Minnesota Meets No. 9 Maryland Thursday on BTN

MINNEAPOLIS -- Closing out a two-game homestand, Minnesota women's basketball takes on No. 9/9 Maryland (9-1, 5-0 B1G) Thursday at 5 p.m.

The game, which is the first of two matchups between the schools this year, will be televised on Big Ten Network and can be heard on the Gophers' radio home, 96.7 FM KFAN Plus.

THE OPENING TIP-OFF

• Jasmine Powell leads the Gophers with a scoring average of 16.8 points per game this season. She has scored at least 11 points in each of the last 10 games dating to last season. In addition to her scoring prowess, which ranks 14th in the Big Ten, Powell is third in the conference and 15th nationally with her 5.8 assists per game and ranks second in the Big Ten by playing 35.04 minutes per game. She is also third in the league in 3-pointers made per game (2.50).

• In the season opener, Kadi Sissoko scored 24 points in her first game at Minnesota to tie a school record for points a Gophers debut (Kenisha Bell vs. VCU, 11/15/16). With double-doubles in two of her last three games, Sissoko is second in the Big Ten in offensive rebounds per game (3.9) and is 14th in the conference in rebounding average (7.0). Sissoko is one of seven players in the Big Ten to be averaging at least 13.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game.

• She missed Sunday's game against Penn State with a shoulder injury, but Sara Scalia had been picking up her play over her last two games. After missing the first two games of the season, she averaged 8.0 points over her first three contests and was shooting 23.5 percent from the floor (8-34) and 20 percent on 3-pointers (4-20). However, she has averaged 14.5 points over the last two contests, including a season-high 18 points at Iowa on Jan. 6, while shooting 38.5 percent on field goals (10-28) and 38.9 percent on 3's (7-18).

• After missing the first three games of the season due to injury, Laura Bagwell Katalinich has found her groove with the Gophers and is averaging 8.4 points and 4.2 rebounds in five games played this year, including 10.5 points and 4.5 rebounds over her last four contests. A graduate transfer from Cornell, Bagwell Katalinich averaged 14.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.2 steals per game in two seasons for the Big Red, shooting 45.6 percent from the floor and 79.9 percent on free throws.

• The Gophers have four players averaging double figures in Big Ten play with Powell leading the way at 15.2 points per game. Sissoko is behind her at 11.3, while Hubbard (10.7) and Scalia (10.6) are also in the club. Sissoko is also the team's top rebounder in league play at 6.5 rebounds per contest.

• The Gophers are 1-4 at home this season. Like in Big Ten play, four Gophers are in double figures at Williams Arena. Powell is the team's leading scorer so far at home at 18.0 points per game, while Bagwell Katalinich (11.0), Sissoko (10.8) and Hubbard (10.8) are all averaging at least 10.0 points per game. Klarke Sconiers is the team's top rebounder at home with 5.8 boards per game.

FACING MARYLAND

• Minnesota and Maryland meet for the 11th time Thursday. The Terrapins have won nine of the 10 all-time meetings.

• In Minneapolis, Maryland has won three of the four meetings. The Gophers' lone win in the series came at Williams Arena on Feb. 18, 2018 in a 93-74 triumph.

• Thursday will mark the third coaching matchup between Lindsay Whalen and Maryland's Brenda Frese, who was the head coach at Minnesota during the 2001-02 campaign, Whalen's sophomore season. The Gophers went 22-8 that year and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Whalen was an All-American and the Big Ten Player of the Year, while Frese was the AP National Coach of the Year.

• Maryland's Zoe Young (West Des Moines Valley) and Minnesota's Grace Cumming (Des Moines Roosevelt) and Justice Ross (Des Moines East) are all natives of Des Moines, Iowa, and competed against one another in the Central Iowa Metro League.

• Winners of eight in a row, Maryland is ranked ninth in both the Associated Press Poll and WBCA Coaches Poll with a 9-1 record overall and 5-0 mark in league play. The Terrapins lone loss came against then-No. 24 Missouri State on Nov. 28, but the Terps have not lost since.

• Ashley Owusu leads the team with 18.8 points per game, while Diamond Miller (17.5), Katie Benzan (15.1), Chloe Bibby (13.4) and Mimi Collins (10.5) are also averaging double figures. Angel Reese was averaging 13.3 points per game before suffering a right foot fracture on Dec. 3 that is expected to keep her out for 12 weeks.

• Bibby is the team's top rebounder at 7.3 boards per game, while Collins is right behind her at 7.2.

• As a team, Maryland leads the Big Ten in several categories, including scoring offense (94.1; 2nd nationally), 3-point percentage (.402; 8th), free throws made and attempted (173-218), free throw percentage (.794; 10th) and offensive rebounds per game (15.9). The Terrapins are also ninth nationally in assists per game (19.7; 3rd in B1G) and 11th in field goal percentage (.489; 4th).

• Individually, Benzan leads the Big Ten in 3-pointers made (35; 5th nationally), 3's made per game (3.50; 9th) and 3-point percentage (.515; 12th).

LAST SEASON AGAINST THE TERRAPINS

• Minnesota closed out the 2019-20 regular season with a 99-44 loss to No. 7/7 Maryland at Williams Arena in front of a season-high crowd of 6,013.

• Sara Scalia led the Golden Gophers with a team-high 10 points, while Taiye Bello pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds to go with seven points.

• Minnesota opened the game on a 6-1 run but Maryland used an ensuing 16-3 stretch to take control of the game. The Terrapins led 30-13 after the first quarter and 45-19 at halftime.

• The third quarter was more of the same as Maryland's 38 points in the frame were the most by an opponent last year. The Gophers did score 20 points of their own in the third, highlighted by a pair of 3-pointers by Jasmine Powell.

