Gophers Wrap Up Regular Season at Penn State

MINNEAPOLIS - The University of Minnesota women's basketball team (15-13, 5-12 B1G) is headed to State College, Pa. for a matchup with the Penn State Nittany Lions (17-11, 8-9 B1G). The game is scheduled for a 12 p.m. CT start time and will be streamed live on B1G+ while Justin Gaard and Lynnette Sjoquist will broadcast the game on KFAN+.

GAME INFORMATION
TV/Stream: B1G+
Tip Time: 12:00 p.m. CT.
Radio: KFAN+ (96.7 FM) and the iHeartRadio app (Justin Gaard and Lynnette Sjoquist)

ABOUT THE PENN STATE GAME

Minnesota and Penn State are meeting for the 56th time, with the Nittany Lions holding a 31-24 advantage in the series that started in 1992. Penn State won the matchup earlier this season at Williams Arena, 80-64.
Minnesota has won nine of the last 12 matchups with the Nittany Lions, with the two teams splitting the last six, which included a Penn State win in the 2023 Big Ten Tournament at Target Center. Minnesota has won four straight games on the road against Penn State.
Penn State is 1-6 in their last seven games since Tay Valladay went out with a season ending injury in the Minnesota-Penn State matchup in January. Penn State's lone win in that stretch was its last time out on Feb. 28, against Purdue on the road, 93-88.
Penn State has been led offensively by Ashley Owusu, who has scored at an 18.2 points per game clip since joining the rotation in State College. Makenna Marisa, a mainstay for the Nittany Lions, has averaged 14.0 points per game and has shot 40 percent from beyond the arc this season which is good enough for only third on the team among qualified individuals.
As of March 1, Penn State is the sixth best team in the nation in field goal percentage at 49.2, which is No. 3 in the Big Ten this year. The Nittany Lions offense is No. 7 in the country in points per game at 84.2 and also are inside the top 10 nationally in 3-point percentage as a team at 38.4.

GOPHER NOTABLES

Minnesota closed out the month of February with a loss against Iowa at Williams Arena. In the Gophers 13th loss of the season Minnesota shot just 32.4 percent from the floor with Amaya Battle's 18 points leading the way with career highs of eight made field goals on 19 attempts. Alongside Battle was graduate student Janay Sanders' 17 points while true freshman Grace Grocholski added 12 points with a pair of triples.
True freshman Grace Grocholski has claimed three Big Ten Freshmen of the Week honors this season. The Wisconsin native has 18 games this season where she's scored in double figures, which is the most in the Big Ten among freshmen. Against Iowa Grocholski hit her 67th three of the season and now sits second on the single-season freshman threes all-time list. The Wisconsin native also leads the Big Ten in overall scoring (11.5) and scoring during conference play (11.5).
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 eight games and has upped her scoring average from 5.3 to 13.1 points per game. Since joining the starting lineup Sanders has the second-best field goal percentage on the team at 50 percent (34-of-68).
At 290 Amaya Battle is 24 assists away from breaking into the program's all-time top 10 career assists. At her current pace of 5.0 assists per game, Battle is on pace to reach about 605 assists, which would be second all-time at the 'U' with the all-time record being 633 by Deb Hunter (1979-83).

BY THE NUMBERS
67 - Grocholski has hit 67 threes this season, and moved into second on the single-season threes made list at Minnesota by a freshman.
11 - Mallory Heyer grabbed 11 rebounds against Iowa, the ninth time this season she's brought down 10 or more.
4 - During conference play Janay Sanders has averaged 4.4 drawn fouls per game, which leads the team.
46 - During conference play Minnesota has shot 46.7 percent from the floor in the fourth quarter.
11 - Minnesota is 11-2 this season when scoring 70 or more points.

With the regular season in the rear view, the Minnesota Golden Gophers now shift their focus to postseason play with the Big Ten Tournament from March 6-10. All games will be played at Target Center with the first round being streamed on Peacock.

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

Mallory Heyer

Janay Sanders