Gophers Wrap Up Non-Conference with Lindenwood on Thursday

MINNEAPOLIS - The University of Minnesota women's basketball team (10-1, 1-0 B1G) closes out the non-conference portion of the 2023-24 season with Lindenwood (2-7, 0-0 OVC) on Dec. 21, at 3 p.m. The game will be available on B1G+ while Justin Gaard and Lynnette Sjoquist will broadcast the game on KFAN+.

GAME INFORMATION
TV/Stream: B1G+
Tip Time: 3:01 P.M.
Radio: KFAN+ (96.7 FM) and the iHeartRadio app (Justin Gaard and Lynnette Sjoquist)

ABOUT THE LINDENWOOD GAME

Minnesota and Lindenwood have never met with Minnesota holding a 5-3 record all-time against the Ohio Valley Conference. The Gophers last meeting with a member of the OVC came in 2022 when the team defeated both Eastern and Western Illinois.
This season Lindenwood is 2-7 overall with their two wins coming against Eastern Michigan and Harris-Stowe State University. Lindenwood has taken on the likes of the University of Dayton (L, 91-73) and the University of Cincinnati (L, 81-62) as well.
Freshman guard Ellie Brueggemann leads the team in scoring by a wide margin at 14.6 points per contest. Brueggemann is No. 7 individually in the OVC in scoring per game, No. 5 in field goal percentage at 43.9 percent, and makes an average of 3.1 threes per game this season which is No. 1 in the conference. The next highest scorer, on average, for the Lions is fellow freshman Alyssa Nielsen who scores 6.5 per game and adds 3.1 rebounds. Eleven different players on the Lions roster this season are averaging 4.0 points per game or better.
Through Dec. 19, the Lions are the second-highest scoring team in the OVC at 70.3 points per game, but have given up the second most in the conference at 74.0 per contest. Lindenwood is the best in the OVC in turnover margin this season at plus-5.7.

GOPHER NOTABLES

Minnesota won its seventh straight on Dec. 13, out running Grambling State 96-64 at Williams Arena. The Maroon and Gold scored 53 first-half points on their way to their fourth 90-point performance of the season. Minnesota's offense was humming and was efficient, shooting 49.3 percent from the floor and 40.7 percent from beyond the arc with sophomore Mara Braun leading the way with a 26-point performance in just 24 minutes where she hit 8-of-10 from the floor and 6-of-8 from three. Amaya Battle also notched her second career 10-assist game in the win while Grace Grocholski, Mallory Heyer and Maggie Czinano all scored in double figures.
In just 18:43 of playing time against Grambling, Amaya Battle registered 10 assists for the second time in her career, making her one of 11 Gophers to registered two or more games with 10 or more assists in their career. Battle's efficient performance made her one of just three Big Ten players since 2009 to post a 10-assist game in under 19 minutes of playing time joining Kendra Van Leeuwen (Wisconsin) from 2018 and Samantha Logic (Iowa) in 2013.
The Gophers have made steady improvement in the turnover department this season committing just 12.0 in their last five games, down from 15.0 in their first six games. Last season the Gophers were ranked 291st in the NCAA and 13th in the Big Ten in turnovers per game at 17.7 per game but through 11 games of the 2023-24 season are ranked 44th in the country and No. 4 in the Big Ten at 13.6.
Sophie Hart has been one of the hottest players on the Gophers in the last six games with the junior center posting an average of 11.6 points and 6.3 rebounds per contest, up from 8.4 points and 4.0 rebounds in her first five games. During the six-game stretch Hart has shot 33-of-53 (62.3 percent) from the floor and has just one turnover in her last 123.9 minutes on the floor.
Minnesota's defense has been outstanding this season, with the team's 55.4 points per game allowed sitting in second in the Big Ten and good enough for 45th in the NCAA. This season the 'U' allows teams to shoot just 36.6 percent from the floor, which is No. 3 in the conference and is 67th in the NCAA while committing just 13.1 fouls per game, which is No. 1 in the league and No. 14 in the country through Dec. 19. The 'U' has forced 20.0 turnovers per game, which has led to 21.1 points per game off turnovers.
Head Coach Dawn Plitzuweit has led Minnesota to a 4-0 start in the month of December, a month that Plitzuweit has seen much success in her career. The first-year Gopher coach holds a career December record of 52-20 (72.2 winning percentage) and since 2016 Plitzuweit has a December record of 43-8 (84.3 winning percentage).

BY THE NUMBERS
31 - Minnesota's fourth quarter defense this season has allowed just 31.3 percent shooting from the field.
1 - Minnesota has had the same starting lineup of Battle, Braun, Grocholski, Heyer and Hart in all 11 games this season.
2 - Niamya Holloway is just one of two players since 2009 to average 2.3 steals per game while playing less than 14 minutes per game.
4 - Amaya Battle has posted three four-steal performances this season; Battle did not post a single four-steal performances during her freshman season.
80 - Minnesota wins 80 percent of their games (12-3) where Mara Braun has 20 or more points or Amaya Battle has three or fewer turnovers.

Minnesota will take a break for the holidays before returning to action on Dec. 30, at Iowa. The matchup at Carver-Hawkeye Arena will be Minnesota's season debut on BTN with the tip scheduled for 1 p.m. in Iowa City.

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.

Upcoming Events

Players Mentioned

Amaya Battle

Mara Braun

Maggie Czinano

Grace Grocholski

Sophie Hart

Mallory Heyer

Niamya Holloway