University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Host BC in ACC-Big Ten Challenge
12/4/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Game 9
Minnesota Golden Gophers (7-1)
vs.
Boston College Eagles (5-1)
LOCATION Williams Arena (14,625) - Minneapolis, Minn.
DATE / TIME: Thursday, Dec. 4 / 7 p.m.
TELEVISION: none
RADIO / WEBCAST: KBEM 88.5 FM / Gopher Radio Network / gophersports.com
Corbu Stathes (Play-by-play), Lynnette Sjoquist (Color Analyst)
LIVE VIDEO WEBCAST: Big Ten Network - bigtennetwork.com
Golden Gopher Watch List Dec. 4, 2008
Golden Gophers Host Boston College in ACC-Big Ten Challenge Game - Minnesota welcomes Boston College to Williams Arena for the ACC-Big Ten Challenge on Thursday, Dec. 4. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. The Golden Gophers are 7-1 and have won seven straight games, including a 98-72 victory over St. Mary’s on Monday. The Eagles are 5-1 on the season.
Challenge Game Streamed on BTN Website - Minnesota’s game with Boston College will be video-streamed live on the Big Ten Network’s website - bigtennetwork.com.
Ohm, McCoy Score Career High in Victory - Led by career-high scoring performances by Katie Ohm (21 points) and Brittany McCoy (17 points), the Golden Gophers cruised to a 98-72 win over St. Mary’s on Monday.
SDSU the Final Game Before Finals - Minnesota will play host to South Dakota State on Tuesday, Dec. 9, in the Golden Gophers’ final game before taking a 12-day break for final exams.
ACC-Big Ten Challenge Up Next
Minnesota welcomes Boston College to Williams Arena for the ACC-Big Ten Challenge on Thursday, Dec. 4. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. The Golden Gophers are 7-1 and have won seven straight games, including a 98-72 victory over St. Mary’s on Monday. The Eagles are 5-1 on the season.
Other ACC-Big Ten Challenge Contests
The Boston College at Minnesota match-up is one of 11 in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. Other games are:
Wed., Dec.3 Michigan State at Georgia Tech
Penn State at Florida State
North Carolina at Ohio State
Thurs., Dec. 4 Maryland at Purdue
Iowa at Duke
Northwestern at Clemson
Virginia Tech at Wisconsin
Virginia at Illinois
Fri, Dec. 5 Indiana at Miami
North Carolina State at Michigan
Minnesota/Boston College Streamed Live
Minnesota’s game with Boston College will be video-streamed live on the Big Ten Network’s website - bigtennetwork.com. It is the Gophers’ first appearance on a web-streamed contest on the BTN site.
ACC-Big Ten Challenge in Second Season
The ACC-Big Ten Challenge is in its second season. Last season, the ACC won eight of the 11 games. Virginia Tech defeated Minnesota, 68-62, in Blacksburg, Va. Boston College defeated Northwestern, 73-66, in Evanston, Ill.
Just Another Opponent Now
Minnesota head coach Pam Borton spent five years (1997-02) at Boston College before accepting the position with the Golden Gophers. As a member of Cathy Inglese’s staff, first as an assistant for three years and then for two season as the associate head coach, Borton helped direct the Eagles to three NCAA Tournament appearances. Borton has met her old school once during her tenure at Minnesota, guiding the Gophers to a 76-63 victory over the Eagles in the 2004 Mideast Region semifinal game (Sweet 16 round) in Norfolk, Va.
Defending the Home Court in The Barn
Williams Arena is one of the toughest places to play in the nation for opposing teams. During Pam Borton’s coaching tenure, the Golden Gophers have compiled an impressive 37-4 (90.2%) record in games against con-conference opponents. Minnesota is 4-0 in The Barn this season.
