One game may not make a season – or a coaching career, but the old saying in life is one only gets one opportunity to make a good first impression.
She's back 😍 pic.twitter.com/Ww8Qc3Adgf
— Minnesota Gophers (@GopherSports) November 10, 2018
Around Minnesota, and the women’s basketball world, plenty of anticipation was building as Lindsay Whalen completes her transition from Lynx player to Golden Gophers coach. U. of M’s first game this season was against New Hampshire, and the Golden Gophers dispatched their Granite State foes by a final of 70-47.
The game was contested in front of a sellout crowd at Williams Arena, and the team made sure that the more than 14,000 fans that packed the Barn were sent home with smiles on their faces.
The Barn full of our favorite people. #TheWinningWhay pic.twitter.com/jsEcU86a02
— Minnesota WBB (@GopherWBB) November 10, 2018
Annalese Lamke scored 21 points and Kenisha Bell chimed in with 17. Taiye Bello had herself a game as well – 14 points and 14 rebounds.
— Minnesota WBB (@GopherWBB) November 10, 2018
Taiye Bello said NO 🚫 pic.twitter.com/WKuX4eQWHs
— Minnesota WBB (@GopherWBB) November 10, 2018
Kari Brekke was the only player for New Hampshire that scored more than double-digits in terms of points. She had 12.
The Golden Gophers outscored New Hampshire 32-18 in the second and third quarters, accounting for more than half of the point differential when triple zeroes hit in the fourth quarter.
Hear from @Lindsay_13 after her first win as #Gophers Head Coach! 🐐 pic.twitter.com/cD3idUzkaR
— Minnesota WBB (@GopherWBB) November 10, 2018
What a night! pic.twitter.com/NVkHrwRSgF
— Minnesota WBB (@GopherWBB) November 10, 2018
Along with going all-in with her coaching duties at the University of Minnesota, Whalen was also one of several athletes mentioned in a new book from ESPNW’s Pat Borzi called “Minnesota Made Me.”
Borzi, when speaking with Lynx radio play-by-play announcer John Focke, mentioned that athletes who grow up in Minnesota develop a level of toughness because many play multiple sports growing up – and that they take pride in playing outside in cold weather, snow, and ice.
He talked about how the Whalen children had summer jobs at a local 3M plant. Lindsay was on the night shift, but got changed to the day shift.
Borzi mentioned how one time while she was in her late teens, she tried to convince her father to let her call in sick because she could not sleep the night before. Her father refused.
The lesson she learned from that, and this all made sense when you think about what she’s done over the course of her career, she learned responsibility. And it’s not just your responsibility, but everybody on that shift is relying on you. You don’t show up, everybody else has to do more and that’s not fair to them.
–Pat Borzi, author, “Minnesota Made Me”
