University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Face Indiana on Sunday on BTN
2/20/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Minnesota Golden Gophers (12-14, 5-10)
vs.
Indiana Hoosiers (13-13, 6-9)
LOCATION: Assembly Hall (17,517 / Bloomington, Ind.
DATE / TIME: Sunday, Feb. 21 / 12 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. CT
TELEVISION: Big Ten Network
Leah Secondo (Play-by-Play), Stephanie White (Color)
RADIO: Gopher Radio Network, KBEM (88.5 FM)
Corbu Stathes (Play-by-Play), Lynnette Sjoquist (Color Analysis)
Gophersports.com
Golden Gopher Watch List — Feb. 21, 2010
• Gophers Travel to Indiana on Sunday - Minnesota travels to Indiana on Sunday, Feb. 21, for the only game with the Hoosiers this season. The Gophers are 12-14 overall (5-10 Big Ten), while Indiana is 13-13 (6-9 Big Ten). Tip off is set for 11 a.m. CT due to a live Big Ten Network broadcast.
• McCoy Nearing Assist Milestone - Brittany McCoy is nine assists from 500 in her Golden Gopher career. Currently ranked second in the Big Ten, dishing out 4.8 assists a game, McCoy dished out 10 in the loss at Iowa in Minnesota’s last outing.
• Buford Hits Seven Triples Versus Iowa - Kiara Buford hit a career-best seven three-point field goals and tallied 23 points in the loss against the Hawkeyes. Buford’s previous career high was four triples.
• Senior Night on Thursday - The Golden Gophers’ five seniors – Ashley Ellis-Milan, Zoe Harper, Brittany McCoy, Katie Ohm and Tanisha Smith – will be honored in Senior Night festivities on Thursday, Feb. 24.
Gophers Head to Indiana on Sunday
Minnesota plays its second road game of the week on Sunday, Feb. 21, when the Golden Gophers travels to Indiana. The game has an early noon (11 a.m. CT) tip off as the opening game of a day of action on the Big Ten Network. The Gophers own a record of 12-14 overall and 5-10 in the Big Ten coming off a 75-54 loss at Iowa on Thursday. The Hoosiers sport an even 13-13 overall record, 6-9 in league play.
Game Times Announced for FInal Two Games
The Big Ten has announced the tip times of the Gophers’ final two regular season games. The game on Feb. 25 versus Michigan in Williams Arena will begin at 7 p.m CT and be webcast on BigTenNetwork.com. The regular-season finale at Michigan State will tip off at 1 p.m. CT and be broadcast live by the Big Ten Network.
Borton Nearing Title of Winningest Gopher Coach
Minnesota head coach Pam Borton has 164 wins on the Golden Gopher sidelines and is nine wins from becoming the winningest coach in Gopher women’s basketball history. Ellen Mosher-Hanson currently owns the honor with 172 in her 10 years (1977-87) with Minnesota.
Brittany McCoy Closing in on Starts Record
Senior Brittany McCoy made her 123rd career start of her Gopher career in the game versus Iowa adding to her Minnesota record for consecutive start. She first set the record on Jan. 7 versus Northwestern. McCoy has started every game of her high school and college basketball career. McCoy passed Lindsay Whalen (2001-04), who started 111 straight during her Gopher career, to establish the new mark.
The next record on the horizon is the career record for games started which is 126 and has been held for 20 years by Linda Roberts (1978-81). McCoy would hit that milestone on the final game of the season and then break the record in the Big Ten Tournament.
McCoy also has the chance to become the Gophers’ first player to start every game during a four-year career.
Buford Pours it in from Long Range
Kiara Buford nailed a career-best seven three-point field goals in the loss at Iowa. Her pervious high was four triples accomplished in two games, including the Iowa State game earlier this season. The record for the most three-pointers is a game is nine. The last time a Gopher hit seventh threes was Katie Ohm versus Boston College in December of 2008.
McCoy Quietly Tallies Double-Digit Assists in Loss
Brittany McCoy dished out a season-high 10 assists in the loss at Iowa, her third career game with double-digit assists. McCoy’s career high is 12 assists in a game with American (Nov., 2008).
Amazingly, nine of McCoy’s 10 assists came on made three-point field goals. In all, she assisted on 29 of Minnesota’s 54 points.
Box Score Baffles
A few box score baffles from the Gophers’ loss at Iowa.
