.9 points per game against nationally ranked opponents.
| Sophomore Janel McCarville |
Junior Kadidja Andersson is the returning starter at power forward. Andersson started every game last season and chipped in a reliable 10.5 points and 4.8 rebounds an outing. She was also third on the team in assists with 62, and the Gophers' top free throw shooter, hitting 77.5 percent of her opportunities for the stripe.
The new kid down on the low block this season is 6-2 freshman Christina Collison. Collison has played AAU ball with Bolden and Schonrock to prepare for their collegiate debuts. Collison is a strong rebounder and defender in the paint. She has the potential to become a force down low as she becomes accustomed to the physical nature of the play under the basket in the Big Ten.
A New Home
The Golden Gophers have made the permanent move to Williams Arena. The former home of the Gophers, the Sports Pavilion, was flooded on Jan. 19, making a move to the historic arena necessary for the last five games of the 2001-02 season.
The day after the flood at the Pavilion occurred, the Gophers' season took on enormous proportions as they defeated No. 5 Wisconsin in Madison. When Minnesota returned home the following week, a Minnesota all-time record crowd of 11,389, more than double the Pavilion's capacity, showed up to witness a Gopher victory over Indiana. The Gophers were now the hottest ticket in town. Minnesota averaged over 8,800 fans in their games played at Williams. The extraordinary run ended with another record attendance, when a crowd of 12,142 showed for the season finale.
Minnesota ended the season ranked 19th in the national attendance figures. Williams Arena, lovingly referred to as "The Barn," with its raised playing floor, is truly a home-court advantage for this Golden Gopher squad.
"Playing in Williams Arena is a huge advantage for our program," said Borton. "In the state of Minnesota, kids grow up wanting to play in Williams Arena. It's one of the most unique and exciting basketball atmospheres in the country. Williams Arena is a huge recruiting tool for us."
The Schedule
The Gophers open the 2002-03 season at home by hosting the Subway Basketball Classic on Saturday-Sunday, Nov. 23-24. Minnesota will play Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne in the season-opener, with its sights set on advancing to the championship game the next night against either Radford or Savannah State.
| Senior Kim Prince |
The highlights of the Gophers' non-conference travel schedule are trips to compete in the Air Force Academy Tournament over Thanksgiving and a trip to the East Coast in early December. The Gophers will face Providence and Harvard on their eastern excursion. Harvard was an NCAA Tournament participant a year ago, joining the Gophers in Chapel Hill, N.C. where the Crimson fell to North Carolina in the first round.
Minnesota gets to open the Big Ten season at Williams Arena, when Michigan comes into town on Jan. 2. The Gophers will play other home conference dates with Illinois, Iowa, Purdue, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin. Illinois, Michigan State, Purdue and Wisconsin only appear once on the Gophers' schedule this season.
The Big Ten Tournament returns to Indianapolis and Conseco Fieldhouse, March 6-10.
| Junior Lindsay Whalen |
Using that law of nature and relating it to the world of collegiate sports, the Minnesota women's basketball program is in motion, and in high gear. With a tidal wave of momentum built up from last season, it is without hesitation that one can say, as the Golden Gopher women's basketball team heads into the 2002-03 season, they do so with the highest expectations of any Minnesota squad in the 29-year history of the program.
"Because of last season, we have set our expectations high," said new Golden Gopher head coach Pam Borton. "We want to continue the excitement. These players believe they will win. We are focused on winning the Big Ten title and making a run in the NCAA Tournament.
"That's the difference between last year's team and this year's team, we believe that we can win a Big Ten title this year and not just be happy to get into the NCAA Tournament."
Minnesota has every element necessary in place to make a serious run at a Big Ten Conference championship and to advance deep into the NCAA brackets of postseason play.
Obviously these elements begin with the team. New Golden Gopher skipper Pam Borton has a squad loaded with talent ready to take on the season. A tightly knit group of 10 letterwinners, including all five starters, returns as the foundation of the Golden Gophers. Add into the mix a highly touted and anticipated class of recruits. The Gophers have the talent to make their dreams of postseason success a reality.
"One of the strengths of this team and this program is how tightly knit the players are," added Borton. "They are one big family. We have great team chemistry and that is something that you can't coach. It's something that just develops.
| Senior Lindsay Lieser |
"I could not ask for more from this team in regard to their work ethic. They have such a willingness to learn and to adapt a new system. They have an exceptional belief in each other and in this coaching staff."
The Gophers drew the attention of the national pollsters with their performance in 2001-02. Minnesota ended the season with a No. 18 ranking in the AP poll, No. 21 in the USA Today poll. As the 2002-03 season approaches, the national polls once again point to the Golden Gophers as a team to reckon with. Most preseason polls have the Golden Gophers ranked between 10-20, some place Minnesota as high as No. 13. National rankings are a sure sign that a program has arrived. The Gophers have arrived.
Minnesota's Team
When the Golden Gophers won over the hearts of their Minnesota faithful, the inspired play from point guard Lindsay Whalen paved the way. Whalen was nothing short of sensational in her sophomore season. A crowd favorite, Whalen soon earned the respect of coaches and media around the country. The quiet, even-keeled Whalen proved to be a juggernaut on the court. By season's end, Whalen was reaping the rewards reserved for a top player who turned her team into a top team.
Whalen earned a spot on several All-America teams, most notable were third-team honors by the Associated Press and honorable mention acclaim on the Kodak All-America team. Big Ten coaches and media selected the Gopher leader as the 2002 Big Ten Player of the Year, beating out a pair of opposing All-Americans: Penn State's Kelly Mazzante and Purdue's Shereka Wright. She became the third Golden Gopher and third sophomore to earn the conference's top honor. A natural shooting guard, rather than a true point guard, Whalen was still among the players listed as finalists for the Point Guard of the Year honors.
| Junior Kadidja Andersson |
Whalen and all four other starters from a year ago return to the Gopher lineup, making Minnesota a sure bet to enter the season among the Big Ten favorites.
