MINNEAPOLIS -- Lindsay Whalen had the cast on her injured
right hand removed on Monday, and Minnesota's star point guard went
through her first offensive drills in a month.
Afterward, Whalen said the hand felt "fine."
"I really didn't have any discomfort or pain," she said.
Coach Pam Borton said she wasn't sure how much Whalen will be
able to play on Sunday, when the seventh-seeded Gophers (21-8) play
10th-seeded UCLA in the first round of the NCAA tournament. But Borton was
encouraged by her performance in practice.
"I thought she looked great," the coach said.
Practice was not open to reporters.
Whalen still has to wear a protective brace on the hand, which
is her shooting hand. Brace or no brace, it was a welcome sight for
the team to watch the Gophers' all-time leading scorer handle the
ball and launch jumpers in practice.
"No matter if she's 80 percent, 95 percent on Sunday, she's
going to help our team unbelievably," Borton said.
Whalen started going through defensive drills last week for the
first time since breaking two metacarpal bones in her hand in a
fall during a game at Ohio State on Feb. 12. Monday was the first
day she could shoot.
The coaches and trainers held Whalen out of a few drills -- she
wasn't quite ready to go through a physical rebounding drill and
didn't practice the Gophers' fast-break offense. But Borton said
Whalen was able to drive the lane and made some impressive passes
to center Janel McCarville.
"Whether she plays five, six, seven, eight minutes at a time,
it's just great to have her back on the court," Borton said.
Her return also will be a boost for the home crowd at Sunday's
game -- the Gophers are hosting their bracket of the Midwest Region
at Williams Arena, and the team consistently drew near sellouts
this year.
"It's definitely an advantage," Whalen said.
The Gophers went 3-4 without Whalen. Despite missing the last
five games of the regular season, the 5-foot-8 senior from
Hutchinson finished second in the Big Ten in scoring at 20.7 points
per game.
"Our team's ready to have her back," Borton said.