University of Minnesota Athletics
Banham, Lynx, Begin WNBA Playoffs Wednesday at Connecticut
9/12/2023 12:33:00 PM | Women's Basketball
MINNEAPOLIS -- Former University of Minnesota All-American and current Assistant Coach and Director of Quality Control Rachel Banham and the Minnesota Lynx are set to begin the 2023 WNBA Playoffs on Wednesday night against the Connecticut Sun. The Lynx enter the playoffs as the No. 6 seed and will take on the No. 3 seed Sun at the Mohegan Sun Arena at 7 p.m. CT on ESPN2.
The playoff appearance for Banham is the third in four years since the former Gopher joined her hometown club in 2020. In total Banham has reached the WNBA Playoffs in six of her eight seasons in the league, only missing the postseason during her rookie campaign in 2016 with the Connecticut Sun and in 2022 with the Lynx. Banham has reached the WNBA Finals once, that being in 2019 with the Connecticut Sun.
This season Banham has been one of the WNBA's best knock down shooters. The eight-year WNBA veteran ended the regular season shooting 40.2 percent from beyond the arc in 32 games, good enough for the seventh-best mark in the league among qualified individuals. During the regular season Banham averaged 5.5 points per game, 1.7 assists and 1.0 rebounds per contest in 13.6 minutes per game. Over the past month and a half of the regular season Banham has been on a tear from deep, shooting 18-of-39 (46.2 percent) over that 12-game stretch. Arguably Banham's best performance of the season statistically was her 18-point outing against the Indiana Fever on August 10, where she hit a season-high five triples on seven attempts in 20 minutes.
The Lynx first round WNBA series is a three-game tilt with the first and second games being played at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. If a game three is necessary, the game will be played at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn., on Wednesday Sept. 20. Game one can be seen on ESPN2 with game two scheduled to be televised by ESPN as well as game three, if necessary.
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 offseason.
The playoff appearance for Banham is the third in four years since the former Gopher joined her hometown club in 2020. In total Banham has reached the WNBA Playoffs in six of her eight seasons in the league, only missing the postseason during her rookie campaign in 2016 with the Connecticut Sun and in 2022 with the Lynx. Banham has reached the WNBA Finals once, that being in 2019 with the Connecticut Sun.
This season Banham has been one of the WNBA's best knock down shooters. The eight-year WNBA veteran ended the regular season shooting 40.2 percent from beyond the arc in 32 games, good enough for the seventh-best mark in the league among qualified individuals. During the regular season Banham averaged 5.5 points per game, 1.7 assists and 1.0 rebounds per contest in 13.6 minutes per game. Over the past month and a half of the regular season Banham has been on a tear from deep, shooting 18-of-39 (46.2 percent) over that 12-game stretch. Arguably Banham's best performance of the season statistically was her 18-point outing against the Indiana Fever on August 10, where she hit a season-high five triples on seven attempts in 20 minutes.
The Lynx first round WNBA series is a three-game tilt with the first and second games being played at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. If a game three is necessary, the game will be played at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn., on Wednesday Sept. 20. Game one can be seen on ESPN2 with game two scheduled to be televised by ESPN as well as game three, if necessary.
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 offseason.
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