Senior long-range shooter Lindsay Lieser has 63 starts to her credit and has not missed a single game in her collegiate career. Lieser owns every three-point field goal record in Gopher history. She enters the season with 190 treys, shooting just under 40 percent from behind the arc.
The Golden Gophers, especially the backcourt, will have the luxury of depth this season. Compared to last season, when Minnesota relied on a seven-player rotation, look for the Gophers to employ a more balanced attack. Shannon Schonrock, a highly rated freshman point guard, is expected to make an immediate impact. Schonrock, the first true point guard to join the Gophers in recent history, displays the natural leadership ability coaches love in a court general.
Other players who add depth to the Gopher frontcourt and small forward position are senior Trish McGhee at the point guard position, and juniors Leslie Hill and Kim Nelson, who can play at either the No. 2 or No. 3 positions.
| Senior Corrin Von Wald |
Von Wald will be a top contender to retain her starting spot at the small forward position, where she started all 30 games a year ago. Others who will contend for the starting spot and will see plenty of playing time this season are sophomore Tanisha Gilbert and freshman Shannon Bolden.
Gilbert and Bolden are similar players in that they are not only versatile, but also very athletic. Both are probably best fitted for the small forward position, yet both could move into the frontcourt at shooting guard or into the low post at power forward.
Gilbert is in her third year with the program, but has not seen the court since the first semester of her freshman season. Gilbert was ruled academically ineligible for the second half of her rookie season, then despite being academically eligible a year ago, missed the season after ACL surgery on her knee during the summer. Gilbert entered Minnesota with Nike All-America credentials coming out of high school. She was the second-leading scorer and top rebounder in her freshman season with the Gophers and now the Gopher coaching staff looks for a mature, experienced Gilbert to make a major impact on the squad this season.
Bolden is the fourth Minnesota Ms. Basketball to come play for her hometown university. She is a well-rounded player, who will see immediate action in her first collegiate season. Bolden, the Minnesota Co-Player of the Year in 2001, helped Marshall High School to consecutive state titles, including a perfect 29-0 state title march her senior season.
The Golden Gopher low point positions may not be heavy on numbers, but they are in talent. Led by 2002 Big Ten Freshman of the Year Janel McCarville, the Golden Gophers found the right combinations in the paint to compete well with the physical post play in the Big Ten. McCarville, also a second-team All-Big Ten selection, topped the Gophers in rebounding, pulling down 8.0 rebounds per game. The 6-2 sophomore also added 13.0 points per game, an average that increased in the big games when she scored 17.9 points per game against nationally ranked opponents.
| Sophomore Janel McCarville |
Junior Kadidja Andersson is the returning starter at power forward. Andersson started every game last season and chipped in a reliable 10.5 points and 4.8 rebounds an outing. She was also third on the team in assists with 62, and the Gophers' top free throw shooter, hitting 77.5 percent of her opportunities for the stripe.
The new kid down on the low block this season is 6-2 freshman Christina Collison. Collison has played AAU ball with Bolden and Schonrock to prepare for their collegiate debuts. Collison is a strong rebounder and defender in the paint. She has the potential to become a force down low as she becomes accustomed to the physical nature of the play under the basket in the Big Ten.
A New Home
The Golden Gophers have made the permanent move to Williams Arena. The former home of the Gophers, the Sports Pavilion, was flooded on Jan. 19, making a move to the historic arena necessary for the last five games of the 2001-02 season.
The day after the flood at the Pavilion occurred, the Gophers' season took on enormous proportions as they defeated No. 5 Wisconsin in Madison. When Minnesota returned home the following week, a Minnesota all-time record crowd of 11,389, more than double the Pavilion's capacity, showed up to witness a Gopher victory over Indiana. The Gophers were now the hottest ticket in town. Minnesota averaged over 8,800 fans in their games played at Williams. The extraordinary run ended with another record attendance, when a crowd of 12,142 showed for the season finale.
Minnesota ended the season ranked 19th in the national attendance figures. Williams Arena, lovingly referred to as "The Barn," with its raised playing floor, is truly a home-court advantage for this Golden Gopher squad.
"Playing in Williams Arena is a huge advantage for our program," said Borton. "In the state of Minnesota, kids grow up wanting to play in Williams Arena. It's one of the most unique and exciting basketball atmospheres in the country. Williams Arena is a huge recruiting tool for us."
The Schedule
The Gophers open the 2002-03 season at home by hosting the Subway Basketball Classic on Saturday-Sunday, Nov. 23-24. Minnesota will play Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne in the season-opener, with its sights set on advancing to the championship game the next night against either Radford or Savannah State.
| Senior Kim Prince |
The highlights of the Gophers' non-conference travel schedule are trips to compete in the Air Force Academy Tournament over Thanksgiving and a trip to the East Coast in early December. The Gophers will face Providence and Harvard on their eastern excursion. Harvard was an NCAA Tournament participant a year ago, joining the Gophers in Chapel Hill, N.C. where the Crimson fell to North Carolina in the first round.
Minnesota gets to open the Big Ten season at Williams Arena, when Michigan comes into town on Jan. 2. The Gophers will play other home conference dates with Illinois, Iowa, Purdue, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin. Illinois, Michigan State, Purdue and Wisconsin only appear once on the Gophers' schedule this season.
The Big Ten Tournament returns to Indianapolis and Conseco Fieldhouse, March 6-10.
