Bounce Back Opportunity Awaits Gophers in Lincoln

MINNEAPOLIS - Minnesota (12-15, 5-10 B1G) is headed to Lincoln, Neb., for the team's second matchup with Nebraska this season on Sunday at 2 p.m. 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

The Cornhuskers (19-7, 8-7 B1G) are coming off a 83-76 loss to Penn State on the road. Overall, the team has its most wins since the 2017-18 season when the team won 21 games and made the NCAA Tournament.
Sunday's game with the Cornhuskers is the second between the two programs this season. The first matchup came back in December when Nebraska prevailed with a 70-67 win in Minneapolis. In that game Nebraska took advantage of a slow Minnesota start and held on despite Kadi Sissoko (25) and Sara Scalia (20) both scoring 20 or more.
Alexis Markowski is the team's leading scorer this season at 12.9 points per game, but four Cornhuskers are scoring on average over 10 points per game. Joining Markowski in double figures is Jaz Shelley (12.2), Isabelle Bourne (10.5) and Sam Haiby (10.4).
Minnesota senior Kayla Mershon played two seasons at Nebraska before joining the Gophers in 2020-21, playing in 60 games for the Cornhuskers and making 15 starts.
Nebraska guard Jaz Shelley is the only player to rank among the top 20 players in the Big Ten in scoring (19th, 12.3 ppg), rebounding (9th, 7.2 rpg), assists (6th, 4.8 apg), blocked shots (2nd, 1.3 bpg) and steals (8th, 1.8 spg).
Nebraska has 16 different team statistics that are inside the top three in the Big Ten this season. Arguably the Cornhusker's best team stat is the team's scoring offense at 78.2, which is the 11th best in the nation. The team also is in the top 15 in the nation in assists per game (17.5; 14th nationally), rebounds per game (43.2; 14th nationally), and scoring margin (15.7; 13th nationally).

GOPHER NOTABLES

Last time out the Gophers took a step back with a 18-point loss to Rutgers (9-17, 2-12 B1G) on Feb. 17. Deja Winters scored a team-high 18 points in the loss while Sara Scalia added 17 of her own. Minnesota led after the opening quarter 15-13, but was outscored in each of the remaining quarters and snapped the team's three-game home winning streak.
Sara Scalia extended her double figures scoring streak to 17 with her performance against Rutgers. Scalia is one of four players in the Big Ten that have active double-figures scoring streaks of at least 17 games. During the streak Scalia has averaged 20.1 points per game and is shooting 43.5 percent from three (64-of-147) and has averaged 3.8 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 18.6 points per game.
As a team this season Minnesota has the second-best three-point field goal percentage in the Big Ten at 37.9 which is also good enough for seventh best in the NCAA. On average the Maroon and Gold make 8.6 threes per game, good enough for the 24th best mark in the nation and the second best in the conference. In total the team's 231 made threes are the most in the Big Ten and the 11th most in the country.
Additionally, the Gophers in their last five games have been shooting at a rate of 42.9 percent from three as a team while making an average of 9.2 per game, up from their season average.
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 six games she's averaged 22 minutes per game and has been making impact plays all over. During that span she's averaged 9.6 points and 5.3 rebounds while shooting 47.7 percent from the floor.
In the team's last three wins, compared to the Gophers' last three losses in the 3-3 stretch, a direct correlation can be made with the rebounding battle. Minnesota has won all three games they have won the battle on the glass, and lost the rest where they were outrebounded. In wins, Minnesota held a +20 advantage on the glass versus a +25 for their opponents in losses.
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 has bumped up her efficiency the last four games, shooting at a 49.0 rate from the floor, up from her 43.2 percent on the season. Her 3-point shot has fallen at a slightly better clip at 46.4 percent compared to her 42.9 season rate. Winters also has been the Gophers best on-ball defender this season. Her 29 total steals (2.1 per game) during conference play is fifth in the Big Ten this season and her 27 total blocks (1.0 per game) this year are good enough for the eighth most in the conference.
Minnesota head coach Lindsay Whalen took another step toward the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Feb. 18, as the museum announced its finalists for the Class of 2022 that included the former Golden Gopher standout, WNBA great and Olympic gold medalist.

BY THE NUMBERS
231 - At 231 made threes this season the Gophers are just 7 behind the 2019-20 team for the third most in a single season (since 1987-88).
17 - Sara Scalia has scored in double figures in 17 straight games, 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.
28 - Sara Scalia became the 28th student-athlete to reach 1,000 career points while playing at the University of Minnesota, joining Deja Winters this season.
130 - On Sunday grad student Gadiva Hubbard will move into second place in program history in games played at 130, passing Carlie Wagner and Linda Roberts.
2 - Sara Scalia now has made the second most threes in a single Big Ten season, the most is 75 by Rachel Banham (2015-16).

Minnesota's final week of the regular season will begin with Senior Day against Illinois (6-16, 1-10 B1G) on Feb. 24. That matchup with the Illini can be seen on B1G+ starting at 7 p.m. 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

Kayla Mershon

Sara Scalia

Kadi Sissoko

Deja Winters