Final Regular Season Road Game Sends Minnesota to Iowa

MINNEAPOLIS -- In the second of two games between the teams this season, Minnesota (15-12, 5-11 B1G) visits No. 18/20 Iowa (22-5, 13-3) Thursday night in its final road game of the regular season.

The game, which starts at 6:30 p.m., can be streamed on BTN Plus and heard on the Gophers' radio home, 96.7 KFAN Plus.

THE OPENING TIP-OFF

• The teams met just over a month ago in Minneapolis with the Hawkeyes prevailing, 76-75. More information on that game and the series history can be found below.

• Minnesota is 6-5 this season in road games. The Gophers opened the season with four straight road wins for the seventh longest such streak in program history. Sara Scalia is the team's top scorer on the road this year at 13.6 points per game, while Jasmine Powell and Taiye Bello are behind her at 11.9 per game each. Bello is also the team's top rebounder on the road at 9.3 boards per contest, while Gadiva Hubbard is also in double figures in scoring at 10.5 points per game.

• Iowa enters the game ranked 18th in the country in the Associated Press poll. The Gophers are 1-3 this year against top-25 teams, including an 80-66 win over then-No. 19 Arizona State on Nov. 17. Minnesota is looking for its first road win over a ranked team in nearly 11 years, last doing so in a 79-71 win at then-No. 23 Notre Dame on March 22, 2009.

• The Gophers lead the Big Ten and rank 26th in the country in free throw percentage at 75.6 percent. That figure is on pace to be the fifth best in school history and the best since the 2015-16 campaign. The next closest Big Ten team to Minnesota in percentage is Iowa, which ranks 47th at 74.5 percent. The Gophers have had 11 games this year where they've collectively shot 80 percent or better at the line, including performances of 11-11 vs. Bryant (11/26), 27-31 vs. Milwaukee (11/14) and 31-35 at Ohio State (2/13). The 31 makes versus the Buckeyes tied for the 10th most in a game in team annals.

• After coming off the bench for her first 19 games, freshman Jasmine Powell has started each of the last eight contests and is thriving in her new role. She made her first career start on Jan. 27 at Indiana, scoring a team-high 15 points. She followed that with 19 points, seven rebounds and four steals vs. Nebraska, then recorded 19 points, five rebounds and four assists while playing over 47 minutes against Rutgers on Feb. 2. She then rattled off three straight games of at least 20 points, including a career-high 24 at Wisconsin on Feb. 6, to become the first Gopher freshman to have three consecutive 20-point games in at least the last 25 years.

• As a reserve through 19 games, Powell was averaging 8.9 points and 2.5 rebounds while shooting 35.4 percent from the floor, 23.7 percent on 3-pointers and 73.8 percent on free throws in 20.3 minutes per game. In her eight games as a starter, Powell has twice been named Big Ten Freshman of the Week and is posting 19.3 points and 3.9 rebounds per game while shooting 37.8 percent on field goals, 31.3 percent on 3's and 81.1 percent on free throws in 37.8 minutes of action per game.

FACING IOWA

• Renewing its most-played rivalry, Minnesota visits Iowa Thursday in the 80th meeting between the schools. The Gophers trail in the all-time series 52-27.

• Iowa's win earlier this year was its second straight in the series. That snapped a streak of nine straight contests where the team's alternated wins and losses, dating to Jan. of 2014.

• Like with the overall series, Minnesota has faced Iowa on the road more than any other team and trails, 29-8, in Iowa City. The Gophers have lost nine straight at Carver-Hawkeye, its longest active road losing streak. Their last win there came on Jan. 25, 2007.

• Minnesota has two Iowans on its roster in freshmen Grace Cumming (Roosevelt HS) and Justice Ross (East HS), both of whom hail from Des Moines. Iowa has one Minnesotan on its roster: sophomore Monika Czinano from Watertown and Watertown-Mayer High School.

• Iowa is 22-5 on the season and 13-3 in the Big Ten. The Hawkeyes have won four of their last five contests and have won 35 straight at home.

• Kathleen Doyle leads the team with 18.4 points per game, while Czinano (15.7) and Makenzie Meyer (14.3) are also in double figures. Amanda Ollinger is the team's top rebounder at 8.7 rebounds per contest.

• As a team, Iowa leads the Big Ten in field goal percentage (48.8; 4th nationally), assists (544; 5th), assists per game (20.1; 5th), 3-point percentage (37.0; 12th), free throws made (397; 19th), 3-pointers made (211; 36th) and 3's made per game (7.8; 37th). The Hawkeyes also have the No. 10 scoring offense in the nation (2nd in the Big Ten) at 79.8 points per game.

