Gophers, Huskers Clash Tuesday on Big Ten Network

MINNEAPOLIS -- After two consecutive home games, Minnesota women's basketball is back on the road as it visits Nebraska (7-4, 5-3 B1G) Tuesday at 3 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 17.3 points per game this season. She has scored at least 11 points in each of the last 11 games dating to last season. In addition to her scoring prowess, which ranks 13th in the Big Ten, Powell is third in the conference and 15th nationally with her 6.0 assists per game. She also ranks third in the Big Ten by playing 35.07 minutes per game and making 2.67 3-pointers per contest.

• 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). Owner of two double-doubles in her last four games, Sissoko is second in the Big Ten in offensive rebounds per game (3.56) and is the team's top rebounder (6.6).

• Sara Scalia had been picking up her play over her last three 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 14.3 points over the last three contests, including a season-high 18 points at Iowa on Jan. 6, while shooting 37.8 percent on field goals (14-37) and 34.6 percent on 3's (9-26). She missed the Jan. 10 contest with Penn State but came back with 14 points Thursday vs. Maryland.

• Tuesday's game marks the first game for Minnesota junior Kayla Mershon against her old team. The 6'3 forward from Minnetonka, Minn., joined the Gophers this spring after playing two seasons at Nebraska. Mershon played in all 60 games with 15 starts in her two seasons with the Huskers. She averaged 2.4 points and 2.8 rebounds in 14.6 minutes of action per contest while shooting 35.8 percent from the floor and 30.0 percent on 3-pointers. She's played in five games with one start this year for Minnesota, averaging 4.4 points and 4.0 rebounds.

• The Gophers have three players averaging double figures in Big Ten play with Powell leading the way at 16.1 points per game. Scalia is behind her at 11.2, while Sissoko is averaging 10.9 points per game and a team-best 6.0 rebounds per contest in league play.

• The Gophers are 1-2 on the road this season with a win at Wisconsin and losses to Northwestern and Iowa. Sissoko is nearly averaging a double-double away from home with team highs of 16.7 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. In fact, her two double-doubles this season both came on the road with 16 points and 10 rebounds against the Badgers and 20 points and 10 rebounds vs. the Hawkeyes. Also averaging double figures for Minnesota on the road are Powell (14.7), Scalia (11.7) and Gadiva Hubbard (11.0).

FACING NEBRASKA

• Minnesota and Nebraska meet for the 25th time on Tuesday. The Huskers hold a 14-10 edge in the series.

• Since Nebraska joined the Big Ten prior to the 2011-12 season, it has a 9-5 lead over Minnesota.

• In Lincoln, the Gophers are 3-11 all-time and have lost two straight at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Minnesota is looking for its first road win in the series since a 79-69, overtime win on Feb. 4, 2017.

• Nebraska has two Minnesotans on its roster: junior Sam Haiby from Moorhead (Moorhead HS) and freshman Annika Stewart from Minneapolis (Wayzata HS).

• Minnesota junior Kayla Mershon spent her first two seasons at Nebraska. Mershon played in all 60 games with 15 starts for the Huskers, averaging 2.4 points and 2.8 rebounds in 14.6 minutes of action per contest while shooting 35.8 percent from the floor and 30.0 percent on 3-pointers.

• The Cornhuskers are 7-4 on the season and 5-3 in the Big Ten. They opened the season by winning their first three games, but then lost three in a row. Since then, Nebraska has won four of its last five games including upsets of then-No. 16/15 Northwestern, then-No. 23/24 Michigan State and No. 15/15 Ohio State.

• Nebraska has two players averaging double figures with Haiby leading the way at 16.2 points per game, while Isabelle Bourne is right behind her at 14.0. Bella Cravens is averaging a team-best 8.2 rebounds per contest. Kate Cain leads the Big Ten and ranks ninth nationally with 3.09 blocks per game.

• As a team, the Huskers lead the conference and rank 15th in the country with 5.9 blocks per game, while they are also tops in the league and eighth in the country with 32.2 defensive rebounds per contest.

LAST SEASON AGAINST THE CORNHUSKERS

• Minnesota and Nebraska split the season series last year with each team winning on its home floor.

• After starting the year 4-0 away from home, Minnesota was dealt its first road loss of the season in a 72-58 setback at Nebraska on Jan. 4.

• Three Gophers reached double figures with Taiye Bello leading the way with 16 points; 12 of her 16 came in the third quarter. Destiny Pitts was second on the team with 12 points, while Gadiva Hubbard had 10 points.

• A Pitts jumper made it 13-12 early in the second, but Nebraska responded with the next 10 points to go up 23-12. That was met with a 12-4 run by Minnesota that got it back within 27-24 with just under three minutes left in the opening half. Nebraska had one more run before the teams hit the locker room, though, as it scored eight of the last 10 points to lead 35-26 at the break.

• Bello scored on back-to-back baskets to open the third quarter to cut the lead to five, but the Gophers would not get any closer the rest of the way as a 10-0 spurt from the Huskers gave them their largest lead of the game at 45-30 midway through the third.

• With its two Jasmines leading the way, Minnesota beat Nebraska, 67-61, in Minneapolis on Jan. 30.

