Gophers Faced with B1G Road Test with No. 13/11 Michigan on Sunday

MINNEAPOLIS - Minnesota (6-5, 0-1 B1G) takes on No. 13/11 Michigan (8-1, 0-0 B1G) in Ann Arbor, Mich., for the team's first road trip of the Big Ten season. The Dec. 12 matchup, which is set for a 1 p.m. CT start, will be available on B1G+ and can be found on KFAN+ with Justin Gaard and Lynnette Sjoquist on the call.

ABOUT THIS GAME

Sunday's meeting with the Wolverines is the 66th all time between the two teams. It's the 22nd time the programs have met in Ann Arbor, Mich. The two teams did not meet last season as the game was postponed and then cancelled. The last time the two programs met was on Feb. 10, 2020, when Michigan won 77-52 at Williams Arena. The Golden Gophers last win against the Wolverines was on Feb. 14, 2018, at Williams Arena 93-87. Minnesota's last win in Ann Arbor was on Feb. 1, 2014, in a 85-69 win at Crisler Center.
The Wolverines (9-1, 1-0 B1G) come into Sunday's match as the 13th ranked team in the AP Poll and the 11th ranked team in the Coaches' Poll. Michigan's lone loss this season is against then-No. 10 Louisville, on Dec. 2, in the B1G/ACC Challenge. Michigan's notable wins this season are against then-No. 16 Oregon State, and Mississippi State in late November at the Daytona Beach Invitational.
Michigan is fresh off a victory over the Wisconsin Badgers (2-8, 0-2 B1G) on Thursday night. Michigan gave up a season-high 81 points in the win with the Badgers scoring 29 points in the fourth quarter.
Michigan had a pair of players named to the Preseason All-Big Ten team in Naz Hillmon (unanimous, consensus) and Leigha Brown (consensus). Hillmon was named the Preseason Big Ten Player of the Year by the media, as well as to the McClain Award Watch List.
The Golden Gophers are looking for their first ranked win on the road since taking down No. 23 Notre Dame, 79-71, back on March 22, 2009.

GOPHER NOTABLES

For the first time in her young career Alanna 'Rose' Micheaux was honored by the Big Ten Conference for her performance. The Wayne, Mich., native, scored 23 points off the bench for the Gophers against UNC (12/1/21) to earn the distinction. On her 8-of-10 shooting, Micheaux secured the most points by a non-starter for the Golden Gophers since Gadvia Hubbard scored 28 points off the bench against Maryland in 2017.
This season Minnesota has averaged the third-most made threes per game in the Big Ten at 8.1, good enough for the 50th best mark in the NCAA. In total Minnesota has the seventh most made threes in the country at 89 and the 11th-most attempted at 256. In other team statistical rankings, the Gophers are seventh in total rebounds at 438, 38th in total blocks at 42 and 24th in total assists at 153.
Jasmine Powell missed the Gophers Big Ten opener vs. Nebraska with a lower leg injury. Her presence was missed as the point guard has played some of her best basketball of her career in her past five games. She has averaged 7.2 assists with an assist to turnover ratio of 3.0, up from her 1.84 assist to turnover ratio this season and her 1.24 career mark. Powell's scoring is also up in her last five games, averaging at a rate of 13.2 points per game. She's also shot well from beyond the arc, shooting 41.5 percent from three in that five-game span. Powell's season mark of 5.9 assists per game is the second best in the Big Ten this season.
Redshirt junior forward Kadi Sissoko is coming off a career-best performance against Nebraska in Minnesota's Big Ten opener scoring 25 points while making a team season-high of 10 field goals from the floor. Her 10 made field goals is tied for the second most by an individual under head coach Lindsay Whalen. Sissoko's 25-point performance is also the most points scored by a Gopher in a conference opening game under Whalen and the most by any Gopher in a Big Ten opener since Kenisha Bella against Northwestern on Dec. 28, 2017.
Minnesota's bench has outscored its opponent's bench in eight of the 11 games this season going 5-3 in those games. Minnesota's bench has outscored the opponent's bench in each of the last four games.
Minnesota recently announced its 2022 signing class on National Signing Day with head coach Lindsay Whalen welcoming in the No. 4 ranked recruiting class in the nation according to Jr. All Stars. Minnesota's four signees include Mara Braun (Wayzata, Minn.), Amaya Battle (Hopkins, Minn.), Mallory Heyer (Chaska, Minn.) and Niamya Holloway (Eden Prairie, Minn.).

BY THE NUMBERS
14 - Graduate transfer guard Deja Winters is just 14 points away from 1,000 career points.
5 - Sara Scalia needs just 5 threes to get into the program top 10 in career threes made. She is currently four behind Shannon Loeblein (1991-95) for the 10th most at Minnesota.
113 - Gadiva Hubbard has played in 113 games in her Golden Gopher career and is approaching the top 10 in the Minnesota record books and could reach as high as No. 2 which is held by Carlie Wagner (2014-18) and Linda Roberts (1978-81) at 129.
18 - Micheaux has gotten better each game this season and with that her minutes have shot up from an average of 9.8 in the first five games to over 18 minutes per game in the last four.
8 - Gadiva Hubbard needs just eight threes to pass Shannon Schonrock (2002-06) for the 3rd most threes made in program history.
2 - Sara Scalia has scored 11 or more points three times in the second quarter this season with 14 against Jacksonville (11/9), 12 against No. 2/2 UConn (11/20) and 11 against Bradley (11/26).

After a pair of Big Ten games the 51st season of Golden Gopher women's basketball will go back to non-conference action on Dec. 15, against Ohio (4-2, 0-0 MAC). The game is set for 7 p.m. and will be one of two non-conference games the Gophers will play before returning to Big Ten play on Dec. 31, against Northwestern.

For more information on the Gophers, continue to check back with GopherSports.com. Keep up with the University of Minnesota women's basketball on Twitter and Instagram (@GopherWBB) and on Facebook, so you do not miss any content during the 2021-22 season.

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Players Mentioned

Gadiva Hubbard

Jasmine Powell

Sara Scalia

Kadi Sissoko

Deja Winters