University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Host Subway Classic, Friday-Sunday
11/19/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Minnesota Golden Gophers (1-1)
vs.
Illinois-Chicago Flames (0-2)
LOCATION Williams Arena (14,625) - Minneapolis, Minn.
DATE / TIME: Saturday, Nov. 21 / 6 p.m.
TELEVISION: none
RADIO / WEBCAST: Gopher Radio Network, KBEM-FM-88.5
Corbu Stathes (Play-by-Play), Lynnette Sjoquist (Color Analysis)
Gophersports.com
Golden Gopher Watch List — Nov. 20, 2009
• Gophers Host Subway Classic - Minnesota welcomes Illinois-Chicago and Colorado to Williams Arena this weekend for the 2009 Subway Basketball Classic. The round-robin tournament features single games at 6 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Illinois-Chicago faces Colorado on Friday in a game free and open to the public. Minnesota plays Illinois-Chicago on Saturday and Colorado on Sunday.
• Ellis-Milan Honored Pregame - Ashley Ellis-Milan became the 19th player in Minnesota history to score 1,000 career points when she scored on a putback early in the Lamar game. She will be honored for the accomplishment on Saturday before tipoff of the Illinois-Chicago game.
• Triple-Digit Starts for McCoy- Senior Brittany McCoy will start the 100th game of her Golden Gopher career on Saturday night. McCoy has started every game of her high school and Minnesota career.
• Busy November - Minnesota will play its first seven games in the span of just two weeks. After the Subway Classic, Minnesota plays host to North Dakota State on Tuesday, Nov. 24.
Gophers Host Subway Classic This Weekend
Minnesota plays host to the Subway Basketball Classic on Friday-Sunday, Nov. 20-22. The Classic will feature a round-robin format between Illinois-Chicago, Colorado and Minnesota. A single game will be played in Williams Arena each night at 6 p.m., with Friday’s matchup of Illinois-Chicago versus Colorado tipping off the action. Minnesota will face Illinois-Chicago on Saturday and Colorado on Sunday.
Friday’s Game Free to the Public
Friday’s game between Illinois-Chicago and Colorado begins at 6 p.m. and is free and open to the public.
Ellis-Milan Honored Prior to Game on Saturday
Ashley Ellis-Milan will receive a commemorative game ball in honor of her scoring her 1,000th career point prior to tipoff of Saturday’s game.
Subway Basketball Classic History
Minnesota has hosted an early-season tournament for 28 years, dubbed the Subway Basketball Classic for the last six seasons. The Golden Gophers have captured the title in the tournament in eight of the last nine seasons. Last year, Minnesota scored an 87-63 victory over Yale, behind Emily Fox’ MVP performance. Kiara Buford was also named to the all-tournament team.
Minnesota has won its tournament 14 times with the Gophers’ streak of six straight titles (2000-2005) their longest. The 2000 championship was Minnesota's first Classic title since 1993. The Gophers have captured 13 Classic MVP awards, including three by Lindsay Whalen and two each by Laura Coenen, Carol Ann Shudlick and Emily Fox.
Pam Borton Radio on Monday
The Pam Borton Radio Show heard locally on WCCO Radio (830 am) is broadcast live on Monday evenings at 7:30 p.m. at Applebee’s in Stadium Village. Golden Gopher radio personalities Corbu Stathes and Lynnette Sjoquist host the program. The next show is Monday, Nov. 23.
Brittany McCoy to Make 100th Career Start
Senior Brittany McCoy will make her 100th career start on Saturday versus Illinois-Chicago. McCoy has started every game of her high school and college basketball career. The Minnesota record for consecutive starts is held by Lindsay Whalen (2001-04), who started 111 straight during her Gopher career.
1,000 Points in the Books
Gopher center Ashley Ellis-Milan grabbed an offensive rebound off a Katie Ohm three-point field goal attempt and banked home a short jumper early in the Lamar game to score her 1,000th career point. Ellis-Milan is the 19th Gopher to surpass the 1,000-points milestone.
