Final Road Game Sends Minnesota to Rutgers

MINNEAPOLIS -- Minnesota (19-8, 8-8 B1G) plays its final road game of the season Thursday night when it travels to Rutgers (19-8, 11-5).

The game will be televised by Big Ten Network at 5:30 p.m. CT and can also be heard on the Gophers' radio home, 96.7 FM KFAN Plus.

THE OPENING TIP-OFF

• Minnesota is facing Rutgers for the second time this month as the Golden Gophers beat the then-17th ranked Scarlet Knights on Feb. 3 in Minneapolis, 60-46.

• Against the five teams the Gophers are scheduled to play twice this year, they are currently 6-2 (2-0 vs. Northwestern and Wisconsin, 1-1 vs. Purdue, 1-0 vs. Rutgers, 0-1 vs. Michigan State).

The #B1G slate continues tomorrow night for Minnesota at Rutgers. @Lindsay_13 talked about the #Gophers matchup with the Scarlet Knights and more before practice today! pic.twitter.com/tkhfTxrXJ1
— Minnesota Women's Basketball (@GopherWBB) February 27, 2019

• The Gophers are 6-4 on the road this season, going 2-0 in the non-conference and 4-4 in Big Ten play. Kenisha Bell leads the Gophers with a 17.8 scoring average in road games this season, while Destiny Pitts (16.7) is also averaging double figures. Taiye Bello is the team's top rebounder on the road at 10.0 boards per game.

• Thursday marks the seventh appearance on Big Ten Network this season for Minnesota, which has gone 5-1 in the six prior games on the network. Kenisha Bell leads the Gophers with a 19.2 scoring average in BTN games this year, while Destiny Pitts (18.7) is also in double figures and Taiye Bello is averaging a double-double with 10.8 points and 13.2 rebounds per contest. As a team, Minnesota is averaging 72.7 points per game while opponents are at a 60.8 average.

• Few teams in the country do damage at the free throw line like Minnesota. Through Monday, the Gophers ranked fifth in the NCAA in free throws attempted (618) and 13th in free throws made (422). Kenisha Bell has been the most prolific free throw shooter for the team, ranking fifth in the nation in attempts (215) and 10th in makes (145). In addition, Destiny Pitts is seventh in the Big Ten in free throw percentage (79.2), while Annalese Lamke has made her last 14 free throw attempts and would be fifth in the B1G in percentage (80.7) if she had enough attempts to qualify.

• Minnesota saw its six-game win streak in conference play snapped in a last-second, 71-69 loss at Maryland on Feb. 21. The streak was tied for the second longest in program history and was the longest since also winning six in a row from Jan. to Feb. of 2006. The only longer streak in team annals came when it won 11 in a row from Feb. of 2003 to Jan. of 2004, the junior and senior seasons of head coach Lindsay Whalen.

SERIES HISTORY WITH RUTGERS

• Minnesota and Rutgers will meet for just the eighth time on Thursday. The Scarlet Knights hold a slight 4-3 lead in the all-time series, though the series is tied at 3-3 since they joined the Big Ten.

• Rutgers has won all four times the teams have played in Piscataway. In fact, the home team has won every game in the series as Minnesota is 3-0 in Minneapolis.

EARLIER THIS SEASON VS. THE SCARLET KNIGHTS

• A stingy Minnesota defense led the way as the Golden Gophers knocked off first-place No. 17/19 Rutgers, 60-46, on Feb. 3 at Williams Arena.

• The Golden Gophers held the Scarlet Knights to just 33.9 percent shooting, including 26.7 percent in a pivotal third quarter. The 46 points scored by Rutgers were 21 points fewer than their conference scoring average entering the game and was also the lowest total by a Big Ten opponent versus the Gophers since an 80-46 win over Rutgers on Feb. 11, 2017.

• Taiye Bello posted a double-double with 11 points and a career-high 21 rebounds, which marked the sixth highest total in Gopher history and were the most by a Gopher since Amanda Zahui B. had 22 against DePaul in the 2015 NCAA Tournament.

• Bello was one of four Gophers in double figures with Kenisha Bell leading the way with 19 points. Destiny Pitts added 14 points, while Jasmine Brunson chipped in with 13 points.

