Gophers Face Nebraska in First Non-Neutral Site Road Game

Minnesota Golden Gophers (7-2)
vs.
Nebraska Cornhuskers (6-1)

LOCATION Devaney Center - Lincoln, Neb.
DATE / TIME: Tuesday, Dec. 5 / 7 p.m.
TELEVISION: None
RADIO / WEBCAST: KBEM-FM-88.5, KRDS 95.5 /
Gopher Radio Network / gophersports.com
Rita Maloney (play-by-play), Lynnette Sjoquist (analyst)

Golden Gopher Watch List — Dec. 5, 2006

• Minnesota Travels to Nebraska - Minnesota (7-2) travels to Nebraska on Tuesday to face the Cornhuskers (6-1) in the first non-neutral site road game of the season for the Golden Gophers..Tip off is set for 7 p.m.
• Three-Game Road Trip Longest of Season - After playing seven of their first nine games of the season at home in Williams Arena, the Gophers will take to the road for three games and the longest road streak of the season. Minnesota travels to Nebraska and Iowa State this week, then to North Dakota State on Dec. 22. The next home game for the Gophers is on Dec. 28, when they open the Big Ten season by hosting Iowa.
• Ellis-Milan Pulling Big Numbers - Redshirt freshman Ashley Ellis-Milan has posted double-doubles in her last two games marking the first back-to-back rookie double-doubles since the 1983-84 season. Ellis-Milan has a team-high three double-doubles on the season.
• Final Exams Next Week - Minnesota will have a 13-day break after its Dec. 9 game at Iowa State during which the Golden Gophers will take final exams.

Gophers Face Big Test on the Road
Minnesota (7-2) travels to Nebraska on Tuesday to face the Cornhuskers (6-1) in the first non-neutral site road game of the season for the Golden Gophers..Tip off is set for 7 p.m.

Youthful Gophers Leave Williams For Three Weeks
After playing seven of their first nine games of the season at home in the friendly confines of Williams Arena, the youthful Golden Gophers face their longest road streak of the season. Minnesota’s 7-2 record includes a 6-1 mark in those seven home games. The next home game for the Gophers is on Dec. 28 when Minnesota opens Big Ten play versus Iowa.

Tough Big 12 Swing This Week
Minnesota will play back-to-back games against foes from the Big 12 Conference, following up the Nebraska contest with another road test at Iowa State. The Big Ten and Big 12 have squared off four times this season with the Big Ten holding a 3-1 advantage (Wisconsin defeated Kansas and Kansas State - Iowa defeated Kansas, lost to Iowa State).

Nebraska Plays Three BIg Ten Teams in a Row
Nebraska will get a solid taste of Big Ten competition by hosting three Big Ten teams over an upcoming 11-day period. Minnesota is the first to visit the Devaney Center, while Michigan will head to Lincoln on Dec. 9 and Northwestern on Dec. 16.

Final Exams on the Horizon
Minnesota will have a 13-day break between games following its Dec. 9 game at Iowa State. The Gophers will be taking final exams during the stretch before travelling to North Dakota State on Dec. 22 for the final game before the holidays.

Ellis-Milan Double a Rare Rookie Occurrence
Ashley Ellis-Milan has recorded points/rebounds double-doubles in each of her last two games, the first time a freshman posted back-to-back double-doubles since Molly Tadich did so versus Indiana and Wisconsin in February of 1984..The 6-2 forward/center tallied career highs with 23 points and 13 rebounds in the win over Vermont, then contributed 10 points and 10 rebounds to the victory over Chicago State. Ellis-Milan has three of the honored doubles in her first nine games as a Golden Gopher. Minnesota’s all-time leader in double-doubles, Janel McCarville (2001-05) collected 49 in her Gopher career, including seven during her rookie season.

Salley Sees First Action of Career
Freshman guard Breanna Salley saw her first action of her Golden Gopher career playing seven minutes against Chicago State. Salley, the only Minnesota native among the Gophers’ five true freshmen, missed the season’s first eight games with a stress fracture to her left foot.

40-0 Run A Gopher Best
Minnesota scored 40 unanswered points in the 72-34 victory over Chicago State on Dec. 2. Katie Ohm paced the Gophers with 12 points during the run during which the Cougars were held scoreless for 13 minutes, 24 seconds. The Gophers turned an 8-6 deficit into a dominating 46-8 lead.

It’s Been a While Since a Rookie 20
Ashley Ellis-Milan scored 20 points (with 13 rebounds) in the win over Vermont. The last time a freshman scored 20 or more points in a game was on Feb. 21, 2002, when a young Janel McCarville tallied a 20 points / 10 rebounds double-double versus Wisconsin. Ellis-Milan also became the third Gopher, joining Emily Fox and Kelly Roysland, to have scored 20 or more points in a game this season.

