Gophers Travel to Purdue Thursday

MINNEAPOLIS - Minnesota (9-11, 2-6 B1G) plays its second straight game on the road in West Lafayette, Ind., against Purdue (12-7, 3-5 B1G) at Mackey Arena. The Jan. 27, 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 Purdue meet for the 70th time on Thursday. The Boilermakers hold a 46-23 edge in the series, though Minnesota has won four of the last five.
Thursday's matchup is the lone meeting between the Gophers and Boilermakers during the 2021-22 regular season. The Golden Gophers last meeting with Purdue ended in a 77-72 victory for the Maroon and Gold. Sara Scalia ended the game with her first 30-point game while Kadi Sissoko (17) and Jasmine Powell (12) also scored in double figures.
In West Lafayette, Purdue holds a 24-9 series lead but has lost the last three contests at Mackey Arena. Minnesota's last road loss against the Boilermakers came on Jan. 14, 2016.
Minnesota head coach Lindsay Whalen's career high in points as a student-athlete came against the Boilermakers when she scored 41 on Feb. 14, 2002. That total still stands as the seventh highest in team history.
Purdue is 12-7 on the season and 3-5 in the Big Ten. The Boilermakers started the season 11-4, but have gone 2-2 since. A 66-61 victory over then No. 17/22 Florida State is the team's best win this season along with a victory in the B1G/ACC Challenge over Georgia Tech on a buzzer-beating shot.
Madison Layden is the team's top scorer at 13.1 points per game. She is 17th in the Big Ten in overall scoring and does so by hitting the outside shot. She is 11th in 3-point percentage at 35 percent and hits an average of 2.4 threes per game.
As a team, Purdue is the top ranked 3-point percentage defense in the Big Ten at 25.1 percent. The team is also one of the Big Ten's top 3-point offensive teams with 153 made threes (third in the Big Ten) and 453 attempted (second in the Big Ten).

GOPHER NOTABLES

The Golden Gophers are coming off just their second Big Ten road loss this season, and their first since Dec. 12, when the team fell to the Spartans of Michigan State (10-8, 4-3 B1G). The 74-71 loss is tied for the smallest margin of defeat this season for the Gophers, and the third time this season the Gophers have lost by three points.
Sara Scalia extended her double figures scoring streak to 10 with her performance against Iowa. Scalia is one of eight players in the Big Ten that have active double-figures scoring streaks of at least 10 games. In her last 10 games Scalia has averaged an impressive 20.4 points per game while shooting 46.1 percent from three (41-of-89) and has averaged 4.1 made threes per game during the streak.
As a team this season Minnesota has the second-best three-point field goal percentage in the Big Ten at 37.3 which is also good enough for 12th best in the NCAA. On average the Maroon and Gold make 8.7 threes per game, good enough for the 26th best mark in the nation and the third best in the conference. In total the team's 173 made threes is the most in the Big Ten and the 12th 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 11.6 points per game, and 14.5 in 2022 so far, Winters also has been the Gophers best on-ball defender this season. Her 32 steals (1.6 per game) leads the team and is tied for 14th in the Big Ten this season and her 20 blocks (1.0 per game) are good enough for the 11th most in the conference this season.
Rejoining the starting lineup against Michigan State was graduate transfer Bailey Helgren. The Edina, Minn., native brought down a season-high nine rebounds in 25 minutes and has been impactful on the defensive end as of late. She's swatted six shots in the last two games and has averaged 1.5 blocks over the past six games, the most on the team. She's also been efficient when she shoots the bal this season, making 73.7 percent of her shots (14-of-19).
On the road this season Sara Scalia has been the Gophers top scorer with an average of 17.2 points per game, slightly up from her 16.4 this season. Most notably Scalia notched her first 30-point road performance of her career on Jan. 23, at Michigan State. Jasmine Powell has also been solid on the road, scoring 14.3 points per game while handing out 5.0 assists per game and shooting 41.7 percent from three.
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
173 - The Gophers 161 made threes this season is now good enough for the 10th most threes made in a single season in program history.
11 - Sara Scalia is the 11th highest scoring individual in the Big Ten this season at 16.4 points per game.
10 - Sara Scalia has scored in double figures in ten straight games, the second longest streak of her career (13).
82 - Against Michigan State (1/23/22) 82.6 percent of the Gophers made field goals were assisted, the team's highest percentage this season.
6 - In 20 games so far this season the Maroon and Gold have had six different starting lineups.
10 - Grad student Gadiva Hubbard is now 10 minutes away from passing Debbie Hunter (1979-93) for the seventh most minutes played in program history.

Minnesota returns home to take on rival Wisconsin ()5-13, 2-6 B1G) on Jan. 30, at 2 p.m CT. The game can be seen on the Big Ten Network and also can be heard on KFAN+.

NOTE: The University has implemented a temporary proof of vaccination/test policy that applies to all events from Wednesday, January 26, 2022, to Wednesday, February 9, 2022. For more information, please visit this link. Please note participating student-athletes, coaches, team support staff, and officials are not subject to this regulation.

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

Bailey Helgren

Gadiva Hubbard

Jasmine Powell

Sara Scalia

Kadi Sissoko

Deja Winters