Precocious freshman Banham revives expectations

CHICAGO – The Gophers women’s basketball team is returning 11 players from last year’s roster, including four starters.

But what’s really created a buzz around the team is a newcomer: freshman point guard Rachel Banham.

The Lakeville North graduate and last year’s Ms. Basketball will step in and start right away, and according to head coach Pam Borton, make a significant impact.

“I think we’re just excited to have a great point guard back in the program. She’s just going to make everything a little bit easier for everybody else,” Borton said.

One of the players who stands to benefit most from adding a precocious talent like Banham is her starting backcourt mate, Kiara Buford.

“A true point guard is something we haven’t had in a while,” Buford said. “She’s a great scoring threat from the point and I think everybody’s just really excited about that.”

Buford wasn’t intending to slam former teammates, because she herself is included in that mix.

More of a shooting guard by trade, Buford was forced into a lot of ball handling action and point guard duties a season ago. As a result, Borton said, her overall performance suffered.

Buford has 1,043 career points, but said her game will be helped out by a player with exactly zero.

“She’s a playmaker, I think she’s confident in that strength in her game,” Buford said of Banham.

“Everybody feels like she might be that piece to the puzzle that we needed,” she added.

The only member missing from last year’s team is guard China Antoine, who graduated.

Minnesota was 4-12 last season, but was never blown out of games. The team made a habit of coughing up second-half leads and losing close games.

Borton said both of those trends figure to change this year.

In late-game situations, skill is important but experience generally reigns supreme.

As Buford says, “you learn how to finish games by finishing games.”

Senior Jackie Voigt said too many people are overlooking how many players are returning from last year’s squad.

“Experience almost means everything at the end of games,” Buford said.

How, then, does a freshman running the show make the team more competitive in crunch time?

“Instead of looking around for someone to make that last play, we’re going to have a point guard driving us,” Buford said.

Borton added: “She’s great in the open floor, I think she sees everything that’s going on. She’s an attacking point guard that can pull up for a jump shot at the free throw line or take it to the rim. It’s going to be her responsibility to keep our team up-tempo.”

With the addition of Banham, who creates offensive opportunities for teammates, and a year’s worth of maturity and growth from the rest of the team, the Gophers should be more competitive this year.

With as much presumed responsibility she’ll have on offense, though, Borton said she’ll attempt to alleviate the defensive onus on Banham.

“Rachel’s running our team so we try to take a little pressure off of her in the defensive end and slide her to the wing a little bit and not necessarily guard the point guard.

“If we want to pick up full-court [press], we’ll probably ask somebody else to do that, not her.”

The rationale behind the move is to keep her legs fresh so the motor that the team hopes will churn its offensive engine doesn’t stall.

“You can’t ask a kid – whether she’s a freshman or a senior – to do everything. She’s running 94 feet, the length of the floor,” Borton said.

“We’re looking to take her off the point and move her to the wing a few possessions [on offense] and let Kiara [Buford] handle the ball.

“I think Rachel enjoys being on the wing and scoring a little bit more, and it’ll give her a little break from ball handling responsibilities as well.”