University of Minnesota Athletics
Senior Day Sunday at Illinois Game
2/28/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Game 29
Minnesota Golden Gophers (19-9, 11-6)
vs.
Illinois Illini (8-20, 4-13)
LOCATION Williams Arena / Minneapolis, Minn.
DATE / TIME: Sunday, March 1 / 1 p.m.
TELEVISION: none
VIDEO WEBCAST: BigTenNetwork.com
RADIO / WEBCAST: KBEM 88.5 FM / Gopher Radio Network / gophersports.com
Corbu Stathes (Play-by-play), Lynnette Sjoquist (Color Analyst)
Golden Gopher Watch List March 1, 2009
Golden Gophers Hosts Illinois in Regular-Season Finale - Minnesota plays host to Illinois on Sunday, March 1, in the final game of the 2008-09 regular season. Tip off is set for 1 p.m. The Golden Gophers are coming off an impressive 66-51 road victory at Michigan State on Thursday and own a record of 19-9 overall and 11-6 in Big Ten play.
Note Time Change For Final Game - Minnesota’s game on March 1 versus Illinois will begin at 1 p.m. The Big Ten changed this game time just two weeks ago so publications may have this information incorrect. The game will be streamed live on bigtennetwork.com.
Gophers Secures First-Round Bye - The Gophers have secured a first-round bye in the Big Ten Conference Tournament. The top five teams receive surpass the first round of action and straight into the quarterfinals on Friday, March 6.
Seniors Honored - The Senior Day ceremony for Emily Fox and Kay Sylva will follow the game.
Gophers Close Regular Season at Home
Minnesota plays host to Illinois on Sunday, March 1, in the final game of the 2008-09 regular season. Tip off is set for 1 p.m. The Golden Gophers are coming off an impressive 66-51 road victory at Michigan State on Thursday and own a record of 19-9 overall and 11-6 in Big Ten play. Illinois sports a record of 8-20 and 4-13 in league action.
Live Web Streaming Available
The Gophers’ game versus Illinois will be video streamed live on bigtennetwork.com. The audio is provided by the Gopher Radio Network team.
Senior Day 2009
The Gophers will honor four seniors - Emily Fox, Kay Sylva, student manager Amanda Belz and student athletic trainer Heather Anderson - after the Illinois game on Sunday. Fox and Sylva will have a chance to address the fans as part of the ceremony.
Gophers Secure Big Ten First-Round Bye
Minnesota secured a bye for the first round of the Big Ten Tournament as a result of its victory at Michigan State. With one game remaining, the Gophers could climb to as high as a No. 3 seed or as low as a No. 5 seed.
Breaking Down the Scenarios
The remaining games for the top six teams in the Big Ten are listed below. Following each team is an attempt to explain its Big Ten seeding scenarios.
Ohio State (14-3) - vs. Penn State
The Buckeyes have clinched the top seed for the Big Ten Tournament and would capture the regular-season title outright with a victory over Penn State. Even if Ohio State loses and Purdue wins to tie for the regular-season crown, the Buckeyes get the nod for the No. 1 seed since they swept the Boilermakers (2-0) this season.
Purdue (13-4) - at Michigan State
The game with Michigan State is a battle for the No. 2 seed with the winner grabbing the prize. A tie for the regular season title is a possibility with a win over Michigan State, but moving into the No. 1 is not. If Purdue loses, a three-way tie for second place with Michigan State and Iowa could result. Purdue would end up in the No. 3 spot if that occurred.
Michigan State (12-5) - vs. Purdue
The Spartans have lost their last two games, but are in position to capture a No. 2 seed with a win over Purdue. Michigan State defeated the Boilermakers earlier this season and have the tie-breaker with Iowa thanks to a win in the one and only meeting with the Hawkeyes. A loss on Sunday, coupled with Iowa and Minnesota wins would drop the Spartans to the No. 5 seed.
Iowa (12-5) - at Northwestern
The best the Hawkeyes can do is a No. 3 seed, which would happen with wins by Iowa and Purdue. If Michigan State wins, Iowa is the No. 4 seed regardless of how they do at Northwestern. A tie with either Michigan State or Purdue is not helpful for the Hawkeyes since they are a combined 0-3 against those teams. If Iowa and Minnesota are tied, Iowa has the edge in the tie-breaker since they are 1-0 versus Ohio State and the Gophers were 1-1.
