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Photo by: Bruce Kluckhohn
Minnesota to Visit Notre Dame in Big Ten/ACC Challenge
6/18/2019 10:02:00 AM | Women's Basketball
MINNEAPOLIS – The Minnesota women's basketball team will visit perennial power Notre Dame on Wednesday, Dec. 4 as part of the 2019 Big Ten/ACC Women's Basketball Challenge, it was announced Tuesday. Game time and television coverage will be announced at a later date.
The Golden Gophers are 5-7 all-time in the event, including last year's 72-68 victory over then-No. 12 Syracuse at Williams Arena.
Minnesota and Notre Dame have met twice previously, with both matchups coming in the NCAA Tournament and both won by the Golden Gophers. The first NCAA tournament game in program history for Minnesota came against the Fighting Irish in 1994 with an 81-76 upset in South Bend, Ind. Fifteen years later, the teams met again in South Bend, and the Gophers prevailed once more, 79-71, in the opening round.
Minnesota is coming off a 21-11 season (9-9 in Big Ten play) and a trip to the second round of the Women's NIT in head coach Lindsay Whalen's debut campaign. The team returns three of its top four leading scorers next season, and 53.8 percent of its scoring, 70.4 percent of its 3-pointers, 63.8 percent of its blocks, 57.1 percent of its rebounds, 55.6 percent of its minutes, 51.9 percent of its steals, and 50.6 percent of its assists.
Highlighting the individuals returning for the Gophers are junior Destiny Pitts, who was named to the 2019 All-Big Ten First Team by the media and Second Team by the league's coaches, and senior Taiye Bello, who was named Honorable Mention All-Big Ten by the coaches and media members. The Gophers are also expected to receive a boost from redshirt junior Gadiva Hubbard, who missed all of last season due to injury, but put up 13.6 points per game as a sophomore in 2017-18.
In addition, the team welcomes in five true freshmen, junior college transfer Maryia Adashchyk and Syracuse transfer Kadiatou Sissoko.
Notre Dame was 35-4 overall last year and reached the national title game for the second year in a row after winning the program's second national title in 2017-18. However, the Fighting Irish did lose their entire starting lineup, which included their top five scorers, from a year ago due to the WNBA Draft.
2019 Big Ten/ACC Challenge Matchups
Wednesday, December 4
Clemson at Iowa
Indiana at Miami
Duke at Nebraska
Boston College at Northwestern
Minnesota at Notre Dame
Thursday, December 5
Michigan State at Florida State
Wisconsin at Georgia Tech
Syracuse at Michigan
Illinois at North Carolina
Maryland at North Carolina State
Louisville at Ohio State
Pittsburgh at Penn State
Virginia at Rutgers
Purdue at Virginia Tech
The Golden Gophers are 5-7 all-time in the event, including last year's 72-68 victory over then-No. 12 Syracuse at Williams Arena.
Minnesota and Notre Dame have met twice previously, with both matchups coming in the NCAA Tournament and both won by the Golden Gophers. The first NCAA tournament game in program history for Minnesota came against the Fighting Irish in 1994 with an 81-76 upset in South Bend, Ind. Fifteen years later, the teams met again in South Bend, and the Gophers prevailed once more, 79-71, in the opening round.
Minnesota is coming off a 21-11 season (9-9 in Big Ten play) and a trip to the second round of the Women's NIT in head coach Lindsay Whalen's debut campaign. The team returns three of its top four leading scorers next season, and 53.8 percent of its scoring, 70.4 percent of its 3-pointers, 63.8 percent of its blocks, 57.1 percent of its rebounds, 55.6 percent of its minutes, 51.9 percent of its steals, and 50.6 percent of its assists.
Highlighting the individuals returning for the Gophers are junior Destiny Pitts, who was named to the 2019 All-Big Ten First Team by the media and Second Team by the league's coaches, and senior Taiye Bello, who was named Honorable Mention All-Big Ten by the coaches and media members. The Gophers are also expected to receive a boost from redshirt junior Gadiva Hubbard, who missed all of last season due to injury, but put up 13.6 points per game as a sophomore in 2017-18.
In addition, the team welcomes in five true freshmen, junior college transfer Maryia Adashchyk and Syracuse transfer Kadiatou Sissoko.
Notre Dame was 35-4 overall last year and reached the national title game for the second year in a row after winning the program's second national title in 2017-18. However, the Fighting Irish did lose their entire starting lineup, which included their top five scorers, from a year ago due to the WNBA Draft.
2019 Big Ten/ACC Challenge Matchups
Wednesday, December 4
Clemson at Iowa
Indiana at Miami
Duke at Nebraska
Boston College at Northwestern
Minnesota at Notre Dame
Thursday, December 5
Michigan State at Florida State
Wisconsin at Georgia Tech
Syracuse at Michigan
Illinois at North Carolina
Maryland at North Carolina State
Louisville at Ohio State
Pittsburgh at Penn State
Virginia at Rutgers
Purdue at Virginia Tech
Highlights: Gophers 55, Ohio State 60
Friday, March 06
Cinematic Recap: Gophers-Illini
Tuesday, March 03
Highlights: Gophers 78, Illinois 73
Sunday, March 01
Coming Home: Carlie Wagner Olstad
Monday, February 23