Minnesota Wraps Up Regular Season with Trip to Penn State Sunday

MINNEAPOLIS - Minnesota (13-16, 6-11 B1G) completes its regular season on the road against Penn State (11-16, 5-12 B1G) on Sunday at 1 p.m. CT. 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

Penn State enters Sunday's contest with a 11-16 record and a record of 5-12 in Big Ten play. The Nittany Lions are looking for their third win in four games with recent wins over NCAA Tournament hopefuls Nebraska and Michigan State with a loss to Ohio State being their most recent result.
Sunday's game with the Nittany Lions is the first and only time the two teams have met this season. The last time the two teams faced off was on Jan. 25, 2021, when Minnesota won in University Park, Pa., 85-76. In the win the Gophers doubled up Penn State in the fourth quarter, 32-16, on its way to the win. Minnesota had four players in double figures with sophomore Sara Scalia leading the way with a season-high 21 points.
Penn State is 7-5 at home this season with three of those being Big Ten wins. In the non-conference, Penn State defeated the likes of St. John's, Youngstown State, Rider and Delaware State while losing to Clemson, Iowa State and Boston College.
Penn State's Makenna Marisa has been one of the conference's top scorers this season with five 30-point games, she has the third-most in a season in Penn State history, behind only Kelly Mazzante (12 in 2001-02 and 9 in 2002-03). Marisa was recently added to the Dawn Staley Award Watch List.
The Nittany Lions come into Sunday's contest with the second best steals per game rate in the Big Ten at 9.9 and blocks per game at 4.5. The team has had at least 10 steals in 13 different games this year, including a season-high 25 against Delaware State and 16 at Purdue.
Penn State head coach Carolyn Kieger is a native of Roseville, Minn., and attended Roseville High School.
Minnesota and Penn State meet for the 52nd time on Sunday. Penn State holds a 29-22 edge in the series, but the Gophers have won seven of the last eight matchups and 10 of the past 12.

GOPHER NOTABLES

Last time out Minnesota sent its seniors out with a huge 33-point win at Williams Arena on Feb. 24, dismantling Illinois (6-18, 1-12 B1G) with five different players scoring in double figures. Led by sixth-year senior Gadiva Hubbard's 22 points in her final game at the Barn, seniors Deja Winters (12) and Laura Bagwell Katalinich (11) also scored in double figures while Kadi Sissoko added 13 off the bench.
Sara Scalia extended her double figures scoring streak to 19 with her performance against Illinois. Scalia is one of four players in the Big Ten that have active double-figures scoring streaks of at least 19 games. During the streak Scalia has averaged 20.1 points per game and is shooting 43.6 percent from three (71-of-163) and has averaged 3.7 made threes per game. This season Scalia ranks 10th in the Big Ten in scoring average (17.3) and is eighth during Big Ten play at 18.7 points per game. She is also fourth in 3-point percentage during conference play at 40.6 percent and is second in threes made per game at 3.3.
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 the sixth best in the NCAA. On average the Maroon and Gold make 8.4 threes per game, good enough for the 23rd best mark in the nation and the second best in the conference. In total the team's 245 made threes are the most in the Big Ten and the 10th most in the country.
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 eight games she's averaged 20 minutes per game and has been making impact plays all over. During that span she's averaged 9.6 points and 5.1 rebounds while shooting 51.0 percent from the floor.
In the team's last four wins, compared to the Gophers' last four losses in the team's 4-4 stretch, a direct corelation can be made with the rebounding battle. Minnesota has won all four games they have won the battle on the glass, and lost the rest where they were outrebounded. In wins, Minnesota held a +33 advantage on the glass versus a +36 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 11.9 points per game. Winters has bumped up her efficiency the last six games, shooting at a 49.2 rate from the floor, up from her 43.6 percent on the season. Winters also has been the Gophers best on-ball defender this season. Her 30 total steals (1.7 per game) during conference play is eighth in the Big Ten this season and her 28 total blocks (1.0 per game) this year are good enough for the ninth 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
3 - At 245 made threes this season the Gophers now have the third most threes in a single season, passing the 2019-20 team for the third most in their win over Illinois (since 1987-88)
19 - Sara Scalia has scored in double figures in 19 straight games, the longest streak of her career.
9 - Nine 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.
20 - Laura Bagwell Katalinich is 20 points away from 1,000 in her career.
1 - Sara Scalia has attempted the most threes in the nation this year at 244 while her 93 total makes is the third most in the country.
10 - With a win, the Golden Gophers will secure the No. 10 seed in the 2022 Big Ten Tournament.

The 2022 Big Ten Tournament begins on March 2 and runs until March 6 in Indianapolis. All games will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network 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

Kadi Sissoko

Deja Winters