University of Minnesota Athletics
Game Preview: Ohio State
12/27/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
| Minnesota at Ohio State | |
| Date / Time | Wednesday, Dec. 28 | 6 p.m. CT |
| Location | Value City Arena (Columbus, Ohio) |
| Live Video | BTN Plus |
| Radio | 1500 ESPN | Listen Online |
| Live Stats | |
| Game Notes | Minnesota | Ohio State |
| Official Sites | Minnesota | Ohio State |
| Social Media | @GopherWBB | Facebook |
The University of Minnesota women's basketball team opens Big Ten play at No. 14 Ohio State on Wednesday, Dec. 28. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT, and the game will be available on BTN Plus and the Gopher Radio Network.
Here are five notes as the Golden Gophers open their league schedule:
1 Minnesota won the latest meeting between these teams in dramatic fashion. Rachel Banham scored 35 points and Carlie Wagner made a late jumper among her 26 points to lift the Gophers to a 90-88 overtime victory against the No. 5 Buckeyes. It was Minnesota's first top-five win in 11 years. Wagner, a Naismith Trophy Watch List honoree and Minnesota's all-time No. 15 scorer, enters this year's matchup averaging 18.6 points per game.
2 Two Gophers coaches will return to their former school on Wednesday. Head coach and Ohio high school scoring record holder Marlene Stollings won two letters (1994, '95) at Ohio State before completing her college career at Ohio University. Associate head coach Nikita Lowry-Dawkins is an inductee of the Buckeyes' hall of fame. In 1989, she became Ohio State's third All-American.
3 The Gophers continue to hold the best RPI rating of any Big Ten team. They started the week in 15th and have been as high as 11th, with one of the toughest schedules in the country. (See below.) Minnesota has improved its RPI about 90 spots from a similar point last season. A win in Columbus would continue to boost the Gophers' RPI, and would also give them their first Big Ten-opening road win since defeating Michigan State to start the 2007-08 conference slate.
4 Kenisha Bell has been a triple threat for the Gophers in her redshirt sophomore season. The guard has Minnesota's most 15-point games this year (10). She has led the team in assists 11 times and steals nine times. Bell is 11th in the Big Ten in scoring (16.9), second in assists (5.5) and third in steals (2.4). She led the Gophers with 20 points (11-of-15 shooting), seven assists and four steals against Kent State. Bell's scoring helped Minnesota tally its fourth 90-point game this year. The Gophers have won all four.
5 With 71 career blocks, Jessie Edwards needs two more to tie Zoe Harper for 10th in Minnesota history. Edwards has three games with four-plus blocks this year and is averaging 2.3 per game. The Gophers' leading rebounder (7.9 rpg), she has tallied 35 total of Minnesota's Big Ten-best 17.1 offensive rebounds per game. Minnesota will gain an additional post presence with the debut of Bryanna Fernstrom, who sat out to this point due to transfer rules.
SCOUTING THE BUCKEYES
• Ohio State is 10-4 after wrapping up non-conference play with an 88-48 win against Winthrop. All the Buckeyes' losses are to current top-25 teams, including an opponent in common with the Gophers, South Carolina.
• Head coach Kevin McGuff is in his fourth season at Ohio State. He has been to eight NCAA Tournaments as a head coach.
• Junior Kelsey Mitchell, an All-American last season, became the fastest player in NCAA history to reach 2,000 points. She is averaging a Big Ten-best 22.4 points per game to lead Ohio State's 88.4 per game as a team.
• Stephanie Mavunga is averaging a double-double (13.3 ppg, 11.8 rpg). Shayla Cooper (11.6) and Sierra Calhoun (11.1) are also scoring in double figures.
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
• Four of Minnesota's past and future opponents are in this week's AP Top 25. Maryland is fourth, South Carolina sixth, Florida State seventh and Ohio State 14th. Northwestern, Michigan and Georgetown received votes.
• In the non-conference season alone, Minnesota faced six teams who reached the 2016 NCAA Tournament, and three who played in the WNIT.
• The Gophers faced two 2016 Sweet 16 teams in Florida State (Nov. 30) and South Carolina (Dec. 11).
• The Gophers beat 2016 NCAA Tournament participants Seton Hall, Army West Point and Belmont, and played Georgia in the Junkanoo Jam.
• Minnesota opened the season with wins against 2016 WNIT teams Harvard, VCU and Georgetown.
• In Big Ten play Minnesota will face Sweet 16 team Ohio State and Second Round teams Maryland and Michigan State twice. The Gophers will also play Indiana (Second Round), Purdue (First Round), Michigan (WNIT semis) and other WNIT teams Nebraska, Northwestern and Rutgers.
COMING UP NEXT
Minnesota will retire Rachel Banham's jersey in a pregame ceremony on Sunday, Jan. 1. A banner for the Big Ten's all-time leading scorer will be unveiled before the 5 p.m. tipoff of the Gophers' game against No. 4 Maryland. Click here for ticket information.
