Minnesota Takes On No. 9/10 Maryland Saturday

MINNEAPOLIS -- Winners of five of its last eight games, Minnesota (7-10, 6-9 Big Ten) plays its penultimate road game Saturday when it visits No. 9/10 Maryland (15-2, 11-1 B1G) at 11 a.m. CT.

The contest against the Terrapins, which is the second of two scheduled 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 just over a month ago in Minneapolis with the Terrapins prevailing, 90-73. Pages 3-4 have more information on that matchup and on the all-time series.

• Jasmine Powell leads the Gophers with a scoring average of 15.1 points per game this season. She has scored at least 11 points in 17 of the past 19 contests dating to last year. In addition to her scoring prowess, which ranks 18th in the Big Ten, Powell is second in the conference and 16th nationally with her 5.6 assists per game.

• Powell is one of only four players in the country with her averages of at least 15.5 points and 5.7 assists this year along with Iowa's Caitlin Clark (26.9 points, 6.6 assists), UConn's Paige Bueckers (21.1, 5.9) and Maryland's Ashley Owusu (19.1, 5.6).

• 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 16.8 points over her last 11 contests while shooting 39.9 percent on field goals (61-153) and 36.6 percent on 3's (37-101). She missed the Jan. 10 contest with Penn State but has scored at least 11 points in each of those 11 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 at least one 3-pointer in all 14 games this year, including five games with at least four made and a career-best six vs. the Boilermakers on Jan. 28. She is currently fourth in the Big Ten and 21st nationally with 2.93 made 3's per game. Scalia is also third in the conference in 3-pointers attempted (121), fourth in 3's made (41) and seventh in 3-point percentage (.339). Her career mark of .356 ranks 10th in program history.

• Kadi Sissoko is the team's top rebounder (6.6 per game), and she ranks fourth in the Big Ten in offensive rebounds per game (3.2) and 16th in rebounding average. Sissoko has recorded two double-doubles this season and has been close to adding to that total in three other games with 8 points and 9 rebounds at Nebraska (1/19), 15 points and 8 boards at Penn State (1/25) and 13 points with 9 rebounds at Ohio State (2/7). She's also recorded three 20-point games, including 20 against Wisconsin last Sunday. She has shot 7-of-9 from the floor in two of the last three games, and she's 20-of-32 (62.5 percent) on field goals over her last four contests. That has brought her season shooting average up from .379 to .416 as a result.

• The Gophers are 3-4 on the road this season with wins at Wisconsin, Nebraska and Penn State and losses at Northwestern, Iowa, Ohio State and Rutgers. Scalia is the team's top scorer on the road at 13.4 points per game, while Sissoko is nearly averaging a double-double away from home with 13.1 points and a team-high 8.4 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 Gadiva Hubbard (12.8) and Powell (12.6).

FACING MARYLAND

• Minnesota and Maryland meet for the second time this season and 12th time overall Saturday. The Terrapins have won 10 of the 11 all-time meetings.

• In College Park, Maryland has won all five meetings. The 0-5 record for Minnesota is its third-most losses without a win at one opponent behind an 0-7 mark at Kansas and 0-6 at Rutgers.

• Saturday will mark the fourth 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.

• Minnesota associate head coach Carly Thibault-DuDonis was an assistant coach at Mississippi State during the 2017-18 season when Chloe Bibby was a freshman. Bibby transferred to Maryland prior to this season.

• Winners of four in a row and 14 of its last 15, Maryland is ranked ninth in the Associated Press Poll and 10th in the WBCA Coaches Poll with a 15-2 record overall and 11-1 mark in league play. The Terrapins lone losses came by a combined 11 points against then-No. 24 Missouri State on Nov. 28 and then-No. 17 Ohio State on Jan. 25.

• Ashley Owusu leads the team with 19.1 points per game, while Diamond Miller (17.1), Katie Benzan (15.1), Chloe Bibby (14.6) and Mimi Collins (10.1) 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.

