University of Minnesota Athletics
WBB: 2004-05 Season in Review
5/1/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
THE 2004-05 SEASON IN REVIEW
The 2004-05 season is represented by another Sweet 16 banner in the rafters of Williams Arena. Minnesota posted an impressive 26-8 record and added another exciting winning season to what has now become the tradition of Golden Gopher women’s basketball.
With the bar of success substantially raised after the 2004 Final Four appearance, the Gophers entered the 2004-05 campaign with plenty of optimism but also with the nagging question of what life after Lindsay Whalen would be like.
Led by only one senior, Janel McCarville, the Gophers proved they were up to the challenge. This squad won more games in a season than any Minnesota team had in the NCAA era. The Gophers advanced to the championship game of the Big Ten Tournament after never even winning a quarterfinal game in previous years. Though the banner celebrating a Sweet 16 appearance will forever acknowledge the success the Gophers enjoyed, when looking back at the 2004-05 season it becomes evident that Minnesota accomplished a very difficult feat. The Gophers won the games they were supposed to win.
Of the eight losses on the season, five came from Final Four teams, with four of those five to teams (Baylor and Michigan State) who played for the national title. For the second straight year, the Gophers’ season was ended by a loss to the eventual national champion.
McCarville was tabbed the preseason Big Ten Player of the Year, but she missed several weeks of preseason practice and the Gophers’ first two regular-season games with a broken left hand. In her absence, Jamie Broback emerged as another go-to scorer nailing a career-high 28 points in the season opener versus UNLV at the WBCA Classic in Seattle. Host Washington took the Gophers to overtime in the title game and handed Minnesota its only loss to an unranked team all season. Broback and Shannon Schonrock were named to the all-tournament team.
Spirits soared for the Gophers’ first home appearance, the Subway Classic, the unveiling of the Final Four banner and the return to action of McCarville. Shaq only scored five points but grabbed eight rebounds and dished out eight assists to lead the Gophers to an easy win over Arkansas State. Broback scored 23 points and garnered tournament MVP honors pacing the Gophers to a win over Virginia Tech to capture the Subway Classic title for the fifth consecutive season.
The Subway Classic kicked off a seven-game winning streak for the Gophers, providing momentum for a much-anticipated match-up versus top-ranked LSU, a team that joined Minnesota in the 2004 Final Four. A national ESPN audience also was treated to a game that featured two of the top candidates for national player of the year honors in McCarville and Seimone Augustus.
McCarville may have won the battle, scoring a career-high 33 points with 13 rebounds, but the Gophers lost the war losing to the Tigers by a 75-67 count and ending Minnesota’s home non-conference regular-season winning streak at 23 games.
A win over Drake got the Gophers back into their winning way and sent them into the Big Ten season with a 9-2 overall record. Minnesota cruised to wins in its first three conference games, at home versus Northwestern and Indiana and at Wisconsin. The Wisconsin game marked McCarville’s 1,000th career rebound, making her just the 10th player in Big Ten history to record a career double-double of over 1,000 points and rebounds.
Minnesota turned the tables on New Mexico in the Gophers’ next outing. The Lobos entered the game as the top defensive team in the land but it was the Minnesota “D” that was smothering, allowing just 35 points in an easy 75-35 victory.
A confident Minnesota defense traveled to Purdue looking to break a 20-year, 17-game Mackey Arena jinx. The Gophers not only broke the streak, they dominated the Boilermakers on their home court and for the most point did it with McCarville on the bench with foul trouble. Thanks to a career-high 25 points from Schonrock and a rock-solid defensive effort, the Gophers left West Lafayette with a resounding 58-38 victory.
The Gophers went 2-2 over their next four games with home wins sandwiched by losses at Michigan State and Penn State. Two wins over Iowa and Michigan followed before the Gophers suffered through their worst outing of the season, dropping a 79-48 contest to Michigan State in Williams Arena.
