Gophers Turn Focus to Michigan State on Sunday Afternoon

MINNEAPOLIS - Minnesota (9-10, 2-5 B1G) is back on the road for a matchup with Michigan State (9-8, 3-3 B1G) on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. CT at the Breslin Center. The Jan. 23, matchup can be streamed on B1G+ as well as listened to on KFAN+ with Justin Gaard and Lynnette Sjoquist on the call.

ABOUT THIS GAME

Minnesota and Michigan State meet for the 69th time in their series history Sunday. The Gophers trail in the all-time matchups 44-24. Michigan State has won each of the last two meetings and six of the last eight.
Minnesota and Michigan State will face off twice during the 2021-22 regular season with Sunday's contest being the first of the two. The Golden Gophers will host the Spartans on Feb. 6, back at Williams Arena. Minnesota takes on Iowa, Wisconsin, Rutgers, Nebraska and Michigan State twice during the regular season.
Minnesota has two Michigan natives on its roster. Jasmine Powell hails from Detroit, which is about 90 minutes southeast of East Lansing. She won two state championships at Detroit County Day School, including the 2017 title which took place at Michigan State's home court, the Breslin Center. Alanna 'Rose' Micheaux comes from Wayne, Mich., which is about 70 minutes away from East Lansing.
Michigan State is 9-8 on the season with notable wins over Nebraska (72-69) and Northwestern (65-46). Michigan State and Minnesota have three common opponents this season with Michigan State going 1-2 against them with Minnesota being 0-3.
Three Spartans are averaging at least 10 points per game with Nia Clouden leading the way at 21.3 points per contest. Alyza Winston and Matilda Ekh are at 12.2 and 11.5 points per game, respectively.
As a team, the Spartans are a team that likes to share the ball. They lead the Big Ten in assists (15th nationally) with 300 and are second in assists per game at 17.6. The team is also one of the Big Ten's best free throw shooting teams at 76.8 percent from the charity stripe, which is third best in the conference and 29th in the nation.

GOPHER NOTABLES

The Golden Gophers are coming off a loss at home to No. 25/RV Iowa (11-4, 5-1 B1G) on Jan. 20. Sara Scalia led the Gophers offensively with 15 points, connecting on multiple threes for the 14th time in 19 games this season.
Sara Scalia extended her double figures scoring streak to nine with her performance against Iowa. Scalia is one of 10 players in the Big Ten that have active double-figures scoring streaks of at least nine games. In her last nine games Scalia has averaged an impressive 19.2 points per game, has shot 44.7 percent from three and has averaged 3.8 made threes per game. This season Scalia ranks 11th in the Big Ten in scoring average (15.6) and is eighth in 3-point percentage at 40.9 percent and is second in threes made per game at 2.9.
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 13th best in the NCAA. On average the Maroon and Gold make 8.5 threes per game, good enough for the 29th best mark in the nation and the third best in the conference. In total the team's 161 made threes is the most in the Big Ten and the 11th most in the country.
Guard Deja Winters has continued to show why she is one of the Big Ten's most impactful grad transfers this season. Averaging 11.3 points per game, and 14.0 in 2022 so far, Winters also has been the Gophers best on-ball defender this season. Her 27 steals (1.4 per game) leads the team and is 15th in the Big Ten this season and her 20 blocks (1.1 per game) are good enough for the fifth most in the conference this season. Winters also has been impactful from beyond the arc, shooting 47.4 percent from three in 2022, up from her overall season rate of 42.0.
Since joining the starting lineup on Dec. 12, vs. Michigan, Alanna 'Rose' Micheaux has pushed her rebounding average significantly up, averaging 5.6 rebounds including an average of 3.4 on the offensive glass. In her last four games Micheaux has picked it up even more with 7.8 rebounds per game, 4.5 of those on the offensive glass.
On the road this season Jasmine Powell has been the top scorer for the Maroon and Gold with an average of 15.6 points per game, up from her season total of 12.6 this year. Most notably Powell has shot lights out in her five games on the road from three, shooting 47.1 percent compared to her 32.8 percent rate overall this season.
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's four signees in the 2022 signing class were all named McDonald's All-America Games nominees last week. Those future Golden Gophers include Mara Braun (Wayzata, Minn.), Amaya Battle (Hopkins, Minn.), Mallory Heyer (Chaska, Minn.) and Niamya Holloway (Eden Prairie, Minn.).

BY THE NUMBERS
161 - The Gophers 161 made threes this season is tied for the 10th most threes made in a single season in program history.
11 - Against No. 25/RV Iowa the Gophers turned the ball over just 11 times, a season low.
9 - Sara Scalia has scored in double figures in nine straight games, the second longest streak of her career (13).
90 - Under head coach Lindsay Whalen the Gophers have won 90 percent of their games where they lead after the first quarter. This season Minnesota is 9-1 when leading after the opening 10 minutes and 0-9 when not leading.
6 - In 19 games so far this season the Maroon and Gold have had six different starting lineups.
23 - Grad student Gadiva Hubbard is now 23 minutes away from passing Debbie Hunter (1979-93) for the seventh most minutes played in program history.

Minnesota will play its second straight road matchup on Jan. 27, when the Gophers take on Purdue (12-6, 3-4 B1G) at 6 p.m. CT. The game, which can be streamed on B1G+, can be 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

Gadiva Hubbard

Jasmine Powell

Sara Scalia

Deja Winters