• Collins is the team's top rebounder at 7.1 boards per game, while Bibby is right behind her at 7.0.

• Individually, Benzan leads the Big Ten in 3-pointers made (65; 4th nationally) and 3's made per game (3.82; 3rd) and is second in 3-point percentage (.516; 4th).

• As a team, Maryland leads the nation in scoring at 92.4 points per game. The Terrapins also lead the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.52; 2nd nationally), 3-point percentage (.402; 4th), free throw percentage (.769; 7th), 3's made per game (9.2; 14th) and offensive rebounds per game (16.0, 17th).

• They are also seventh nationally in assists per game (19.6; 2nd in B1G), eighth in scoring margin (+20.0; 2nd) and 10th in field goal percentage (3rd).

EARLIER THIS SEASON AGAINST THE TERRAPINS

• Minnesota hung tight with then-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 on Jan. 14 at Williams Arena.

• Jasmine Powell nearly had the seventh triple-double in program history with 22 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. She also equaled a career high with four made 3-pointers.

• Also in double figures were fellow Sara Scalia and Klarke Sconiers. Scalia scored 14, while Sconiers tallied 13 points and seven rebounds. Katie Borowicz, playing in her second career game, scored eight points in less than five minutes in the fourth quarter.

• 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.

LAST TIME IN COLLEGE PARK

• Minnesota lost in heartbreaking fashion when the teams last met in College Park, falling on a last-second shot at then-No. 8/9 Maryland, 71-69, on Feb. 21, 2019.

• Minnesota led 69-62 with 50 seconds remaining, but the Terrapins scored the final nine points of the game.

• Destiny Pitts scored a team-high 24 points as she was 8-of-15 from the floor and 5-of-11 from 3-point range before fouling out with 50 seconds to play.

• Kenisha Bell tallied 23 points to go with five assists and four rebounds, while Jasmine Brunson hit double figures as she went for 10 points, while Taiye Bello had a game-high 16 rebounds to go with seven points.

• Bell (8), Pitts (6) and Brunson (6) carried the Gophers to a 20-15 lead after the first quarter, combining for all of the team's points in the quarter. In the second quarter, Maryland got within four with exactly four minutes to play, but the Gophers answered with an 8-0 run that turned into a 13-3 spurt and they led 45-31 before taking a 45-36 into the locker room at halftime.

• A 7-0 run midway through the third quarter gave Minnesota its biggest lead of the game at 54-38 with 5:36 left in the frame. At the end of the third, it held a 59-48 edge over the Terrapins.

• In the fourth, Maryland outscored the Gophers, 23-10. Bell's layup with 1:58 to go that put the Gophers up 69-62 would mark the Gophers' final points of the game. Kaila Charles hit a game-tying jumper with six seconds remaining for the Terps then got a pass off a steal from Shakira Austin and laid it in at the buzzer.

RECAPPING THE GAME AT RUTGERS

• Minnesota saw its two-game win streak end Wednesday night with an 83-56 loss at RV/RV Rutgers.

• Klarke Sconiers was Minnesota's top scorer and rebounder, going for 13 points and eight boards. Sara Scalia also reached double figures with 12 points, and she added three assists.

• The Gophers also welcomed back Gadiva Hubbard, who had missed the previous five games due to an injury suffered late at Penn State on Jan. 25. She was a perfect 3-of-3 from the floor in her return, including hitting a pair of 3-pointers, to finish with eight points.

• Sconiers and Hubbard each had six points in the opening quarter as Rutgers held a 21-16 following the first 10 minutes. The Scarlet Knights opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer to extend their lead to eight but Minnesota held a 10-3 edge over the next four-plus minutes to get back within one at 27-26 with 5:24 remaining in the opening half.

• Unfortunately, Rutgers then scored 11 of the final 13 points of the first half and led 38-28 at halftime. That was followed by a 22-11 advantage for the Scarlet Knights in the third quarter, and they led by double digits for nearly the entire second half.