Minnesota rebounded with another sound victory over Purdue, but couldn’t climb into the Big Ten’s top three in the standings due to a loss at Ohio State. The loss to the Buckeyes was the Gophers’ last defeat of the regular season, preceding wins over Wisconsin, Indiana and Northwestern. The Gophers ended the regular season with a record of 22-6. Minnesota matched its best record in Big Ten play with a 12-4 mark but it was only good enough for fourth place in the league standings.
Despite all the success of past season, the Gophers still needed to exorcise the ghosts of the Big Ten Tournament. That was accomplished in 2005 but it certainly didn’t come easily.
After defeating Purdue by large margins in the two regular-season contests, the Boilermakers were up the challenge in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal game. Broback with 28 and McCarville with 22 combined for 50 of the Gophers’ points in the 71-68 victory. The Gophers still needed a late 9-0 run to overcome a five-point deficit and capture the victory, Minnesota’s first time advancing past the quarterfinal round.
Perhaps the Gophers’ best game of the season followed in the semifinal against Ohio State. The game needed an extra period to decide the outcome with Minnesota prevailing 66-63 to advance to the Big Ten Tournament championship game. A big offensive rebound by Shannon Bolden and then two free throws by Kelly Roysland with 12 seconds left iced the win of the Gophers.
The Gophers battled Michigan State in the title tilt. Minnesota found itself in its third nip-and-tuck game of the Tournament but in the end fell to the Spartans by a 55-49 score. Both Broback and McCarville were honored on the all-tournament team.
Minnesota’s run through the Big Ten Tournament enhanced the Gophers’ NCAA seed. The Gophers’ No. 3 seed marked the highest in school history.
Williams Arena was once again rocking as the Gophers relished in playing at home for the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season. The Gophers made a big statement with a 64-33 win over St. Francis and a 73-58 victory over Virginia to garner Minnesota’s third straight trip to the Sweet 16.
The Gophers faced Baylor in the semifinal of the Tempe Regional and saw their season ended by a 64-57 loss to the Lady Bears, a team en route to a national title. McCarville tallied a school-record 49th double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds in her last game for the Maroon and Gold.
Click Here For Golden Gopher Season Wrap-up
THE 2004-05 SEASON IN REVIEW
The 2004-05 season is represented by another Sweet 16 banner in the rafters of Williams Arena. Minnesota posted an impressive 26-8 record and added another exciting winning season to what has now become the tradition of Golden Gopher women’s basketball.
With the bar of success substantially raised after the 2004 Final Four appearance, the Gophers entered the 2004-05 campaign with plenty of optimism but also with the nagging question of what life after Lindsay Whalen would be like.
Led by only one senior, Janel McCarville, the Gophers proved they were up to the challenge. This squad won more games in a season than any Minnesota team had in the NCAA era. The Gophers advanced to the championship game of the Big Ten Tournament after never even winning a quarterfinal game in previous years. Though the banner celebrating a Sweet 16 appearance will forever acknowledge the success the Gophers enjoyed, when looking back at the 2004-05 season it becomes evident that Minnesota accomplished a very difficult feat. The Gophers won the games they were supposed to win.
Of the eight losses on the season, five came from Final Four teams, with four of those five to teams (Baylor and Michigan State) who played for the national title. For the second straight year, the Gophers’ season was ended by a loss to the eventual national champion.
McCarville was tabbed the preseason Big Ten Player of the Year, but she missed several weeks of preseason practice and the Gophers’ first two regular-season games with a broken left hand. In her absence, Jamie Broback emerged as another go-to scorer nailing a career-high 28 points in the season opener versus UNLV at the WBCA Classic in Seattle. Host Washington took the Gophers to overtime in the title game and handed Minnesota its only loss to an unranked team all season. Broback and Shannon Schonrock were named to the all-tournament team.
Spirits soared for the Gophers’ first home appearance, the Subway Classic, the unveiling of the Final Four banner and the return to action of McCarville. Shaq only scored five points but grabbed eight rebounds and dished out eight assists to lead the Gophers to an easy win over Arkansas State. Broback scored 23 points and garnered tournament MVP honors pacing the Gophers to a win over Virginia Tech to capture the Subway Classic title for the fifth consecutive season.
