Minnesota Looks to Keep Winning Ways Going Sunday vs. Iowa

MINNEAPOLIS -- Winners of three straight, Minnesota (5-7, 4-6 Big Ten) wraps up a two-game homestand Sunday as it hosts NR/RV Iowa (9-4, 5-4 B1G) at 4 p.m.

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

THE OPENING TIP-OFF

• The teams met 25 days ago in Iowa City with the Hawkeyes prevailing, 92-79. More information on that matchup and on the all-time series can be found below. This will be the second rematch for the Gophers this year; they have already split the season series with Penn State by avenging an earlier loss with a win on Jan. 25. The Gophers still have follow-up contests to go with Wisconsin, Maryland and Nebraska and two games to play against both Michigan and Illinois.

• Jasmine Powell leads the Gophers with a scoring average of 16.6 points per game this season. She has scored at least 11 points in each of the last 14 games dating to last season and has made three or more 3-pointers in six of the last seven contests. In addition to her scoring prowess, which ranks 14th in the Big Ten, Powell is second in the conference and 13th nationally with her 6.1 assists per game.

• After missing the first two games of the season, Sara Scalia 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 18.0 points over her last six contests while shooting 41.7 percent on field goals (35-84) and 41.4 percent on 3's (24-58). She missed the Jan. 10 contest with Penn State but has scored at least 14 points in each of her last five games, including a career-high 30 against Purdue on Jan. 28. It was the first 30-point game by the Gophers since Dec. of 2018. Scalia has made four or more 3-pointers in four of her last five outings, including a career-best six versus Purdue.

• 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). Already with two double-doubles this season, Sissoko has been close to adding to that total in two other games with 8 points and 9 rebounds at Nebraska (1/19) and 15 points and 8 boards at Penn State (1/25). Sissoko is second in the Big Ten in offensive rebounds per game (3.67) and is the team's top rebounder (6.8).

• After scoring a season-high 24 points at Wisconsin (1/3), Gadiva Hubbard had her scoring average at a season-best 12.8 points per game. However, she scored only 14 points in her next three games while shooting 24.0 percent from the floor (6-25) and 5.9 percent on 3-pointers (1-17). She's since broken out of that mini-slump, though, by scoring 18 points in each of her last two games and improving her shooting: 11-22 from the field (50.0 percent) and 7-17 (41.2) on 3's. She missed the last contest against Purdue due to injury, but her scoring average is back up to 11.5 per contest and she's averaged 6.5 rebounds in her last two games after posting 3.1 over her first nine games.

• The Gophers are 2-5 at home this season with wins over Eastern Illinois and Purdue. Like she is for the season and league play, Powell is the team's top scorer at Williams Arena with 17.7 points per game. Also averaging double figures for Minnesota at home are Scalia (15.5) and Sissoko (11.3). Klarke Sconiers is the team's top rebounder in Minneapolis with 6.1 boards per contest.

FACING IOWA

• Renewing its most-played rivalry, Minnesota hosts Iowa Sunday in the 82nd meeting between the schools. The Gophers trail in the all-time series 54-27.

• Iowa has won four straight in the series, including the matchup earlier this season in Iowa City. That's tied for Minnesota's second longest active losing streak against one team; only Ohio State (8) has a longer current run.

• Like with the overall series, Minnesota has faced Iowa at home more than any other team and trails, 17-20, in Minneapolis. The Hawkeyes have won two in a row at Williams Arena with Minnesota's last win in the series coming there on Jan. 21, 2018.

• Minnesota has two Iowans on its roster in redshirt freshmen Grace Cumming (Roosevelt HS) and Justice Ross (East HS), both of whom hail from Des Moines. Conversely, Iowa has two Minnesotans on its roster: sophomore Monika Czinano from Watertown and Watertown-Mayer High School and freshman Lauren Jensen from Lakeville and Lakeville North HS.

• Czinano's sister, Maggie, signed an NLI with Minnesota in November and will join the Gophers next season.

• Iowa is 9-4 on the season and 5-4 in the Big Ten. Since beating the Gophers on Jan. 6, the Hawkeyes have lost three of their last four, though all of those losses came against teams ranked in the AP Top 25 at the time of the game.

• Caitlin Clark leads the team with 25.5 points per game, while Czinano (19.8) and McKenna Warnock (12.6) are also in double figures. Warnock is also the team's top rebounder at 9.5 rebounds per contest.

