Gophers Welcome Leathernecks on Opening Night

MINNEAPOLIS - Fresh off its exhibition win Minnesota (0-0, 0-0 B1G) is now set to begin the regular season against Western Illinois (0-0, 0-0 Summit) at Williams Arena with a tip time set for 5:30 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 Leathernecks have met four times in their history with the teams splitting the series 2-2 with the last meeting in 1997 being a 88-52 win for the Maroon and Gold at home.
This season Minnesota returns three letterwinners from last year's team that finished 15-18 (7-11 B1G). Alanna 'Rose' Micheaux, Katie Borowicz and Maggie Czinano head a roster that brings in 11 newcomers.
Western Illinois is led by head coach JD Gravina who is entering his 13th season. Gravina has also previously been at McPherson College and was a graduate of William Jewell College in 2000 where he competed in basketball, tennis and track and field as a student-athlete. Gravina is 284-219 in his career and 170-158 at Western Illinois.
Last season Western Illinois finished the season 14-15 and 5-13 in the Summit League.
Western Illinois returns preseason All-Summit League member Elizabeth Lutz who is entering her fifth season. She led the Summit League in steals and was named to the Summit League All-Defensive team. The team-leader in minutes played last year (981), Lutz started each of her 29 appearances and averaged 11.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.2 steals – all of which were career-best marks.
Of the Leatherneck's 13 student-athletes, just Zareia Chevre is a Minnesota native hailing from St. Paul, Minn., where she attended Simley High School.

GOPHER NOTABLES

Last time out the Golden Gophers took care of UW-River Falls 104-64 at Williams Arena in exhibition action. Mara Braun led the way with 23 points, including 21 points in the first half. Six Gophers scored in double figures in the win including Rose Micheaux, Mara Braun, Isabelle Gradwell, Katie Borowicz, Maggie Czinano and Amaya Battle.
In season openers the Gophers are 34-15 all-time and are 26-5 at home. Minnesota played Western Illinois in a season opening contest back in 1996. The Gophers last season opening win was in the shortened 2020-21 season against Eastern Illinois (72-68). No players on the current roster played in that game.
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.
The final two newcomers on the Gophers' roster are Maria Counts (Plymouth, Minn.) and Alexa Ratzlaff (Rosemount, Minn.). The duo both join as freshmen walk-ons with Counts joining from Providence Academy and Ratzlaff from Rosemount High School.
Alanna 'Rose' Micheaux returns from last year's Gophers team that was fifth in the Big Ten last year in total rebounds. As a true freshman Micheaux was second on the team in offensive rebounds (53) averaging 1.8 per game last season. Micheaux also scored an average of 4.7 points per game which was highlighted by her 23-point performance against North Carolina in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
After missing last season Katie Borowicz returns with her eyes set on the Gophers starting point guard spot. On Monday Borowicz will play her first regular season game at Williams Arena in 618 days (Feb. 28, 2021 vs. Michigan).

BY THE NUMBERS
6 - Six Gophers scored in double figures in the team's exhibition win over UWRF which included four starters and two off the bench.
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.
56 - The Golden Gophers got 56 points from their freshmen group in the exhibition win over UWRF last week.
23 - Of Minnesota's three returners Alanna 'Rose' Micheaux has the highest single game scoring mark of 23 points which she scored against North Carolina last season as a true freshman.
7 - The Gophers roster is comprised of seven freshmen, which is the second most freshmen on any roster in the Big Ten, only behind Wisconsin's nine.

The 2022 season continues with a matchup with Lehigh on Nov. 13, at Williams Arena. The game will tip at 3:00 p.m. CT and can be seen on B1G+. All of Minnesota's regular season games 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 2022-23 season.

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Gophers Welcome Leathernecks on Opening Night

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