The most important thing for Gophers women's basketball coach Lindsay Whalen on Sunday was the experience and not, necessarily, the final score.
Because, as expected in an exhibition opener against Division II Minnesota Crookston, the Gophers breezed to a 78-33 victory at Williams Arena, outscoring the Golden Eagles 41-7 over the second and third quarters.
What Whalen wanted was for her team to go through the process.
"After last year, without fans, and how just the year was, I felt it was a good opportunity for us to go through a game day,'' Whalen said. "Go through the experience of shootaround, fans back, to get that experience after not having it for a year. To get one game with the lights on, the band is there, the fans.''
While it's hard to draw conclusions, there were some themes that emerged from the game:
- Led by the guards, the starting lineup looked good.
Whalen is going with a three-guard starting five, with point guard Jasmine Powell, Sara Scalia and Gadiva Hubbard, who played her first game wearing No. 13, the first time a player has worn that jersey since Whalen in 2003-04. Those three combined for 39 points on 16-for-29 shooting, making seven of 16 threes.
Hubbard hit five of nine three-pointers for 17 points. Powell had nine points, four assists and seven boards. Scalia scored 13 with three steals.
"Coach actually came up to me during our shootaround and said, 'This is your first game as No. 13,' " Hubbard said. "I was like, 'Oh my gosh, I have a lot to look up to.' But I think I did somewhat decent for my first game [wearing] 13, and I plan on doing a little more.''