• Brunson and Powell combined for 35 points, nine assists, nine steals and seven rebounds. In her second career start, Powell tallied 19 points, seven rebounds, four steals and three assists. Brunson added 16 points, six assists and five steals.

• Taiye Bello recorded a double double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, including nine points and eight rebounds in the second half alone.

• Down 39-30 at halftime, the Gophers stormed out in the second half scoring the first 10 points. Nebraska countered with the next six to go back up 45-40, but Minnesota fought back to be down one at 48-47 entering the fourth.

• A layup from the Huskers' Kate Cain gave them a 55-49 lead with 8:24 to play, but it would be all Minnesota the rest of the way as the Gophers embarked on a 13-2 run to take control. Powell had six points during the stretch, while Brunson had four and Bello scored three.

• Leigha Brown's layup ended the Gopher run and made it 62-59 for Minnesota with 1:47 to play. Fittingly, on the next possession Brunson found Powell who knocked down the 3-pointer to push the lead to six. Nebraska did not get closer than four points after Powell's 3-pointer.

RECAPPING THE GAME AGAINST MARYLAND

• Minnesota hung tight with No. 9/9 Maryland for the first 20 minutes, but the Terrapins were too much in the second half and pulled away for a 90-73 victory Thursday night at Williams Arena.

• Jasmine Powell matched season highs for points (22), assists (8) and rebounds (7) as she nearly had the seventh triple-double in program history. She also equaled a career high with four made 3-pointers.

• Also in double figures were fellow sophomores Sara Scalia and Klarke Sconiers. Scalia scored 14, while Sconiers tallied 13 points and seven rebounds, one off a career high in each category.

• Freshman Katie Borowicz, playing in her second career game, scored eight points in the fourth quarter, highlighted by a pair of 3-pointers.

• Playing their highest-ranked opponent of the season, the Gophers led Maryland 13-10 early in the first quarter with Powell scoring eight of those points. The Terrapins closed out the frame with a 15-4 spurt, though, to lead 25-17 after 10 minutes.

• In the second quarter, the Gophers outscored the Terrapins, 26-25. Maryland led by nine at 28-19 but Powell and Scalia hit 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to trim the lead to three. Minnesota stayed within five points at 38-33 with 4:29 to go in the first half after another 3-pointer from Powell before the Terps extended the lead back to 11 two minutes later.

• Minnesota had one more run in it, though, and chipped away to get within five once again at 48-43 with 24 seconds left after free throws from Sconiers.

• Maryland led 50-43 at halftime but pulled away in the third quarter, opening the second stanza on a 10-2 run. The Terrapins would outscore Minnesota, 26-14, in the third quarter and lead 76-57 going into the third. Maryland led by as many as 27 in the fourth quarter, though Minnesota scored 10 of the final 12 points to finish at a 17-point margin.

GOPHERS ENDURING CHALLENGING START TO SCHEDULE

• Minnesota is 2-7 to start the season and 1-6 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 61-38 (.616), including an 53-23 (.697) mark for the teams against which they've lost.

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

• Including Tuesday's game with Nebraska, the Gophers will have played six of their eight league games against teams ranked eighth or better in the current standings.

• Five of the six losses in Big Ten play have come against teams currently ranked or receiving votes in the AP Top 25: No. 9 Maryland (11-1), No. 18 Indiana (8-3), 22 Northwestern (7-2), RV Michigan State (8-2) and RV Iowa (8-3).

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. 17, the Gophers' roster had played a combined 9,241 minutes, which ranks ninth in the Big Ten. For comparison, Purdue leads the conference with a combined 15,950 minutes.

• Redshirt senior Gadiva Hubbard (3,118) accounts for over a third of the Gophers' career minutes herself. The other two upperclassmen are graduate transfer Laura Bagwell Katalinich (1,628) and junior Kayla Mershon (979). 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 (5,725 minutes; 62.0 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 6,663, which would rank 12th in the conference, and Hubbard would account for 46.8 percent of those minutes.

• Meanwhile, Hubbard (-2.5 minutes per game) and Sara Scalia (-3.1) have seen their playing time stay relatively similar to last year, while Jasmine Powell (+9.0) and Klarke Sconiers (+8.8) have both seen increases in their playing time.

SISSOKO, SCONIERS AMONG BIG TEN'S MOST IMPROVED

• Kadi Sissoko has recorded the second-biggest increase in rebounding average in all of the Big Ten from her last season of competition and one of the best improvements in scoring.

• As a freshman at Syracuse in 2018-19, Sissoko averaged 1.8 rebounds per game. But this year, her rebounding average stands at 6.6. That increase of 4.8 rebounds per game is second in the conference. Meanwhile, Klarke Sconiers' rebounding average has gone from 1.6 to 5.1 to rank ninth.

• Sissoko is also among the most improved scorers in the league as she has gone from 3.2 points per game as a freshman to 12.4 this year, an increase of 9.2 that is fourth-best in the league.

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Players Mentioned

Laura Bagwell Katalinich

Kenisha Bell

Taiye Bello

Katie Borowicz

Gadiva Hubbard

Kayla Mershon

Destiny Pitts

Jasmine Powell

Sara Scalia

Klarke Sconiers

Kadi Sissoko