Moving On Up
Ashley Ellis-Milan scored 15 points versus Utah in her first game since joining the 1,000 career points club. She jumped up two places on the Gophers’ all-time leading scorers list and is now No. 17 with 1,024 career points. The quick move up the charts could continue as just 13 points separates Ellis-Milan from No. 15 on the list. Ellis-Milan’s cousin Linda Roberts (1977-81) ranks No. 4 in Gopher scoring history with 1.056 points.
Ellis-Milan is also working her way up the career rebounds list. She is currently No. 9 on the list with 709 career rebounds.
This China Far From Fragile
China Antoine has played important minutes off the bench for the Gophers at the backup point guard position. Antoine scored in double figures for the first time as a Gopher on Tuesday, scoring 10 points against Utah. She has hit two three-point field goals in both games this season.
Harper Working Hard on the Boards
Senior Zoe Harper leads the team in rebounding averaging 8.5 rebounds a game. Early this season, Harper has been an effective collector of rebounds as her team-best 17 rebounds have come in 43 minutes of play.
Buford Impressive in First Career Start
Sophomore Kiara Buford scored a career high 23 points against Lamar, her first career start of her Golden Gopher career. The last time a Gopher scored 23 or more points in her first career start was Lindsay Lieser who scored 23 points as a freshman starter versus Ball State in the 1999-00 season opener. Buford also tallied her first career double-double by adding a career-best 11 rebounds. Ironically, the player Buford replaced in the Gophers’ starting lineup from a year ago, Emily Fox, also tabbed a double-double (13 points/10 assists) in her first career start.
Raining Threes
Everyone knows Gopher senior Katie Ohm is one of the finest three-point shooters in the Big Ten. Ohm will seemingly get a lot of help if the numbers from the Gophers’ season-opener are any indication. Ohm was one of four Gophers to hit two or more three-pointers versus Lamar. Kiara Buford has been deadly from long range this season, connecting on 3-of-5 versus Lamar and 10-of-13 overall if you throw in Minnesota’s two exhibition games. Ohm, Jackie Voigt and China Antoine hit a pair of triples in both the Lamar and Utah games.
Three Gophers See First Playing Time
Three Gophers saw their first action in a Golden Gopher uniform versus Lamar. Freshman guard Leah Cotton came off the bench to tally seven points, three rebounds and two steals in 13 minutes. Junior college transfer China Antoine contributed six points and a team-high four assists in 19 minutes. Freshman forward Katie Loberg played five minutes and tallied two points and four rebounds.
Having Some Fun with the Opener
Minnesota won its season-opener by 39 points (84-45). The last time Minnesota enjoyed that large of a margin of victory was a 43-point triumph (97-54) over Illinois-Chicago in the WNIT First Round in 2007. The margin of victory in a season-opening game was the largest since Minnesota drilled Southern (93-41) winning by 52 points to start the 2003-04 season. The Gophers’ 84 points versus Lamar is the most in an opening game since that 2003-04 Southern game as well.
The Gophers started the game with a 20-0 run. The biggest scoring run of last season was 18 straight at Wisconsin. Minnesota pulled down 66 rebounds, just two boards off the school record of 68 which occurred twice, the last time versus Sam Houston State in 1989-90.
Season-Opening Success Adds Another “W”
The Gophers added another season-opening victory to the list defeating Lamar to open the 2009-10 season. Minnesota has won its season-opening games in nine of the last 11 years including a 7-1 mark during the tenure of Pam Borton. Overall, the Gophers are 23-43 in openers since 1973-74 (results from the first two years of basketball, 1971-72 and 1972-73, are unavailable).
Plenty of Experience in Starting Lineup
The Gophers have four veteran starters in Brittany McCoy, Ashley Ellis-Milan, Katie Ohm and Jackie Voigt, who combined have 273 games of starting experience. Kiara Buford is in her first season as a starter.
Nearing Her 100th Consecutive Start
Senior guard Brittany McCoy will make her 99th career start on Tuesday versus Utah. In 2009-10, McCoy has the chance to build on an accomplishment in Gopher history that only she can claim. McCoy is the first player to collect over 100 assists during her freshman, sophomore and junior seasons. She has dished out 370 assists to rank fourth on the Gophers’ all-time list.
