University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Face Xavier for Junkanoo Jam Title
11/28/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Minnesota Golden Gophers (5-1)
vs.
Xavier Musketeers (4-0)
LOCATION St. Georges High School - Freeport, Grand Island, Bahamas
DATE / TIME: Saturday, Nov. 28 / 3:15 pm ET (2 :15 pm CT)
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. 28, 2009
• Gophers Plays Xavier for Junkanoo Jam Title - Minnesota (5-1) will face Xavier (5-0) for the Junkanoo Jam title on Grand Bahama Island on Saturday at 2:15 p.m. CT. The tournament will offer a video webcast of the games which will be linked to gophersports.com.
• Voigt Leads Gophers - Sophomore Jackie Voigt scored a career-high 17 points, including a trio of three-point field goals, to lead Minnesota to a 61-56 victory over TCU in the Junkanoo Jam semifinal on Friday.
• Gophers Win Subway Classic Title - Minnesota defeated Colorado, 87-78, in the championship game of the Subway Basketball Classic. Ashley Ellis-Milan was named the Classic MVP and was joined by Kiara Buford and China Antoine on the all-tournament team.
• Busy November - Minnesota will play its first seven games in the span of just two weeks ending with the games at the Junkanoo Jam. The Gophers kick off December with the Big Ten/ACC Challenge at Maryland on Dec. 3.
Gophers Play Xavier for Junkanoo Jam Title
Minnesota plays Xavier on Saturday in the championship game of the Junkanoo Jam. Tip-off is set for 3:15 p.m. ET (2:15 p.m. CT). The Golden Gophers, 5-1 on the season, advanced to the title tilt with a 61-56 victory over TCU in the semifinals. Xavier (4-0), ranked No. 9/10, defeated No. 18/23 Kansas by a score of 76-71 to advance.
Junkanoo Jam Games Video Stream
The Junkanoo Jam will supply a video webstream of the games this weekend. No audio will be provided. Check gophersports.com for a link to the video broadcast.
Shooting For Title Number Two
Minnesota captured the title in the Subway Classic and hope to take home a championship in the 2009 Junkanoo Jam. The Gophers have won two early-season tournament titles four times under head coach Pam Borton, including last season when the Gophers won their own Subway Classic and then the Colorado Thanksgiving Tournament. The Gophers won both their early-season titles in Borton’s first two seasons (2002-03 and 2003-04), then again in 2005-06, when Minnesota won the Subway Classic and the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Let’s Just Play Games
Players love it. Coaches, well, not so much. The Gophers’ early season schedule featured seven games, nearly a quarter of the season’s games, within the first two weeks of the season. That means little practice time and more game preparation. The Junkanoo Jam title game is the seventh and final game of the incredibly busy month of November.
Historically A Big Travel Week
Minnesota often takes a nice road trip over Thanksgiving week with this season’s destination the Bahamas. Last year, the Gophers spent the holiday in Colorado. Other recent destinations were Hawaii (2007), Flagstaff, Ariz. (2006), the U.S. Virgin Islands (2005) and the Bahamas (2003). The Gophers’ trip to the Bahamas in 2003 was in Pam Borton’s second season at Minnesota.
The Last Time at the Junkanoo Jam
The Golden Gophers captured the 2003 Junkanoo Jam title with wins over Texas A&M and Southern California. Lindsay Whalen earned MVP honors, while Janel McCarville was also named to the all-tournament team.
Texas Two-Step for the Gophers
Minnesota had defeated two teams from the state of Texas already this season: Lamar (Beaumont) and TCU (Fort Worth).
Ranked Team Up Next for Gophers
Xavier is the first nationally ranked team the Gophers will play this season. The last time Minnesota played a nationally ranked team in non-conference action during the regular season was the 2008-09 season opener at No. 2/2 Stanford.
Voigt Playing Big Role at Power Forward
Sophomore Jackie Voigt led the Gophers with a career-high 17 points in the win over TCU. Voigt has scored in double figures in each of the last three games, matching her total of double-digit games from last season. In scoring 17 points vs. TCU, Voigt netted three three-point field goals for the first time in her career and shot 70 percent (7-10) from the floor. She also added a season-high seven rebounds against the Lady Frogs.
