University of Minnesota Athletics
Game Preview: Gophers vs. VCU
11/15/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
| Minnesota vs. VCU | |
| Date / Time | Thursday, Nov. 16 // 7 p.m. |
| Location | Williams Arena - Directions |
| Tickets | WBB Ticket Central // Cub Family 4 Pack // U of M Students Free |
| Promotions | Free t-shirts to first 500 students |
| Travel | Local Weather | Parking | Preferred Hotels |
| TV/Live Video | BTN Plus |
| Radio | 93.3 ALT FM // Listen Online // iHeart Radio App |
| Live Stats | |
| Live Updates | Game Day Live |
| Game Notes | Minnesota // VCU |
| Official Sites | Minnesota // VCU |
| Social Media | @GopherWBB | Facebook | Instagram |
After a 2-0 start, the Gopher women's basketball team returns to the Williams Arena court Thursday, Nov. 16 for a 7 p.m. game against VCU (0-1). The game will be streamed on BTN Plus, and 93.3 ALT FM/iHeartRadio will carry the radio broadcast.
The first 500 U of M students to arrive at the game will receive free t-shirts. Admission to all regular-season home games is free to students with a U Card.
Here are five things to know before tipoff:
1 After being outrebounded 42-40 in their 107-73 win against Lehigh, the Gophers numbers on the glass skyrocketed at Rhode Island on Monday night. Minnesota dominated rebounds 61-33 and scored 17 second-chance points in its 82-60 win in Kingston. Destiny Pitts led the team with 15 boards in her second collegiate game, tallying the most rebounds by a Gopher since Jessie Edwards on Nov. 20, 2015, and the most by a Gopher freshman since Amanda Zahui B. had 19 vs. Wisconsin on March 6, 2014.
2 Kenisha Bell also reached double-digit rebounds. She notched her second double-double as a Gopher, her first of the point/rebound variety. Bell was close to a triple-double with 22 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.
3 Head coach Marlene Stollings is facing her former team for the second time since coming to Minnesota from VCU. The Gophers won last year's matchup 79-69 in Richmond. Stollings coached at VCU from 2012-14, leading one of the top turnarounds in the nation. The 2013-14 Rams went 22-10, their third-most wins in program history, and set multiple school records. Gophers associate head coach Nikita Lowry Dawkins coached with Stollings in both seasons at VCU. They originally started recruiting Gophers sophomore and Virginia native Gadiva Hubbard, the team's third leading scorer, while at VCU.
4 Carlie Wagner led Minnesota in scoring last year with a career-best 19.1-point average, and is leading the Maroon and Gold with a 20-point average through the first two games. Her 13 second-half points at Rhode Island helped the Gophers pull away after a close first half.
5 Wagner, a two-time All-Big Ten Second Team honoree, was on the All-Big Ten Preseason Team. Bell (2017 All-Big Ten Honorable Mention) is on the Nancy Lieberman Award (nation's top point guard) watch list. Since Marlene Stollings' arrival, the Gophers have had two Big Ten Players of the Year (Amanda Zahui B. 2015, Rachel Banham 2016), three First Team selections, two consensus Second Team selections, one All-Freshman award and one Honorable Mention. Zahui B. and Banham went on to make Minnesota the only team besides UConn to have top-five picks in both their years' WNBA Drafts.
SCOUTING THE RAMS
• VCU dropped its season opener against Norfolk State, 66-52, on Sunday. The Rams lost their top five scorers from last year's 16-15 team.
• Coach Beth O'Boyle is in her fourth season at VCU. She has one postseason appearance with the Rams, in the 2016 WNIT.
• With no seniors and only two juniors (returning starters Bria Gibson and Sandra Skinner), VCU has one of the youngest rosters in the country (83.3 percent underclassmen). Gibson is the top returning scorer, having averaged 4.5 points and 4.6 rebounds.
• Guard Jailyn Maddox led the Rams with 18 points in the opener. Gibson grabbed 15 rebounds and freshman Tera Reed 12, and each scored nine points.
UP NEXT
Anyone with a ticket to the Gopher men's basketball game Sunday, Nov. 19 will be eligible to receive a free ticket to the Gopher women's game later that day. The Minnesota women host Boston College at 7 p.m. Following Sunday night's game, Irene Garrido Perez and Jessie Edwards will sign autographs.
