Gophers Wrap Up Non-Conference Play at Drake on Thursday

MINNEAPOLIS - Minnesota (7-6, 0-2 B1G) is back on the road to take on Drake (7-3, 0-0 MVC) in the team's non-conference finale. The Dec. 23 matchup, which is set for a 2 p.m. tip, will be available on ESPN+ and can be found on KFAN+ with Justin Gaard and Lynnette Sjoquist on the call.

ABOUT THIS GAME

Thursday's meeting is just the second between Drake and Minnesota in the past 17 years with the only meeting during that span coming during the shortened 2020-21 season. Drake won the latest meeting with the Gophers winning the last meeting in Des Moines back in 2003.
The Bulldogs (7-3, 0-0 MVC) will be taking on their second straight Big Ten opponent with their first meeting being a loss against Nebraska, 89-68, on the road.
As a team Drake was picked to finish second in the Preseason MVC Poll, as voted on by the league's coaches, sports information directors and media. The team returned eight letterwinners, including the 2021 MVC Newcomer of the Year, Grace Berg, and the 2021 Sixth Player of the Year Maggie Bair.
Drake is led by first-year head coach Allison Pohlman, who has been a member of the Drake staff since 2007 and elevated to associate head coach in 2014 by then-head coach Jennie Baranczyk who is now coaching at the University of Oklahoma, whom the Gophers played earlier this season.
Prior to the start of the season Grace Berg was named to the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Watch List. This season the redshirt junior is averaging 11.0 points per game, 4.2 rebounds per game and is shooting 45.9 percent from the floor.

GOPHER NOTABLES

After her incredible performance where she scored a career high 37 points and hit nine threes junior guard Sara Scalia was named the Big Ten Player of the Week for the first time in her career. Scalia, a two-time Freshman of the Week honoree and All-Big Ten Honorable Mention player, earned the distinction for the first time in her career.
This season Minnesota has averaged the third-most made threes per game in the Big Ten at 8.8, good enough for the 31st best mark in the NCAA. In total Minnesota has the seventh most made threes in the country at 114 and the 17th-most attempted at 301.
Jasmine Powell has continued to play her best basketball in her career of late. The junior guard in her past five games has averaged 15.6 points, 6.6 assists and 6.2 rebounds and has shot 40 percent from the 3-point line in that stretch. She nearly posted the program's seventh triple double against Ohio (12/15/21) where she posted a stat line of 18 points, a career high 11 rebounds and nine dimes. This season Powell has the second most total assists at 70 and is third in assists per game at 5.8.
In 12 games this season the Gophers have used five different starting lineups with the addition of freshman Alanna 'Rose' Micheaux the latest addition to the starting lineup on Dec. 12. The Wayne, Mich., native, started her first career game against No. 13/11 Michigan, finishing with eight points on a 4-of-6 shooting from the floor.
Graduate student Deja Winters got back on track offensively against Ohio and in doing so eclipsed the 1,000 point threshold for her career. Winters, who made stops at Seton Hall and North Carolina A&T before joining the Gophers, scored 16 points in the win and registered three blocks on the defensive end for the second time this season.
The Maroon and Gold's latest win, a 99-93 victory over Ohio, goes down as one of the best shooting nights for Minnesota in recent history. The team hit the second most threes in a single game in program history with 18, nine coming from Scalia, and shot 62.1 percent from beyond the arc, the best percentage from three in the Lindsay Whalen era.
On Dec. 21, head coach Lindsay Whalen was announced as a candidate for the Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2022. Whalen, who is eligible for the first time this year, is on the ballot for her time as a player. After a stellar collegiate career where she led the Maroon and Gold to the Final Four, Whalen collected numerous honors and championships in the WNBA and with the U.S. National team. A four-time WNBA Champion, Whalen was also a five-time All-WNBA performer and won over 300 games in her playing career. In international competition, Whalen was a key piece to dominant performances by Team USA in world championship and Olympic competition. Whalen played for two gold medal teams at the World Championships (2010, 2014) and has also won two Olympic gold medals (2012, 2016). Finalists will be announced Friday, Feb. 18, in Cleveland, Ohio, during the NBA All-Star Weekend.
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
9 - Sara Scalia's nine threes against Ohio is tied for the second most against a non-conference opponent in Big Ten history.
2 - Sara Scalia became the second fastest Gopher to reach the top 10 in Minnesota history for threes made when. Scalia now sits at No. 9 in program history with 141 made threes.
115 - Gadiva Hubbard has played in 115 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.
4 - This season Deja Winters is fourth in the conference in average blocks per game at 1.3, which is the second most by any guard in the Big Ten this season.
3 - Gadiva Hubbard needs just three threes to pass Shannon Schonrock (2002-06) for the 3rd most threes made in program history.
5 - Sara Scalia has scored 11 or more points in a single quarter five different times this season, including twice against Ohio in the second and third quarters.
1 - Minnesota's opponents so far this season have a combined winning percentage of 72.5, the highest among the Big Ten's teams through Dec. 21.

Minnesota pauses for an seven-day break before returning to Big Ten action on Dec. 31, when Northwestern (9-3, 1-0 B1G) comes to Williams Arena. The game is set for 1 p.m. on New Year's Eve on the Big Ten Network.

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

Deja Winters