• Tied 10-10 after the first quarter, Rutgers dominated most of the second quarter as they opened on a 9-0 run through the first 5:55. The Gophers were able to end the first half on a high note, though, thanks to a 7-2 run and trailed 23-17 at the break.

• The third quarter was all Minnesota as it outscored Rutgers, 22-10. Down 31-26 with 3:36 to play in the third, the Gophers embarked on an 11-0 run in just 1:18 on the clock.

• Extending into the fourth quarter, the run ended up being 16-2 for Minnesota and it led 42-33 less than 30 seconds into the final quarter. From there, Rutgers never got closer than five points.

LAST TIME AT RUTGERS

• The teams last met in Piscataway on Jan. 13, 2018, with Rutgers prevailing in overtime, 80-70.

• Carlie Wagner recorded a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Destiny Pitts played all 45 minutes and tied Wagner with a team-high 22 points.

• Rutgers held a 56-49 lead with 7:52 to play, but the Golden Gophers fought back with a 7-0 run over the next three minutes. Jessie Edwards made a layup, while Pitts hit a 3-pointer and Gadiva Hubbard followed with a layup to even it at 56-56 with 4:50 to go.

• Minnesota eventually took the lead for the first time in the game with 1:06 to play as Pitts converted all three free throws after being fouled on a 3-point attempt. Rutgers answered and went up 68-65.

• Pitts then sent Minnesota to its first overtime game in nearly three years when she nailed a 3-pointer from the corner in front of Minnesota's bench with 15 seconds left. The Golden Gophers nearly won it then in regulation with Wagner came up with a steal on Rutgers' ensuing possession and passed ahead to Bell, but her runner failed to fall at the buzzer.

• In overtime, Rutgers outscored Minnesota 12-2.

RECAPPING THE GAME AT MARYLAND

• Minnesota saw its six-game win streak come to an end in heartbreaking fashion last Thursday night, losing on a last-second shot at No. 8/9 Maryland, 71-69.

• Minnesota led 69-62 with 50 seconds remaining, but the Terrapins scored the final nine points of the game.

• Destiny Pitts notched her fourth straight game with at least 21 points as she scored a team-high 24. She was 8-of-15 from the floor and 5-of-11 from 3-point range before fouling out with 50 seconds to play.

• Kenisha Bell tallied 23 points to go with five assists and four rebounds, while Jasmine Brunson hit double figures for the third time in four games as she went for 10 points and four boards.

• Taiye Bello had a game-high 16 rebounds, her 18th game this year with at least 10 boards, and also had seven points and three steals.

• Bell (8), Pitts (6) and Brunson (6) carried the Gophers to a 20-15 lead after the first quarter, combining for all of the team's points in the quarter. In the second quarter, Maryland got within four with exactly four minutes to play, but the Gophers answered with an 8-0 run that turned into a 13-3 spurt and they led 45-31 before taking a 45-36 into the locker room at halftime.

• A 7-0 run midway through the third quarter gave Minnesota its biggest lead of the game at 54-38 with 5:36 left in the frame. At the end of the third, it held a 59-48 edge over the Terrapins.

• In the fourth, Maryland outscored the Gophers, 23-10. Bell's layup with 1:58 to go that put the Gophers up 69-62 would mark the Gophers' final points of the game.

IN THE POLLS

• Minnesota enters Thursday's game in the "receiving votes" portion of the AP Poll for the sixth straight week. Prior to that, the Gophers had a 10-week run in the AP Poll, their longest such streak since appearing in all 18 polls during the 2005-06 season.

• Three 2018-19 opponents are currently ranked in the latest polls (AP/Coaches): No. 8/9 Maryland, No. 12/12 Iowa and No. 17/17 Syracuse. In addition, Rutgers is receiving votes in both polls, while Michigan State appears in the Coaches Poll. The Gophers are 2-3 against those teams currently in the polls, beating Syracuse and Rutgers, and losing to Iowa, Maryland and Michigan State.

GOPHERS GAINING EXPERIENCE IN NEW ROLES

• Even though two-thirds of Minnesota's roster consists of upperclassmen, the Gophers actually have the fewest combined career minutes of any roster in the Big Ten, according to research initially done by Nebraska's Communications office.

