Border Battle Awaits Golden Gophers on Wednesday Night

MINNEAPOLIS - Minnesota (8-8, 1-3 B1G) is headed on the road to take on Wisconsin (3-11, 0-4 B1G) in a mid-week matchup on Wednesday night. The Jan. 12, matchup can be streamed on B1G+ and can be found on KFAN+ with Justin Gaard and Lynnette Sjoquist on the call.

ABOUT THIS GAME

Minnesota's matchup with Wisconsin is the first of two meetings this season with the second coming later this month on Jan. 30, at Williams Arena. The last time the Gophers and Badgers faced off was on Feb. 14, 2021, when Kadi Sissoko dropped a team-high 20 points while Sara Scalia (17) and Jasmine Powell (15) also scored in double figures on the way to the win in Minneapolis. Wisconsin brings back three starters from that 68-63 loss to the Gophers with its scoring leader Imani Lewis (27) not a part of those returners.
Minnesota and Wisconsin meet for the 82nd time on Wednesday. It is the Gophers most played series, tied with Iowa.
Minnesota has two Wisconsinites on its roster in freshmen Erin Hedman (New Berlin; Eisenhower HS) and Caroline Strande (Racine; Racine Lutheran HS). Conversely, Wisconsin has two Minnesotans on its roster: freshman Sacia Vanderbpool from Byron, Minn. (Byron HS) and Sara Stapleton from Blaine (Centennial HS).
Wisconsin head coach Marisa Moseley is familiar to Minnesota as she previously served as an assistant for the Golden Gophers from 2007-09 under then head coach Pam Borton. In two seasons the Gophers were 40-24 and 22-14 in the Big Ten, making the NCAA Tournament both years and winning a tournament game in 2009.
Losers of two straight the Badgers have not won a game since Dec. 16, when the team defeated Illinois State 70-60 at the Kohl Center. Since then the team has also had two games canceled against Eastern Illinois and Purdue.
Junior Julie Pospíšilová and sophomore Brooke Schramek rank among the top Big Ten players for most improved scorers. Pospíšilová ranks sixth, upping her scoring from 8.9 last season to 14.5 this season, an improvement of 5.6 points per game. Schramek ranks eighth, improving her scoring from 2.9 as a freshman to 7.0 this season.

GOPHER NOTABLES

The Golden Gophers are coming off a respectable performance against a top 10 team in Maryland (12-4, 4-1 B1G). Without All-Big Ten guard Jasmine Powell (family matter) and head coach Lindsay Whalen (appendectomy) the Gophers had strong performances from Deja Winters (20), Sara Scalia (19) and Kadi Sissoko (15) to hang with the high powered Terrapins. Carly Thibault-DuDonis served as acting head coach for the second straight game.
Sara Scalia leads the Gophers with a scoring average of 15.1 points per game this season. In addition to her scoring prowess, which ranks 12th in the Big Ten, Scalia is fifth in the Big Ten in 3-point percentage at 42.6 percent and is third in 3-point field goals made per game at 3.1 and has made the second most total threes at 46.
Sara Scalia extended her double figures scoring streak to six with her performance against No. 10/9 Maryland. In her last six games Scalia has averaged an impressive 20.2 points per game, has shot 46.3 percent from three and has averaged 6.0 rebounds per game. This season Scalia ranks 13th in the Big Ten in scoring average (15.3) and is fifth in 3-point percentage at 42.2 percent and is third in threes made per game at 2.94 and has made the second most total threes at 47.
As a team this season Minnesota has the second-best three-point field goal percentage in the Big Ten at 37.2 which is also good enough for 14th best in the NCAA. On average the Maroon and Gold make 8.6 threes per game, good enough for the 30th best mark in the nation and the third best in the conference. In total the team's 138 made threes is the most in the Big Ten and the 10th most in the country.
Minnesota will welcome back guard Jasmine Powell on Wednesday as the junior has distributed the basketball at the best rate of her career so far this season. The junior guard is third in the Big Ten this season in assists per game at 5.7, good enough for the 22nd best rate in the country. She is one of just 10 players in the country to average 13.5 points per game and 5.7 assists per game, in that list, just three are on Power 5 teams, all of which are in the Big Ten conference.
On the road this season Powell has been Minnesota's steady scorer at 17.3 points per game, nearly four points higher than her season average. Minnesota's perimeter defense has been outstanding on the road, allowing just 26.9 percent on the road. On the flip side the Gophers have had no issues shooting from beyond the arc on the road, shooting 37.5 percent, nearly identical to their season average of 37.2.
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. 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
3 - Minnesota has out rebounded the Badgers in three straight matchups, with the Gophers last loss being the last time the Badgers have had more rebounds against the Gophers.
231 - Gadiva Hubbard now has 231 career threes made, she passed Shannon Schonrock (2002-06) for the 3rd most threes made in program history against Maryland.
6 - Sara Scalia has scored in double figures in five straight games, the second longest streak of her career.
2 - Minnesota's opponents so far this season have a combined winning percentage of 64.5, the second highest among the Big Ten's teams through Jan. 10.
6 - In 16 games so far this season the Maroon and Gold have had six different starting lineups.
5 - After Deja Winters' 20-point performance against No. 10/9 Maryland, five different Gophers have scored 20 or more points in a game this season.

Minnesota returns home for Pride Night on Saturday, Jan. 15, when the Gophers welcome Ohio State (11-3, 3-2 B1G) to Williams Arena. The game is scheduled for a 5 p.m. tip and can be streamed on B1G+ as well as heard on KFAN+.

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

Erin Hedman

Gadiva Hubbard

Jasmine Powell

Sara Scalia

Kadi Sissoko

Caroline Strande

Deja Winters