Ellis-Milan Tallies First Double-Double in a While
Ashley Ellis-Milan notched the 20th double-double of her Gopher career on Friday against TCU. It had, however, been a while since Ellis-Milan added to her total. Her last double-double was on Jan. 11, 2009 versus Iowa.
Not All About Points
Brittany McCoy had a big game against TCU in just about every other way than the scoring column. McCoy dished out a season-high eight assists and was the court leader for the tough Gopher defense grabbing a career-best seven steals. Minnesota scored a total of 21 points off TCU turnovers. McCoy was also charged with defending Frogs’ leading scorer Helena Sverrisdottir, who finished 10 points below her 13.5 points per game average and took just five shots.
Sharing the Honors
Four different Golden Gopher have earned game scoring honors this season (Ashley Ellis-Milan, Kiara Buford, Leah Cotton and Jackie Voigt). Voigt added her name to the list on Friday versus TCU. Ellis-Milan and Buford have both led the Gophers in scoring twice this season.
Defense Getting the Job Done
Minnesota held TCU to 56 points, over 25 points under the Lady Frogs’ scoring average coming into the game. The Gophers will face their biggest test of the season versus Xavier in the Junkanoo Jam title game. The Musketeers average 77.0 points a game, while allowing 60.0 points a game.
Ellis-Milan Joins McCoy with Triple-Digit Starts
Ashley Ellis-Milan started her 100th game, consecutively, as a Golden Gopher in the TCU game. Earlier this season, Brittany McCoy proceeded Ellis-Milan in triple digits for career starts.
Brittany McCoy in Triple Digits for Starts
Senior Brittany McCoy made her 103rd career start of her Gopher career in the game versus North Dakota. 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.
Bench Plays Big Against the Bison
The Minnesota bench outscored the Gopher starters by a 37-28 margin in the win over North Dakota State. Freshman guard Leah Cotton scored a career-high 15 points to lead the way. China Antoine and Zoe Harper also played key roles off the bench. Antoine scored nine points and grabbed four steals. Harper scored eight points and pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.
A Lot on the Line
A big part of Minnesota’s offense is getting to the free throw line and often. The Gophers have attempted 30 or more free throws in four of their first six games. Getting to the line is the first step, taking advantage of it is the next. Minnesota is shooting an impressive 76.9 percent from the line this season.
Pesky Gopher Defense Stealing the Spotlight
Minnesota defense forced North Dakota State in 35 turnovers (they only scored 37 points) in the game on Tuesday. The Gophers gathered a season-high 19 steals in the game, led by China Antoine and Brittany McCoy with four apiece. The school record for steals in a game is 24. The Gophers collected 18 steals versus Illinois-Chicago with five players, led by McCoy with five, grabbing more than one.
More Kudos for the Defense
Minnesota held North Dakota State to just 37 points in the victory on Tuesday. The last time the Gophers held a team in less than 40 points was on Dec. 2, 2006, when Minnesota scored a 71-34 victory over Chicago State. The Gophers have held opponents to the 30s six times during Pam Borton’s eight-year coaching reign, three of those coming in the 2004-05 season.
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 and Quickly
Ashley Ellis-Milan has already moved up six spots on the Minnesota all-time scoring list since joining the 1,000 career points club. She is now No. 13 with 1,078 career points. 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. 7 on the list with 731 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 is averaging 8.0 points a game with two contests in double figures (Utah, Colorado). She is also contributing 3.5 assists and 2.3 steals per game.
Harper Working Hard on the Boards
Senior Zoe Harper is one of the team’s leaders in rebounding, averaging 5.0 rebounds a game. Early this season, Harper has been an effective collector of rebounds as her team-high 30 rebounds have come in an average of 14.5 minutes a game.
Minnesota Wins Subway Classic Title
Minnesota captured the 2009 Subway Basketball Classic title with an 87-78 victory over Colorado in the championship game. The Gophers have won their own early-season tourney in nine of the last 10 years and a total of 15 times.
