University of Minnesota Athletics
Courtside with Carlie Wagner
1/25/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Carlie Wagner (New Richland, Minn.) is the Gophers' leading scorer, and one of the top scorers in the Big Ten. The Naismith Trophy Watch List honoree has recently increased her average to 19.4 points per game.
You were already one of the team's top scorers the past couple years, but does this year feel different now that you're an upperclassman?
It's definitely different this year, especially with the leadership part. I've always had Rachel (Banham), Shayne (Mullaney) and Bails (Mikayla Bailey) ahead of me and looked up to them. They were always the leaders of the team. It's different stepping up to the plate this year, but it's a challenge that I like taking on.
You're still carrying a lot of the scoring, but it has to be nice having teammates like Kenisha Bell and Gadiva Hubbard who score in double figures consistently.
Definitely. It's nice having a balanced floor where we have multiple scorers at multiple positions. That's what's really cool about this team this year, how diverse we are and how balanced we are with scoring, how many people can score at a given time on the floor.
Coach Stollings has talked about wanting you to work on making reads. How do you feel you have been doing improving in that area?
I think I've definitely improved from the beginning of the season until now. I think it's just slowed down for me and I'm starting to see reads better than I was earlier. It's just coming more natural now that I've gotten more repetition in.
How do you work on that? Does watching film and studying plays help, or is it mostly that repetition that does it?
Most of it's just game speed. Going up against scout guys or whoever I can get in the gym with me. Going game speed, fast. That's the only way you're going to get to see these reads.
One game where things seemed to slow down for you was at Michigan when you had 38 points. What was working well that day?
I guess I was just really confident and we were down. I was just letting it fly and it felt good, and I kept shooting.
You've always played a lot of minutes, but do you feel like your conditioning is on another level this season?
I've got to give props to Coach Ralph (Petrella) on that one. This summer, I think, was the most in-shape and strong we were that I've ever been while I was here. I think it carried out throughout the season. It's keeping us accountable and pushing us in the weight room.
The team has played its best at home this season. How big is this game against a ranked Ohio State team at Williams Arena?
It's huge. Ohio State's a great team and it's fun to have a team like that come into our house and get a chance to play them for a second time after losing the first time. We've had success with them in years past on this court, so we've got to keep the tradition up and keep winning on our court.
Have there been some road trips from New Richland to games like in years past?
They're always thinking of something to come to. It's pretty great. My mom will text me, "There's a bus or two coming up tonight. Make sure you wave at people you know." It's such a great support system to have.
How has your spring semester been going?
Two weeks in, I really like my classes. They're different. They're not just your typical lecture classes. They're classes I've never had a chance to take before-more group work and participation-involved.
Are you getting into most of your major classes now that you're a junior?
I've actually finished most of my communications classes so I'm about finished up with that part of my major, so a lot of them are just business classes and marketing classes for my BME (business and marketing education).
How do you fit in a double major with basketball?
Time management-the key. Getting homework done and prioritizing it in my schedule. If we have an off day, that's the first thing I'm doing. You can't play basketball without getting your homework done, and you can't do school without playing basketball.
