University of Minnesota Athletics
WNIT Game Preview: Gophers vs. South Dakota
3/18/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
| Minnesota vs. South Dakota | |
| Date / Time | Sunday, March 20 | 2 p.m. |
| Location | Williams Arena - Directions |
| Tickets | MyGopherSports.com |
| Travel | Local Weather | Parking | Preferred Hotels |
| Live Video | BTN Plus |
| Radio | 1500 ESPN | Listen Online |
| Live Stats | |
| Official Sites | Minnesota | South Dakota |
| Game Notes | Minnesota | South Dakota |
| Social Media | @GopherWBB | Facebook |
The Golden Gophers (20-11) will stay at Williams Arena for their second game of the WNIT, as South Dakota (27-6) comes to Minneapolis. The Sunday, March 20 game will begin at 2 p.m. Here are five notes before tipoff:
1 With their WNIT-opening win against Milwaukee, the Gophers captured their 20th victory of the season. They have won at least 20 games in both years under Marlene Stollings, who now has three 20-win seasons in her first five years as a head coach. Her two seasons at Minnesota have seen the Gophers set program records for 3-pointers (214 last year, 281 this year) and points (2,514 last year, 2,587 this year).
2 Rachel Banham, the Big Ten Player of the Year, is in the running for national awards. She is a finalist for the John R. Wooden Award and Dawn Staley Award, and a semifinalist for the Naismith Trophy. Banham is also a candidate for the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award and the Wade Trophy. She has earned All-America First Team recognition from espnW.
3 Banham scored a WNIT and Williams Arena record 48 points against Milwaukee. She is the first player in program history to tally three career 40-point games, all of them coming this season. (She tied an NCAA record with 60 at Northwestern and poured in 52 at Michigan State.) Banham is the NCAA's active leading scorer, and the all-time Big Ten leader with 3,056 points. She passed Cheryl Miller (USC), Chamique Holdsclaw (Tennessee), Maya Moore (UConn) and Elena Delle Donne (Delaware) Wednesday to move into sixth on the NCAA all-time scoring list. FIU's Jerica Coley (3,107) is in fifth. (Missouri State's Jackie Stiles is first with 3,393.) Banham is second in the nation averaging 28.3 points per game this year.
4 Carlie Wagner, the other half of the nation's top scoring duo, is 14 points from becoming Minnesota's 22nd 1,000-point scorer. The sophomore All-Big Ten Second Team honoree is averaging 15.4 points per game through her first 64 collegiate contests, including 19.0 per game this year. At 588 points for the year, Wagner ranks eighth on Minnesota's season record list.
5 The Gophers have advanced the WNIT Second Round for the third time in their four appearances. They also did so in 2007, and advanced to the round of 16 in 2014. Including Minnesota, three of six Big Ten teams participating in the WNIT made it past the first round. The others are Michigan and Rutgers.
Scouting the Coyotes
• South Dakota has a 27-6 record. The Coyotes were the Summit League's regular season champions, but lost to South Dakota State in the tournament title game. They beat Creighton in their WNIT First Round contest.
• Summit League Player of the Year Nicole Seekamp leads South Dakota with an average of 16.2 points per game. She also averages 6.1 assists and 2.7 steals.
• Head coach Amy Williams was named the league's Coach of the Year, and Caitlin Duffy was named Transfer of the Year. Duffy averages 8.4 points and has made a team-high 57 3-pointers. Tia Hemiller (10.7 ppg, 5.1 rpg) earned an All-League Second Team nod.
• The Coyotes score 78.5 points per game, tops in the Summit League.