Highest Scoring Output in a While For Gophers
Minnesota is coming off a 98-72 win over St. Mary’s on Monday. The last time the Gophers scored that many points was back in 2002-03, Pam Borton’s first season, when Minnesota tallied a 98-70 won over Michigan on Jan. 2, 2003. The only time Minnesota scored more with Borton on the sidelines was the first game of the 2002-03 season, and the first with Borton as the Gophers’ head coach, a record 115-73 victory over IPFW (Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne). The last time Minnesota scored in the 90s was a 92-80 win over Kentucky last season.
Five Gophers Tally Double Figures in Win
Led by career-high scoring performances by Katie Ohm (21 points) and Brittany McCoy (17 points), the Golden Gophers cruised to a 98-72 win over St. Mary’s. Three other Gophers finished in double figures as well. Ashley Ellis-Milan tallied 16 points and 13 rebounds for her third consecutive double-double. Emily Fox continued her fine all-around play with 15 points, eight assists and six steals. The fifth Minnesota player in double digits was Kay Sylva with 10.
Eliis-Milan Building on Impressive Streaks
Center Ashley Ellis-Milan has two impressive streaks going heading into the Boston College game. Ellis-Milan has pulled down double-figure rebound totals in each of the last six games. In addition, she has scored in double digits in the last three games for double-doubles. Overall, she has four double-doubles this season.
Back-to-Back Career Highs For Ohm
Katie Ohm has nailed 11 three-point field goals in the last two games, a driving force in back-to-back career high scoring games for the Gopher junior guard. Ohm scored 20 with six treys last Saturday versus UMass, then added five triples en route to 21 points in the win over St. Mary’s on Monday.
Gophers Collect Second Tourney Title
Minnesota added the championship trophy for last weekend’s Colorado Coors Classic to the hardware from winning the Subway Basketball Classic two weeks ago. The Gophers have now won two early-season tournament titles in a season four times under head coach Pam Borton (2002-03, 2003-04, 2005-06 and 2008-09).
Fox Collects MVP Honor in Home State
The trip to the Colorado Coors Classic was a special one for Gopher senior guard Emily Fox. Fox, a Colorado native, had the chance to play in front of her family and friends in her home state and she made the best of it, leading the Gophers to the team title and earning the Classic’s Most Valuable Player honor. The MVP award is Fix’s second of the season and third of her career. She averaged 18.5 points and 4.0 assists per game in the Classic, topped by a 24-point, 6-assist effort in the title game versus UMass.
Double-Doubles Land Ellis-Milan on All-Classic Team
Gopher center Ashley Ellis-Milan joined Emily Fox on the Colorado Coors Classic all-tournament team. Ellis-Milan notched double-doubles in both games, with 13 points and 10 rebounds versus Drexel, and 11 points and a season-high 14 rebounds in the title game against UMass. She has three double-doubles on the season and 15 in her Golden Gopher career. Ellis-Milan has also collected double digits in rebounds in five straight games.
Ohm Hits Century Mark in Three-Pointers
Katie Ohm’s six three-pointers in the win over UMass propelled the Gopher junior over the century (100) mark for three-point field goals made. Ohm, currently with 108 treys, is the seventh Golden Gopher to hit trifecta triple digits. The Big Ten’s most accurate long-ball threat from a year ago, Ohm has netted three or more three-point field goals in five of the Gophers’ games this season. She leads the Big Ten making 3.4 three-pointers a game this season and with 26 threes made has made seven more triples than her closest conference competitor.
Emmy Continues Climb Up Scoring Chart
Emily Fox started her season in 13th on the Minnesota all-time leading scorers list and is currently tied for 11th with 1,147 career points (Angie Inverson, 1994-98). Looking ahead, Fox’s next target on the list in 10th place is Ellen Kramer (1987-91) with 1,336 points.
McCoy Dishing Out Some Great Stats
Junior Brittany McCoy has started every game in her Golden Gopher career, her 73rd start coming versus Boston College.The Gopher point guard has enjoyed some of her finest games this season. In her last game versus St. Mary’s, McCoy scored a career-high 17 points, while adding eight assists. McCoy’s 10 assists in the UMass game was her second double-figure of the season. Her first came against American where McCoy dished out a career high 12 assists on her way to her first career double-double, also scoring 10 points. She was close to a rare triple-double as well, falling two rebounds short collecting eight. It’s been a while since a Gopher guard posted numbers like McCoy did against American. The last double-digit assist game came from Emily Fox (11) in the WNIT victory over Illinois-Chicago in March of 2007.That was also the last points/assist double-double as Fox added 14 points in the contest.