The Subway Classic kicked off a seven-game winning streak for the Gophers, providing momentum for a much-anticipated match-up versus top-ranked LSU, a team that joined Minnesota in the 2004 Final Four. A national ESPN audience also was treated to a game that featured two of the top candidates for national player of the year honors in McCarville and Seimone Augustus.
McCarville may have won the battle, scoring a career-high 33 points with 13 rebounds, but the Gophers lost the war losing to the Tigers by a 75-67 count and ending Minnesota’s home non-conference regular-season winning streak at 23 games.
A win over Drake got the Gophers back into their winning way and sent them into the Big Ten season with a 9-2 overall record. Minnesota cruised to wins in its first three conference games, at home versus Northwestern and Indiana and at Wisconsin. The Wisconsin game marked McCarville’s 1,000th career rebound, making her just the 10th player in Big Ten history to record a career double-double of over 1,000 points and rebounds.
Minnesota turned the tables on New Mexico in the Gophers’ next outing. The Lobos entered the game as the top defensive team in the land but it was the Minnesota “D” that was smothering, allowing just 35 points in an easy 75-35 victory.
A confident Minnesota defense traveled to Purdue looking to break a 20-year, 17-game Mackey Arena jinx. The Gophers not only broke the streak, they dominated the Boilermakers on their home court and for the most point did it with McCarville on the bench with foul trouble. Thanks to a career-high 25 points from Schonrock and a rock-solid defensive effort, the Gophers left West Lafayette with a resounding 58-38 victory.
The Gophers went 2-2 over their next four games with home wins sandwiched by losses at Michigan State and Penn State. Two wins over Iowa and Michigan followed before the Gophers suffered through their worst outing of the season, dropping a 79-48 contest to Michigan State in Williams Arena.
Minnesota rebounded with another sound victory over Purdue, but couldn’t climb into the Big Ten’s top three in the standings due to a loss at Ohio State. The loss to the Buckeyes was the Gophers’ last defeat of the regular season, preceding wins over Wisconsin, Indiana and Northwestern. The Gophers ended the regular season with a record of 22-6. Minnesota matched its best record in Big Ten play with a 12-4 mark but it was only good enough for fourth place in the league standings.
Despite all the success of past season, the Gophers still needed to exorcise the ghosts of the Big Ten Tournament. That was accomplished in 2005 but it certainly didn’t come easily.
After defeating Purdue by large margins in the two regular-season contests, the Boilermakers were up the challenge in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal game. Broback with 28 and McCarville with 22 combined for 50 of the Gophers’ points in the 71-68 victory. The Gophers still needed a late 9-0 run to overcome a five-point deficit and capture the victory, Minnesota’s first time advancing past the quarterfinal round.
Perhaps the Gophers’ best game of the season followed in the semifinal against Ohio State. The game needed an extra period to decide the outcome with Minnesota prevailing 66-63 to advance to the Big Ten Tournament championship game. A big offensive rebound by Shannon Bolden and then two free throws by Kelly Roysland with 12 seconds left iced the win of the Gophers.
The Gophers battled Michigan State in the title tilt. Minnesota found itself in its third nip-and-tuck game of the Tournament but in the end fell to the Spartans by a 55-49 score. Both Broback and McCarville were honored on the all-tournament team.
Minnesota’s run through the Big Ten Tournament enhanced the Gophers’ NCAA seed. The Gophers’ No. 3 seed marked the highest in school history.
Williams Arena was once again rocking as the Gophers relished in playing at home for the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season. The Gophers made a big statement with a 64-33 win over St. Francis and a 73-58 victory over Virginia to garner Minnesota’s third straight trip to the Sweet 16.
The Gophers faced Baylor in the semifinal of the Tempe Regional and saw their season ended by a 64-57 loss to the Lady Bears, a team en route to a national title. McCarville tallied a school-record 49th double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds in her last game for the Maroon and Gold.
