Gophers and Wildcats to Face Off Friday Afternoon at Williams Arena

MINNEAPOLIS - Minnesota (11-14, 4-9 B1G) returns home for an afternoon affair with Northwestern (13-8, 5-5 B1G) on Friday at 3:30 p.m., at Williams Arena. The game can be streamed on B1G+ and fans can also listen to the game on KFAN+ with Justin Gaard and Lynnette Sjoquist on the call.

ABOUT THIS GAME

Minnesota and Northwestern will meet for the 76th time ever on Friday. It's the fourth most-played series for Minnesota behind only Iowa, Wisconsin and Ohio State.
Friday's matchup with the Wildcats is the first between the two programs this season. The game was previously scheduled for Jan. 31, before the two schools had to reschedule due to COVID protocols within the Northwestern program.
The all-time series is in favor of Northwestern at 38-37. Minnesota has won six of the last nine in the series, though Northwestern has won the last two matchups.
In her career, Gophers head coach Lindsay Whalen has only lost to Northwestern twice, going 5-0 as a player and 2-2 as a coach.
Winners of two straight, the Wildcats have recently picked up wins against Purdue and Penn State, both on the road. Northwestern's most notable win came back on Jan. 6, on the road against Iowa where they won 77-69 over the Hawkeyes.
Guard Veronica Burton has earned a slew of preseason accolades, starting with a selection to the 10-member All-Big Ten Preseason Team. She was selected to the Nancy Lieberman Award Watch List as one of 20 of the top point guards in the sport. She also was selected to watch lists for three national player of the year awards
- the Wooden Award, the Naismith Trophy, and the Wade Trophy. Burton is the reigning two-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.
As a team the Wildcats are ranked as the conference's No. 1 team in blocked shots at 5.5 per game, which is good enough for the 14th best rate in the NCAA this season. The team also ranks near the top of the conference in steals per game (10.2 per game - 1st in Big Ten) and turnover margin (3.9 - 3rd in Big Ten).

GOPHER NOTABLES

Last time out the Gophers put a scare into the No. 25/24 ranked Iowa Hawkeyes on the road in a 88-78 loss. Led by Deja Winters' first 30-point game, the Gophers were within one at the start of the fourth quarter before the Hawkeyes used a 11-0 run to escape the upset at home. On top of Winters' performance, Sara Scalia notched her third-straight 20-point game in the defeat with 23. For Winters, her 30-point game passes her previous career high of 27 that she had while at North Carolina A&T against Clemson in 2019.
Sara Scalia extended her double figures scoring streak to 15 with her performance against No. 25/24 Iowa. Scalia is one of four players in the Big Ten that have active double-figures scoring streaks of at least 15 games. During the streak Scalia has averaged 20.2 points per game and is shooting 44.7 percent from three (59-of-132) and has averaged 3.9 made threes per game. This season Scalia ranks 10th in the Big Ten in scoring average (17.1) and is eighth during Big Ten play at 18.8 points per game.
As a team this season Minnesota has the second-best three-point field goal percentage in the Big Ten at 37.4 which is also good enough for 12th best in the NCAA. On average the Maroon and Gold make 8.5 threes per game, good enough for the 25th best mark in the nation and the third best in the conference. In total the team's 213 made threes is the most in the Big Ten and the 10th 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 12.1 points per game. Winters also has been the Gophers best on-ball defender this season. Her 27 steals (2.1 per game) during conference play is fifth in the Big Ten this season and her 24 total blocks (1.0 per game) this year are good enough for the 10th most in the conference. Winters has also had three games this season with five or more steals.
After playing some of her best basketball off the bench, Laura Bagwell Katalinich, a Minneapolis, Minn., native stepped into the starting lineup for the first time against Michigan State (2/6). In her last four games she's averaged nearly 19 minutes per game and has been making impact plays all over. During that span she's averaged 7.5 points and 3.8 rebounds while shooting 46.4 percent from the floor.
Despite going 2-2 in their last four games, the Golden Gophers have been playing some of their best basketball of the season of late. The team has dropped its turnovers per game from 15.6 to just 13.0 per game. The team has averaged 13.0 offensive rebounds per game compared to 11.0 through the first 21 games of the season as well as a small uptick in 3-point shooting at 38 percent in the last four games compared to 37.2 percent through the first nine games of the Big Ten 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
213 - At 213 made threes this season the Gophers are just one behind the 2014-15 team for the fourth most in a single season (since 1987-88).
15 - Sara Scalia has scored in double figures in 15 straight games, which is the longest streak of her career.
8 - Eight different times this season a Gopher has scored 12 or more points in a single quarter including four times by Sara Scalia and three times by Deja Winters.
7 - Sara Scalia is seven points away from 1,000 career points in her career.
128 - On Friday grad student Gadiva Hubbard will move into a tie for fourth in program history for games played at Minnesota at 128, tying her with Shannon Schonrock (2002-06).
5 - Gadiva Hubbard moved into fifth place in total minutes played against Michigan State (2/6), passing head coach Lindsay Whalen.

Minnesota remains home for a second matchup with Rutgers this season. That game, scheduled for Feb. 17, will tip at 3:30 p.m. and can seen on B1G+ and 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

Laura Bagwell Katalinich

Gadiva Hubbard

Sara Scalia

Deja Winters