Worst fears realized: Whalen has two broken bones in her shooting hand. She's out at least till mid-March, and it seems doubtful that she'd be able to make it back for the tournament.

Hard to even comprehend the implications of this. This is worse than Tennessee with Moore, worse than UConn with Wolff, because the Gopher's whole offense is built around Whalen. This is almost like Texas Tech with Perkins or even Oregon with Kraayeveld -- totally devastating to the team.

Of course, we still have a powerhouse player in McCarville. And it's possible that some of the younger players can step up and fill the void. But it won't be easy.

With Whalen, we had an outside shot at the Final Four. Now it looks nearly impossible.

There are also substantial implications for the WNBA draft. I've been saying for some time that the Lynx must draft Whalen if she's still available, because even if she's not "the best" player available at the #7 pick, her impact on the franchise would be huge.

But now it gets riskier. You never know how someone will recover from an injury like this. Plus, this injury will seriously hurt the Gopher's chances and their local popularity over the next two months. It will hurt Whalen's chance to become an even bigger local superstar.

Consequently, it will hurt her chance to turn around the Lynx franchise like she turned around the Gophers. Depending on how things shake out, the Lynx may have to look elsewhere.