University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Battle Bengals on Wednesday
12/8/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Minnesota Golden Gophers (6-3)
vs.
Idaho State Bengals (2-7)
LOCATION Williams Arena (14,625) / Minneapolis, Minn.
DATE / TIME: Wednesday, Dec. 9 / 7 p.m. CT
TELEVISION: none
WEBCAST: BigTenNetwork.com
RADIO: Gopher Radio Network, KBEM-FM-88.5
Corbu Stathes (Play-by-Play), Lynnette Sjoquist (Color Analysis)
Gophersports.com
Golden Gopher Watch List — Dec. 9, 2009
• Gophers Host Idaho State - Minnesota (6-3) plays host to Idaho State on Wednesday, Dec. 9, in the first of three consecutive non-conference home games for the Golden Gophers. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
• Game Streamed on BTN Website - The Gophers’ game versus Idaho State is the first of five contests that will be streamed live on BigTenNetwork.com. There is a nominal fee to watch the video feed.
• Gophers Wins Big Ten Opener - Minnesota converted 23-of-26 free throws to capture a 56-48 victory over Penn State on Sunday, the Big Ten season opener for both teams. Kiara Buford led the Gophers in scoring with 15.
• Fast Starts - Minnesota has enjoyed fast starts to several games this season, including a 10-0 spurt to tip off the win over Penn State in the Gophers’ last outing
• 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 the Bengals of Idaho State
Minnesota plays host to Idaho State on Wednesday, Dec. 9, at 7 p.m. in Williams Arena. The Golden Gophers broke a two-game losing streak by defeating Penn State, 56-48, on Sunday to improve their overall record to 6-3. Idaho State heads to the Twin Cities with a 2-7 record.
Back to Non-Conference Action
Minnesota returns to non-conference action for three games after a scheduling oddity plopped the Big Ten opener in the first weekend of December. The Gophers will play Idaho State, Iowa State and Santa Clara in the next 10 days before taking a break for final exams and the Christmas holiday. Minnesota will resume its Big Ten schedule on Dec. 28 at Purdue.
Thought Our Travel Schedule was Crazy?
Minnesota had a crazy schedule for the first two weeks of the season where the Gophers played seven games. Though that schedule offered little practice time for the Gophers, at least the travel to the three road games (Utah and the Bahamas) was relatively painless.
At first glance, Idaho State’s schedule of playing its first 10 games of the season in 27 days doesn’t seem too demanding. But, a closer look, proves otherwise. Travel for the Bengals is a challenge.
Idaho State is located in the city of Pocatello in the southeastern part of the state. Last week, the Bengals covered 2,500 miles to play four games, at Wyoming, at Utah and at the Arizona State Classic. The Wyoming and Utah trips were by bus, with the Laramie return trip being an all-nighter. Easier to fly, well, not really. When the Bengals fly it means more bus time, either 2 1/2 hours to fly out of Salt Lake City or 3 1/2 hours to fly out of Boise.
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 nearly every game since:
Illinois-Chicago 20-5
Colorado 17-7
North Dakota State 13-3
TCU 22-7
Maryland 7-0
Penn State 10-0
Gem State Nuggets
Minnesota has played one school from Idaho, the Gem State, in the history of Gopher basketball history. The Gophers defeated Boise State twice in the early 1990s. Idaho State will be the fourth member of the Big Sky Conference (Montana, Portland State, Weber State) that Minnesota has faced.
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 87-19 (82%) record in their home games. Minnesota is 5-0 in The Barn this season.
A Win is a Win
Style points don’t matter. Winning does. Minnesota’s game with Penn State in its last outing wasn’t pretty, but the Gophers started their Big Ten slate with a victory. The two factors that played leading roles in the win for the Gophers were defense and rebounding. Minnesota held Penn State, which features one of the scorers in the Big Ten in Tyra Grant, to 48 points. The Lady Lions shot 32.7 percent from the floor and committed 18 turnovers. Equally as impressive as the Gophers’ defense was their effort on the glass. Minnesota dominated the boards to the count of 51-28.
With a Lot on the Line, Gophers Convert
While shots from everywhere else on the court failed to fall through the net, Minnesota was dead on from the charity stripe making 23-of-26 attempts for a season-best 88.5 percent in the win over Penn State. The Gopher offense struggled to a 26.9 field goal percentage while turning the ball over 24 times in the game.
Strange Way to Get a Double-Double
Jackie Voigt collected her first career double-double with 10 points and a career-high 11 rebounds in the win over Penn State. Voigt only scored one basket (1-11), but went 8-for-8 from the free throw line to tally her 10 points.
McCoy Key to Gopher Victory
Brittany McCoy was a key player on both ends of the floor in the win over Penn State. McCoy put together a nice stat line with 10 points, eight rebounds, four steals and two assists while played 38 minutes. She was also charged with the assignment of defending Lady Lion sharpshooter Tyra Grant. While Grant did finish with a game-high 23 points, she needed 20 shots (the rest of the team had 25 field goal) to score those points.
Gophers Win Big Ten Opener
Minnesota improved its record of Big Ten season-opening games to 6-2 under Pam Borton with a 56-48 win over Penn State. Overall, Minnesota is 14-15 in Big Ten openers.
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.
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 404 assists in her Gopher career. McCoy is 10 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 201.
Hoping Some Home-Cooking Helps
The Golden Gophers’ scoring average difference between home games and road games is a staggering 21.9 points. Minnesota scored over 80 points in its first three home games and enter its sixth home game of the season averaging 77.2 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 six wins this season, the Gophers attempted an average of 28.2 per game. In comparison, Minnesota has attempt a total of just 43 free throws, an average of 14.3 attempts, in its three losses.
Brittany McCoy Closing In Starts Record
Senior Brittany McCoy made her 106th 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 103 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 1,108 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 751 career rebounds.
Voigt Playing Bigger Role
Jackie Voigt has a string of six 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 10.9 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). Ellis-Milan and Buford have 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 6.4 points a game with two contests in double figures (Utah, Colorado). She is also contributing 3.0 assists and 2.0 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 308 games of starting experience. Kiara Buford is in her first season as a starter. All together that’s 317 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 165 three-pointers, 65 from Shannon Schonrock’s (2002-06) career total of 230. Ohm notched a Minnesota single-season record with 74 triples a year ago.
Scouting Idaho State
Idaho State owns a 2-7 record on the season after beating Utah State in the consolation game of the Arizona State Classic on Saturday. The Bengals’ other win on the season came over Montana Western. Idaho State, located in Pocatello, will be coming to the Twin Cities after a brutal travel schedule a week ago. The Bengals will had four games in a 5 1/2-day span and travelled approximately 2,500 miles. Senior forward Oana Iacovita, from Cluj-Napoca, Romania, is the only player scoring in double figures averaging 12.4 points a game.
The Minnesota / Idaho State Series
This is the first meeting between Minnesota and Idaho State.