• Individually, Czinano leads the nation in field goal percentage (70.2), while Doyle is tops in the Big Ten in assists (172; 6th nationally) and assists per game (6.4; 7th), and Meyer leads the league in free throw percentage (83.7; 46th).

EARLIER THIS SEASON AGAINST THE HAWKEYES

• Minnesota took then-No. 22/24 Iowa to the wire but couldn't quite pull off the upset of the Hawkeyes in a 76-75 loss Jan. 16 at Williams Arena.

• Sara Scalia was one of three in double figures for the Gophers as she recorded the first double-double of her career with 18 points and a career-high 10 rebounds.

• Gadiva Hubbard matched Scalia with 18 points of her own, while Jasmine Brunson tallied 16 points to set a season high and finish one point off her career high. Playing all 40 minutes, Brunson's six assists matched a career high.

• Minnesota led by one after the opening quarter, 19-18, then outscored the Hawkeyes, 24-17, in the second quarter to lead 43-35 at halftime.

• The Gophers held a double-digit lead for most of the third quarter, while Taiye Bello's layup with 3:50 to play in the frame gave Minnesota its largest lead at 61-46. Minnesota led 66-57 entering the fourth quarter.

• A basket from Hubbard gave Minnesota a 70-57 lead with 9:08 remaining but Iowa immediately went on a 13-2 over the next seven minutes to get within 72-70 with 2:50 to play. Brunson hit a bucket in the paint but Iowa's Makenzie Meyer's 3-pointer made it a one-point game with 1:10 to play.

• A block on the Gophers' next possession was followed by a go-ahead 3 in the corner from the Hawkeyes' Alexis Sevillian with 8.8 seconds remaining. Minnesota had a chance to tie when Hubbard was fouled with 0.7 seconds left, but she made one of two free throws and Iowa was then able to run out the clock.

RECAPPING THE GAME AGAINST INDIANA

• In a back-and-forth contest that featured 11 ties and 12 lead changes, Minnesota was unable to score the upset in a 75-69 home loss to No. 24 Indiana Saturday.

• Jasmine Powell was one of four Golden Gophers in double figures with a team-high 21 points. It was her 10th straight game in double figures and her fourth time reaching 20 or more points in the last five contests. Fifteen of her 21 points came in the first half, including 10 in the first quarter alone. She was 3-of-5 from 3-point range, tying a career high for 3's made.

• Jasmine Brunson tallied 14 points on the night and matched a season high with five rebounds. She was 10-of-12 at the free throw line, establishing career highs for both makes and attempts from the charity stripe. Brunson scored 10 of her 14 points in the second half.

• Taiye Bello notched 12 points and a team-high seven rebounds, while Gadiva Hubbard also hit double figures with 11 points. Hubbard's career point total sits at 1,018, moving her past Elsie Ohm (1,011) for 25th on the Minnesota career scoring list.

• Donning pink uniforms in the team's annual Play4Kay event, Minnesota was down 57-53 entering the fourth quarter, but Brunson put the team on her back by going on a personal 6-2 run to even the contest up at 59-59 with 8:10 to go. Indiana would briefly go ahead but on the next possession Brunson found Sara Scalia open in the corner and she knocked down a 3-pointer to put the Gophers up 62-21, their first lead since 37-35.

• Indiana responded, though, with an 11-3 run over the next five minutes to turn a one-point deficit into a 72-65 advantage with 2:17 remaining. Twice within the stretch the Gophers were able to get within two points, including at 67-65 with 3:42 to go after a pair of free throws from Powell. Brenna Wise answered on the other end, however, with a 3-pointer and Minnesota wouldn't get closer than five the rest of the way.

• The Hoosiers were led by Ali Patberg and Grace Berger. Patberg scored 29 points, with 25 coming in the first half, while Berger recorded 14 of her 18 points in the second half also had a game-high nine rebounds and five assists.

OFFENSE UP IN YEAR TWO UNDER WHALEN

• Through 27 games, the Minnesota offense has picked up its scoring and certain shooting percentages in year two under head coach Lindsay Whalen.

• The Gophers are averaging 71.1 points per game this year, 1.6 points better than the 69.5 points they were averaging at this same stage a season ago.

• The Gophers' shooting percentage on 3-pointers is 35 points better than last year even though they have 169 more attempts this year. Not only does the team's current .365 mark on 3-pointers rank fourth in the Big Ten and 25th nationally, but it is also on pace to be the 10th best in school history.