• As a team, Iowa leads the Big Ten in field goal percentage (.510; 2nd nationally) and assists per game (20.3; 5th). The Hawkeyes are also second in the league and third in the country by scoring 88.1 points per game.

• Clark, who has been named Big Ten Freshman of the Week seven times in nine weeks of games, leads the league in several categories including assists (82; 4th nationally), points (332; 5th), assists per game (6.3; 10th), 3's attempted (113; 10th) and field goal attempts (241; 18th). She is also second in the Big Ten and fifth in the nation in scoring at 25.5 points per game.

• Czinano leads the nation in field goal percentage (69.4 percent and is first in the Big Ten in made field goals (111; 10th nationally), while Warnock is first in the conference in defensive rebounds per game (7.9; 19th).

EARLIER THIS SEASON AGAINST THE HAWKEYES

• Despite a strong first half, Minnesota was unable to hang on in a 92-79 setback at Iowa on Jan. 6.

• Kadi Sissoko posted a double-double for the second straight game with 20 points and 10 rebounds, which matched her career high. Eleven of her 20 points came in the first quarter.

• Jasmine Powell and Sara Scalia each tallied 18 points. Powell, who scored 11 points of her own in the second quarter, added seven rebounds, six assists and three steals, while Scalia came off the bench and made four 3-pointers.

• The Gophers hit their first five shots and took a 27-19 lead after the first 10 minutes. Leading 24-19 with 1:01 to go in the first, Minnesota went on an 11-0 run that stretched to the 7:14 mark of the second quarter. That put the Gophers up 35-19 for their largest lead of the season.

• Minnesota then led 48-38 at halftime thanks to 53 percent shooting from the field and making 8-of-16 from 3-point range.

• Unfortunately, Iowa outscored Minnesota, 30-13, in the third quarter and led by double digits for most of the fourth quarter.

• Iowa was led by freshman guard Caitlin Clark and her 37 points and 11 rebounds, while Monika Czinano added 19 points and nine rebounds.

LAST TIME IN MINNEAPOLIS

• 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 on Jan. 16, 2020 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 and six assists while playing all 40 minutes.

• Minnesota led by one after the opening quarter, 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 and led 66-57 entering the fourth.

• A basket from Hubbard gave Minnesota a 70-57 lead with 9:08 remaining but Iowa 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.

RECAPPING THE WIN AGAINST PURDUE

• Sara Scalia scored a career-high 30 points and Minnesota won its third straight game with a 77-72 victory over Purdue Thursday at Williams Arena.

• In addition to her point total, which was the highest by a Gopher this year, Scalia set career highs in field goals made and 3-pointers made, going 10-of-17 from the floor and 6-of-10 on 3's, while also making all four attempts at the free throw line.

• Also in double figures for Minnesota were Kadi Sissoko and Jasmine Powell. Sissoko tallied 17 points, her highest total in the last five contests, to go with five rebounds and a career-high four steals. Powell finished with 12 points, six assists and five rebounds.

• As a team, the Gophers shot a season-best 47.5 percent from the floor, while the Boilermakers were held to 21.1 percent on 3's, a season low for a Minnesota foe.

• Down 26-25 in the second, Minnesota went on a 10-0 run with Scalia and Powell accounting for nine of those points. In total, the Golden Gophers outscored Purdue, 18-9, in the quarter to lead 35-29 at halftime.

• The nine second-quarter points for Purdue were the lowest for a Minnesota opponent in any quarter this season, while the 29 points equaled the fewest in any half.

• Minnesota led by as many as 10 in the third quarter but Purdue worked its way back and tied the game at 59-59 with 6:52 to play. The Gophers used a 10-2 run to take control.

• Minnesota had to withstand one last late Purdue run as a 75-66 lead with 1:22 to play was reduced to a 75-72 lead for the Gophers with 37 seconds left. However, Kayla Mershon made a free throw, while Alexia Smith grabbed a defensive rebound off a potential game-tying 3-pointer and made another free throw to seal it.

POWELL, GOPHERS IMPROVING FROM LONG RANGE

• Sophomore Jasmine Powell has improved her 3-point shooting between the first two years of her career.

• As a freshman, Powell was 30-of-100 on 3-pointers, shooting 30 percent from long range and making 0.96 3-pointers per contest over 31 games.

• But this year in just 12 games, she's already 30-of-85 on 3's while shooting 35.3 percent and making 2.5 per game.

