University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Open Big Ten Play Sunday
12/5/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Minnesota Golden Gophers (5-3)
vs.
Penn State Lady Lions (5-2)
LOCATION Williams Arena (14,625) / Minneapolis, Minn.
DATE / TIME: Sunday, Dec. 6 / 3 p.m. CT
TELEVISION: Big Ten Network
Marney Gellner (Play-by-Play), Mary Murphy (Color Analysis)
RADIO WEBCAST: Gopher Radio Network, WCCO 830 AM
Corbu Stathes (Play-by-Play), Lynnette Sjoquist (Color Analysis)
Gophersports.com
Golden Gopher Watch List — Dec. 6, 2009
• Gophers Opens Big Ten Season Versus Penn State - Minnesota (5-3) opens its Big Ten Conference schedule on Sunday hosting Penn State at 3 p.m. in Williams Arena. The early Big Ten opener is due to where the Christmas holiday falls in the week. After Sunday’s game, the Gophers will not play another Big Ten game until Dec. 28 at Purdue.
• Big Day on the Big Ten Network- The Big Ten Network will televise four straight games on Sunday. The Gophers / Lady Lions game is the third of the lineup.
• Gophers Successful in Big Ten Openers - Minnesota is 5-2 under head coach Pam Borton in Big Ten openers in the last seven seasons. The Gophers’ Conference schedule is heavy on home games early on, but then will pose a huge challenge of playing five of their last seven BIg Ten games on the road.
• Hoping Williams Magic Helps - After averaging just 50.5 points in their last two road losses to nationally ranked teams, the Gophers come home to The Barn where they are averaging 82.5 points a game.
Gopher Open Big Ten Slate Against Penn State
Minnesota opens the 2009-10 Big Ten season on Sunday, Dec. 6, by hosting the Lady Lions of Penn State. The Golden Gophers are 5-3 on the season and are looking to notch a victory after two consecutive losses to nationally ranked teams (No. 9/10 Xavier and rv/No. 22 Maryland). Penn State is 5-2 in the season.
Sunday’s Game Part of Big Day on BTN
Minnesota’s game versus Penn State is the first of nine games to be televised this season. The Big Ten Network will televise the contest live with Marney Gellner providing the play-by-play and Mary Murphy the color analysis. BTN is kicking off the Big Ten schedule with a bang. The Minnesota/Penn State game is the third game of four contests to be televised by the Network on Sunday. Another five Gopher games will be streamed live on the Big Ten Network website.
Early Start to the Conference Season
The Big Ten season gets an early start this season due to where the Christmas holiday (Saturday) falls during the week. Coaches decided to move the first round of Conference play to the first weekend of December instead. The second round of Big Ten play will be on Monday, Dec. 28.
Home Early, on the Road Late
The Golden Gophers will play seven of its first 11 Big Ten games at home in The Barn, but will then be challenged with a brutal stretch with five of their last seven Conference games on the road. Minnesota will see Wisconsin (at home) and Indiana (in Bloomington) once this season.
Big Ten Openers
Minnesota is 5-2 under Pam Borton in Big Ten season-opening games. The Gophers lost a 62-52 decision at Wisconsin to open the Conference slate a year ago. Overall, Minnesota is 13-15 in Big Ten openers.
Third and Last Season with 18 Big Ten Games
The Big Ten adopted an 18-game Conference schedule going into the 2007-08 season and after the 2009-10 season, the third with 18 games, the league will return to the 16-game format.
McCoy Passes 400-Assist Milestone, Literally
Senior Brittany McCoy dished out four assists in the Maryland game to surpass the 400-career assists milestone. She currently has 402 assists in her Gopher career. McCoy is 12 assists from passing Emily Fox (2005-09) and into third on the Gophers’ all-time assists list. She is also three steals from 200 in her career.
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 86-19 (82%) record in their home games. Minnesota is 4-0 in The Barn this season.
Hoping Some Home-Cooking Helps
The Golden Gophers’ scoring average difference between home games and road games is a staggering 27.2 points. Minnesota scored over 80 points in its first three home games this season and enter its fifth home game of the season averaging 82.5 points per game in Williams Arena this season. In games away from The Barn, the Gophers have struggled to score and average just 55.3 points a game.
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 five wins this season, the Gophers attempted an average of 28.6 per game. In comparison, Minnesota has attempt a total of just 43 free throws, an average of 14.3 attempts, in its three losses.