Ohm Returns to Chase School Three-Point Mark
Katie Ohm begins her senior season with the Minnesota school record for three-point field goals in her sights. Ohm is ranked third with 159 three-pointers, 71 from Shannon Schonrock’s (2002-06) career total of 230. Ohm notched a Minnesota single-season record with 74 triples a year ago.
Voigt a Steady Force in Low Post
Jackie Voigt earned the starting nod at forward for the first game of her rookie season and has been a consistent performer for the Gophers ever since. Voigt is averaging 8.0 points per game this season and has hit a pair of three-point field goals in both games.
Gophers Lose a Tight One at Utah
Minnesota dropped its first game of the season losing 60-59 to Utah in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Nov. 17. The Golden Gophers (1-1) were led by Ashley Ellis-Milan with 15 points.
Despite struggling mightily on offense the entire game, Minnesota used its defense to stay in the contest. China Antoine playing for the fouled-out Brittany McCoy stole the ball with 1:32 left in the game and hit a three-pointer to bring the Gophers to within 58-55.
Utah (1-1) missed a jumper on its next possession and Katie Ohm gathered in the rebound. She was later fouled and made one of two free throws with 45 seconds left (58-56). Utah rebounded the miss but turned the ball over due to the Gopher pressure defense with 29 seconds remaining. The Gopher offense was unable to convert on the biggest possession of the game as Jackie Voigt fired a pass over the head of Ellis-Milan notching a very costly turnover.
The Gophers were forced to foul and leading scorer Kalee Whipple hit two important free throws to give the Utes a four-point lead at 60-56 with11 seconds left. Voigt hit a three-pointer with 1.8 seconds left.
Minnesota started the game cold as ice shooting from the field and at one time was shooting just 21 percent from the floor, missing 11 of their first 14 shots. The Gophers trailed by only two points, 28-26, at the half despite finishing the half 9-of-31 from the field and 1-for-9 (11.1 percent) from three-point range.
Utah lead the entire second half extending its lead to as big as nine points at 41-32 with 13:39 remaining.
McCoy and Antoine both scored 10 points to join Ellis-Milan in double figures. Kiara Buford scored nine points in the first half, but went scoreless and 0-for-3 from the floor in the second half.
The Gophers also came up on the short end of the rebounding battle as Utah maintained a 46-34 advantage, including a damaging 15 offensive rebounds.
The Trio of Team Captains For 2009-10
The Golden Gopher team captains for the 2009-10 season are seniors Ashley Ellis-Milan, Brittany McCoy and Katie Ohm. Ellis-Milan and McCoy are two-year captains.
Borton in Eighth Year at Minnesota
Head coach Pam Borton is in her eighth season at Minnesota. Borton, along with Ohio State’s Jim Foster, share the second-longest coaching tenure in the Big Ten Conference. Only Iowa’s Lisa Bluder, entering her 10th season, has been in the league longer. This season for the first time in 11 years, since the 1998-99 season, the Big Ten did not have to welcome a new coach.
Gophers Ink Five to National Letters of Intent
Minnesota head coach Pam Borton announced a recruiting class of five student-athletes – Janelle Cannon (5-8 shooting guard from Wheeling, Ill./Wheeling HS), Shonte Clay (6-2 power foward from Chicago, Ill./Van Steuben HS), Kionna Kellogg (6-1 forward from Ames, Iowa/Ames HS), Sari Noga (5-10 shooting guard from Parkers Prairie, Minn./Parkers Prairie HS) and Micaella Riche (6-2 power foward from Gloucester, Ontario/Louis Riel HS) – has signed National Letters of Intent and will join the Golden Gopher women’s basketball team for the 2010-11 season.
“It was important for our continued progression of our program to bring in these five student-athletes who can make an immediate impact on our team,” said Borton, who is in her eighth season at Minnesota. “This class possesses the traits a coach looks for in that they are very talented, athletic, versatile, and have a great work ethic. But the intangible trait that makes this class special is that they truly treasure the opportunity to become Golden Gophers. We are excited about what the future of Gopher Basketball holds and fully expect this class to make their mark.”
vs.