• Minnesota is also 73 points better on free throws as it leads the Big Ten and ranks 26th nationally by shooting .756 percent from the line. That figure is on pace to be the fifth best in school history. Six Gophers have attempted at least 40 free throws this year and all are shooting better than 68 percent. Last year at this stage, of the five players with at least 40 attempts, only two were shooting above 68 percent from the line.

FRESHMEN POWELL, SCALIA MAKING INSTANT IMPACT

• Minnesota has six freshmen on its 2019-20 roster and some are already making significant contributions in their first year on campus.

• Sara Scalia, who has started every contest this year except for the season opener, leads the team in minutes played (871), is second in field goals made (107), 3-pointers made and attempted (51-135), 3-point pct. (.378; min. 40 attempts), rebounds (114) and minutes per game (32.3), third in field goals attempted (270), field goal pct. (.396; min. 40 attempts), rebounds per game (4.4) and steals (35), and fourth in scoring (11.0) and free throw pct. (.825; min. 40 attempts).

• Scalia's 3-point percentage of 37.8 and her average of 32.3 minutes per game both rank fourth best all-time among Gopher freshmen, while her 135 3-point attempts and .825 free throw percentage are each fifth.

• Against Bryant on Nov. 26, she scored 20 points and tied a career high with seven rebounds en route to being named B1G Freshman of the Week. She followed that at George Washington on Dec. 10 when she set or tied multiple career highs, including points (23), steals (4) and blocks (2).

• She scored 22 points in her Big Ten debut at Penn State on Dec. 28, tying a career high with five 3-pointers made. Against Iowa on Jan. 16, she had her first career double-double with 18 points and a career-high 10 rebounds then followed with 18 points at Purdue to earn her second B1G Freshman of the Week honor.

• Scalia has 13 games this season in double figures, seven contests with at least 15 points and three 20-point outings.

• Jasmine Powell, who has started each of the past eight games after coming off the bench in the previous 19, leads the team in field goal attempts (291), free throws made and attempted (88-114) and assists (77), is second in steals (38) and third in scoring (11.7) and field goals made (106).

• Powell put up 19 points against Vermont on Nov. 10, the most by a non-starter at Minnesota since Nov. of 2017, while in her first career start against Indiana she scored 15 points. That was followed by back-to-back 19-point outings against Nebraska and Rutgers before posting a career-high 24 points at Wisconsin on Feb. 6, 20 points vs. Michigan on Feb. 10 and 21 at Ohio State on Feb. 13.

• Powell has scored in double figures in 16 games this year, including each of the last 10 contests and 11 of the last 13. She has four 20-point games, all of which have come in three of the last five contests.

• With Powell averaging 12.0 points per game and Scalia at 11.0, the Gophers' duo will go down as one of the top freshmen scoring combinations in program history. With records dating back to the 1977-78 season, only two other freshmen duos have combined for more points in a season than Powell and Scalia. In fact, those are the only other times in team annals that two freshmen have each averaged double digits.

• With Powell and Scalia each winning Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors twice this season, this is first time in program history that multiple Gophers have won multiple Freshman of the Week accolades in one season since the award was introduced in 2009-10. They are two of seven players in Gophers history with two or more Freshman of the Week accolades.

• The four freshmen that have played this year, including Klarke Sconiers (3.0 ppg) and Barbora Tomancova (1.0), have combined for 27.0 points per game, the highest figure among Gopher freshmen in the last 13 years and fifth largest in program history.

BELLO ENJOYING BIG SENIOR SEASON

• After a breakout junior year where she earned All-Big Ten Honorable Mention honors from the coaches and media, Taiye Bello is having a strong senior season.

• Bello has posted 11 double-doubles this year, five of which have come in conference play. She also has had five other performances this year where she was either one point or one rebound away from a double-double. Her 11 double-doubles are second in the Big Ten and are 36th nationally. In her career, Bello has 26 double-doubles to rank sixth in Gophers history, and the Gophers are 22-4 in those games.

• Though her season averages have slipped slightly below that of a double-double, through Tuesday's games she is one of just 24 players nationally, and the only one from the Big Ten, with her averages of 12.0 points and 9.7 rebounds per game this year.

• In addition to her double-double prowess, Bello also leads the Big Ten in rebound average (9.7; 33rd nationally), and total rebounds (253; 38th), is second in offensive rebounds per game (4.0; 23rd), fourth in blocks per game (1.73; 60th) and fifth in blocks (45; 60th).