ACC Wins Challenge for Third Time
The ACC captured the 2009 Big Ten-ACC Challenge by a 7-4 court, wining the Challenge for the third straight year. The ACC has won the Challenge series in 2007 (8-3) and 2008 (7-4). Minnesota is 1-2 in Big Ten-ACC Challenge play. Minnesota lost at Virginia Tech (68-62) in 2007, defeated Boston College (80-60) at home in 2008, and lost at Maryland (66-45) this season.
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.
Brittany McCoy Closing In Starts Record
Senior Brittany McCoy made her 105th career start of her Gopher career in the game versus Maryland. 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 102 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 1,100 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 745 career rebounds.
Voigt Playing Bigger Role
Jackie Voigt has a string of five straight games scoring in double figures, also her total for the season. Voigt tallied only three double-figure scoring games last season. In her second season as a Gopher starter at forward, Voigt is averaging 11.0 points per game and has earned team game scoring honors two times.
A Ray of Sunshine
Minnesota turned the ball over a season-low 12 times in the loss at Maryland. Even with the Terps throwing some presses at the Gophers, Minnesota’s guards committed just six turnovers.
Sharing the Honors
Four different Golden Gopher have earned game scoring honors this season (Ashley Ellis-Milan, Kiara Buford, Leah Cotton and Jackie Voigt). Ellis-Milan has led the Gophers in scoring three times this season.
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 6.9 points a game with two contests in double figures (Utah, Colorado). She is also contributing 3.0 assists and 2.1 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 303 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, 67 from Shannon Schonrock’s (2002-06) career total of 230. Ohm notched a Minnesota single-season record with 74 triples a year ago.
Scouting Penn State
Penn State enters Sunday’s game with a 5-2 record after losing a 64-60 contest to Georgia Tech in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge. The only other loss for Penn State this season was a 63-56 defeat at South Carolina. All-Big Ten guard Tyra Grant leads the Lady Lions averaging 16.4 points per game. Grant is the only Penn State player scoring in double figures.
The Minnesota / Penn State Series
Penn State has owned the series versus Minnesota; in fact, the Gophers have only won nine (20-9) games total against the Lady Lions. The Gophers, however, have won the last four games of the series and eight of the last 11. Minnesota has captured season series sweep over Penn State the last two years.
vs.
Penn State Lady Lions (5-2)
LOCATION Williams Arena (14,625) / Minneapolis, Minn.
DATE / TIME: Sunday, Dec. 6 / 3 p.m. CT
TELEVISION: Big Ten Network
Marney Gellner (Play-by-Play), Mary Murphy (Color Analysis)
RADIO WEBCAST: Gopher Radio Network, WCCO 830 AM
Corbu Stathes (Play-by-Play), Lynnette Sjoquist (Color Analysis)
Gophersports.com
Golden Gopher Watch List — Dec. 6, 2009
• Gophers Opens Big Ten Season Versus Penn State - Minnesota (5-3) opens its Big Ten Conference schedule on Sunday hosting Penn State at 3 p.m. in Williams Arena. The early Big Ten opener is due to where the Christmas holiday falls in the week. After Sunday’s game, the Gophers will not play another Big Ten game until Dec. 28 at Purdue.
• Big Day on the Big Ten Network- The Big Ten Network will televise four straight games on Sunday. The Gophers / Lady Lions game is the third of the lineup.
• Gophers Successful in Big Ten Openers - Minnesota is 5-2 under head coach Pam Borton in Big Ten openers in the last seven seasons. The Gophers’ Conference schedule is heavy on home games early on, but then will pose a huge challenge of playing five of their last seven BIg Ten games on the road.
• Hoping Williams Magic Helps - After averaging just 50.5 points in their last two road losses to nationally ranked teams, the Gophers come home to The Barn where they are averaging 82.5 points a game.
Gopher Open Big Ten Slate Against Penn State
Minnesota opens the 2009-10 Big Ten season on Sunday, Dec. 6, by hosting the Lady Lions of Penn State. The Golden Gophers are 5-3 on the season and are looking to notch a victory after two consecutive losses to nationally ranked teams (No. 9/10 Xavier and rv/No. 22 Maryland). Penn State is 5-2 in the season.
Sunday’s Game Part of Big Day on BTN
Minnesota’s game versus Penn State is the first of nine games to be televised this season. The Big Ten Network will televise the contest live with Marney Gellner providing the play-by-play and Mary Murphy the color analysis. BTN is kicking off the Big Ten schedule with a bang. The Minnesota/Penn State game is the third game of four contests to be televised by the Network on Sunday. Another five Gopher games will be streamed live on the Big Ten Network website.