Illinois-Chicago Flames (0-2)
LOCATION Williams Arena (14,625) - Minneapolis, Minn.
DATE / TIME: Saturday, Nov. 21 / 6 p.m.
TELEVISION: none
RADIO / WEBCAST: Gopher Radio Network, KBEM-FM-88.5
Corbu Stathes (Play-by-Play), Lynnette Sjoquist (Color Analysis)
Gophersports.com
Golden Gopher Watch List — Nov. 20, 2009
• Gophers Host Subway Classic - Minnesota welcomes Illinois-Chicago and Colorado to Williams Arena this weekend for the 2009 Subway Basketball Classic. The round-robin tournament features single games at 6 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Illinois-Chicago faces Colorado on Friday in a game free and open to the public. Minnesota plays Illinois-Chicago on Saturday and Colorado on Sunday.
• Ellis-Milan Honored Pregame - Ashley Ellis-Milan became the 19th player in Minnesota history to score 1,000 career points when she scored on a putback early in the Lamar game. She will be honored for the accomplishment on Saturday before tipoff of the Illinois-Chicago game.
• Triple-Digit Starts for McCoy- Senior Brittany McCoy will start the 100th game of her Golden Gopher career on Saturday night. McCoy has started every game of her high school and Minnesota career.
• Busy November - Minnesota will play its first seven games in the span of just two weeks. After the Subway Classic, Minnesota plays host to North Dakota State on Tuesday, Nov. 24.
Gophers Host Subway Classic This Weekend
Minnesota plays host to the Subway Basketball Classic on Friday-Sunday, Nov. 20-22. The Classic will feature a round-robin format between Illinois-Chicago, Colorado and Minnesota. A single game will be played in Williams Arena each night at 6 p.m., with Friday’s matchup of Illinois-Chicago versus Colorado tipping off the action. Minnesota will face Illinois-Chicago on Saturday and Colorado on Sunday.
Friday’s Game Free to the Public
Friday’s game between Illinois-Chicago and Colorado begins at 6 p.m. and is free and open to the public.
Ellis-Milan Honored Prior to Game on Saturday
Ashley Ellis-Milan will receive a commemorative game ball in honor of her scoring her 1,000th career point prior to tipoff of Saturday’s game.
Subway Basketball Classic History
Minnesota has hosted an early-season tournament for 28 years, dubbed the Subway Basketball Classic for the last six seasons. The Golden Gophers have captured the title in the tournament in eight of the last nine seasons. Last year, Minnesota scored an 87-63 victory over Yale, behind Emily Fox’ MVP performance. Kiara Buford was also named to the all-tournament team.
Minnesota has won its tournament 14 times with the Gophers’ streak of six straight titles (2000-2005) their longest. The 2000 championship was Minnesota's first Classic title since 1993. The Gophers have captured 13 Classic MVP awards, including three by Lindsay Whalen and two each by Laura Coenen, Carol Ann Shudlick and Emily Fox.
Pam Borton Radio on Monday
The Pam Borton Radio Show heard locally on WCCO Radio (830 am) is broadcast live on Monday evenings at 7:30 p.m. at Applebee’s in Stadium Village. Golden Gopher radio personalities Corbu Stathes and Lynnette Sjoquist host the program. The next show is Monday, Nov. 23.
Brittany McCoy to Make 100th Career Start
Senior Brittany McCoy will make her 100th career start on Saturday versus Illinois-Chicago. McCoy has started every game of her high school and college basketball career. The Minnesota record for consecutive starts is held by Lindsay Whalen (2001-04), who started 111 straight during her Gopher career.
1,000 Points in the Books
Gopher center Ashley Ellis-Milan grabbed an offensive rebound off a Katie Ohm three-point field goal attempt and banked home a short jumper early in the Lamar game to score her 1,000th career point. Ellis-Milan is the 19th Gopher to surpass the 1,000-points milestone.
