University of Minnesota Athletics
Game Preview: Gophers at Duke
12/1/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
| Minnesota at No. 14 Duke | |
| Date / Time | Thursday, Dec. 3 | 6 p.m. |
| Location | Cameron Indoor Stadium - Durham, N.C. |
| Live Video | ESPN3 |
| Radio | 1500 ESPN | Listen Online |
| Live Stats | Click here |
| Official Sites | Minnesota | Duke |
| Game Notes | Minnesota |
| Social Media | @GopherWBB | Facebook |
| Clips | Barn Blog: Record Report |
The Golden Gophers (4-1) will travel from their own historic arena to another, Cameron Indoor Stadium, to face Duke (6-1) in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The game on Thursday, Dec. 3 is set to begin at 6 p.m. Central. Video will be available on ESPN3.com. Here are five things to know before tipoff:
1 Rachel Banham is now Minnesota's career leading scorer wtih 2,304 points. She broke the record with a 3-pointer against Auburn at the San Juan Shootout, which put her at 2,287 points, two ahead of Lindsay Whalen's record that stood since 2004. Banham is the NCAA's active career scoring leader. During the Auburn game, she passed two people (Whalen and Ohio State's Jessica Davenport) on the Big Ten all-time career list to move into eighth. She is close behind Northwestern's Anucha Browne (2,307) and Wisconsin's Jolene Anderson (2,312) and would move into sixth by herself with nine points.
2 The Gophers are 4-4 overall in the Big Ten ACC Challenge. They have won two Challenge games in a row, include a 60-55 win at N.C. State in last year's competition. Minnesota is 1-3 in Big Ten/ACC Challenge road games and 3-1 in Challenge home games.
3 Minnesota and Duke's only previous meeting was the 2004 Mideast Region Final. The seventh-seeded Gophers beat the No. 1-seed 82-75 in Norfolk, Va., to earn a Final Four berth. Lindsay Whalen scored 27 points, and Minnesota led from the 13:53 mark of the first half.
4 Karley Barnes made her Minnesota debut at the San Juan Shootout. A highly-rated junior college recruit, Barnes was recovering from ACL surgery when she arrived at Minnesota this fall. In her first game, she came off the bench to score six points and grab eight rebounds against Stetson. She made her first start against Auburn, shooting 9-for-12 and for 19 points and tallying six rebounds. Joanna Hedstrom made her first two starts of the season, and second and third of her career, in Puerto Rico.
5 After starting the same five (Shayne Mullaney, Mikayla Bailey, Carlie Wagner, Rachel Banham and Jessie Edwards) for their first four games, the Gophers mixed up the starting lineups at the San Juan Shootout. Joanna Hedstrom started in Edwards' place against Stetson, and Banham started at the point against Auburn with Bailey, Wagner, Hedstrom and Karley Barnes joining her in the lineup.
Scouting the Blue Devils
• Duke (6-1), which made the 2015 Sweet 16, is 2-1 at home with wins against Army and Winthrop and an overtime loss to Texas A&M.
• The Blue Devils went 3-0 to win the Mayan Tournament at the Cancun Challenge in Mexico: Azurá Stevens was named Tournament MVP and Rebecca Greenwell made the all-tournament team.
• Stevens has four double-doubles and is averaging 18.9 points and 10.0 rebounds. She is shooting 59.4 percent from the field. Greenwell is also averaging double-digit points (14.3).
• Duke's average margin of victory is 23.5. Its largest victory came vs. Texas State (at Cancun Challenge), 85-34.
• The Blue Devils are 12th in the NCAA in blocks per game (6.6), 16th in field goal percentage (.474), 10th in field goal percentage defense (.317) and 14th in rebound margin (12.9) through Nov. 30.
