University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Host Santa Clara on Wednesday Night
12/15/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Minnesota Golden Gophers (7-4)
vs.
Santa Clara Broncos (2-7)
LOCATION Williams Arena (14,625) / Minneapolis, Minn.
DATE / TIME: Wednesday, Dec. 16 / 7 p.m. CT
TELEVISION: none
RADIO/WEBCAST: Gopher Radio Network, WCCO 830 AM
Corbu Stathes (Play-by-Play), Lynnette Sjoquist (Color Analysis)
Gophersports.com
Golden Gopher Watch List — Dec. 16, 2009
• Gophers Host Santa Clara in Non-Conference Finale - Minnesota (7-4) plays host to Santa Clara (2-7) on Wednesday, Dec. 16, in the final non-conference game for the Golden Gophers. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
• A Familiar Face - Minnesota assistant coach Leigh Gregory joined the Gopher coaching staff after spending a year at Santa Clara on Jennifer Mountain’s staff.
• Doing it with Defense - Minnesota has held four teams to under 50 points this season and has a defensive average of 58.2 points a game. Santa Clara comes in averaging 63.6 points a game.
• Big Ten Schedule Back in Waiting - After playing an early BIg Ten game in the first weekend of December, the Conference schedule takes a long break for final exams and the Christmas holiday. The Gophers’ next Big Ten game is Dec. 28 at Purdue.
Gophers Host Santa Clara in Non-Conference Finale
Minnesota plays host to Santa Clara on Wednesday, Dec. 16, in the Golden Gophers’ non-conference finale. The Gophers own a 7-4 record after a tough 77-60 loss at home to Iowa State on Sunday. Santa Clara is 2-7 overall, but is coming off a win over Pacific on Sunday.
Break for the Books
A week of final exams on the University of Minnesota campus begins on Thursday, Dec. 17. No athletic competition, other than national championships, are allowed during this period.
It’s Starting to Feel a Lot Like Christmas
Sure looking outside and seeing snow helps, but that’s not where we’re going here. As soon as the Christmas holiday passes, it’s time to return the Gophers’ basketball focus to Big Ten Conference play. Typically, we’d be talking about the Big Ten opener, but a round of games in the first weekend of December took care of that. The Gophers will resume Conference action by traveling to West Layette, Ind., to face Purdue on Dec. 28.
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, Dec. 21.
Hey, You Look Very Familiar
Golden Gopher assistant coach Leigh Gregory joined Pam Borton’s Minnesota coaching staff this season after a year at Santa Clara. Gregory was on the Bronco bench last season when Minnesota traveled to Santa Clara and captured a 70-45 victory.
Buford Lights it up Versus Iowa State
Kiara Buford scored the Gophers’ first 11 points in the game versus Iowa State and went on to match her career high with 24 points. The Gopher guard went 4-for-8 from three-point range, those four trifectas also matching a career best. Buford hit four three-pointers in the Gophers’ big win at Michigan State a year ago.
The Great Ball of China
Junior China Antoine has provided a nice scoring punch off the bench this season. Antoine scored a career-high 11 points versus Iowa State, nine of those points coming off a trio of three-point field goals. She has six games this season where she has contributed two or more three-pointers to the Gophers’ scoring output.
Doing it with Defense
Minnesota must rely on its defense, game in and game out, to be a steady force in the Gopher game plan. The Gopher “D” has responded by giving up an average of 58.2 points per game. Minnesota has held teams to less than 50 points four games this season. Pressure defense has caused opponents into an average of 20.0 turnovers a game with an average of 10.2 of those turnovers as a result of Gopher steals.
McCoy Nearing No. 3 Spot in Career Assists
Senior Brittany McCoy has 411 assists in her Gopher career and is three assists from passing Emily Fox (2005-09) and into third on the Gophers’ all-time assists list. She collected her 200th career steal in the game versus Penn State and has 205.
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 88-20 (81%) record in their home games. Minnesota is 6-1 in The Barn this season.
Brittany McCoy Closing In Starts Record
Senior Brittany McCoy made her 108th career start of her Gopher career in the game versus Iowa State. 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. McCoy has the chance to become the first player to start every game during a four-year career.
Gophers Set Single-Game Record From Three
Minnesota made 8-of-11 three-point field goals in the win over Idaho State on Dec. 9 setting a new single-game record for percentage from behind the arc at 72.7 percent. The previous record was 70.0 percent (7-10) versus Iowa in a 1996 contest. Against Idaho State, four players (Katie Ohm, Kiara Buford, China Antoine and Jackie Voigt) hit a pair of trifectas.
Scoring, Like Minutes Played, Balanced
There is nothing like a 35-point game to give you squad a chance to spread around both the scoring opportunities and the minutes of playing time. The Gophers had nine players with over 13 minutes of action in the Idaho State game, with seven scoring seven or more points. Kiara Buford captured game honors with just 13 points.
Fast Out of the Blocks
Minnesota has proven to be a team that gets a nice jump on its opponents from the opening tip. The Gophers started the season with a 20-0 burst against Lamar and has followed the trend in several games since:
Illinois-Chicago 20-5
Colorado 17-7
North Dakota State 13-3
TCU 22-7
Maryland 7-0
Penn State 10-0
One Point at a Time is a Good Thing for Gophers
A key to the Golden Gophers’ offense is getting to the free throw line. In seven wins this season, the Gophers attempted an average of 26.7 per game. In comparison, Minnesota has attempt a total of just 67 free throws, an average of 16.8 attempts, in its four losses.
Ellis-Milan Joins McCoy with Triple-Digit Starts
Ashley Ellis-Milan started her 100th game as a Golden Gopher in the TCU game and now has a consecutive starting streak of 105 straight games. Earlier this season, Brittany McCoy proceeded Ellis-Milan in triple digits for career starts.
Ellis-Milan 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 in the season-opener versus Lamar. She is now No. 13 with 1,125 career points. Ellis-Milan’s cousin Linda Roberts (1977-81) ranks No. 4 in Gopher scoring history with 1.856 points.
Ellis-Milan is also working her way up the career rebounds list. She is currently No. 6 on the list with 765 career rebounds.
Voigt Playing Bigger Role
Jackie Voigt had a string of seven straight games scoring in double figures snapped versus Iowa State. Voigt tallied only three double-figure scoring games last season. In her second season as a Gopher starter at forward, Voigt is averaging 10.0 points per game and has earned team game scoring honors two times.
Sharing the Honors
Four different Golden Gopher have earned game scoring honors this season (Ashley Ellis-Milan, Kiara Buford, Leah Cotton and Jackie Voigt). Buford have led the Gophers in scoring five times this season.
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 317 games of starting experience. Kiara Buford is in her first season as a starter. All together that’s 328 games of starting experience.
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 167 three-pointers, 63 from Shannon Schonrock’s (2002-06) career total of 230. Ohm notched a Minnesota single-season record with 74 triples a year ago.
Scouting Santa Clara
Santa Clara owns a 2-7 record on the season with wins in their season opener (Sonoma State) and its last game (Pacific). Sophomore guard Alyssa Shoji leads the Broncos scoring 14.2 points, and 2.7 three-point field goals made, per game. Junior forward Lena Gipson adds 13.9 points and a team-best 9.8 rebounds per game. Guard Meagan Fulps led the Broncos to the win over Pacific with 24 points and is averaging 10.7 points per game on the season.
The Minnesota / Santa Clara Series
Minnesota leads the series with Santa Clara by a 4-0 margin. The Gophers are 3-0 on Santa Clara’s home court.
