Like following a women's sports team at the U of M? Your probably a happy fan today. Your team won. Maybe in dramatic fashion.
U women's, men's teams fare almost completely opposite over weekend
Here's an oddity: Almost every women's team at the U had a good weekend, almost every men's team didn't.
February 23, 2015 at 9:05AM
Or do you follow a Gophers men's team? You're probably a little down today. Your team lost.
Here's a look at the highlights and lowlights of this past odd weekend:
Women's hightlights:
1. Swimming and diving team. Gophers became first women's program at U to win four consecutive Big Ten titles when they finished strong in the conference meet at Columbus, Ohio. Junior Kierra Smith won two breaststroke titles, sophomore diver Yu Zhou won the 1- and 3-meter events. Indiana took the lead briefly on last day, but Gophers splashed ahead.
2. Softball team. Went 5-0 in Diamond Devil Invitational in Tempe, Ariz. One win was 4-1 over host Arizona St., ranked No. 19. Gophers were No. 15, could move up couple spots after improving record to 13-1. Their start matches the best-ever in program history, which was last season. Gophers have top three hitters in Big Ten as judged by batting average.
3. Basketball team. Gophers beat Michigan 91-88 in 2 OTs at Barn for first five-game win streak in nine years. Three players had 20 points or more -- Amanda Zahui B. 27, Shae Kelley 23 and Carlie Wagner 21 -- for only fifth time in program history. And Zahui had 27 rebounds, which would have been a Big Ten record except that she broke the record the game before, getting 29 against Iowa last Tuesday.
4. Hockey team. Swept Bemidji State 3-2 and 4-2. Win on Friday came on a goal with under two minutes in the third period by Rachael Bona. Beavers had been 1-0-1 this season vs. Gophers, so this road sweep couldn't be taken for granted.
5. Gymnastics. Gophers beat Iowa State in Ames on Friday and three small-college teams -- Winona State, Hamline and Gustavus -- on Sunday. Junior Lindsay Mable won all-around in both meets, so her streak of all-around titles in a row grows to nine.
Low spots: Tennis team lost to Dartmouth 6-1, in between wins over Drake 5-2 and South Dakota St. 7-0. ... Gophers won only four of the 18 track and field events in the Parents' Day Open.
Men's lowlights:
1. Wrestling. Gophers' string of National Duals titles in a row ended at three when the lost to Cornell 19-17 in quarterfinals in Iowa City. Dylan Ness, unbeaten and ranked No. 1 at 157, also loses his first match of the season.
2. Baseball. Playing on their second weekend of the season, the Gophers go 0-4 against national power Texas. They lose first game 13-2, then get shut out in next three games, 5-0, 5-0, 8-0. Not good for the psyche.
3. Basketball. Richard Pitino's club falls to No. 5 Wisconin 63-53. The loss was not surprising, but a win could have helped the Gophers' postseason chances.
4. Hockey. The Gophers got a split at Penn State when they really needed a sweep. Won first game 2-1, but lost second 4-3 in overtime. It was first loss ever to Nittany Lions and created a logjam at top of Big Ten standings with four teams within two points at the top. Also their seven-game unbeaten streak came to an end (6-0-1).
5. Tennis. After a 7-1 start to their season, Gophers lost to Vanderbilt 4-3 and to Harvard 5-2.
Bright spots: Gymnast Ellis Mannon won the pommel horse competition in the Winter Cup Challenge -- a huge event for college, postcollege and junior gymnasts -- in Las Vegas. ... Gophers won 10 track and field events in Snowshoe Open, last home meet of indoor season.
What makes Darius Taylor such an effective running back for the Gophers? Many things, but especially his vision and ability to find creases.