Minnesota (11-6) - vs. Illinois
The Gophers are pulling for Purdue and Northwestern on Sunday because Minnesota would jump to a No. 3 seed in a tie with both Iowa and Michigan State. Minnesota would get the nod in this three-way tie because of its combined 3-1 record against the Spartans and Hawkeyes. Michigan State is 2-2, while Iowa is 1-3. Michigan State wins and the Gophers are a No. 5 seed regardless of Iowa’s outcome since the Hawkeyes have the tie-breaker advantage (see above).
Indiana (10-7) - vs. Michigan
The Hoosiers could tie for fifth-place in the Big Ten standings with a win and a Minnesota loss. Indiana, however, can not move higher than the No. 6 seed due to its loss to the Gophers in the one and only meeting with Minnesota this season.
Looking for That Big 20th Victory
A win on Sunday would give Minnesota its 20th victory of the season. The Gophers have collected 20 wins four times (2002-03, 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2007-08) in the Minnesota coaching tenure of Pam Borton. This could be the second consecutive season that the Gophers hit 20 wins on the final day of the regular season.
Chance to Win 12 Big Ten Games
A Minnesota victory would also give the Gophers 12 wins in Big Ten play, a total that would equal the most Conference wins in a Pam Borton-coached Gopher team. The most Big Ten wins in a season is 13, which Minnesota posted in two of the first three seasons of Big Ten play (1982-83 and 1984-85). Like in the last two seasons, the Big Ten played an 18-game schedule in its early years.
Fox Now No. 8 About to Surpass 1,400 Career Points
Emily Fox has made quite a move up the all-time scorers’ list in the past few weeks. With 20 points in her last outing versus Michigan State, Fox now has 1,397 points and ranks No. 8 on the Minnesota scoring list. Fox joined the top 10 of the Gophers’ all-time leading scorers list in the game on Feb. 15 at Michigan, her 117th career game in a Gopher uniform. In her next game (Feb. 19 versus Ohio State), Fox scored 18 and climbed into the No. 9 spot. Another game and another step up the charts. She scored 16 versus Northwestern to take over the No. 8 spot previously held by Deb Hunter (1979-83) with 1,363 points. The No. 7 spot is held by Carol Peterka (1982-86) with 1,441 points.
Fox also recently became the eighth player in Minnesota history to score 100 three-point field goals, hitting the trey to get her triple digits in the Iowa (2-8) game. She currently has 109 career three-pointers.
Rebounding With Heart and Effort
Minnesota had been struggling with rebounding before dedicating their focus to this element of the game heading into the Michigan State game. The Gophers showed true grit and tenacity on the glass and outrebounded the Spartans, the top rebounding team in the Big Ten by a 43-35 margin.
Going into the Michigan State game, Minnesota had been out-rebounded in eight of its last nine games. Despite being out-rebounded by an average of over six rebounds in the those nine games and having teams average 11.4 offensive rebounds per game over that span, Minnesota had only given up just 9.2 second-chance points per game.
Gophers Capitalize on Spartan Miscues
The Gophers’ 11 steals that accounted for most of Michigan State’s 14 turnovers also made a difference in the game. Minnesota scored 18 points off those Spartan miscues. In comparison, Michigan State scored eight points off 16 Minnesota turnovers.
Bottle That Balance
Minnesota enjoyed a balanced offensive attack in the win at Michigan State that had been glaringly absent in the second half of the Big Ten season. Four Gophers, led by Emily Fox with 20 points, scored in double figures. The last time Minnesota had three players in double digits was the first win over the Spartans on Feb. 2. You have to go way back to the Penn State win on Jan. 1, to find a game where the Gophers landed four players in double figures.
Ohm Impact Returns
When shots from the perimeter are finding the bottom of the net, the Gophers are a different team. One of Minnesota’s main weapons from long range is Katie Ohm and when Ohm is hitting the three-pointer is opens up even more options in the Gopher offense. Ohm hit three triples in the win at Michigan State, marking her first game with a trio of trifectas in 10 games.
Ohm has netted three or more three-pointers in 12 games this season. When Ohm hits three or more triples, the Gophers are 10-2. When she hits four or more, Minnesota is 4-0.
Harper Continues to be a Force Off the Bench
Zoe Harper has contributed three solid games off the bench in the post for the Gophers. In her last outing, Harper pulled down a career-high 11 rebounds and helped once again neutralize Michigan State standout Alyssa DeHaan, who finished with just seven points and two rebounds. Against Ohio State (2/19), she helped limit Jantel Lavender to just three rebounds and 14 points, while adding six points and five rebounds of her own. Harper was one of the few bright spots in the game at Northwestern (2/23) tallying eight points, eight rebounds (including six offensive boards) and a career-high four blocked shots.