• Through Feb. 25, the Gophers' roster had played a combined 11,666 minutes, while no other team in the league had fewer than 12,200 combined minutes. For further context, Thursday's opponent, Rutgers, leads the Big Ten with 18,186 combined minutes.

• Not only is the team playing under a new coaching staff, all five members of the starting lineup that has been used for most of the season have been playing in different positions than they did a year ago. Among returning starters, Kenisha Bell has gone from the 1 to the 2, while Destiny Pitts has mostly played the 3 this season after playing the 4 a year ago.

• Meanwhile, Jasmine Brunson (1), Taiye Bello (4) and Annalese Lamke (5) have all started a majority of the games this season after primarily coming off the bench a year ago. In addition, Irene Garrido Perez's eight career starts have all come in the last nine contests. All four have seen double-digit jumps in their minutes per game this season: Brunson (+20.3), Lamke (+18.5), Garrido Perez (+15.4) and Bello (+14.4).

PITTS HEATING UP AT THE RIGHT TIME

• Through the first seven games of B1G play, Destiny Pitts was averaging 9.6 points per contest while shooting 33.8 percent on field goals and 20.0 percent on 3-pointers, making 9-of-45 attempts from long range.

• Since then, she is averaging a team-high 20.2 points per game over the last nine contests while shooting 46.8 percent from the floor and 44.3 percent on 3-pointers (31-for-70).

• In her last four games, she has scored 21 points against Northwestern, 27 at Purdue, 22 vs. Penn State and 24 at Maryland. It's the first time in her career she's scored 20+ points in back-to-back games, let alone four straight.

• She's looking to become the first Gopher to score 20+ in five straight games since Kenisha Bell did it in six straight in Dec. of 2017.

BELLO DOMINATING THE GLASS

• Through Monday, Taiye Bello was third in the country and leading the Big Ten in offensive rebounds per game (5), ranked sixth nationally in total rebounds (341) and seventh in rebounds per game (12.6). She was also 22nd in the NCAA in defensive rebounds per game (7).

• Bello is also currently the most improved rebounder in the Big Ten, upping her rebounds per game total from 6.3 last year to 12.6 this year, which ranks second in the conference. The +6.3 difference has her tops in the B1G, ahead of teammate Annalese Lamke who has gone from 0.7 to 5.2 per game (+4.5). No other player in the B1G has improved their average by more than +3.3.

• Bello has 18 games this year with at least 10 rebounds, 11 games with at least 15 boards, seven games with at least 18 rebounds and one game with at least 20.

• Bello has 15 double-doubles in her career, including 10 this year, and Minnesota is 13-2 overall in those games.

• Against Penn State on Feb. 17, Bello recorded her 10th double-double of the season with 14 points and 13 rebounds. She was a 7-of-7 from the floor, marking just the eighth performance in team history, and her second this year, with that many attempts without a miss. Earlier this year, she was 9-of-9 at Michigan on Dec. 31. Janel McCarville and Amanda Zahui B. are the only other players in team history to have multiple games in a career where they've attempted at least seven shots and not missed.

• Against No. 17 Rutgers on Feb. 3, Bello posted her ninth double-double of the season with 11 points and a career-high 21 rebounds. It tied for the sixth highest total in Gopher history, and they were the most by a Gopher since Amanda Zahui B. had 22 rebounds against DePaul in the 2015 NCAA Tournament. Ten of the rebounds were on the offensive end, while the other 11 came on defense.

• Bello's 21 rebounds are also tied for the most by any Big Ten player this year with Maryland's Shakira Austin.

• Bello has 14 double-doubles in her career, and Minnesota is 12-2 in those games.

• She had her first B1G double-double of the year with 12 points and 12 rebounds against Iowa and pulled down 18 rebounds in back-to-back games versus Purdue and Ohio State.

• At Michigan on Dec. 31, she made all nine attempts from the floor for a career-high 24 points. She became one of five players in Gophers history to not miss when attempting at least that many shots.

• Arguably Bello's best performance of the season came against No. 12 Syracuse when she went for 20 points and grabbed 18 rebounds, including 10 offensive.

