Gophers Host Michigan in Home Regular-Season Finale on Thursday

Minnesota Golden Gophers (14-13, 6-8 Big Ten)
vs.
Michigan Wolverines (10-17, 3-11 Big Ten)

LOCATION Williams Arena (14,625) - Minneapolis, Minn..
DATE / TIME: Thurs., Feb. 22 - 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 — Feb. 22, 2007
• Gophers Hosts Michigan in Home Regular-Season Finale - Minnesota (14-13, 6-8 Big Ten) plays host to Michigan on Thursday, Feb. 22, in the Golden Gophers’ regular-season home finale. Tip off is set for 7 p.m.
• Roysland and Netland Honored - Kelly Roysland and senior team manager Becky Netland will be honored in a postgame ceremony on Thursday evening. Roysland will also be honored pregame when she is presented a game ball for her 1,000th career point.
• The Final Week of Big Ten Play - Minnesota enters the final week of the Big Ten regular season in the midst of a logjam of teams battling for the fourth and fifth seeds for the Big Ten Tournament and the first-round byes that go with a top-5 finish.
• McCoy One of the Top Freshmen in Big Ten - Gopher freshman guard Brittany McCoy is one of just three freshmen in the Big Ten to start every game for their respective teams this season.

Gophers Host Michigan in Home Finale
Minnesota (14-13, 6-8 Big Ten) plays host to Michigan (10-17, 3-11 Big Ten) on Thursday, Feb. 22, in the Golden Gophers’ regular-season home finale. Tip off is scheduled for 7 p.m. The Gophers had a bye on Sunday and lost at Penn State (66-57) in their last action on Feb. 15. The Wolverines have dropped three straight, including a 63-54 contest at Northwestern last Sunday.

A Time to Say Thank You
Around the country, teams are honoring their seniors and taking the opportunity to say thank you. The Gophers celebrated Senior Recognition Day on Feb. 11 but will also hold a brief senior ceremony following the Michigan game. The Gophers have two seniors who will be saluted, guard Kelly Roysland and a team manager Becky Netland.

Roysland Receives Memento of 1,000th Career Point
Senior Kelly Roysland will be recognized for joining the 1,000 career points club in a brief pregame ceremony on Thursday. Roysland will receive the game ball for her accomplishment.

Crunch Time - The Final Week
As the Big Ten teams head down the home stretch, Minnesota has hopes securing a first-round bye for the Big Ten Tournament. The top five teams earn a bye in the first round of the conference tournament. The Gophers are 6-8 in league play, currently sitting in a tie for sixth place. They are, however, just one game from fourth place (Illinois 7-7) and a half game from fifth (Wisconsin 7-8). Illinois has its work cut out for them with games against nationally ranked top-20 teams Michigan State and Purdue. The advantage for Illinois is that both games are in Champaign. Wisconsin has a bye on Thursday and will close its regular-season slate at Iowa. Penn State is also in the hunt for a first-round bye owning an identical record to Minnesota’s at 6-8. The Lady Lions travel to Ohio State on Thursday and host Indiana on Sunday.

Watch Out for Gophers After a Bye
Minnesota is 4-1 under Pam Borton coming off a Big Ten bye where the Gophers have a week to prepare for their next Conference opponent. Two of the four Gopher victories were over ranked teams, No. 9/8 Purdue (1/19/03) and No. 5/6 Penn State (2/8/04). Last season, Minnesota defeated Wisconsin (73-67) coming off a bye. The only loss was at No. 22/23 Penn State (1/30/05).

McCoy Among Select Trio of Big Ten Rookies
Gopher freshman Brittany McCoy is one of three freshman in the Big Ten Conference to start each and every game this season for their respective teams. Ironically, all three are guards as Ohio State’s Maria Moeller and Wisconsin’s Rae Lin D’Alie join McCoy in the elite group. McCoy’s overall contribution is the best of the three, averaging 8.7 points, 2.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 31.4 minutes per game. D’Alie checks in at 7.1 ppg., 2.3 rpg. and 3.9 apg. in 29.6 minutes, while Moeller collects 4.4 ppg., 2.1 rpg., and 2.3 apg. in 31.5 minutes per game. McCoy is coming off a career game versus Penn State where she scored a team-high 16 points with five steals.

Gophers on the Line Leads to Victory
The difference between Minnesota’s trips to the free throw line in its six Big Ten victories versus the Gophers’ eight conference losses is nothing short of staggering. The Gophers shot an average of 29.5 free throw attempts when they captured Big Ten wins. In Minnesota’s Big Ten losses, the Gophers only visited the line 103 times for an average of 12.9 trips per game.

Scouting Michigan
Michigan enters Thursday’s game with a 10-17 overall mark, 3-11 in Big Ten play.
The Wolverines are 0-7 on the road in Big Ten play this season.Krista Phillips, a 6-6 freshman center, is the Wolverines’ leading scorer at 8.3 points per game. Overall, Michigan is scoring an average of just 56.9 points per game. A total of 13 players have started at least one game for the Wolverines.

The Minnesota / Michigan Series
Minnesota owns a 25-22 advantage in the series with Michigan. The Gophers have won the last five meetings against the Wolverines and hold a 13-9 overall home record against Michigan.

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