Three Freshmen Pave Way For Victory
The Gophers were led by a trio of freshmen in the win over Vermont. Ashley Ellis-Milan (20), Brittany McCoy (11) and Korinne Campbell (10) scored in double figures, marking the second time this season that the Gophers had three rookies tally double digits. The Vermont game, however, was the first time in 2006-07 that three freshmen led the Gophers in scoring. For history sake, the feat was accomplished by a redshirt freshman (Ellis-Milan) and two true freshmen (McCoy and Campbell). Prior to this season, one has to go back to the 2000-01 season to find a game where three, actually four, freshmen (all true freshmen) scored in double figures (Tanisha Gilbert, 18; Lindsay Whalen 15; Leslie Hill 12 and Kadidja Andersson 10) versus Marist on Dec. 23, 2000.

Crashing the Boards to Score Points
Minnesota is averaging 20.0 offensive rebounds per game resulting in the Gophers scoring an amazing 25.4 percent of their points (167 second chance points). The Gophers have scored 20 or more second chance points in five games this season, topped by 25 versus Princeton.

Grabbing Extra Chances
Korinne Campbell has a knack for attacking the glass and gives the Gopher offense extra opportunities by averaging 4.3 offensive rebounds per game. Ashley Ellis-Milan and Leslie Knight assist in this category as well, pulling down 3.4 and 2.9 offensive caroms a contest, respectively.. Campbell and Knight both have more offensive than defensive rebounds on the season.

Finding the Groove
The free throw line has been somewhat of an Achilles heel for the Gophers early in the season but in the last two games Minnesota has shot over 75 percent from the line. The Chicago State game marked just the third of the season in which Minnesota shot better than 70 percent from the line. Freshman Brittany McCoy led the charge by going a perfect 7-for-7 from the charity stripe versus Vermont, while Leslie Knight went 6-for-6 against Chicago State.

Expanded Range Will Come
Katie Ohm has given the Gophers a solid all-around contribution off the bench. Ohm is averaging 7.7 points per game while shooting an impressive 61.2 field goal percentage from inside the arc. From long range, however, Ohm is struggling hitting on just 6-of-32 three-point attempts for 18.8 percent. Ohm is coming off one of her better games scoring 12 points (4-4 on two-point field goals), seven rebounds and and a career-high four assists.

Roysland Ninth on All-Time Three-Pointer List
Kelly Roysland is tied for ninth on the Gophers’ all-time three-point field goals list with Shannon Bolden (2002-06) with a total of 79 three pointers. Two players, Stacy Carver (1989-93) and Sarah Schieber (1994-98), share seventh place with 80.

Roysland Makes It Official
More impressive than Kelly Roysland’s 79 three-point field goals in her career is that she has collected those trifectas in just 206 attempts. That’s a 38.3 percent clip of accuracy which ranks third in school history.

When the Fox is on the Run, So are the Gophers
In Minnesota’s seven wins on the season, point guard Emily Fox has scored 14.4 points per game. Fox has averaged just 3.5 points in the two Gopher losses.

Rookies Making a Big Impact
Gopher freshmen have logged 56 percent of the minutes played as well as 50 percent of the points scored in the opening seven games of the season. Starting forward Ashley Ellis-Milan tops the rookies averaging 9.6 points in 24.8 minutes per game. Brittany McCoy is a close second with averages of 8.2 points in 27.7 minutes per contest.

Ellis-Milan Prospers in Starting Lineup
Redshirt freshman Ashley Ellis-Milan claimed the starting nod at forward/center in the Gophers’ fourth game of the season and has continued to put consistent numbers on the board ever since. Ellis-Milan is averaging 10.7 points and 8.2 rebounds per game in the starting lineup.

All-Around Play Standout
Sophomore point guard Emily Fox is showing her talent as an all-around player. Fox not only leads the Gophers in assists (4.1 apg.) and ranks second in scoring (12.0 ppg.), but her stat line also includes averages of 4.8 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game.

Scouting Nebraska
Nebraska begins its three-game sweep of the Big Ten with a 6-1 record. The Cornhuskers only blemsih on their record was a season-opening loss at Arizona State. Since then, Nebraska has won six straight, including impressive wins over USC and New Mexico. Guard Kiera Hardy leads Nebraska in scoring averaging 15.9 points per game. She is shooting 50 percent from behind the arc (19-38). Forward Kelsey Griffith also averages in double figures at 14.7 points per game. Cannon Falls, Minn., freshman Cory Montgomery has played well early in her Husker career, coming off the bench to chip in 9.9 points per game.

The Minnesota / Nebraska Series
Nebraska owns a 5-4 advantage in the series with Minnesota. The Gophers, however, won the last meeting, 78-70 in Minneapolis, last December.

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