Lehigh to Visit Gophers on Sunday

MINNEAPOLIS - The University of Minnesota (1-0, 0-0 B1G) looks to begin the season 2-0 for the first time since 2018-19 when Lehigh (1-0, 0-0 Patriot) comes to Williams Arena on Sunday at 3 p.m. The game can be watched on B1G+ and can be heard on KFAN+ with Justin Gaard and Lynette Sjoquist on the call.

ABOUT THIS GAME

The Golden Gophers and Mountain Hawks have met twice in their history, with every meeting coming at the Barn in Minneapolis. Minnesota is 2-0 in those games, with the last meeting coming in 2019 when the Maroon and Gold won 77-49. The Gophers have defeated Lehigh by an average of 31.0 points per game.
First-year head coach Addie Micir picked up her first win in her debut as a head coach against Stonehill last Monday.
Lehigh was picked to finish second in the Patriot League Presesaon Poll.
Last season Lehigh finished fifth in the Patriot League with a record of 19-11 and 11-6 in the Patriot League.
Lehigh placed two on the Preseason All-Patriot League team with Frannie Hottinger and Mackenzie Kramer being named. Kramer finished as a Second Team all-league player last season while Hottinger was named First Team All-Patriot League back in 2020-21 after averaging 14.2 points, 6.6 rebounds and shooting 43.9 percent from the floor and 34.5 percent from three.
Of the Mountain Hawks 14 student-athletes, six come from the great state of Minnesota. Those include Anna Harvey (Lakeville, Minn.), Mackenzie Kramer (Saint Michael, Minn.), Katie Hurt (Rochester, Minn.), Kaylee Van Eps (Chaska, Minn.) and Lily Fandre (Eagan, Minn.).

GOPHER NOTABLES

Last time out the Golden Gophers took care of their season-opening opponent in Western Illinois. The Gophers 30-point win was the largest since Dec. 10, 2020, vs. George Washington and was the biggest season-opening win since 2017-18 when Minnesota defeated Lehigh by 34 in the first game of the season.
Minnesota saw nine different players make their Gopher debuts against Western Illinois with Mara Braun's 21 points being the biggest offensive performance among those newcomers. Braun finished 9-of-19, including hitting the first field goal of the season for the Maroon and Gold. She finished with the third-most points in a freshman debut in school history, just two points off of the record set by Lindsay Lieser in 1999.
The Maroon and Gold's 11 newcomers are broken up by five transfers, four incoming freshmen and two walk-ons. Minnesota's transfers include Destinee Oberg (Arkansas), Mi'Cole Cayton (Nebraska), Isabelle Gradwell (Cleveland State), Angelina Hammond (Miami Dade) and Aminata Zie (Western Nebraska CC). Among the transfer group Isabelle Gradwell has the most experience at the Division I level with 115 games played while Cayton brings in 79 career games played and Oberg at 39.
Minnesota's incoming freshman class has been heralded as one of the most highly touted recruiting classes in program history. All four hail from the great state of Minnesota with Mara Braun (Wayzata, Minn.), Amaya Battle (Hopkins, Minn.), Mallory Heyer (Chaska, Minn.) and Niamya Holloway (Eden Prairie, Minn.). The group comes in as the No. 10 ranked class in the nation, and the No. 1 in the Big Ten, according to ESPN's HoopGurlz Rankings.
Alanna 'Rose' Micheaux returns from last year's Gophers team that was fifth in the Big Ten last year in total rebounds. Micheaux got her season off to a great start, posting her first career double double and leads the Big Ten with her 13 rebounds she grabbed in the season opener.
The Gophers starting lineup against Western Illinois featured three freshmen, which was be the youngest lineup for the Gophers to start the season with (exhibitions included) in over 11 years. In that span the Gophers have never started more than one freshmen to start a season or exhibition.

BY THE NUMBERS
54 - Minnesota's 54 rebounds against Western Illinois is the most rebounds the Gophers have collected in a game since she became head coach in 2018.
2 - Minnesota will be without two student-athletes for the 2022-23 season after Niamya Holloway and Aminata Zie both suffered season-ending injuries prior to the start of the season.
51 - The Golden Gophers got 51 points from their freshmen group in the season opening win over Western Illinois.
30 - The win over Western Illinois was head coach Lindsay Whalen's 30th career non-conference win. Whalen's record against non-conference opponents is 30-7 (.811).
9 - Amaya Battle's nine assists against Western Illinois was the most in a freshman debut in school history and the second most in any season opener since 1999.

The 2022 season continues with Minnesota's first road test against North Dakota State on November 17, at 7 p.m. That game can be seen on GoBison.com and also can be heard on KFAN+, as all games can be all season long.

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 2022-23 season.

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Lehigh to Visit Gophers on Sunday

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