Climbing Career Assists List at a Quick Pace
Brittany McCoy has jumped onto the Gophers’ all-time career assists list and is quickly climbing the chart in her junior season. The first player in Gopher history to notch over 100 assists as a freshman and then in her first two seasons, McCoy is nearly half way to the century mark (43) in eight games this season. Her 279 career assists currently stands seventh in school history.
Takeaways a Big Part of the Game Plan
Minnesota is using its defense, especially the Gophers’ average of 10.9 steals per game, to fuel its offense. The Gopher “D” has forced opponents in an average of 22.5 turnovers a game in 2008-09. Over 40 percent (30 points) of Minnesota's 74 against Drexel were the result of Dragon turnovers.
Something About 17
A fun trend for the Gophers this season revolves mysteriously around the number 17. In six games so far this season, the Gophers’ leading scorer(s) have totaled 17 points five times: Emily Fox and Katie Ohm versus Santa Clara, Ohm versus North Dakota State, Fox versus Yale and now Kay Sylva versus Drexel.
Sylva Showing Her Offensive Talents
Senior Kay Sylva is known for her defensive prowess, after all, she was the Gophers’ Defensive Player of the Year last season. In back-to-back games versus Yale and Drexel, however, Sylva was a force on the offensive end of the court, posting new career scoring in both games. Sylva scored 12 against Yale, making 6-of-7 shots from the floor. She continued her aggressive looking for the basket versus Drexel, tallying 17 points on 5-7 from the field. That was an average of 14.5 points per game and a 78.6 shooting percentage for of 29 points a total that nearly surpassed her total points from last season (31).Over the last four games, Sylva has averaged 13.5 points a game.
Fox Moves Into Third on Career Assists List, Jumps Into Mix in Three-Pointers Made
Senior Emily Fox is making it a habit of moving up the Gophers’ statistical career lists this season. Fox moved into third place in career assists with six dishes versus UMass and currently has 328 in her career. She moved past a threesome with 314 career assists Debbie Hilmerson (1984-88), Holly Thompson (1988-92) and Janel McCarville (2001-05). Also in the UMass (11/29) game, Fox hit four three-point field goals to jump to ninth on the all-time three-point field goals made list and now has 85 treys made. In the North Dakota State game (11/19), Fox moved up on the points and steals lists. Fox bypassed Kelly Roysland (2003-07) to move into 12th on the Minnesota all-time scoring list and now is tied for 11th with 1,162 points. The Gopher senior also moved into fifth on the all-time career steals list with 194.
Scouting Boston College
Boston College travels to Minnesota with a 5-1 record with the Eagles only loss coming on Nov. 23, when they were drilled at home by Notre Dame by a score of 102-54. Sophomore 6-6 center Carolyn Swords is off to an impressive season leading the team in scoring at 17.7 points a game and rebounding at 9.3 caroms an outing. Swords, an ACC All-Freshman Team honoree last season, is shooting 66.3 percent (49-74) from the field. Junior guard Mickel Picco also checks in averaging double figures at 17.2 points a game.
Coach Sylvia Crawley
Boston College head coach Sylvia Crawley is in her first season with the Eagles. Crawley, who played her college ball at North Carolina, was the head coach at Ohio U. for two season before coming to Boston College. Her overall coaching record is 43-26 in three seasons.
The Minnesota / Boston College Series
Minnesota won the only meeting of the series with Boston College in the Sweet 16 game of the 2004 NCAA Tournament in Norfolk, Va. The game featured Pam Borton, then in her second season at Minnesota, versus her former team and B.C. mentor Cathy Inglese.
