University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Travel to Maryland to Face Terps
12/2/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Big Ten-ACC Challenge
Minnesota Golden Gophers (5-2)
vs.
Maryland Terrapins (6-1)
LOCATION Comcast Center (17,950) / College Park, Md.
DATE / TIME: Thursday, Dec. 3 / 7 p.m. ET, 6 p.m. CT
TELEVISION: none
RADIO: Gopher Radio Network, KBEM-FM-88.5
Corbu Stathes (Play-by-Play), Lynnette Sjoquist (Color Analysis)
Gophersports.com
WEBCAST: TerpsTV (Video link) - www.umterps.com
Golden Gopher Watch List — Dec. 3, 2009
• Gophers Plays Maryland in Big Ten-ACC Challenge - Minnesota (5-2) travels to Maryland (6-1) on Thursday, Dec. 3, for the Big Ten-ACC Challenge. The Challenge is in its third season with the ACC winning both years. The Golden Gophers are 1-1, losing at Virginia Tech in 2007 and defeating Boston College at home in 2008.
• Big Ten Schedule Kicks Off Sunday - Big Ten Conference action begins on Sunday, Dec. 6, when the Golden Gophers play host to Penn State at 3 p.m. CT. The game will be one of four games televised by the Big Ten Network that day.
• Gophers Go 1-1 in Bahamas - Minnesota placed second in the Junkanoo Jam on the Grand Bahama Island last weekend, dropping the title game to No. 9/10 Xavier, 71-56. The Gophers defeated TCU, 61-56, in the semifinals.
• Voigt Honored on All-Tourney Team - Jackie Voigt earned her first career all-tournament team honor by averaging 15.0 points and 4.5 rebounds in the Junkanoo Jam.
Big Ten-ACC Challenge Next For Gophers
Minnesota travels to College Park, Md., on Thursday to face Maryland in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT). The Golden Gophers are 5-2 on the season after going 1-1 at the Junkanoo Jam on the Grand Bahama Island last weekend. Maryland is 6-1 and has won its last three games.
Other ACC-Big Ten Challenge Contests
The Minnesota at Maryland match-up is one of 11 in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. Other games are:
Wed., Dec..2 Illinois at Wake Forest
Boston College at Iowa
Georgia Tech at Penn State
Thurs., Dec. 3 Florida State at Indiana
Michigan at Virginia Tech
North Carolina at Michigan State
Minnesota at Maryland
Clemson at Northwestern
Ohio State at Duke
Purdue at Virginia
Wisconsin at North Carolina State
ACC-Big Ten Challenge in Third Season
The Big Ten-ACC Challenge is in its third season. The ACC has won the Challenge series in 2007 (8-3) and 2008 (7-4). Minnesota is 1-1 in Big Ten-ACC Challenge play. Minnesota lost at Virginia Tech (68-62) in 2007 and defeated Boston College (80-60) at home in 2008.
Memories of a Time, Long, Long Ago
Maryland head coach Brenda Frese coached at Minnesota for one year (2001-02) before taking over the Terrapin program. Oh what year that was! The Gophers were the turnaround Cinderella story of the NCAA that season, going from a dismal 8-20 mark in 2000-01 to a thrilling 22-8 record a year later. After winning just one Big Ten game in 2000-01, the Gophers turned it completely around to go 11-5 and placed second in 2001-02. Minnesota swept the Big Ten awards with Lindsay Whalen earning MVP, Janel McCarville taking Freshman of the Year and Frese being named the Coach of the Year. After the Gophers made only their second NCAA Tournament appearance in school history, advancing to the Second Round, Whalen earned All-America honors and Frese collected Associated Press National Coach of the Year acclaim. Another major thing occurred during Frese’s (then Oldfield) short tenure at Minnesota – the Gophers made the return to Williams Arena.
Gophers Go 5-2 in the Crazy Month of November
The Golden Gopher coaching staff knew the first two weeks of the season posed a huge challenge for their squad. Minnesota posted a solid 5-2 record in a crazy first two weeks of the 2009-10 season, where nearly a quarter of the season’s games were played over a 14-day span.
