Gophers Continue Non-Conference Slate with NDSU on Wednesday

MINNEAPOLIS - Game three of the season for the Minnesota Golden Gophers (2-0, 0-0 B1G) sees the North Dakota State University Bison (1-1, 0-0 Summit) come to Williams Arena on Nov. 15, with a tip time set for 7 p.m. The game can be watched on B1G+ with Andrew Cornelius and Will Peterson while the KFAN+ broadcast will feature Justin Gaard and Lynnette Sjoquist.

GAME INFORMATION
Stream: B1G+
Tip Time: 7:01 P.M.
Radio: KFAN+ 96.7 FM and the iHeartRadio app (Justin Gaard and Lynnette Sjoquist)
Sirius: Sirius App or Channel 386
Promotions: Bring in 3 or more canned foods for any game in November and receive a discounted ticket.

ABOUT THE NORTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY GAME

Minnesota's matchup with the Bison of North Dakota State University is the ninth between the two programs. Last season NDSU snapped Minnesota's four-game winning streak in the series with a 71-65 win in Fargo, N.D. Mara Braun, then a freshman, missed that game in 2022-23. Overall Minnesota holds a 25-14 record against teams from the Summit League.
NDSU will be playing in its first game in six days after picking up a 112-59 victory over Jamestown at home. The win was a bounce-back victory for the Bison who dropped their season opener against No. 23/22 Creighton 75-52 on a neutral court.
In two games this season sophomore Elle Evans has led the team in scoring at 12 points per game while also averaging 4.5 rebounds while shooting at a 55.6 percent clip from beyond the arc. Five of her eight made shots this year have been from the 3-point line.
NDSU's roster is composed of six student-athletes who hail from the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Of those six, Grand Rapids, Minn., native Taryn Hamling has seen the best start to the season with an average of 10.0 points per game while also leading the team in assists.

GOPHER NOTABLES

Dawn Plitzuweit finished her first week as the head coach of Minnesota with an unblemished 2-0 record with wins over LIU and Chicago State. Plitzuweit looks to push Minnesota to a 3-0 start for the first time since 2018-19, on Wednesday against a familiar opponent in NDSU. Plitzuweit has faced the Bison 13 times in her coaching career and holds a 12-1 record, with 12 straight wins, against the Summit League program.
Minnesota sophomore Mara Braun was honored by the Big Ten on the conference's weekly honor roll for her performances through the first week of the 2023-24 season. The Wayzata, Minn., native dropped 25.0 points, 5.0 assists and 3.5 steals per game to help Minnesota pick up wins against LIU and Chicago State. Braun is the only player in the Big Ten so far this season to average 25 points per game, shoot 58 percent or better from the floor, 42 percent or better from three while also averaging 5.0 assists and 3.5 steals per game.
The Maroon and Gold offense has been on a tear through the first two games of the season with a field goal percentage of 55.8 percent. That percentage is the best for the program in over a decade with the next closest in the last 10 years being in 2013-14 when the team started the season shooting 53.1 percent through the first two games. Minnesota's 55.8 percent shooting from the floor leads the Big Ten through Nov. 13, with the next closest team being Penn State (53.5 percent in three games).
Sophomore Mara Braun earned some well-deserved preseason recognition prior to the start of the 2023-24 season. The second-year Gopher was named to the watch list of the Cheryl Miller Award for the nation's top small forward as well as the Big Ten's 2023-24 Preseason All-Big Ten Team, as voted by the league's coaches. Braun was one of just two sophomores to be honored by the conference's coaches, joining Cotie McMahon of Ohio State.
Minnesota's young squad continued to show its potential against Chicago State, highlighted by freshman forward Ayianna Johnson's 19 points off the bench in just 13 minutes. Johnson connected on 9-of-13 shots and made her presence known in just her second career game.
Sophomore guard Amaya Battle is just five assists away from reaching the minimum assists needed to sit on Minnesota's career assists per game leaderboard. Through 32 games Battle has 145 assists for an average of 4.53 per game. If that number holds through the 150-assist minimum, Battle would sit at the No. 5 spot in career assists per game.

BY THE NUMBERS
500 - Mara Braun reached 500 points in her 31st career game, making her the third-fastest Gopher to reach the milestone in program history.
3 - Amaya Battle has registered five or more assists in three straight games dating back to last season.
5 - Five different players have reached the double figure scoring mark in each of the first two games of the season.
30 - Minnesota forced 30 turnovers against Chicago State, the first time the program had forced 30 or more turnovers since Nov. 14, 2019, against Milwaukee (33 turnovers).
47 - The 'U' has averaged 47 points in the paint through the first two games of the season, highlighted by the team's 54 against Chicago State.

Week two of the 2023-24 season continues with No. 8 UConn (1-1, 0-0 BIG EAST) coming to Williams Arena on Sunday, Nov. 19, at 4 p.m. The game will be nationally broadcast on FS1. Minnesota's promotion for the game is 'Gophercella' where the arena will have festival vibes and the first 200 students in attendance will receive a FREE Gopher Basketball fanny pack. Also speed painter Jessica Haas will be performing at halftime.

Fans interested in buying season tickets for Gopher women's basketball this season can find more information at https://z.umn.edu/24sznTix or by calling the Minnesota Ticket Sales Office by phone at 1-800-U-GOPHER or by email at gophersports@umn.edu.

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 (X.com), Instagram (@GopherWBB) and on Facebook, so you do not miss any content during the 2023-24 season.

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Players Mentioned

Amaya Battle

Mara Braun

Ayianna Johnson