• Bello posted double-doubles in the first three games this season, becoming the first Minnesota player to have three straight double-doubles since Amanda Zahui B. ended the 2014-15 season with four in a row. And though she didn't have a double-double against Arkansas-Pine Bluff in game four, she did have 19 rebounds.

BELL FINISHING STRONG IN SENIOR SEASON

• Senior Kenisha Bell leads the Gophers in several categories, including points per game (19.0), assists per game (4.3) and steals per game (2.1).

• Nationally, Bell is fifth in the country in free throw attempts (215) and ranks 10th in makes (145).

• She leads the Big Ten in free throws made, free throw attempts and steals (55), and ranks third in the league in scoring average, steals per game, field goals made (177), field goal attempts (437).

• After being named to preseason watch lists for the Nancy Lieberman Award (nation's top PG) and Naismith Trophy (nation's top player), Bell earned spots on midseason watch lists for the Wooden Award and is oen of 10 semifinalists for the Naismith Women's Defensive Player of the Year Award.

• Bell has also been a four-time Big Ten Player of the Week Honor Roll honoree.

• At Indiana on Feb. 6, Bell went over 2,000 career points. She scored 434 in her freshman season at Marquette and has scored 1,655 at Minnesota for a total of 2,089 career points. She's one of 19 active players in the country with at least 2,000 career points.

BRUNSON MAKES MARK IN RETURN TO STARTING LINEUP

• After starting the first 18 games of the season, Jasmine Brunson came off the bench for the next two contests. She then returned to the starting lineup against Northwestern on Jan. 31, and has elevated her offense to help the Gophers to a 6-1 record in that span.

• Through the first 20 games of the year, Brunson was averaging 7.2 points and shooting 36.2 percent from the floor. In seven games since rejoining the starting lineup, she's averaging 12.0 points while shooting 41.3 percent.

• On the year, Brunson is averaging 8.4 points per game after averaging 2.9 last season. That +5.5 increase is the second best in the B1G behind only teammate Annalese Lamke (+7.5).

GARRIDO PEREZ GETS CALLED INTO STARTING LINEUP

• Irene Garrido Perez has been called into the starting lineup for the last nine contests, with Minnesota going 6-3 in those contests.

• Since making the first start of her career against Purdue on Jan. 24, Garrido Perez has averaged 5.8 points, 2.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.1 steals per game while playing 36.2 minutes per game. Prior to that, her career totals in those categories were 1.6 points, 0.6 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 0.2 steals while averaging 8.5 minutes.

• She's shooting 45.2 percent on 3-pointers since joining the starting lineup, making 14 of 31 attempts.

• Against Penn State on Feb. 17, Garrido Perez set a career high with 16 points, including a career-best four made 3-pointers and six made field goals.

• In a win at Indiana on Feb. 6, she made all four shots, including all three 3-point attempts. Nine of her then-career high 11 points came in the first half. In addition, she set career highs for rebounds (6) and minutes (40).

MINNESOTA NEAR THE TOP IN ATTENDANCE

• Through 17 home games, the Gophers have had a total attendance of 95,582 with an average of 5,622 per contest. Through Feb. 25, the team was 10th in the country in total attendance and No. 13 in average.

• Within the Big Ten, only Purdue had a higher total attendance and only Purdue, Iowa and Michigan State had a higher average attendance.

• The average is the highest for the Gophers since 2008-09 when they averaged 5,833 and it's nearly 2,500 more than they averaged last year (3,130).

• Minnesota opened the 2018-19 season with a 70-47 win over New Hampshire on Nov. 9. The announced sellout crowd of 14,625 was a program record, surpassing the previous high of 14,363 set during Lindsay Whalen's senior season in 2004.

• Four of the top five attendance marks in team history, and eight of the top 10, have come with Whalen as either a player or coach.

• The season-opening sellout stood as the highest attendance for any women's game this season until it was passed on Jan. 31 by the 17,023 that saw No. 2 UConn play at No. 3 Louisville. It is now No. 3.

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Players Mentioned

Kenisha Bell

Taiye Bello

Jasmine Brunson

Jessie Edwards

Irene Garrido Perez

Gadiva Hubbard

Annalese Lamke

Destiny Pitts

Carlie Wagner