Some RPI Chatter
OK, it’s early in the season but let’s look at some RPI (Rating Percentage Index) numbers. Minnesota owns an RPI of No. 29 in the nation, a rating that reflects a respectable 38th ranking in strength of schedule. Ohio State has a RPI of No. 18, but a strength of schedule that is ranked 86th. Ohio State and Minnesota are the only Big Ten teams among the top 30 in the nation in RPI according to CollegeRPI.com.
McCoy Two Assists for 400
Senior Brittany McCoy needs two assists to become the fourth Golden Gopher guard to dish out 400 or more assists. McCoy is 16 assists from passing Emily Fox (2005-09) and into third on the Gophers’ all-time assists list. She is also seven steals from 200 in her career.
Gophers Place Second in Junkanoo Jam
Minnesota went 1-1 to place second in the Junkanoo Jam on the Grand Bahama Island last weekend, posting a win over TCU (61-56) and dropping a 71-56 decision to No. 9/10 Xavier in the championship game.
Voigt Named to All-Junkanoo Jam Team
Sophomore forward Jackie Voigt was named to the Junkanoo Jam’s all-tournament team, her first all-tourney honor of her Gopher career. Voigt averaged 15.0 points and 4.5 rebounds in the two games. She led the Gophers to the win over TCU by scoring a career-high 17 points going 7-of-10 from the floor with a trio of three-point field goals. Voigt added 13 points in the Xavier game.
Nice Tourney For Ellis-Milan as Well
Ashley Ellis-Milan also put up nice numbers during the Junkanoo Jam. Ellis-Milan averaged 12.5 points and 8.0 rebounds a game, while playing some stellar defense.
Cotton Showing Some Pizzazz Early On
Freshman Leah Cotton scored 10 points in the Junkanoo Jam title game versus No. 9/10 Xavier. The game marked her fourth game this season scoring in double figures, improving her average to 8.7 points a game. Last season, Kiara Buford led the rookie class with seven games in double digits.
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 seven games, all of them victories. In two losses, Minnesota has stepped to the free throw line an average of just 14.5 attempts. Getting to the line is the first step, taking advantage of it is the next. Minnesota is shooting an impressive 76.2 percent from the line this season.
Texas Two-Step for the Gophers
Minnesota has defeated two teams from the state of Texas already this season: Lamar (Beaumont) and TCU (Fort Worth).
Ellis-Milan Tallies First Double-Double in a While
Ashley Ellis-Milan notched the 20th double-double of her Gopher career 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 versus TCU. Ellis-Milan has led the Gophers in scoring three times this season.
Brittany McCoy Closing In Starts Record
Senior Brittany McCoy made her 104th career start of her Gopher career in the game versus Xavier. 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.
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 101 straight games. Earlier this season, Brittany McCoy proceeded Ellis-Milan in triple digits for career starts.
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 1,092 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 737 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 7.6 points a game with two contests in double figures (Utah, Colorado). She is also contributing 3.4 assists and 2.4 steals per game.
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 298 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.
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. 7.
Scouting Maryland
Maryland is off to a 6-1 start with all six wins coming at home in the Comcast Center to extend their home winning streak to a record 42 games. The Terrapins faced a bit of a rebuilding task in 2009-10 after losing two top-five WNBA draft picks in Kristi Tolliver and Marissa Coleman of the Terrapin squad of a year ago. The cupboard was by no means bare as the 2009 ACC Rookie of the Year, Lynetta Kizer, returns to pace the Terrapins. Kizer, a 6-4 center, is averaging 14.1 points and 7.0 rebounds a game. A familiar name on the Maryland roster is fifth-year senior guard Lori Bjork, who transferred from Illinois with one year of eligibility remaining. Bjork has started all seven games and is averaging 9.7 points a game.
The Minnesota / Maryland Series
Maryland owns a 1-0 lead in the series with Minnesota.