The Countdown to 1,000
Gopher junior Ashley Ellis-Milan has played the best basketball of her collegiate career this season. Not only is she a solid candidate for All-Big Ten honors, Ellis-Milan is also nearing the 1,000 career points milestone. She is averaging 10.2 points per game over her career and currently has scored 946 points as a Golden Gophers. Ellis-Milan also has 672 career rebounds.
McCoy Notches Third Season With 100+ Assists
Brittany McCoy added the 2008-09 as her third consecutive season with 100 or more assists and currently has 116 on the season. McCoy’s average of 4.1 dishes a game, which ranks third in the Big Ten. The Gopher junior was already the only player in school history to dish out 100 or more assists as both a freshman and sophomore and now she adds her junior season to the list.
Fox Also Hits Century Assists Mark
Emily Fox has 112 assists on the season as she joined Brittany McCoy with 100 or more assists this season. The duo both collected their 100th assist of the 2008-09 season in the win at Michigan (2/15). Fox and McCoy share the honor of being one of just two sets of Minnesota teammates (Janel McCarville/April Calhoun, 2004-05) to tally triple assist totals in the same season. The Fox and McCoy tandem now accomplished the last three seasons.
Defense, Defense and More Defense
The Big Ten is known as a physical league. The statistics are revealing just how important team defense is this season. Amazingly over half the teams - six (Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern and Wisconsin) - are averaging less than 60 points a game this season in Conference play. The teams on the losing end of Thursday’s game averaged just 52.6 points a game.
Gophers Are Winning The Close Ones
Good teams find a way to make plays in the closing minutes to win games. Minnesota has made the big plays in the last four minutes and its 11-6 Big Ten record certainly reflects it. The Gophers are 7-0 in Big Ten games decided by six or less points.
Ellis-Milan Most Consistent Gopher in Big Ten Games
Ashley Ellis-Milan has been the Golden Gophers’ most consistent performer in Big Ten action this season. She leads the team averaging 12.9 points and 6.7 rebounds per Conference game. Ellis-Milan has recorded double-doubles in three Big Ten games this season. Overall, Ellis-Milan has posted 19 double-doubles in her Golden Gopher career.
Voigt, Buford Vie For Big Ten All-Freshmen Honors
Minnesota has two freshmen in Jackie Voigt and Kiara Buford who have played their way into consideration for Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors. Voigt is one of two freshmen (Ohio State’s Samantha Prahaulis the other) who have started every game this season. Voigt is the Big Ten’s second-leading rookie rebounder pulling down 5.7 rebounds a game. She also contributes 5.9 points a game in an average of 28.5 minutes per contest.
Buford has emerged as an important player off the bench for the Gophers and already should be counted among the best sixth players in the Big Ten. Buford is among the leading freshman scorers in Conference play, as well as one the top non-starting scorers, contributing 7.6 points a game. Overall, Buford is playing an average of 21.7 minutes a game, scoring 7.3 points an outing.
Ohm Closing In On Single-Season Record
Katie Ohm has been a big weapon from behind the arc this season. Her 66 three-point field goals in on record pace to set Minnesota’s single-season record of 73 (Lindsay Lieser, 2001-02; and Shannon Schonrock, 2004-05).
Experience Paying Dividends...
Two years ago, Minnesota put the second youngest squad in the nation on the court. In 2008-09, the Gophers have a trio of three-year starters in Emily Fox, Brittany McCoy and Ashley Ellis-Milan. McCoy has started every one of her 93 career games at Minnesota. To date, the Gophers’ starting lineup, which does include a true freshman in Jackie Voigt, boasts 346 games of starting experience.
...Especially in the Backcourt
Minnesota’s starting backcourt of Brittany McCoy and Emily Fox are ranked first and second in the Big Ten statistics in a very important, but under-appreciated stat of assist-to-turnover ratio. McCoy has 116 assists to 77 turnovers for a Big Ten-best 1.51 assist/turnover ratio. Fox has 112 assists to 75 turnovers for a 1.47 assist/turnover ratio. The duo enjoyed their best collective outing versus Boston College, combining for 13 assists without a single turnover.
Scouting Illinois
The Illini have struggled this season, winning just eight games. Two of those wins came with a season sweep of Indiana. Junior Jenna Smith is one of the top players in the Big Ten with averages of 18.2 points and 8.6 rebounds a game. Smith has played more minutes than any other player in the Big Ten this season and averages being on the court for 38.64 of 40 minutes per game. Lacey Simpson adds 11.1 points and 9.0 rebounds per game.
The Minnesota / Illinois Series
Illinois leads the series with Minnesota by a 28-23 tally. Though the Gophers have won seven of the last 10 games in the series, including 52-48 win at Champaign earlier this season.
