The Wake

February was a cold month. The weather, sure, but that’s expected in

Minnesota. What’s not expected? The Gophers women’s basketball team losing four straight games as they near post-season.

“We’ve hit a bump right now,” says junior guard Kelly Roysland during a Feb. 21 interview. “But we’ve felt we’ve played some pretty good basketball overall and we’ve got a pretty good record right now.”

Fortunately, for Roysland and her team, two weeks without a win ended when they defeated Indiana on Feb. 23 and rolled over Northwestern on Feb. 26.

“I think the win over Indiana was a good start, I think it was the best defense we’ve played as a team all year,” says head coach Pam Borton of her team’s elusive 65-58 defeat of the Hoosiers. “It feels good to get back heading in the right direction … our players deserve all the credit, they’ve been working hard handling all the pressure the last couple of weeks. I felt it was a good start, but we’ve got to be consistent.”

Minnesota’s first four-game losing streak since the 2000-01 season was not pretty. It included blowout losses to Michigan State and Purdue (by 23 and 32 points, respectively) and a disappointing 67-61 loss at rival Wisconsin.

Despite the perils of such a losing skid, Borton remains optimistic her team can be in position to make another NCAA tournament run this March. “I think no matter who we play in these games (in the Big Ten tournament) get us ready for the NCAAs” says Borton. “Because these games, these teams, the attitude, Purdue, Michigan State, these are teams that will get us ready for the NCAA tournament.”

Getting there is a given. Minnesota’s win over the Hoosiers put them at 18-8 (10-5 in Big Ten play). There will be no Big Ten Championship, but the lady Gophers have been able to punch another pass to the NCAA Division-I tournament – Minnesota’s fifth-straight NCAA championship quest begins when the tournament starts March 18.

Borton, who has coached NCAA basketball for 17 years, will bring Minnesota to March Madness for her fourth time. As head coach here, Borton has orchestrated the tournament runs with the benefits of having All-American and eventual WNBA number one pick, Janel McCarville, as well as All-everything Minnesota women’s basketball, Lindsey Whalen.

This season Minnesota lacks these two superstars, but they do have a rising star in the pre-season All-Big Ten pick, forward Jamie Broback. The team also has some other highly talented seniors (including defensive specialist—senior Shannon Bolden) and a team (as a whole) Borton claims is “the deepest” and “most talented” team she’s ever coached.

Roysland, a third year Kinesiology student, is not yet Broback’s caliber on the basketball court, but she’s shown signs of being yet another rising star for Minnesota.

A native of Fosston, Minn., Roysland arrived at the U in 2003. In her freshman season, Roysland was teammates with Whalen. Having similar styles in terms of lane penetration and passing, Roysland says Whalen often helped Kelly with her game when the two played together.

“Yeah, I definitely try to emulate her sometimes, I think any player would,” says Roysland, “just the way she can get into the lane and create great space for herself and to get a shot off, stuff like that … She was great for me, always helpful and always encouraging to me.”

“Kelly, yea, we were roomies on the road trips that year,” says Whalen, in a phone interview from Connecticut—where she plays for the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun.

Whalen says the two roomed together on the road during the 2003-04 season, the year of Minnesota’s Final Four.

“She definitely does a bit, she’s got a good ability to take it in the lane, drive and penetrate, dish it out,” says Whalen. “I think she’s a great creator, as well as a great penetrator.”

Borton says she can see some similarities between her ex and current pupils as well; but also says she finds Roysland to be a better fit at the two-guard, noting that her ball handling abilities (right now) are not fit to run the point. Roysland admits she can be a bit overaggressive and has committed 43 turnovers on the season. However, she has recently been one of the few Gophers who have provided consistent play throughout the losing streak.

Over the two winless weeks, Roysland’s play earned her increased playing time and has done well. Over the team’s four losses, she averaged 15 minutes per game, scoring 5.5 points, also contributing six assists and five rebounds.

Roysland was able to start in two games as well. In the team’s win over Indiana, she started her second straight game, scoring 11 points and picking up 3 assists. The other start came against Wisconsin, where she played a crucial role. In that game, despite Minnesota losing 67-61, Roysland scored 13 points, hitting eight of nine free throws—including 2-2 with less than two minutes remaining that cut Minnesota’s margin to 61-59. Although her play might merit her more minutes of court time, having senior captains like Schonrock and Calhoun have made it tough.

“You know, we have nine guards on the team,” says Roysland, who proceeded to mention the names of practically all of them. “It’s a tough job for the coach when she’s drawing up plays … it’s all about personnel and how the team’s jelling, and I’m happy with whatever role she gives me.”

As for the team as a whole this season, Minnesota’s accomplished a lot; turnovers, however, have been plentiful. Throughout Minnesota’s regular season, they averaged 16.5 turnovers per game – ranking just sixth among its Big Ten competitors. Minnesota has done well, however, to overcome its many mistakes.

Strong inside play from sophomore Natasha Williams (8.3 points per game and a 3.8 rebound average) and junior forward Liz Podominick (8.3 ppg, 5.2 rpg) has led Minnesota’s McCarville-less inside game. Senior guards Shannon Schonrock and April Calhoun have had solid seasons as well.

In her fourth season at guard with the Gophers, Schonrock has led Minnesota’s Big Ten leading three-point shooting attack (52 made attempts and 42.6 percent success rate). While Calhoun, a fourth-year transfer from Iowa, has not been a huge scoring factor, she has shown a calm sense of court control. The native of New Hope, Minn. leads the team with 92 assists, and committing few turnovers (55) in comparison.

Whalen and Borton both say the most important thing for this team, heading into the tournament, is feeling comfortable with each other.

The selection committee will have a tough choice when seeding Minnesota this year. The Gophers had key victories over Michigan State, ranked 14th at the time, and a win over Stanford, ranked 11th at the time, for the Subway Classic championship. However, the February skid will be fresh in the minds of the NCAA committee, which will likely deal out a fifth or sixth seed to the Gophers.