Gophers Take on Cornhuskers in Penultimate Home Contest on Wednesday

MINNEAPOLIS - The University of Minnesota (9-16, 2-12 B1G) welcomes Nebraska (14-11, 6-8 B1G) on Wednesday, Feb. 15, at Williams Arena. The first matchup between the two teams this season is set for a 7 p.m. tip on B1G+ and can be heard on the iHeartRadio app or on KFAN+ with Justin Gaard and Lynnette Sjoquist on the call.

ABOUT THE NEBRASKA GAME

Minnesota's matchup with Nebraska is the 29th meeting between the two programs. The two teams matched up twice during the 2021-22 season with Nebraska winning both. Alanna 'Rose' Micheaux was the only Gopher to play in both games last season that is on this year's roster. She scored eight points and four rebounds in both games.
Minnesota is 12-16 overall against the Cornhuskers.
The Gophers last win against Nebraska was on Feb. 24, 2021 at Williams Arena. The Gophers are 8-3 at home against Nebraska.
The Huskers are losers of their last two games and are 2-4 in their last six with three of those losses against ranked teams.
Nebraska is 4-8 against common opponents this season with the Gophers.
Nebraska was picked to finish fifth in the Big Ten Preseason Poll by the members of the media. The team was not in the conference's Coaches' Preseason Poll.
Alexis Markowski, a 6-3 sophomore from Lincoln, led four Huskers in double figures with 18 points and 18 rebounds in the team's last outing. The Lisa Leslie Award Top 10 contender is averaging a double-double with 12.4 points and 10.0 rebounds per game on the season. Her 18-board effort in Ann Arbor moved Markowski into a tie for the league rebounding lead with Kendall Bostic from Illinois.
As a team the Huskers are second in the conference in total rebounds at 40.6 per game and are also second in threes made per game at 8.3 which is No. 24 in the NCAA. Nebraska's Jaz Shelley is No. 3 in assists per game in the Big Ten and is No. 8 in the country at that rate.

GOPHER NOTABLES

Last time out the Maroon and Gold dropped its sixth straight game with the latest being a 76-70 overtime loss by the hands of the Wisconsin Badgers. The overtime loss was the first for the Gophers since the 2017-18 season to Rutgers. Minnesota did have a chance to win the game in regulation with a layup attempt from Amaya Battle but the attempt rolled out and the Gophers were then out scored by six in overtime. Mallory Heyer was the leader all night with 25 of her career high 28 points coming in the second half and in overtime.
Heyer's remarkable double double was her second of the season against the Badgers. Heyer's 15 rebounds tied her for the most in a game this season by a Gopher (Micheaux at Purdue) and tied her for the third most rebounds in a conference game by any Big Ten player this season and the most by a freshman. In her performance Heyer made a career high five threes, which makes her one of just two Big Ten freshmen to make five threes in a conference game this year.
Through 25 games Minnesota has proved to be the best all-around rebounding team in the Big Ten conference. The Gophers are No. 1 in rebounding in both conference games (41.5 per game) and overall this season (42.6 per game). The team is also No. 2 in the Big Ten in offensive rebounds per game overall this season at 13.9 and is No. 1 during conference play at 13.5 per game.
Freshman Mara Braun has returned as a consistent scorer for the Gophers, scoring in double figures in six of her last seven games. Braun has connected on at least one three in seven straight games and has shot 46.2 percent (12-of-26) from beyond the arc in her last five games while averaging 12.6 points per game.
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 signee Dominika Paurová was called up to the Czech Republic Senior National Team for the countries EuroBasket Qualifiers last week. Paurová made her debut against Ireland and helped the team qualify for the tournament later this year.

BY THE NUMBERS
9.4 - Alanna 'Rose' Micheaux has improved her points per game average by 9.4 from last season (4.7 to 14.1).
7 - Mara Braun has hit at least one three in seven straight games.
109 - Freshman guard Amaya Battle has 109 assists this season, a single-season record for freshmen at Minnesota.
2 - The Gophers had two players (Battle, Heyer) finish with double doubles for the second time this season against Wisconsin.
20 - This season Minnesota has won the opening tip 20 times.

The University of Minnesota is back on the road for a pair of games after the matchup with the Cornhuskers. The Maroon and Gold take on Northwestern on Feb. 18 and then travel to East Lansing for a date with the Spartans on Feb. 22.

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

Mara Braun

Sophie Hart

Mallory Heyer