Five questions for five Gophers' women

Read my story on transfer Shae Kelley completing the 'Triple Threat' from today's Star Tribune here.

After a heartbreaking finish to 2013-14 -- with the University of Minnesota women's basketball team narrowly missing the NCAA tournament before getting bounced from the WNIT in the third round -- the Gophers want to see some changes this year.

That's good, because they've got plenty: new head coach Marlene Stollings replaces the promptly fired Pam Borton, bringing with her a dynamic transfer forward in Shae Kelley and an entirely new system.

The offensive-oriented run-and-gun style took some adjustments; early on, the players say they were somewhat overwhelmed by the pace and the conditioning sessions required to maintain such a stamina. But at media day at Williams Arena yesterday, all faces were full of smiles. They're better than every in this new frenetic style, the players say, and ready to shock the Big Ten.

It won't take long to figure out whether the lessons stuck. The Gophers head to the Gulf Coast Showcase in Florida in late November, with a chance of getting paired with national champion Connecticut in the second round.

A month later, their conference schedule leads off with Nebraska -- ranked third in the Big Ten preseason media rankings -- before a pair of road games to Purdue and Wisconsin sandwich between a visit from newbie Maryland, the favorite to win the league.

The season opens on November 14th against Southern Louisiana at home. It's clear the team is anxious for that date to arrive. From yesterday, five questions with five Gophers:

Q: You're still the heart of this team, as you've always been, but much has changed since this time last year. How will this year be different for you?
Rachel Banham: I think it's going to be much different, considering it's my last year. I've always played my absolute hardest, but I think this year is just going to have a different type of sense of urgency just knowing I must reach my goals, it's one of the things where I have to get there. And having Carlie [Wagner], Amanda [Zahui B.], Shae around me is amazing. As well as Kayla [Hirt] is playing great, we have other great players that are coming off the bench, really good role players. So that's obviously different. And I think just another year under all of our belts has helped too.

Q: How has Kayla Hirt progressed over the summer?
Marlene Stollings: We actually have called her our X factor. I think she's going to be a critical component of what we want to do and how quickly we advance. Night in and night out, her rebounding, her ability to score at the basket is going to be huge for us, and a difference-maker on a number of nights we believe.

Q: Which game are you most excited for?
Amanda Zahui B.: I'm really excited to go to Florida and play the first game, but then for the second game, playing against UConn [potentially]. I feel like we would handle it pretty good. We all always play with heart and we put everything we have out there in practice. We haven't had any games yet but you can tell we want to be successful and we will be successful.

Q: Who do you think will surprise people the most this year?
Carlie Wagner: Well no one has really seen Shae this year. So I think for the Big Ten to see Shae come in and make a huge impact is going to be and they're going to be like 'Wow,' where did she come from? She's going to turn heads.

BONUSES ...

Many years ago?" she retorted, feigning hurt feelings. "It seems like yesterday. It's just an elite conference. Now, with the addition of Maryland and Rutgers, it really just sets us apart from everyone else in the nation in our opinion, as the No. 1 ranked basketball conference in the nation. What better stage to play on? That's the most exciting part of this. Night in and night out, you're going to be challenged. We will be challenged as a coaching staff as well as our young ladies on the court, to bring it every night. We're not going against any cupcakes."

**The Gophers have new uniforms, which the players donned at media day on Tuesday. The fresh duds are black with gold numbers and lettering that is outlined with maroon. The players seemed to be big fans.

"I love them," Wagner said. "The black is cool, everybody likes it."

The team will rotate the black and maroon jerseys on the road while wearing the white and gold varieties at home. But at least one player is trying to organize a special event in which the players wear the new jerseys at home -- and perhaps arrange a "black out" -- where all attendees wear black in the stands -- for the same night.

"Senior night," Banham implored assistant coach Niki Dawkins.

Banham shrugged. "Yes."

Dawkins grinned as she walked away. "OK then, it's in the works."

Housekeeping ...