University of Minnesota Athletics
Aiming for a Sophomore Surge
10/31/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Story by athletic communications assistant Ellen Larson
In the 2016-17 season, the Minnesota Gophers women's basketball team had seven underclassmen on the roster, including four freshmen. They faced a difficult schedule in both the non-conference portion of the season and in Big Ten play, going against the likes of South Carolina and Maryland.
For the freshmen, it was quick introduction to college basketball. Though it was hard at the time, as sophomores they see it as an excellent learning experience.
"It helped me develop quite fast," Gadiva Hubbard said. "It definitely taught me the pace of the game and how it was supposed to be played. It taught me what I needed to do and how fast I needed to learn."
"It definitely put us in a lot of challenging positions," Taiye Bello said. "I think the best thing about playing tough teams like that you learn a lot about yourself, your team and your strengths and weaknesses. It makes it easier to face other teams, especially as you get into the Big Ten."
For these current sophomores, it gave them perspective that they can share with this year's newcomers. Bello spoke about helping to prepare them for college basketball. Hubbard uses her experience to connect emotionally with the sophomores.
"I've been talking to them when things get down," Hubbard said. "I know how that felt when I went through it last year, so I know how to talk to them to get them through things. I just tell them that nothing is personal, go with the flow, and everything will be okay."
As a team, the Gophers feel that they learned and grew from last season. They've added highly-rated freshmen Destiny Pitts and Paloma Gonzalez, as well as junior college transfer Irene Garrido Perez, and rounded out the strengths of the team.
"We have so much talent on this team," Bello said. "In terms of defense, we have so many athletic players. On offense, we have everything a coach would want--drivers, shooters, rebounders. I feel like we can do so much with this team."
But personnel is not the only change from last year. This year, the team has a different mindset.
"We definitely have a more winning attitude," Hubbard said. "Last year, we did have a difficult schedule, so our overall record wasn't as good as it could have been. This year we're going into it with a more winning mindset."
Even as the team faced adversity, last year's freshmen made an immediate impact. Hubbard scored 16 points in her collegiate debut, and averaged 12.5 per game, one of the best averages for a Big Ten freshman. Jasmine Brunson started 14 games and scored 15 points in her collegiate debut. Taiye Bello scored a double-double in her collegiate debut and was named the Gopher's most improved player at the end of the season.
This year, they look to continue that impact, and build off their existing strengths.
"I'm trying to keep growing and get better from last year," Bello said. "This year, I want to make sure I'm rebounding for my team and having more of a scorer's mentality."
Hubbard was more succinct about her goals, and the hard path to get there.
"I want to be on the All-Big Ten team," she said. "I know that it's going to be hard, because we have a lot of great players in the Big Ten, but it's one of my goals."
As for team goals, all the sophomores have the same thing in mind. Bello stated it, plain and simple.
"We want to win the Big Ten championship and go dancing."