Moving On Up
Ashley Ellis-Milan scored 15 points versus Utah in her first game since joining the 1,000 career points club. She jumped up two places on the Gophers’ all-time leading scorers list and is now No. 17 with 1,024 career points. The quick move up the charts could continue as just 13 points separates Ellis-Milan from No. 15 on the list. Ellis-Milan’s cousin Linda Roberts (1977-81) ranks No. 4 in Gopher scoring history with 1.056 points.
Ellis-Milan is also working her way up the career rebounds list. She is currently No. 9 on the list with 709 career rebounds.
This China Far From Fragile
China Antoine has played important minutes off the bench for the Gophers at the backup point guard position. Antoine scored in double figures for the first time as a Gopher on Tuesday, scoring 10 points against Utah. She has hit two three-point field goals in both games this season.
Harper Working Hard on the Boards
Senior Zoe Harper leads the team in rebounding averaging 8.5 rebounds a game. Early this season, Harper has been an effective collector of rebounds as her team-best 17 rebounds have come in 43 minutes of play.
Buford Impressive in First Career Start
Sophomore Kiara Buford scored a career high 23 points against Lamar, her first career start of her Golden Gopher career. The last time a Gopher scored 23 or more points in her first career start was Lindsay Lieser who scored 23 points as a freshman starter versus Ball State in the 1999-00 season opener. Buford also tallied her first career double-double by adding a career-best 11 rebounds. Ironically, the player Buford replaced in the Gophers’ starting lineup from a year ago, Emily Fox, also tabbed a double-double (13 points/10 assists) in her first career start.
Raining Threes
Everyone knows Gopher senior Katie Ohm is one of the finest three-point shooters in the Big Ten. Ohm will seemingly get a lot of help if the numbers from the Gophers’ season-opener are any indication. Ohm was one of four Gophers to hit two or more three-pointers versus Lamar. Kiara Buford has been deadly from long range this season, connecting on 3-of-5 versus Lamar and 10-of-13 overall if you throw in Minnesota’s two exhibition games. Ohm, Jackie Voigt and China Antoine hit a pair of triples in both the Lamar and Utah games.
Three Gophers See First Playing Time
Three Gophers saw their first action in a Golden Gopher uniform versus Lamar. Freshman guard Leah Cotton came off the bench to tally seven points, three rebounds and two steals in 13 minutes. Junior college transfer China Antoine contributed six points and a team-high four assists in 19 minutes. Freshman forward Katie Loberg played five minutes and tallied two points and four rebounds.
Having Some Fun with the Opener
Minnesota won its season-opener by 39 points (84-45). The last time Minnesota enjoyed that large of a margin of victory was a 43-point triumph (97-54) over Illinois-Chicago in the WNIT First Round in 2007. The margin of victory in a season-opening game was the largest since Minnesota drilled Southern (93-41) winning by 52 points to start the 2003-04 season. The Gophers’ 84 points versus Lamar is the most in an opening game since that 2003-04 Southern game as well.
The Gophers started the game with a 20-0 run. The biggest scoring run of last season was 18 straight at Wisconsin. Minnesota pulled down 66 rebounds, just two boards off the school record of 68 which occurred twice, the last time versus Sam Houston State in 1989-90.
Season-Opening Success Adds Another “W”
The Gophers added another season-opening victory to the list defeating Lamar to open the 2009-10 season. Minnesota has won its season-opening games in nine of the last 11 years including a 7-1 mark during the tenure of Pam Borton. Overall, the Gophers are 23-43 in openers since 1973-74 (results from the first two years of basketball, 1971-72 and 1972-73, are unavailable).
Plenty of Experience in Starting Lineup
The Gophers have four veteran starters in Brittany McCoy, Ashley Ellis-Milan, Katie Ohm and Jackie Voigt, who combined have 273 games of starting experience. Kiara Buford is in her first season as a starter.
Nearing Her 100th Consecutive Start
Senior guard Brittany McCoy will make her 99th career start on Tuesday versus Utah. In 2009-10, McCoy has the chance to build on an accomplishment in Gopher history that only she can claim. McCoy is the first player to collect over 100 assists during her freshman, sophomore and junior seasons. She has dished out 370 assists to rank fourth on the Gophers’ all-time list.