• Despite shooting 44.7 percent from the field, Minnesota was done in by its 22 turnovers, which led to 35 Rutgers points.

POWELL, GOPHERS IMPROVING FROM LONG RANGE

• 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 17 games, she's already 37-of-105 on 3's while shooting 35.2 percent and making 2.18 per game.

• She ranks fifth in the Big Ten in 3-point percentage, sixth in 3's made and attempted, and seventh in 3's made per game.

• This season, Powell has made at least two 3-pointers in 11 of 17 contests, including nine games with at least three made and three games of a career-high four made 3's. She's made at least three 3-pointers in seven of her last 12 outings.

• Powell's 3-point shot started improving in the middle of her freshman season.

• 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 nine games since they're shooting 37.2 percent (73-196).

• During the recent stretch, Powell is 17-45 (37.8 percent) on 3's, Sara Scalia is 30-83 (36.1) and Gadiva Hubbard is 9-22 (40.9). In fact, seven Gophers have attempted five or more 3's in the last nine games and six are shooting at least .333 in that span.

• The team ranks third in the Big Ten in 3-pointers attempted (395), fourth in 3-pointers made (130) and made per game (7.6) and fifth in percentage (.329).

SISSOKO THE BIG TEN'S MOST IMPROVED SCORER AND REBOUNDER

• Kadi Sissoko has recorded the biggest increases in both scoring and rebounding 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 3.2 points per game. But this year, her scoring average stands at 12.7. That increase of 9.5 points per game is best in the Big Ten.

• Sissoko is also first among the most improved rebounders in the league as she has gone from 1.8 rebounds per game as a freshman to 6.6 this year.

GOPHERS EXCELLING AT THE LINE

• One of Minnesota's biggest strengths this year has been the team's performance at the free throw line. The Gophers are 219-292, good for a .750 percentage that ranks fourth in the Big Ten and 46th in the country. It's also currently the eighth best mark in program history.

• Minnesota has shot 80 percent or better from the free throw line in six games this season, including three of the last four contests: 13-16 (81.3 percent) against Wisconsin, 20-23 (87.0) against Illinois and 12-15 (80.0) at Ohio State.

• The team's best performance was a 13-14 mark versus Maryland on Jan. 14, a 92.9 percent effort.

• Minnesota has been particularly good late in contests, 78.0 percent on free throws in the fourth quarter and 77.8 percent in the fourth quarter and overtime combined this season.

• Ten Gophers have attempted at least five free throws this year and seven have percentages at 70 percent or higher. Sara Scalia leads the way at 93.8 percent (30-32), while Gadiva Hubbard is at 88.5 percent (23-26).

BIG TEN RANKINGS

• The Gophers have four players averaging double figures in Big Ten play with Sara Scalia leading the way at 14.9 points per game. Jasmine Powell is behind her at 14.2, while Kadi Sissoko is at 12.0 and Gadiva Hubbard is averaging 11.2 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's made per game (7.87), fourth in free throw percentage (.754), fifth in 3-point percentage (.333), assists per game (15.27) and offensive rebounding rate (.325), and sixth in offensive rebounds per game (12.33).

• Powell ranks fourth in assists per game (5.40), seventh in 3's made per game (2.13) and 12th in free throw percentage (.766).

• Scalia is fourth in 3's made per game (2.93), fifth in 3-point percentage (.339), 15th in minutes played (33.3) and 20th in scoring.

• Sissoko sits sixth in offensive rebounds (2.87) and 19th in rebounding average.

• Klarke Sconiers ranks 10th in blocks per game (1.0).

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Players Mentioned

Kenisha Bell

Taiye Bello

Katie Borowicz

Jasmine Brunson

Grace Cumming

Gadiva Hubbard

Destiny Pitts

Jasmine Powell

Justice Ross

Sara Scalia

Klarke Sconiers

Kadi Sissoko