Ellis-Milan Named Subway Classic MVP
Ashley Ellis-Milan was named the Subway Classic Most Valuable Player after two solid performances in the tournament. Ellis-Milan averaged 17.5 points per game, making 12-of-19 shots from the floor and a perfect 11-for-11 from the free throw line.
Buford and Antoine Claim All-Tourney Honors
The Gophers also had Kiara Buford and China Antoine named to the all-tournament team. Buford was as deserving as Ellis-Milan for MVP accord. She averaged 19.5 points in the Classic, including a career-high 24-point outing in the championship game versus Colorado. Like Ellis-Milan, Buford was perfect from the line over the weekend going 15-for-15, and 11-for-11 versus Colorado.
Antoine earned her All-Classic honor by coming off the bench and providing a great spark of energy for the Gophers on both ends of the court. She averaged 10.0 points a game and dished out a career-high seven assists versus Illinois-Chicago.
Not Quite a Record, But Pretty Darn Impressive
Minnesota hit 30-of-34 free throws in the win over Colorado for an accuracy rating of 88.2 percent. The Gopher record for the most free throw in a game is 32, which has occurred three times, the last coming vs. Kansas State in the 1993-94 season. The percentage in a a game with at least one miss was 21-of-22 for 95.5 percent vs. Michigan State in 2001-02.
Buford Goes 11-for-11
Kiara Buford was a perfect 11-for-11 from the free throw line in the Colorado win. Buford is the sixth player in Minnesota history to go 100 percent from the line with 11 or more attempts.
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. 30.
When You’re Hot, You’re Hot
Minnesota shot a blistering 59.6 percent from the floor in the win over Illinois-Chicago. It’s been a while since the Gophers posted that kind of percentage. In fact, one has to go back to Dec. 3, 2005, when the Gophers shot better – 61.0 percent (25-41) vs. Nebraska.
Buford Impressive in First Career Start
Sophomore Kiara Buford scored a career high 23 points against Lam a, 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.
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 293 games of starting experience. Kiara Buford is in her first season as a starter.
Ohm Aims to Chase School Three-Point Mark
Katie Ohm plays her senior season with the Minnesota school record for three-point field goals in her sights. Ohm is ranked third with 162 three-pointers, 68 from Shannon Schonrock’s (2002-06) career total of 230. Ohm notched a Minnesota single-season record with 74 triples a year ago.
Voigt Leads Gophers to Junkanoo Jam Win Over TCU
Jackie Voigt scored a career-high 17 points to lead Minnesota to a 61-56 victory over TCU and into tomorrow’s championship game of the Junkanoo Jam in Freeport, Grand Bahama Island.
“I was pleased of the focus our team had to start the game,” said Golden Gopher head coach Pam Borton. “There can be so many distractions at a tournament like this. I give our players credit in that they took care of business.”
Voigt started the game with a pair of three-point field goals and added three more baskets as her 12 early points spotted Minnesota a 22-7 lead with 7:00 left in the half.
The Gophers’ defense created their offense as they forced the Lady Frogs (3-2) into 13 first-half turnovers. Then, Minnesota turned those miscues into points, a 13-2 margin of points off turnovers, to take a 32-19 halftime lead.
TCU closed the gap quickly in the second half hitting three consecutive three-pointers to fuel a 13-4 run that brought the Lady Frogs back to within four points at 45-41 with 7:45 remaining.
After a time out, Minnesota regrouped and put together a nice run of 12 straight points. Freshman Leah Cotton started the rally with a pair of free throws. Ashley Ellis-Milan hit a free throw, before China Antoine, Voigt and Kiara Buford strung together a trio of three-pointers for the Gophers to return the lead to a more comfortable 16-point advantage at 57-41 with 2:38 remaining.
The Lady Frogs managed to chip the lead into single-digits but never seriously threatened to steal the Gopher victory. Emily Carter, who led TCU with 18 points, hit a long three-point jumper at the final buzzer to make the final margin closer.
Ellis-Milan and Buford joined Voigt in double digit with 11 points apiece. Ellis-Milan pulled down 10 rebounds as well to notch her first double-double of the season and 20th of her career.
Brittany McCoy contributed a nice game at guard for the Gophers. McCoy grabbed a career-high seven steals and dished out eight assists.
vs.