• The Gophers committed a season-low eight turnovers in the game
• Another season low but not a good one – Minnesota made just six trips to the free throw line, making four
• This one just makes me think – Minnesota had more shot attempts (66-60), but were outrebounded by a huge margin (48-33) - one would think more rebounds meant more scoring opportunities
McCoy Sets the Standard in Gopher History
Brittany McCoy is the first and only player in Minnesota women’s basketball history to tally 100 or more assists in every season of a Golden Gopher career. She has 1114 assists in her senior season, averaging a career-best 4.6 assists a game. McCoy is ranked second in the Big Ten in the statistic.
Nearing a Milestone
Brittany McCoy is nine assists from 500 in her career. Only Deb Hunter (632) and Lindsay Whalen (578) above McCoy on the Gophers’ all-time assists list have over 500 in a career. McCoy is the active leader in the Big Ten in career assists.
The Leader from the Line
Jackie Voigt She has made 33-of-36 in Big Ten play for 91.7 percent, topping the Conference stats. On the season, Voigt is shooting 89.6 percent from the line with just four missed attempts (43-48. The Gophers’ single-season record (need 100 attempts to be eligible) is 84.7 percent by Lindsay Whalen in 2002-03. At one point earlier this season, Voigt made 22 consecutive free throws.
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 12 wins this season, the Gophers attempted an average of 24.9 per game. In comparison, Minnesota has attempted a total of just 212 free throws, an average of 15.1 attempts, in its 13 losses. A good share (15 percent) of the Gophers’ free throws in losses come in the Wisconsin game (31).
Harper OK with Life on the Road
Zoe Harper has proven to be one of the Gophers’ most reliable players on the road this season. Harper, a 6-3 post, has averaged 7.9 points and 5.3 rebounds in Minnesota’s Big Ten road games this season. She tallied double figures in the Illinois, Northwestern and Ohio State road games. She had seven points and seven rebounds in her last outing at Iowa.
Impressive Career Numbers for Ash
Senior Ashley Ellis-Milan has 830 caroms in her Gopher career. She is 18 rebounds from moving into the Golden Gophers’ top five on the all-time rebounding list. Ellis-Milan also has 1.249 career points.
Pam Borton Radio on Monday
The Pam Borton Radio Show heard locally on WCCO Radio (830 am) is broadcast on Monday evenings at 7:30 p.m. at Applebee’s in Stadium Village. Golden Gopher radio personalities Corbu Stathes and Lynnette Sjoquist host the program. The next show is Monday, Feb 22.
Antoine Looks to Return to Form
Guard China Antoine scored 10 points against Wisconsin, her only double-digit scoring output since missing three games with a left knee injury and her sixth double-figure game in her 10 games as a member of the Gophers’ starting five. Antoine is averaging 10.9 points per game as a starter. She has hit two or more three-pointers in 12 of the her 23 outings and hitting 2.4 three-pointers per game as a starter as well.
A Deserving Nod to Ashley as Well
If not for the consecutive starting streak of Brittany McCoy (123), Ashley Ellis-Milan would own the record with her 117 consecutive starts. Ellis-Milan earned a starting berth in her fourth career game and remained in the starting lineup until her 121st career game.
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 No. 3 Spot in Career Assists
Senior Brittany McCoy has 491 assists in her Gopher career to rank third on the Gophers’ all-time assists list. She collected her 200th career steal in the game versus Penn State and now has 228.
Sharing the Honors
Seven different Golden Gopher have earned game scoring honors this season (Ashley Ellis-Milan, Kiara Buford, Leah Cotton, Jackie Voigt, Katie Ohm, China Antoine and Brittany McCoy). Buford has led the Gophers in scoring 13 times this season.
Ellis-Milan Moving On Up Career LIsts
Ashley Ellis-Milan has moved up seven 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. 12 with 1,249 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 830 career rebounds.
Ohm From Behind the Arc
Katie Ohm plays her senior season with the Minnesota school record for three-point field goals in her sights. Ohm is ranked third with 187 three-pointers, 43 from Shannon Schonrock’s (2002-06) career total of 230. Ohm notched a Minnesota single-season record with 74 triples a year ago.
Scouting Indiana
Indiana takes a 13-13 record (6-9 Big Ten) into Sunday’s game versus the Gophers. The Hoosiers upset Ohio State in Bloomington on Jan. 31, but are a disappointing 1-3 since then including a 78-73 overtime loss at Northwestern in their last outing. Junior guard Juri Davis is one of the most improved players in the Big Ten this season. She has improved her scoring average this season by five points and checks into averaging 16.7 points a game this season.
The Minnesota / Indiana Series
Minnesota leads the series with Indiana by a 29-25 margin. Minnesota has won eight of the last 11 games, including the last two meetings.
