Gophers Host Northwestern in Annual Pink Game

MINNEAPOLIS - The University of Minnesota women's basketball team (14-10, 4-9 B1G) returns home for its Pink Game against the Northwestern Wildcats (8-16, 3-10 B1G) at Williams Arena. The game is set for Feb. 17, and can be seen on B1G+ while Justin Gaard and Lynnette Sjoquist will broadcast the game on KFAN+.

PINK UNIFORM AUCTION STILL OPEN
The University of Minnesota women's basketball team is pleased to have an online jersey auction featuring Minnesota's pink basketball jerseys that will be worn during the Northwestern game. The jerseys will be available for auction, through Auction and Event Solutions, where all proceeds will be donated to the Masonic Cancer Center Breast Cancer Research Fund. To make a bid, visit https://aesbid.com/UMWBB24 and set up an account. Winning bidders will be notified by email on February 18^th.

GAME INFORMATION
TV/Stream: B1G+
Tip Time: 2:00 p.m. CT.
Radio: KFAN+ (96.7 FM) and the iHeartRadio app (Justin Gaard and Lynnette Sjoquist)
Promotion: The team's pink basketball jerseys will be available for auction where all proceeds will go to Masonic Cancer Center Breast Cancer Research Fund. Plus, the first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive a FREE "United Are We" pink wristband!

ABOUT THE NORTHWESTERN GAME

Minnesota and Northwestern are meeting for the 79th time, with the Wildcats holding an 40-38 advantage in the series that started back in 1977. Minnesota won its last game against the Wildcats at home in 2022, a 74-68 victory.
Northwestern has won each of the last two meetings with Minnesota with one of those being in the Big Ten Tournament in 2022. The Gophers did win the last meeting at the Barn, but no current Gopher on the roster played in that game.
Northwestern's leading scorer this season has been junior Melannie Daley at 12.5 points per game. Daley has come off the bench in the team's last seven games and has scored in double figures in five of those games.
Caileigh Walsh leads the team on the boards at 5.5 per game while also scoring at a clip of 12.3 per contest. Walsh shoots 45 percent from the floor and leads the team in free throw attempts at 70, or 2.9 per game.
As of Feb. 14, Northwestern has been one of the nation's top teams sharing the ball with a rate of 17.8 assists per game. The rate of 17.8 assists per game is 21st in the country and fourth in the Big Ten. Northwestern shoot the ball well from the free throw line at 77.2 percent as a team and the team's three-point percentage of 34.9 is 51st in the NCAA this year.

GOPHER NOTABLES

Minnesota dropped its sixth straight game, the latest being against Rutgers at Jersey Mike's Arena, 81-73, in Piscataway, N.J. Minnesota scored 46 points in the second half but could not close out the Scarlet Knights on the road. True freshman Grace Grocholski was elite against Rutgers, hitting a career high seven threes which ties a single-game freshman record at the University of Minnesota. Sophie Hart also stepped up with a Big Ten career high 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting while also grabbing seven rebounds. Mallory Heyer also hit four triples in the loss while grabbing eight boards, playing all but six seconds against Rutgers (39:54).
Amaya Battle became the sixth Gopher in program history to register four different games with 10 or more assists when she dished out 10 dimes in the loss to Rutgers. Battle has registered three of those four performances this season and is now 42 assists shy of breaking into the program's top 10 career list in just 54 games played.
University of Minnesota head women's basketball coach Dawn Plitzuweit announced on Jan. 29, 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.
Without Mara Braun in the lineup Janay Sanders has slid into the starting lineup for the Gophers the past three games and has upped her scoring average from 5.3 to 15 points per game. Since joining the starting lineup Sanders has the second-best field goal percentage on the team at 50 percent (22-of-44). Sanders has been the most effective when driving tot he basket with the graduate from Charlotte, N.C., leading the team in fouls drawn at 4.1 per game during conference play.
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 24 games this season are ranked 50th in the country and No. 5 in the Big Ten at 13.7.
The Minnesota Golden Gophers are the youngest team in the Big Ten with 11 underclassmen (does not include redshirts in their third year of college).

BY THE NUMBERS
5 - Amaya Battle's assist rate of 5.04 assists per game in her career is currently the fourth-best per game in school history.
69 - During conference play Sophie Hart has scored the first basket of the game 69.2 percent of the time.
55 - With a start on Saturday Mallory Heyer will tie Jackie Voigt (2008-12) for the fourth-most consecutive games started to start a career at Minnesota.
48 - During conference play Minnesota has shot 48.7 percent from the floor in the fourth quarter.
10 - Minnesota is 10-2 this season when scoring 70 or more points.

The Maroon and Gold will remain home for a border battle with Wisconsin on Feb. 20. That game can be seen on Big Ten Network starting at 6 p.m. from Williams Arena.

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