Xavier Musketeers (4-0)
LOCATION St. Georges High School - Freeport, Grand Island, Bahamas
DATE / TIME: Saturday, Nov. 28 / 3:15 pm ET (2 :15 pm CT)
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. 28, 2009
• Gophers Plays Xavier for Junkanoo Jam Title - Minnesota (5-1) will face Xavier (5-0) for the Junkanoo Jam title on Grand Bahama Island on Saturday at 2:15 p.m. CT. The tournament will offer a video webcast of the games which will be linked to gophersports.com.
• Voigt Leads Gophers - Sophomore Jackie Voigt scored a career-high 17 points, including a trio of three-point field goals, to lead Minnesota to a 61-56 victory over TCU in the Junkanoo Jam semifinal on Friday.
• Gophers Win Subway Classic Title - Minnesota defeated Colorado, 87-78, in the championship game of the Subway Basketball Classic. Ashley Ellis-Milan was named the Classic MVP and was joined by Kiara Buford and China Antoine on the all-tournament team.
• Busy November - Minnesota will play its first seven games in the span of just two weeks ending with the games at the Junkanoo Jam. The Gophers kick off December with the Big Ten/ACC Challenge at Maryland on Dec. 3.
Gophers Play Xavier for Junkanoo Jam Title
Minnesota plays Xavier on Saturday in the championship game of the Junkanoo Jam. Tip-off is set for 3:15 p.m. ET (2:15 p.m. CT). The Golden Gophers, 5-1 on the season, advanced to the title tilt with a 61-56 victory over TCU in the semifinals. Xavier (4-0), ranked No. 9/10, defeated No. 18/23 Kansas by a score of 76-71 to advance.
Junkanoo Jam Games Video Stream
The Junkanoo Jam will supply a video webstream of the games this weekend. No audio will be provided. Check gophersports.com for a link to the video broadcast.
Shooting For Title Number Two
Minnesota captured the title in the Subway Classic and hope to take home a championship in the 2009 Junkanoo Jam. The Gophers have won two early-season tournament titles four times under head coach Pam Borton, including last season when the Gophers won their own Subway Classic and then the Colorado Thanksgiving Tournament. The Gophers won both their early-season titles in Borton’s first two seasons (2002-03 and 2003-04), then again in 2005-06, when Minnesota won the Subway Classic and the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Let’s Just Play Games
Players love it. Coaches, well, not so much. The Gophers’ early season schedule featured seven games, nearly a quarter of the season’s games, within the first two weeks of the season. That means little practice time and more game preparation. The Junkanoo Jam title game is the seventh and final game of the incredibly busy month of November.
Historically A Big Travel Week
Minnesota often takes a nice road trip over Thanksgiving week with this season’s destination the Bahamas. Last year, the Gophers spent the holiday in Colorado. Other recent destinations were Hawaii (2007), Flagstaff, Ariz. (2006), the U.S. Virgin Islands (2005) and the Bahamas (2003). The Gophers’ trip to the Bahamas in 2003 was in Pam Borton’s second season at Minnesota.
The Last Time at the Junkanoo Jam
The Golden Gophers captured the 2003 Junkanoo Jam title with wins over Texas A&M and Southern California. Lindsay Whalen earned MVP honors, while Janel McCarville was also named to the all-tournament team.
Texas Two-Step for the Gophers
Minnesota had defeated two teams from the state of Texas already this season: Lamar (Beaumont) and TCU (Fort Worth).
Ranked Team Up Next for Gophers
Xavier is the first nationally ranked team the Gophers will play this season. The last time Minnesota played a nationally ranked team in non-conference action during the regular season was the 2008-09 season opener at No. 2/2 Stanford.
Voigt Playing Big Role at Power Forward
Sophomore Jackie Voigt led the Gophers with a career-high 17 points in the win over TCU. Voigt has scored in double figures in each of the last three games, matching her total of double-digit games from last season. In scoring 17 points vs. TCU, Voigt netted three three-point field goals for the first time in her career and shot 70 percent (7-10) from the floor. She also added a season-high seven rebounds against the Lady Frogs.
