A group of middle school girls had a fun night in Lakeville watching Lauren Jensen, a 5-foot-9 junior guard, break her school scoring record with 47 points during Lakeville North's 84-74 overtime victory over Apple Valley.
It was the fourth time this season that Jensen has broken the school record, which had been 35 points by Liz Podominick in 2002. Jensen has games of 37, 42 and 43 points, in addition to the 47 she scored Tuesday. But that's not what we're going to dwell on, beyond pointing out that Jensen broke the record this time with Gophers coach Lindsay Whalen in the gym. (Podominick, was Minnesota's Miss Basketball in 2003 and a teammate of Whalen's at the University of Minnesota.)
But that's not what we're going to dwell on, either.
We're here for the elementary school kids, who asked Whalen for a picture. She obliged.
Later, during a time out, Whalen called over the girls, who play in the Lakeville North youth program. It was just to hang out, said Mary Lahammer, the Twin Cities Public Television correspondent. Her daughter plays for Lakeville North's junior varsity and Lahammer took this photo.
In addition to watching Jensen, Lahammer reported, "Whalen was awesome, repeatedly chatting with a gaggle of young ballers."
Mary Lahammer photo
Jensen's line for the night: 16 of 24 from the field, including seven three-pointerss in 10 tries; 8 of 9 from the free-throw line, eight rebounds, three steals and two assists.
We're betting on Jensen to break her school record again.
We're not as sure the girls in the photo will have that much fun watching a basketball game again.
