University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Head to Iowa in Search of Fourth-Straight Win
2/9/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The game will be televised live on Big Ten Network, with Dave Eanet handling the play-by-play and Mary Murphy adding color commentary. It also will be broadcast via radio on KBEM (88.5 FM) and other selected affiliates on the Gopher Radio Network, with Corbu Stathes calling the play-by-play and Lynnette Sjoquist adding color analysis.
Minnesota is 11-12 overall and 3-7 in the Big Ten after winning its first road game with a 65-59 victory at Indiana last Thursday, while Iowa is 17-7 overall and 5-6 in the conference after losing 82-75 versus first-place Penn State on Sunday. Iowa won the first game between the teams this season, rallying from a 13-point deficit to defeat the Gophers, 63-57, on Jan. 5 at Williams Arena.
The Gophers won their third-straight game last Thursday at Assembly Hall by rallying from a nine-point deficit with less than eight minutes left to defeat Indiana. Minnesota trailed, 55-46, with 7:52 left, but outscored the Hoosiers 19-4 from that point on to get the win. Kiara Buford led the Gophers with 16 points, while Katie Loberg celebrated her 20th birthday by scoring 14 points. Kristen Dockery tallied 10 second-half points, including six in the final four minutes, to help seal the victory. Jackie Voigt added nine points and a team-high seven rebounds for the Gophers.
Individually, Minnesota has two of the top scorers in the Big Ten, as Buford ranks ninth at 15.2 ppg and Leah Cotton is 15th at 13.0 ppg. Buford has scored in double-figures in all but three games she's played in this season, while Cotton has led the Gophers in scoring nine times.
China Antoine is third in the Big Ten for steals per game (2.3), fourth for assists per game (4.4), and fourth for assist-to-turnover ratio (1.6). Voigt is 13th in rebounding (6.2 rpg), while Loberg is 12th for field goal percentage (.488), and Buford is 15th for assists per game (3.0 apg).
Scouting Minnesota
Two weeks ago, Minnesota was in the midst of a seven-game losing streak to open Big Ten play. The Gophers had blown double-digit leads in the second half of four games, and were taking their lumps, despite not being blown out in any of their seven losses.
This week, Minnesota heads into its Thursday night game at Iowa on a season-best three-game winning streak after defeating Northwestern and first-place Michigan at Williams Arena, and then rallying to win at Indiana last Thursday.
The Gophers' three-game winning streak in the Big Ten is their longest since winning four consecutive conference games between Jan. 25 and Feb. 8, 2009. The fourth victory in that streak was a 64-58 win versus Iowa.
Sophomore forward Katie Loberg led the Gophers in the win versus Northwestern by making 9-of-19 field goals for 19 points to go along with seven rebounds, all of which came at the offensive end of the court. Junior guard Kiara Buford added 18 points and four steals, while freshman guard Kionna Kellogg battled Northwestern's duo of 6-foot-5 players to finish with 15 rebounds (eight offensive), eight points, and two blocked shots -- all of which were career-highs for the 6-foot-1 Kellogg.
Then, in the win versus Michigan, Kellogg was back at it again by grabbing 13 rebounds, scoring eight points, and coming up with a career-best two steals. Buford and junior forward Jackie Voigt each led the Gophers with 11 points, while senior point guard China Antoine sparked Minnesota with several key plays in the second half and finished with 10 points.
Kellogg was honored as that week's Big Ten Freshman of the Week for her performance in the two wins. She averaged 8.0 points and 14.0 rebounds, becoming Minnesota's first-ever player to receive the honor from the conference. The Big Ten began awarding a Freshman of the Week at the start of the 2009-10 season.
Last week, Minnesota just played the game at Indiana, and the Gophers came away with a win at Assembly Hall for the fifth time in their past seven games there. Buford (16 points) and Loberg (14 points) each made 6-of-12 field goals, while senior forward Kristen Dockery was the third Minnesota player to reach double figures, as "Doc" scored several critical points during Minnesota's key 19-4 run at the end of the game and finished with 10 points. Voigt continued her strong play in recent games, finishing with nine points and a game-high seven boards, while Antoine added eight points and four assists, and Kellogg chipped in with six points and six rebounds.
Buford leads the team with an average of 15.2 ppg, with sophomore guard Leah Cotton second at 13.0 ppg. Buford is averaging 16.3 ppg over her past seven games.
Loberg ranks third on the team for points (9.0 ppg) and is tied with Dockery for second in rebounds (4.3 rpg), while leading the Gophers with 16 blocked shots (0.9 bpg).
Junior guard Brianna Mastey averages 5.0 points and 3.5 rebounds per outing, while Dockery is averaging 5.0 points and 4.3 rebounds. Voigt leads the Gophers with an average of 6.2 rpg and has grabbed at least eight boards in eight games this season, while also adding 6.7 ppg. She scored 10 points versus Northwestern and 11 against Michigan, marking the first time in her career that she had reached double figures in back-to-back Big Ten games.
Antoine ranks fourth on the team with an average of 6.8 ppg, while leading the Gophers with 101 assists (4.4 apg), 54 steals (2.3 spg), and a .352 (31-of-88) three-point percentage.
Scouting Iowa
The Hawkeyes are in their 11th season under the direction of head coach Lisa Bluder.
