University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Travel to #2/3 Baylor
12/4/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Minnesota faces its toughest non-conference test of the season when it plays #2/3 Baylor on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. (CST).
The game will be televised live on FOX Sports Southwest, with Brenda VanLengen calling the play-by-play and Dan Hughes adding color commentary, and it will be broadcast on the Gopher Radio Network, with Corbu Stathes handling the play-by-play and Lynnette Sjoquist adding color analysis.
The Gophers enter the contest with a record of 5-3 after defeating Virginia Tech, 63-58, in the ACC / Big Ten Challenge Thursday evening at Williams Arena. Minnesota has won its past two games, both versus ACC opposition -- Virginia Tech and N.C. State.
Minnesota and Baylor have played twice, with the Lady Bears winning both contests. Baylor recorded a 72-71 win in Waco on Dec. 16, 1978, and then won by a score of 64-57 in Phoenix, Ariz., on March 26, 2004 in the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16. That loss ended Minnesota's season at 26-8 overall and doused the Gophers' dreams of returning to the Final Four for the second year in a row.
Head coach Pam Borton's Gophers have shot the ball well this season, entering the week ranked second among Big Ten teams and 12th nationally in field goal percentage. The figure currently sits at .471 (204-of-433). The Gophers also ranked third in the Big Ten and 12th nationally for three-point field goal percentage, with their current figure at .404 (40-of-99).
Individually, Kiara Buford averages 17.9 points per game after recording a career-high 27 points in Thursday's win, while Leah Cotton is the only other player with a double-digit average (13.6 ppg). China Antoine entered the week ranked second in the Big Ten and 15th nationally for assists per game (currently 5.8 apg), and her assist-to-turnover ratio (currently 2.42) led the conference (19th nationally). Antoine also ranked fourth in the Big Ten for three-point percentage (.516), fifth for steals (2.2 spg), and sixth in the Big Ten for three-pointers per game (2.0). Jackie Voigt ranked 11th in rebounding (7.5 rpg). Cotton was named to the all-tournament team at last week's Nugget Classic after averaging 18.5 points and scoring a career-high 25 points versus N.C. State.
