Gophers Meeting Purdue for First Time This Season on Saturday

MINNEAPOLIS - The University of Minnesota (9-10, 2-6 B1G) is headed to West Lafayette, Ind., for a matchup with Purdue (12-6, 3-5 B1G). The game is scheduled to tip at 1 p.m. CT on B1G+ and can also be heard on the iHeartRadio app or on KFAN+ with Justin Gaard and Lynnette Sjoquist on the call.

ABOUT THE PURDUE GAME

Minnesota's matchup with Purdue is the 71st between the two programs. The Gophers faced the Boilermakers just once last season, also in West Lafayette, with Purdue defeating the Gophers 80-66. Alanna 'Rose' Micheaux and Maggie Czinano both played in that game with Micheaux starting and playing just 16 minutes but grabbing seven rebounds.
Minnesota is 23-47 all-time against Purdue.
Minnesota's last win in West Lafayette was on Jan. 19, 2020, in a 72-59 victory. Lindsay Whalen is 2-1 on the road against the Boilermakers.
The Purdue Boilermakers are 1-3 in their last four games with their only win in that stretch on the road against Northwestern. Purdue's last home win was on Jan. 1.
Purdue is 1-3 against common opponents with the Gophers.
Purdue was not selected in either the media or coaches preseason Big Ten polls.
Purdue's leading scorer this season is Lasha Petree, who is a transfer from Rutgers. Petree averages 15.1 points per game this season and is shooting 43.9 from the floor and 35.6 percent from beyond the arc.
The Boilermakers have three players who average double figures this season with Caitlyn Harper (11.3) and Abbey Ellisa (11.2) joining Petree. On the glass Purdue's leader is Jeanae Terry who averages 7.8 boards per game while also scoring 6.7 points and 6.9 assists per game. Her 6.9 assists per game is ranked No. 2 in the Big Ten and No. 6 in the nation this season.
As a team Purdue is ranked in the middle of the road in most categories in the Big Ten, but is ranked No. 4 in the conference in field goal percentage defense at 38.9. The team averages 7.3 threes made per game which is seventh in the Big Ten and attempts 21.2 threes per game which is sixth in the Big Ten this season.

GOPHER NOTABLES

Last time out the Maroon and Gold picked up the team's second Big Ten win against Penn State in State College. The win also served as the Gophers first road win of the season with Alanna 'Rose' Micheaux posting a career high 31 points and 14 rebounds. Mara Braun and Mallory Heyer also scored in double figures for the visitors with Braun scoring 10 of her 15 in the fourth quarter and Heyer adding seven rebounds to her 12 points. As a team Minnesota shot a season-high 50 percent from the floor and hit 8-of-11 shots in the fourth quarter to pull away from the Nittany Lions.
Alanna 'Rose' Micheaux extended her double figures scoring streak to nine games in the win over Penn State. The sophomore has turned up her efficiency during her streak, scoring 17.8 points per game while shooting 60.0 percent (69-of-115) from the floor in that span. She's also averaged 8.7 rebounds per game and 3.7 offensive rebounds in that stretch.
Micheaux's latest double double vs. Illinois is her seventh of the season which is tied for the fourth most in the Big Ten this season, and is just one behind the Big Ten's leaders. Three of her seven double doubles are against Big Ten opponents and four of them have been against Power 5 opponent. Micheaux's seven double doubles in the first 19 games of the season are the most by a Gopher in the first 19 games since Taiye Bello had 7 in the first 16 games in 2019-20.
As of Jan. 19, Minnesota's latest starting lineup of Mara Braun, Amaya Battle, Mallory Heyer, Katie Borowicz and Alanna 'Rose' Micheaux, is an average age of 19 years and 5 months and seven days. The group consists of three true freshmen, one redshirt freshman and one sophomore. Minnesota is the only Big Ten team to start four freshmen in a game this season (Wisconsin is the only other team to start three). The only other team to start four freshmen in the nation is Navy.
Mallory Heyer has posted four double doubles this season as a freshman - the most since Destiny Pitts had six during her freshman campaign in 2017-18. She's been steady for the Gophers in the past five games with an average of 13.4 points per game, 9.4 rebounds per game and 2.0 assists.
Mallory Heyer has posted four double doubles this season as a freshman - the most since Destiny Pitts had six during her freshman campaign in 2017-18. She's been steady for the Gophers in the past four games with an average of 13.8 points per game, 10.0 rebounds per game and 2.3 assists.
Through 19 games this season Minnesota continues to prove itself a quality team on the boards with an average rate of 43.1 per game as a team which is No. 1 in the Big Ten conference and No. 20 in the nation. The team has been one of the best on the offensive glass at 13.9 per game, No. 2 in the Big Ten and 52nd in the country.
Lindsay Whalen announced on Jan. 6, the signing of center Sophie Hart to the Gophers' program. Hart is a 6-5 graduate of Farmington High School, who played two seasons at NC State, and will join Minnesota with two years of eligibility. Coming out of high school Hart was the No. 64 ranked overall recruit in the class of 2021 and the No. 5 ranked player at her position by ESPN.
Minnesota head coach Lindsay Whalen announced the addition of five student-athletes on Nov. 16, who have signed National Letters of Intent or an Acceptance of Admission to join the Minnesota women's basketball program for the 2023-24 season. Signing NLIs with the Golden Gophers are Kennedy Klick, MyKynnlie Dalan, Ajok Madol and Dominika Paurová while Brynn Senden signed an Acceptance of Admission.

BY THE NUMBERS
10 - Alanna 'Rose' Micheaux has improved her points per game average by 10.2 from last season (4.7 to 14.9).
13 - Minnesota averages 13.1 fast break points per game this season, up from 7.5 last season.
84 - Freshman guard Amaya Battle is at 84 assists this season and is just 22 assists away from the freshman single-season record.
2 - The Gophers now have two scorers that are ranked in the top 16 in the Big Ten this season (Braun and Micheaux).
61 - This season Minnesota gets 61 percent of its points per game from freshmen or redshirt freshmen.

The University of Minnesota will have some extra rest time before taking on Michigan on Jan. 29. That game is scheduled to tip at 2 p.m. at Williams Arena on B1G+.

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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Players Mentioned

Amaya Battle

Katie Borowicz

Mara Braun

Maggie Czinano

Mallory Heyer