Iowa had been ranked as high as 20th in last week's national polls, but fell out of the Top 25 after losing two-straight. The Hawkeyes had also lost two-in-a-row when they played at Williams Arena on Jan. 5. Iowa's wins have come against Southern (76-52), Arkansas State (50-47), Bradley (91-53), Northeastern (87-59), Central Michigan (90-79), James Madison (67-61), Virginia Tech (72-43), Kansas State (68-62), Iowa State (62-40), South Dakota State (65-54), Drake (75-71), Northern Iowa (75-64), Minnesota (63-57), Ohio State (89-76), Indiana (71-51), Michigan State (66-64), and Illinois (80-69), with losses to North Carolina (79-67), Penn State (68-59 and 82-75), Michigan (60-53), Michigan State (63-60), Ohio State (81-67), and Purdue (61-40).
The Hawkeyes' top five scorers have each started all 24 games this season. Jaime Printy leads Iowa in scoring at 15.6 ppg, while ranking a close second in assists with 82 (3.4 apg). Printy has made 52-of-139 (.374) three-pointers and 74-of-86 (.860) free throws. Kachine Alexander ranks second on the team with an average of 14.0 points per game, while leading Iowa with 9.5 rebounds per contest and making 115-of-158 (.728) free throws. As a team, the Hawkeyes rank fourth in the Big Ten in free throw percentage, having made 366-of-491 (.745) attempts. Kamille Wahlin averages 12.4 ppg and leads the Hawkeyes with 83 assists (3.5 apg). Morgan Johnson averages 11.1 ppg and 7.1 rpg, while leading the team with 60 blocked shots (2.5 bpg), and Kelly Krei adds 8.8 ppg and 5.3 rpg to give the Hawkeyes one of the most productive starting fives in the Big Ten.
The Coaches
The University of Minnesota is led by ninth-year head coach Pam Borton (Defiance, 1987), who has a record of 176-102 (.633) at the U of M, and owns a career mark of 245-148 (.623) in her 13th season as a head coach.
Iowa's Lisa Bluder (Northern Iowa, 1983) is the longest-tenured coach in the Big Ten, in her 11th year as head coach of the Hawkeyes. Bluder owns a record of 206-130 (.613) at Iowa and a mark of 562-272 (.674) in her 27th season overall.
Gopher Players vs. Iowa
Taking a look at Minnesota players' career numbers versus Iowa, junior guard Kiara Buford is the lone player to have an average in double-figures, as she enters tonight's game with a norm of 13.7 ppg against the Hawkeyes. Buford has scored in double-digits in five of six games versus Iowa, including 21 points and 10 rebounds in last year's game at Williams Arena, and 23 points on 7-of-14 three-point field goals in Minnesota's last trip to Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Senior guard China Antoine averages 8.0 ppg and has combined to make 7-of-16 (.438) three-pointers in her three career games versus the Hawks. Junior forward Jackie Voigt averages 5.5 ppg and 6.5 rpg, while sophomore guard Leah Cotton averages 6.7 ppg in three career games, due in large part to the 18 points she scored versus Iowa on Jan. 5 at The Barn. Buford and Voigt are the only players on the team who have played in more than four games against Iowa (each with six).
Road Trip
Junior guard Kiara Buford has played really well in the Gophers' Big Ten road games so far this season, combining to make 34-of-68 (.500) field goals and average 17.6 ppg away from Williams Arena.
Meanwhile, she has struggled to shoot the ball in three of the Gophers' five Big Ten games at Williams Arena. In losses to Indiana, Iowa, and Wisconsin, Buford combined to make just 6-of-38 (.158) field goals and average just 7.3 ppg. But she then made 5-of-11 field goals to finish with 18 points in the 63-58 win versus Northwestern, and she followed by making 4-of-9 field goals and scoring 11 points versus Michigan.
Last year, Buford made 46-of-121 (.380) field goals in Big Ten home games, and 34-of-88 (.386) on the road. This season, Buford has made 119-of-272 (.438) field goal attempts and averages 15.2 ppg.
Borton is Minnesota's All-Time Wins Leader
Minnesota head coach Pam Borton has 176 wins on the Golden Gopher sidelines, which ranks first all-time for victories by a women's basketball coach.
Ellen Mosher-Hanson ranks second with 172 wins during her 10-year career (1977-87) at Minnesota, while Linda Hill-MacDonald ranks third with 66 victories during her seven-year tenure (1990-97).
Borton's career winning percentage of .633 is tops among coaches with more than one year at Minnesota.
A Win Would...
Make Minnesota 12-12 overall and give the Gophers their fourth-straight Big Ten victory ... Make the Gophers 2-6 on the road this season ... Make the Minnesota-Iowa series 43-23 in favor of the Hawkeyes, but improve Pam Borton's record against Iowa to 9-9 ... Make Minnesota 188-301 in regular season Big Ten games since the start of the 1982-83 season ... Improve Pam Borton's record to 177-102 while at Minnesota and 246-148 all-time ... Make Minnesota's record 542-560 since the 1971-72 season.
A Loss Would...
Make Minnesota 11-13 overall and give Iowa a sweep of the Gophers for the first time since the 2007-08 season ... Make the Gophers 1-7 on the road this season ... Make the Minnesota-Iowa series 44-22 in favor of the Hawkeyes, and drop Pam Borton's record against Iowa to 8-10 ... Make Minnesota 187-302 in regular season Big Ten games since the start of the 1982-83 season ... Drop Pam Borton's record to 176-103 while at Minnesota and 245-149 all-time ... Make Minnesota's record 541-561 since the 1971-72 season.
On The Horizon
Following their game in Iowa City, the Gophers will return home for a pair of games, beginning with Sunday afternoon's matchup with six-time defending Big Ten champion Ohio State. That game tips off at 2:00 p.m. (CST) in Williams Arena, and is the lone meeting between Minnesota and OSU this season. Minnesota will then play host to Purdue on Thursday, Feb. 17, at 7:00 p.m. (CST) in the lone game scheduled between those schools, as well.