Ellis-Milan Tallies First Double-Double in a While
Ashley Ellis-Milan notched the 20th double-double of her Gopher career on Friday against TCU. It had, however, been a while since Ellis-Milan added to her total. Her last double-double was on Jan. 11, 2009 versus Iowa.
Not All About Points
Brittany McCoy had a big game against TCU in just about every other way than the scoring column. McCoy dished out a season-high eight assists and was the court leader for the tough Gopher defense grabbing a career-best seven steals. Minnesota scored a total of 21 points off TCU turnovers. McCoy was also charged with defending Frogs’ leading scorer Helena Sverrisdottir, who finished 10 points below her 13.5 points per game average and took just five shots.
Sharing the Honors
Four different Golden Gopher have earned game scoring honors this season (Ashley Ellis-Milan, Kiara Buford, Leah Cotton and Jackie Voigt). Voigt added her name to the list on Friday versus TCU. Ellis-Milan and Buford have both led the Gophers in scoring twice this season.
Defense Getting the Job Done
Minnesota held TCU to 56 points, over 25 points under the Lady Frogs’ scoring average coming into the game. The Gophers will face their biggest test of the season versus Xavier in the Junkanoo Jam title game. The Musketeers average 77.0 points a game, while allowing 60.0 points a game.
Ellis-Milan Joins McCoy with Triple-Digit Starts
Ashley Ellis-Milan started her 100th game, consecutively, as a Golden Gopher in the TCU game. Earlier this season, Brittany McCoy proceeded Ellis-Milan in triple digits for career starts.
Brittany McCoy in Triple Digits for Starts
Senior Brittany McCoy made her 103rd career start of her Gopher career in the game versus North Dakota. 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.
Bench Plays Big Against the Bison
The Minnesota bench outscored the Gopher starters by a 37-28 margin in the win over North Dakota State. Freshman guard Leah Cotton scored a career-high 15 points to lead the way. China Antoine and Zoe Harper also played key roles off the bench. Antoine scored nine points and grabbed four steals. Harper scored eight points and pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.
A Lot on the Line
A big part of Minnesota’s offense is getting to the free throw line and often. The Gophers have attempted 30 or more free throws in four of their first six games. Getting to the line is the first step, taking advantage of it is the next. Minnesota is shooting an impressive 76.9 percent from the line this season.
Pesky Gopher Defense Stealing the Spotlight
Minnesota defense forced North Dakota State in 35 turnovers (they only scored 37 points) in the game on Tuesday. The Gophers gathered a season-high 19 steals in the game, led by China Antoine and Brittany McCoy with four apiece. The school record for steals in a game is 24. The Gophers collected 18 steals versus Illinois-Chicago with five players, led by McCoy with five, grabbing more than one.
More Kudos for the Defense
Minnesota held North Dakota State to just 37 points in the victory on Tuesday. The last time the Gophers held a team in less than 40 points was on Dec. 2, 2006, when Minnesota scored a 71-34 victory over Chicago State. The Gophers have held opponents to the 30s six times during Pam Borton’s eight-year coaching reign, three of those coming in the 2004-05 season.
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 and Quickly
Ashley Ellis-Milan has already moved up six spots on the Minnesota all-time scoring list since joining the 1,000 career points club. She is now No. 13 with 1,078 career points. 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. 7 on the list with 731 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 is averaging 8.0 points a game with two contests in double figures (Utah, Colorado). She is also contributing 3.5 assists and 2.3 steals per game.
Harper Working Hard on the Boards
Senior Zoe Harper is one of the team’s leaders in rebounding, averaging 5.0 rebounds a game. Early this season, Harper has been an effective collector of rebounds as her team-high 30 rebounds have come in an average of 14.5 minutes a game.
Minnesota Wins Subway Classic Title
Minnesota captured the 2009 Subway Basketball Classic title with an 87-78 victory over Colorado in the championship game. The Gophers have won their own early-season tourney in nine of the last 10 years and a total of 15 times.