• Maryland's defense clamped down even further in the fourth, outscoring Minnesota 16-5. Six players reached double figures for the Terrapins, who clinched a share of the Big Ten title along with Northwestern with the victory. Taylor Mikesell was the team's top scorer at 22 points thanks to six 3-pointers.

RECAPPING THE GAME AGAINST PENN STATE

• Minnesota saw its recent success over Penn State come to an end Sunday with a 69-60 loss to the Lady Lions at Williams Arena.

• The Golden Gophers had won six in a row in the series and five straight at home, but Penn State used a strong third quarter to score the win.

• Jasmine Powell led all scorers with 19 points, and she tied Klarke Sconiers for the team lead with six rebounds. Also in double figures for Minnesota was Laura Bagwell Katalinich, who had 12 points and five boards.

• Kayla Mershon had six points and four rebounds as she made her first start as a Gopher, while freshman Katie Borowicz, who joined the team as an early enrollee on Jan. 2, made her collegiate debut with two points, two assists, a rebound and a steal.

• After a tight first quarter in which neither team led by more than three, Penn State opened up a 25-18 lead in the second quarter. Minnesota responded, though, with an 8-0 run that turned into a 13-1 stretch. Ten of the 13 points belonged to Powell.

• The Gophers took a 34-33 lead into halftime, but the Lady Lions opened the third quarter on a 10-2 run in the first two minutes of the second half. Minnesota was able to cut the deficit down to five, twice in the frame, but Penn State outscored the Gophers, 21-10, to take a 54-44 lead into the fourth.

• A 3-pointer from Powell cut the lead to 57-51 with 6:10 to play in the game, but Minnesota would get no closer than that.

GOPHERS ENDURING CHALLENGING START TO SCHEDULE

• Minnesota is 2-6 to start the season and 1-5 in Big Ten play, though the team has started the season against a difficult schedule.

• The eight teams the Gophers have played have a combined record of 45-33 (.577), including an 38-20 (.655) mark for the teams against which they've lost.

• The .577 opponent win percentage for Minnesota is the sixth highest among Big Ten teams.

• Four of the five losses within Big Ten play have come against teams currently ranked or receiving votes in the AP Top 25: No. 18 Indiana (7-3), 22 Northwestern (6-2), RV Michigan State (8-2) and RV Iowa (8-2).

• Including Thursday's game with Maryland, the Gophers will have played five of the top seven teams in the current Big Ten standings.

FACING THE RANKED

• Maryland enters Thursday's game ranked No. 9 in the country in both the AP and Coaches Polls. It will be the third ranked team the Gophers have faced this year after losses to then-No. 16/17 Northwestern on Dec. 14 and then-No. 19/18 Indiana on Dec. 23.

• Minnesota is looking to snap a seven-game losing streak against ranked teams. It's last win was over No. 19 Arizona State on Nov. 17, 2019.

• The Gophers' last win over a top-10 team came against Maryland when they beat the 10th-ranked Terps, 93-74, on Feb. 18, 2018.

• Minnesota is 4-11 all-time against the No. 9 team in the AP Poll, though the most recent matchup against such teams came in March of 2012.

GOPHERS GAINING EXPERIENCE WITH YOUNG ROSTER

• With 10 of its 13 players either freshmen or sophomores, no team in the Big Ten has a higher percentage of its roster comprised of underclassmen than Minnesota's 76.9 percent. Wisconsin (73.3 percent) is the only other team at 70 percent or higher.

• Through Jan. 12, the Gophers' roster had played a combined 9,041 minutes, which ranks ninth in the Big Ten. For comparison, Purdue leads the conference with a combined 15,750 minutes and Thursday's opponent, Maryland, is eighth at 10,964 minutes.

• Redshirt senior Gadiva Hubbard (3,090) accounts for over a third of the Gophers' career minutes herself. The other two upperclassmen are graduate transfer Laura Bagwell Katalinich (1,613) and junior Kayla Mershon (963). Bagwell Katalinich missed the first three games this season due to injury, while Mershon sat out the first four due to NCAA transfer rules. Those three combine for nearly two-thirds of the Gophers' career minutes (5,666 minutes; 62.7 percent).

• Of the 13 Gophers on the roster this year, six are playing in their first season of collegiate basketball and three are playing in their first year at Minnesota.

• If the minutes are limited to only in their time within the program, the Gophers have a combined 6,463, which would rank 12th in the conference, and Hubbard would account for 47.8 percent of those minutes.

• Meanwhile, Hubbard (-2.3 minutes per game) and Sara Scalia (-4.4) have seen their playing time stay relatively similar to last year, while Jasmine Powell (+8.9) and Klarke Sconiers (+8.0) have both seen increases in their playing time.

SISSOKO, SCONIERS AMONG BIG TEN'S MOST IMPROVED

• Kadi Sissoko has recorded the biggest increase in rebounding average in all of the Big Ten from last year and one of the best improvements in scoring average.

• As a freshman at Syracuse in 2018-19, Sissoko averaged 1.8 rebounds per game. But this year, her rebounding average stands at 7.0 That increase of 5.2 rebounds per game is the best in the conference. Meanwhile, Klarke Sconiers' rebounding average has gone from 1.6 to 4.9 to tie for eighth.

• Sissoko is also among the most improved scorers in the league as she has gone from 3.2 pointers per game as a freshman to 13.0 this year, an increase of 9.8 that is tied for fourth in the league.

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Players Mentioned

Laura Bagwell Katalinich

Kenisha Bell

Taiye Bello

Katie Borowicz

Grace Cumming

Gadiva Hubbard

Kayla Mershon

Jasmine Powell

Justice Ross

Sara Scalia

Klarke Sconiers

Kadi Sissoko