Gophers Return Home to Face Penn State

MINNEAPOLIS - The University of Minnesota women's basketball team (14-6, 4-5 B1G) will take on Penn State (15-5, 6-3 B1G) after two straight games on the road. The Wednesday-night contest will start at 7 p.m. on B1G+ while Justin Gaard and Lynnette Sjoquist will broadcast the game on KFAN+.

GAME INFORMATION
TV/Stream: B1G+
Tip Time: 7:00 p.m. CT.
Radio: KFAN+ (96.7 FM) and the iHeartRadio app (Justin Gaard and Lynnette Sjoquist)
Promotion: Women's Health Awareness Presented by M Health Fairview - Join us at Williams Arena as we bring awareness to women's health and highlight key issues impacting women's health.

ABOUT THE PENN STATE GAME

Minnesota and Penn State are meeting for the 55th time, with the Nittany Lions holding a 30-24 advantage in the series that started back in 1992. Minnesota holds a record of 14-10 against Penn State in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.
Minnesota has won nine of the last 11 matchups with the Nittany Lions, with Minnesota winning each of the two regular season games last year and falling in the 2023 Big Ten Tournament at Target Center. Minnesota has won six of the last seven games at Williams Arena against Penn State.
The Nittany Lions are one of the hottest teams in the Big Ten, winning each of their last five games. Most recently Penn State took down Maryland 112-76 in a game where Maryland's top scorer, Shyanne Sellers, went down with an injury in the first half and did not return. During Penn State's five-game winning streak the Nittany Lions have taken down Northwestern, Nebraska, Purdue and Rutgers.
Penn State is 5-0 since guard Ashley Owusu, the 2021 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award winner, took the floor. She's averaged 18.6 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game while shooting 50 percent from the floor and 33.3 percent from three. Other notable individuals for Penn State are Makenna Marisa (15.5 ppg, 41.5 3FG%), Shay Ciezki (14.1 ppg, 40.3 3FG%) and Leilani Kapinus (10.3 ppg, 61.5 FG% and 2.2 STL/G).
As of Jan. 29, Penn State is the No. 4 team in the country is field goal percentage at 51.0 percent, which is No. 2 in the Big Ten this year. The Nittany Lions also are elite from beyond the arc with a 41.7 percent clip from three, which is No. 1 in the Big Ten and No. 2 nationally. Penn State's 87.6 points per game is the No. 2 mark in the conference and No. 5 nationally.

GOPHER NOTABLES

Minnesota suffered its second straight loss by the hands of Illinois on Jan. 28, 73-68. The Maroon and Gold held a double-digit lead and entered the fourth with the advantage on the scoreboard but Illinois made a 21-11 run after Mara Braun went down with an injury after her made three to start the quarter. Braun, along with Amaya Battle, ended the game with a team-high 18 points in the loss while Mallory Heyer (11) and Sophie Hart (10) also scored in double figures for Minnesota. Battle's 18-points were the second most for the Hopkins, Minn., native against a Big Ten team and she added eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals as well.
Since 2009, only two Big Ten players have pulled down 15 rebounds and hit five or more threes in any game and against Michigan State sophomore Mallory Heyer became the only player that has done it twice. Heyer's first such game came last season when she had 28 points and 15 rebounds against Wisconsin where she hit 5-of-7 threes. Heyer has averaged 8.0 rebounds in her last seven games with 2.6 of those coming on the offensive end. On the offensive end Heyer has been lethal from beyond the arc in the last six games, hitting an average of three shots from the 3-point line per game as opposed to just 1.7 per game in her first 14 games.
University of Minnesota head women's basketball coach Dawn Plitzuweit announced Monday that sophomore guard Mara Braun suffered a foot injury against Illinois that will require surgery and will be out indefinitely. This season Braun has been one of the Big Ten's top scorers at 17.8 points per game, which is fourth in the conference, while shooting a career high 37 percent from three.
Mara Braun was named to the Cheryl Miller Award top 10 list on Wednesday. The Wayzata, Minn., native leads the Golden Gophers in scoring (17.7). Her 56 made threes rank her second in the Big Ten and is ninth in the country. She's second in the NCAA in free throw percentage at 94.8 percent, a category that no Big Ten has led nationally since 2006 (Adrienne Squire, Penn State).
Last season the Gophers were ranked 291st in the NCAA and 13th in the Big Ten in turnovers per game (17.7) per game but through 20 games this season are ranked 17th in the country and No. 3 in the Big Ten at 12.8.
Behind the leadership of Dawn Plitzuweit the Golden Gophers have started 14-6, the team's best 20-game start to a season since 2014-15 when the team started 16-4 and made the NCAA Tournament (lost in First Round).

BY THE NUMBERS
1 - This season Grace Grocholski is the only Big Ten freshman to average 10.8 points, 4.4 rebounds while shooting 35 percent or better from beyond the arc.
11 - Minnesota is currently projected as a No. 11 seed by ESPN's Charlie Creme.
18 - Mallory Heyer has made at least one three in 18 straight games.
3 - This season Janay Sanders draws an average of 3.5 fouls per game, the best on the team.
50 - Sophomore Mallory Heyer has started all 50 games to start her career, the fifth-longest streak to start a career in program history.

The Golden Gophers will hit the road for the team's first rematch of the season against Michigan State. Last time the two teams faced off, the Gophers prevailed 69-50 at Williams Arena. The Feb. 5, matchup with the Spartans will be seen on Big Ten Network starting at 5 p.m. CT.

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

Grace Grocholski

Sophie Hart

Mallory Heyer

Janay Sanders