University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Opens Big Ten Play at Illinois
12/29/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Minnesota will look for its fourth win in its past five games, and its first road win of the season, when it opens Big Ten Conference play at Illinois on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. (CST). The game will be televised live on Big Ten Network, with Dan Kelly calling the play-by-play and Debbie Antonelli handling the color analysis.
The Gophers are 8-5 after closing the non-conference portion of their schedule with an 82-74 victory against Northern Arizona on Dec. 22. That win was the 173rd career victory for head coach Pam Borton at Minnesota, as she became the school's all-time leader for wins. Illinois is 5-8 following a 65-61 loss versus California on Tuesday night at Assembly Hall in Champaign, Ill.
Minnesota is among the top-shooting teams in the nation so far this season, entering the week ranked third among Big Ten teams and among the top 25 nationally in field goal percentage at .457 (312-of-683). The Gophers also ranked fifth in the Big Ten and have been among the top 100 nationally for three-point field goal percentage at .341 (56-of-164).
Individually, Minnesota's roster includes two of the top 10 scorers in the Big Ten, as Kiara Buford ranks sixth with an average of 16.3 ppg, while Leah Cotton is ninth at 15.8 ppg. Cotton has led the Gophers in scoring in four of the past five games, with 20 points at #2/3 Baylor (Dec. 5), a career-high 26 points versus Southern (Dec. 9), 17 points versus Cal Poly (Dec. 12), and 21 points at Alabama A&M (Dec. 14).
China Antoine ranks second in the Big Ten for assists per game (5.0 apg), and her 1.6 assist-to-turnover ratio also ranks second in the conference. Antoine also ranks sixth in the Big Ten for three-point percentage (.447), is tied for sixth in the conference for steals (2.2 spg), and is 10th in the Big Ten for three-pointers per game (1.6). Jackie Voigt is eighth in rebounding (7.4 rpg), while also averaging 7.2 ppg, while Katie Loberg averages 9.9 points and 4.2 rebounds per game after scoring a career-high 20 points and grabbing nine boards versus NAU.