Ellis-Milan Named Subway Classic MVP
Ashley Ellis-Milan was named the Subway Classic Most Valuable Player after two solid performances in the tournament. Ellis-Milan averaged 17.5 points per game, making 12-of-19 shots from the floor and a perfect 11-for-11 from the free throw line.
Buford and Antoine Claim All-Tourney Honors
The Gophers also had Kiara Buford and China Antoine named to the all-tournament team. Buford was as deserving as Ellis-Milan for MVP accord. She averaged 19.5 points in the Classic, including a career-high 24-point outing in the championship game versus Colorado. Like Ellis-Milan, Buford was perfect from the line over the weekend going 15-for-15, and 11-for-11 versus Colorado.
Antoine earned her All-Classic honor by coming off the bench and providing a great spark of energy for the Gophers on both ends of the court. She averaged 10.0 points a game and dished out a career-high seven assists versus Illinois-Chicago.
Not Quite a Record, But Pretty Darn Impressive
Minnesota hit 30-of-34 free throws in the win over Colorado for an accuracy rating of 88.2 percent. The Gopher record for the most free throw in a game is 32, which has occurred three times, the last coming vs. Kansas State in the 1993-94 season. The percentage in a a game with at least one miss was 21-of-22 for 95.5 percent vs. Michigan State in 2001-02.
Buford Goes 11-for-11
Kiara Buford was a perfect 11-for-11 from the free throw line in the Colorado win. Buford is the sixth player in Minnesota history to go 100 percent from the line with 11 or more attempts.
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. 30.
When You’re Hot, You’re Hot
Minnesota shot a blistering 59.6 percent from the floor in the win over Illinois-Chicago. It’s been a while since the Gophers posted that kind of percentage. In fact, one has to go back to Dec. 3, 2005, when the Gophers shot better – 61.0 percent (25-41) vs. Nebraska.
Buford Impressive in First Career Start
Sophomore Kiara Buford scored a career high 23 points against Lam a, 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.
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 293 games of starting experience. Kiara Buford is in her first season as a starter.
Ohm Aims to Chase School Three-Point Mark
Katie Ohm plays her senior season with the Minnesota school record for three-point field goals in her sights. Ohm is ranked third with 162 three-pointers, 68 from Shannon Schonrock’s (2002-06) career total of 230. Ohm notched a Minnesota single-season record with 74 triples a year ago.
Voigt Leads Gophers to Junkanoo Jam Win Over TCU
Jackie Voigt scored a career-high 17 points to lead Minnesota to a 61-56 victory over TCU and into tomorrow’s championship game of the Junkanoo Jam in Freeport, Grand Bahama Island.
“I was pleased of the focus our team had to start the game,” said Golden Gopher head coach Pam Borton. “There can be so many distractions at a tournament like this. I give our players credit in that they took care of business.”
Voigt started the game with a pair of three-point field goals and added three more baskets as her 12 early points spotted Minnesota a 22-7 lead with 7:00 left in the half.
The Gophers’ defense created their offense as they forced the Lady Frogs (3-2) into 13 first-half turnovers. Then, Minnesota turned those miscues into points, a 13-2 margin of points off turnovers, to take a 32-19 halftime lead.
TCU closed the gap quickly in the second half hitting three consecutive three-pointers to fuel a 13-4 run that brought the Lady Frogs back to within four points at 45-41 with 7:45 remaining.
After a time out, Minnesota regrouped and put together a nice run of 12 straight points. Freshman Leah Cotton started the rally with a pair of free throws. Ashley Ellis-Milan hit a free throw, before China Antoine, Voigt and Kiara Buford strung together a trio of three-pointers for the Gophers to return the lead to a more comfortable 16-point advantage at 57-41 with 2:38 remaining.
The Lady Frogs managed to chip the lead into single-digits but never seriously threatened to steal the Gopher victory. Emily Carter, who led TCU with 18 points, hit a long three-point jumper at the final buzzer to make the final margin closer.
Ellis-Milan and Buford joined Voigt in double digit with 11 points apiece. Ellis-Milan pulled down 10 rebounds as well to notch her first double-double of the season and 20th of her career.
Brittany McCoy contributed a nice game at guard for the Gophers. McCoy grabbed a career-high seven steals and dished out eight assists.
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