Gophers Welcome Spartans to Williams Arena on Sunday

MINNEAPOLIS - Minnesota (10-13, 3-8 B1G) returns home to Williams Arena to face Michigan State (12-9, 6-4 B1G) on Sunday afternoon. 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

Sunday's matchup with the Spartans is the second time this season the two teams have faced off. On Jan. 23, Michigan State won 74-71 in East Lansing over the Gophers with Nia Clouden scoring 25 points to lead Michigan State to the victory.
Minnesota and Michigan State meet for the 70th time in their series history Sunday. The Gophers trail in the all-time matchups 44-25. Michigan State has won each of the last three meetings and seven of the last nine.
In Minneapolis, the Spartans hold a 17-15 record against the Gophers and under head coach Lindsay Whalen, the Gophers are 1-4 against the Spartans.
Minnesota has one Michigan native on its roster. Alanna 'Rose' Micheaux comes from Wayne, Mich., which is about 70 minutes away from East Lansing.
Michigan State is 12-9 on the season with road wins over Penn State and Rutgers since the last time the two teams battled on Jan. 23. Michigan State has notable wins over Nebraska (72-69) and Northwestern (65-46).
Senior guard Nia Clouden was named to the Dawn Staley Late Season Watch List this past week. Clouden is one of three Big Ten players named to the watch list along with Penn State's Makenna Marisa and Iowa's Caitlin Clark. She is the first Spartan to be named to the Watch List since the award began in 2013.
Michigan State is 12th in the nation and second in the Big Ten with 378 total assists and are 12th in assists per game, averaging 18.0 apg. MSU is also 34th in the nation in field goal percentage (.449). Senior guard Nia Clouden is second in the nation in free throws made (131) and 20th in the NCAA in free throw percentage (.891). Clouden is also ninth in the country in scoring with 21.0 ppg.

GOPHER NOTABLES

Minnesota's last outing was an 80-70 defeat, coming against No. 5/6 Indiana in Bloomington, on Feb. 3. The Gophers held a 5-point lead with just over six minutes to go before the Spartans used a late run to pull away from the Gophers and come away with the win. In front of limited fans due to a snow storm, the Gophers got 26 points from Sara Scalia in the loss.
Sara Scalia extended her double figures scoring streak to 13 with her performance against No. 5/6 Indiana. Scalia is one of six players in the Big Ten that have active double-figures scoring streaks of at least 13 games. During the streak Scalia has averaged 19.7 points per game and is shooting 45.2 percent from three (52-of-115) and has averaged 4.0 made threes per game. This season Scalia ranks 11th in the Big Ten in scoring average (16.5).
As a team this season Minnesota has the second-best three-point field goal percentage in the Big Ten at 37.5 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 196 made threes is the most in the Big Ten and the 11th most in the country.
Since rejoining the starting lineup against Wisconsin, graduate student Gadiva Hubbard has been playing some of her best basketball of the season. She's scored 18 points (9.0 ppg), dished out nine assists (4.5 apg) and snagged 13 rebounds (6.5 rpg) in those two games and has shot 58.3 percent (7-of-12) from the floor and hit 66.7 percent from three. In those two games she's played an average of 33.0 minutes and has turned the ball over just three times.
Guard Deja Winters has continued to show why she is one of the Big Ten's most impactful grad transfers this season. Averaging 11.4 points per game. Winters also has been the Gophers best on-ball defender this season. Her 22 steals (2.0 per game) during conference play is tied for the fifth-best in the Big Ten this season and her 23 total blocks (1.0 per game) this year are good enough for the 11th most in the conference.
Since getting a bump in minutes starting against Michigan State (1/23), Minneapolis, Minn., native Laura Bagwell Katalinich has been making an impact off the bench for the Maroon and Gold. She's averaged 17.3 minutes per game in the last four games and has been making impact plays all over the court. During that span she's averaged 7.0 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.0 steals and 1.3 assists per game while shooting 52.0 percent from the floor. In each of the last two games she's scored in double figures and played a season-high 19 minutes against No. 5/6 Indiana (2/3).
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
196 - At 196 made threes this season the Gophers have now passed the 2013-14 Gophers for the sixth most 3-point field goals made in a single season (since 1987-88).
8 - Sara Scalia is the eighth highest scoring individual in the Big Ten this season during Big Ten play at 17.9 points per game.
13 - Sara Scalia has scored in double figures in 13 straight games, tying the longest streak of her career she set last season (13).
9 - Deja Winters has registered at least one steal in nine of the last 10 games including each of the last four.
19 - Last time against Michigan State (1/23) the Gophers registered their conference high in assists in a game with 19.
126 - On Sunday grad student Gadiva Hubbard will move into a tie for ninth in program history for games played at Minnesota at 126, tying her with four others, including current assistant coach Kelly Roysland.

Minnesota will play No. 21/24 Iowa (15-5, 9-2 B1G) on the road in their next game on Feb. 9, at 6:30 p.m. The game, that was previously scheduled to be played on Feb. 10, will be broadcast on B1G+ and can be heard on KFAN+.

NOTE: The University has implemented a temporary proof of vaccination/test policy that applies to all events from Wednesday, January 26, 2022, to Wednesday, February 9, 2022. For more information, please visit this link. Please note participating student-athletes, coaches, team support staff, and officials are not subject to this regulation.

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