University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Boston College
Women's Basketball Team Headed to Elite Eight
3/28/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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History was made on Sunday night in Minnesota's 76-63 victory over Boston College in the Mideast Region semifinal in Norfolk, Va., The Golden Gophers advanced into the Elite Eight for the first time and will square off against No.1-ranked Duke on Tuesday (7 p.m., ET, ESPN) for a ticket to the Final Four.
"It's a great feeling to play in the Elite Eight," said Golden Gopher head coach Pam Borton. "It's great for both our players and our fans."
J anel McCarville was easily the game's most dominating player. McCarville collected her seventh consecutive double-double of the season (16 overall) with 25 points and 15 rebounds. She also set an NCAA Regional record.
Minnesota (24-8) used a 16-3 run in the first three and a half minutes of the second half to build a cushion the Gophers maintained through the rest of the game. The Gophers turned a two-point, 30-28 halftime lead, into a 15-point, 51-37, lead with 12:35 remaining. S hannon Bolden scored seven of her 13 points in the Gopher run.
If Borton, previously a member of the Boston College coaching staff, remembered one characteristic of her former team, it was that the Eagles were not about to give up.
The Eagles rallied with an 11-2 over the next four minutes to cut the Gophers' lead to seven points on a three-point field goal by Clare Droesch. Minnesota halted the Boston College run by going back inside to McCarville, who scored the next six points for the Gophers. L indsay Whalen followed suit by scoring Minnesota's next seven and the Gophers' lead would never again fall below 13 points.
McCarville set the tone for the game with 14 points and five blocks in the first half, leading Minnesota to a 30-28 lead. Whalen only scored two points in the half but added 13 in the second half to finish the game with 15 points. The Gophers' All-America guard also dished out 10 assists in the game for her first double-double of the season.
Bolden finished with 13 points but her biggest contribution came on the defensive end of the court where she held the Eagles' second-leading scorer Amber Jacobs to just seven points on a 1-for-8 shooting performance. Jacobs, considered by Coach Borton as the heart and soul of the Boston College squad, entered the game averaging 14.9 points per game.
Senior K adidja Andersson was the fourth Gopher in double figure scoring with 11 points. Andersson collected the 1,000th-point of her Minnesota career early in the second half and now has 1,008. With Andersson becoming the 15th member of the Golden Gophers' 1,000-point career scorers' club, Minnesota now has three active players with over 1,000 career points ? Whalen (2,247), McCarville (1,285) and Andersson.
Minnesota shot 47.2 percent from the floor and committed a season-low seven turnov