• Bello had arguably the best game of her career on Feb. 2 in a double overtime win over Rutgers as she grabbed a career-high 22 rebounds and scored 19 points. It tied for the fifth most rebounds in a game in program history and tied for 10th most in Big Ten annals. It was the highest rebound total for a Gopher since Amanda Zahui B. also had 22 against DePaul in the first round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament. Offensively, Bello was 15-of-19 at the free throw line, recording the second most free throw attempts in program history and tying for the second most makes. The free throws made and attempted, and the rebounds, are all tops in the Big Ten this year.

• Bello has 14 games this year with 10 or more rebounds. In her career, she has 42 games with at least 10 rebounds, 14 games with at least 15 boards, eight games with at least 18 rebounds and two games with more than 20.

• Additionally, Bello has improved her free throw shooting this year. After entering the season as a 63.8 percent shooter on free throws in her career, Bello is currently at 68.1 percent from the line on the year.

• With eight offensive rebounds against Montana State on Nov. 23, Bello broke the Gophers' all-time offensive rebounding record of 361 set by Janel McCarville. Bello has since extended her record to 446.

• She also ranks in the top 10 at Minnesota in career field goal percentage, rebounds, defensive rebounds, games with 10+ rebounds, blocks and double-doubles.

• Along with setting the Minnesota single-season record with 152 offensive rebounds last year, she also ranked fourth in team single-season history and tied for seventh in Big Ten history for total rebounds (380), fifth in team annals in rebound average (11.9) and defensive rebounds (228), and seventh in blocks (49).

HUBBARD BECOMES 26TH MEMBER OF 1000-POINT CLUB

• With 10 points at Ohio State on Feb. 13, redshirt junior Gadiva Hubbard became the 26th player in Gophers history to reach 1,000 points in her career.

• She did it in just 80 games, the 12th fewest needed to get to 1,000 points in team history. Hubbard stands at 1,018 points to rank 25th in team history.

• Hubbard is back on the court this year after missing all of last season following surgery on her right foot on Oct. 19, 2018.

• She has started all 27 games this year and is averaging 10.9 points, 3.1 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.7 steals while playing 32.1 minutes per game.

• Hubbard ranks seventh in the Big Ten this year in 3-pointers attempted (153) and is eighth in both 3-pointers made (53) and 3's made per game (1.96).

• Hubbard scored a season-high 24 points against UC Davis (12/15) thanks to 4-of-7 shooting from 3-point range and 6-of-8 shooting at the free throw line. It was her best scoring outing since going for 25 points against Penn State in Feb. of 2018. Hubbard also tied a season best with five rebounds.

• She also enjoyed a 20 point-game against then-No. 19 Arizona State on Nov. 17 and then matched that with 20 points, including six 3-pointers, in a win at Notre Dame on Dec. 4.

• Before her injury, Hubbard played in 32 games with 31 starts in 2017-18, finishing third on the team in scoring at 13.6 points per game and second with 3.4 assists.

GOPHERS WINNING TURNOVER BATTLE

• Minnesota is winning the turnover battle this season, forcing 430 turnovers while giving the ball away just 361 times through 27 games.

• Not only do the Gophers rank second in the Big Ten and 36th nationally with just 13.4 turnovers committed per game, they are also fourth in the B1G in turnover margin (+2.56).

• In terms of taking care of the ball, against Vermont on Nov. 10 the Gophers only committed five turnovers, which tied for the third fewest in program history. The Gophers have had six games this year with 10 or fewer turnovers and only seven contests where it has turned the ball over more than 15 times.

• Seven times this year Minnesota has forced opponents into at least 20 turnovers. Against Milwaukee on Nov. 14, Minnesota forced the Panthers into 33 turnovers, which tied for the 10th most forced in program history. The Gophers then turned those 33 turnovers into 35 points.

• Converting turnovers into points has been a trend for the Gophers all season. They have turned 430 takeaways into 477 points this year, an average of 1.11 points for every turnover forced. There have been only seven games this year where they have failed to earn at least one point for every turnover forced.

BIG TEN PLAYER RANKINGS

• In Big Ten play, Taiye Bello is second in the league in rebounding average (9.5), third in offensive rebounds per game (3.4), sixth in defensive rebounds per game (6.1) and 10th in blocks per game (1.2).

• Sara Scalia is eighth in the league in 3-pointers made per game (2.1) and ninth in 3-point percentage (.366).

• Jasmine Powell is 12th in steals per game (1.4) and free throw percentage (.764), and 14th in scoring (13.4).

• Gadiva Hubbard is 12th in steals per game (1.4) and 15th in 3-pointers made per game (1.7).

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Players Mentioned

Taiye Bello

Jasmine Brunson

Grace Cumming

Gadiva Hubbard

Jasmine Powell

Justice Ross

Sara Scalia

Klarke Sconiers

Barbora Tomancova