• She ranks fourth in the Big Ten in 3's made, 3's made per game and 3's attempted and she is eighth in 3-point percentage.

• This season, Powell has made at least two 3-pointers in every game but two, including eight games with at least three made and two games of a career-high four made 3's. She's made at least three 3-pointers in six of her last seven outings.

• As a team, the Gophers have seen notable improvement in 3-pointers as of late. Through the first eight games, the team was shooting a combined 28.6 percent (57-199) from long range, but in the four games since they're shooting 40.2 percent (39-97).

• During the four-game stretch, Sara Scalia is shooting 17-40 (42.5), Powell is 10-25 (40.0 percent), and Gadiva Hubbard is 7-20 (35.0). Eight Gophers have taken a 3-pointer in the last four games and six boast a shooting percentage higher than .350 in that span.

• The team currently ranks third in the Big Ten in 3-pointers made and attempted (96-296) and 3's made per game (8.0) and fifth in percentage (.324).

SISSOKO AMONG BIG TEN'S MOST IMPROVED

• Kadi Sissoko has recorded the second biggest increase in both rebounding average and scoring average in all of the Big Ten from her last season of competition to this year.

• As a freshman at Syracuse in 2018-19, Sissoko averaged 1.8 rebounds per game. But this year, her rebounding average stands at 6.8. That increase of 5.0 rebounds per game is second best in the conference.

• Sissoko is also second among the most improved scorers in the league as she has gone from 3.2 points per game as a freshman to 12.7 this year.

BIG TEN RANKINGS

• The Gophers have four players averaging double figures in Big Ten play with Jasmine Powell leading the way at 15.6 points per game. Sara Scalia is behind her at 14.7 along, while Gadiva Hubbard and Kadi Sissoko are both averaging 11.6 points per game. Sissoko also has a team-best 6.4 rebounds per contest in B1G play.

• In Big Ten play, the Gophers rank third in 3-point percentage (.329), 3's made per game (8.4) and free throw percentage (.759).

• Powell ranks second in assists per game (5.8), third in 3-point percentage (.362), fourth in free throw percentage (.833), fifth in 3's made per game (2.50), 11th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.45), 17th in scoring average and 15th in minutes played (33.15).

• Sissoko sits sixth in offensive rebounds (3.3) and 20th in rebounding average.

• Scalia is second in 3's made per game (3.11), fourth in 3-point percentage (.359) and 20th in scoring.

• Hubbard ranks 12th in 3's made per game (1.78), while Klarke Sconiers is 14th in blocks per game (0.8) and Kayla Mershon is 15th in blocks (0.75).

GOPHERS ENDURING CHALLENGING START TO SCHEDULE

• Minnesota is 5-7 to start the season and 4-6 in Big Ten play after winning three in a row, though the team started the season against a difficult schedule.

• The teams the Gophers have played have a combined record of 91-70 (.565), including a 61-31 (.663) mark for the teams against which they've lost.

• Five of the six losses in Big Ten play have come against teams currently ranked or receiving votes in the USA Today Coaches Top 25: No. 10 Maryland (12-2), No. 15 Indiana (9-4), No. 23 Northwestern (9-3), RV Michigan State (9-3) and RV Iowa (9-4).

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. 28, the Gophers' roster had played a combined 9,841 minutes, which ranks ninth in the Big Ten. For comparison, Purdue leads the conference with a combined 16,550 minutes and eight teams have at least 11,700 combined minutes.

• Redshirt senior Gadiva Hubbard (3,182) accounts for nearly a third of the Gophers' career minutes herself. The other two upperclassmen are graduate transfer Laura Bagwell Katalinich (1,657) and junior Kayla Mershon (1,060). 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 60 percent of the Gophers' career minutes.

• 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 7,263, which would rank 13th in the conference, and Hubbard would account for 43.8 percent of those minutes.

• Meanwhile, Hubbard (-2.1 minutes per game) and Sara Scalia (-0.1) have seen their playing time stay relatively similar to last year, while Jasmine Powell (+8.0) and Klarke Sconiers (+7.6) have both seen notable increases in their playing time.

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Players Mentioned

Laura Bagwell Katalinich

Kenisha Bell

Jasmine Brunson

Grace Cumming

Gadiva Hubbard

Kayla Mershon

Jasmine Powell

Justice Ross

Sara Scalia

Klarke Sconiers

Kadi Sissoko

Alexia Smith