Early Start to the Conference Season
The Big Ten season gets an early start this season due to where the Christmas holiday (Saturday) falls during the week. Coaches decided to move the first round of Conference play to the first weekend of December instead. The second round of Big Ten play will be on Monday, Dec. 28.
Home Early, on the Road Late
The Golden Gophers will play seven of its first 11 Big Ten games at home in The Barn, but will then be challenged with a brutal stretch with five of their last seven Conference games on the road. Minnesota will see Wisconsin (at home) and Indiana (in Bloomington) once this season.
Big Ten Openers
Minnesota is 5-2 under Pam Borton in Big Ten season-opening games. The Gophers lost a 62-52 decision at Wisconsin to open the Conference slate a year ago. Overall, Minnesota is 13-15 in Big Ten openers.
Third and Last Season with 18 Big Ten Games
The Big Ten adopted an 18-game Conference schedule going into the 2007-08 season and after the 2009-10 season, the third with 18 games, the league will return to the 16-game format.
McCoy Passes 400-Assist Milestone, Literally
Senior Brittany McCoy dished out four assists in the Maryland game to surpass the 400-career assists milestone. She currently has 402 assists in her Gopher career. McCoy is 12 assists from passing Emily Fox (2005-09) and into third on the Gophers’ all-time assists list. She is also three steals from 200 in her career.
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 86-19 (82%) record in their home games. Minnesota is 4-0 in The Barn this season.
Hoping Some Home-Cooking Helps
The Golden Gophers’ scoring average difference between home games and road games is a staggering 27.2 points. Minnesota scored over 80 points in its first three home games this season and enter its fifth home game of the season averaging 82.5 points per game in Williams Arena this season. In games away from The Barn, the Gophers have struggled to score and average just 55.3 points a game.
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 five wins this season, the Gophers attempted an average of 28.6 per game. In comparison, Minnesota has attempt a total of just 43 free throws, an average of 14.3 attempts, in its three losses.
ACC Wins Challenge for Third Time
The ACC captured the 2009 Big Ten-ACC Challenge by a 7-4 court, wining the Challenge for the third straight year. The ACC has won the Challenge series in 2007 (8-3) and 2008 (7-4). Minnesota is 1-2 in Big Ten-ACC Challenge play. Minnesota lost at Virginia Tech (68-62) in 2007, defeated Boston College (80-60) at home in 2008, and lost at Maryland (66-45) this season.
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.
Brittany McCoy Closing In Starts Record
Senior Brittany McCoy made her 105th career start of her Gopher career in the game versus Maryland. 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 102 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 1,100 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 745 career rebounds.
Voigt Playing Bigger Role
Jackie Voigt has a string of five straight games scoring in double figures, also her total for the season. Voigt tallied only three double-figure scoring games last season. In her second season as a Gopher starter at forward, Voigt is averaging 11.0 points per game and has earned team game scoring honors two times.
A Ray of Sunshine
Minnesota turned the ball over a season-low 12 times in the loss at Maryland. Even with the Terps throwing some presses at the Gophers, Minnesota’s guards committed just six turnovers.
Sharing the Honors
Four different Golden Gopher have earned game scoring honors this season (Ashley Ellis-Milan, Kiara Buford, Leah Cotton and Jackie Voigt). Ellis-Milan has led the Gophers in scoring three times this season.
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 6.9 points a game with two contests in double figures (Utah, Colorado). She is also contributing 3.0 assists and 2.1 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 303 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, 67 from Shannon Schonrock’s (2002-06) career total of 230. Ohm notched a Minnesota single-season record with 74 triples a year ago.
Scouting Penn State
Penn State enters Sunday’s game with a 5-2 record after losing a 64-60 contest to Georgia Tech in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge. The only other loss for Penn State this season was a 63-56 defeat at South Carolina. All-Big Ten guard Tyra Grant leads the Lady Lions averaging 16.4 points per game. Grant is the only Penn State player scoring in double figures.
The Minnesota / Penn State Series
Penn State has owned the series versus Minnesota; in fact, the Gophers have only won nine (20-9) games total against the Lady Lions. The Gophers, however, have won the last four games of the series and eight of the last 11. Minnesota has captured season series sweep over Penn State the last two years.
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