Ohm Returns to Chase School Three-Point Mark
Katie Ohm begins her senior season with the Minnesota school record for three-point field goals in her sights. Ohm is ranked third with 159 three-pointers, 71 from Shannon Schonrock’s (2002-06) career total of 230. Ohm notched a Minnesota single-season record with 74 triples a year ago.
Voigt a Steady Force in Low Post
Jackie Voigt earned the starting nod at forward for the first game of her rookie season and has been a consistent performer for the Gophers ever since. Voigt is averaging 8.0 points per game this season and has hit a pair of three-point field goals in both games.
Gophers Lose a Tight One at Utah
Minnesota dropped its first game of the season losing 60-59 to Utah in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Nov. 17. The Golden Gophers (1-1) were led by Ashley Ellis-Milan with 15 points.
Despite struggling mightily on offense the entire game, Minnesota used its defense to stay in the contest. China Antoine playing for the fouled-out Brittany McCoy stole the ball with 1:32 left in the game and hit a three-pointer to bring the Gophers to within 58-55.
Utah (1-1) missed a jumper on its next possession and Katie Ohm gathered in the rebound. She was later fouled and made one of two free throws with 45 seconds left (58-56). Utah rebounded the miss but turned the ball over due to the Gopher pressure defense with 29 seconds remaining. The Gopher offense was unable to convert on the biggest possession of the game as Jackie Voigt fired a pass over the head of Ellis-Milan notching a very costly turnover.
The Gophers were forced to foul and leading scorer Kalee Whipple hit two important free throws to give the Utes a four-point lead at 60-56 with11 seconds left. Voigt hit a three-pointer with 1.8 seconds left.
Minnesota started the game cold as ice shooting from the field and at one time was shooting just 21 percent from the floor, missing 11 of their first 14 shots. The Gophers trailed by only two points, 28-26, at the half despite finishing the half 9-of-31 from the field and 1-for-9 (11.1 percent) from three-point range.
Utah lead the entire second half extending its lead to as big as nine points at 41-32 with 13:39 remaining.
McCoy and Antoine both scored 10 points to join Ellis-Milan in double figures. Kiara Buford scored nine points in the first half, but went scoreless and 0-for-3 from the floor in the second half.
The Gophers also came up on the short end of the rebounding battle as Utah maintained a 46-34 advantage, including a damaging 15 offensive rebounds.
The Trio of Team Captains For 2009-10
The Golden Gopher team captains for the 2009-10 season are seniors Ashley Ellis-Milan, Brittany McCoy and Katie Ohm. Ellis-Milan and McCoy are two-year captains.
Borton in Eighth Year at Minnesota
Head coach Pam Borton is in her eighth season at Minnesota. Borton, along with Ohio State’s Jim Foster, share the second-longest coaching tenure in the Big Ten Conference. Only Iowa’s Lisa Bluder, entering her 10th season, has been in the league longer. This season for the first time in 11 years, since the 1998-99 season, the Big Ten did not have to welcome a new coach.
Gophers Ink Five to National Letters of Intent
Minnesota head coach Pam Borton announced a recruiting class of five student-athletes – Janelle Cannon (5-8 shooting guard from Wheeling, Ill./Wheeling HS), Shonte Clay (6-2 power foward from Chicago, Ill./Van Steuben HS), Kionna Kellogg (6-1 forward from Ames, Iowa/Ames HS), Sari Noga (5-10 shooting guard from Parkers Prairie, Minn./Parkers Prairie HS) and Micaella Riche (6-2 power foward from Gloucester, Ontario/Louis Riel HS) – has signed National Letters of Intent and will join the Golden Gopher women’s basketball team for the 2010-11 season.
“It was important for our continued progression of our program to bring in these five student-athletes who can make an immediate impact on our team,” said Borton, who is in her eighth season at Minnesota. “This class possesses the traits a coach looks for in that they are very talented, athletic, versatile, and have a great work ethic. But the intangible trait that makes this class special is that they truly treasure the opportunity to become Golden Gophers. We are excited about what the future of Gopher Basketball holds and fully expect this class to make their mark.”
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