Much has been made of the inability of University of Minnesota women's basketball coach Marlene Stollings to attract the best recruits in Minnesota. But Park Center' Mikayla Hayes, a 6-1 junior center, said her decision to commit to Florida was about her desire to carve her own path in basketball and not a reflection on the Gophers' program.
"I did get some interest from [Minnesota], but since my mom went to the U of M, I kind of wanted to do something different," Hayes said.
Hayes' mother, Dana Joubert-Hayes, played for Minnesota from 1989 through 1992.
"I know a lot of the players from here are staying around the Big Ten, and I wanted to play against new people and have a whole different experience," Hayes said. "That's why Florida seemed like the perfect place for me."
JIM PAULSEN
A Bear in the air
White Bear Lake senior center Kate Brabenec made a play invaluable to the Bears' success in overtime against favored St. Michael-Albertville.
Teammate Taite Anderson missed a layup but Brabenec leaped, grabbed the ball and sent it off the glass and in before landing. The athletic play gave her Bears a 64-62 lead that wouldn't last — the Knights got the next basket — but nonetheless showed determination.
"We do it in practice all the time, but it's rare that it works out in a game," said Brabenec, who finished with 13 points and eight rebounds. "When you're so locked in, you don't even think about it. It just happens."
