Minnesota to Clash with Michigan in Second Round of Big Ten Tournament

MINNEAPOLIS - After a first round victory in the Big Ten Tournament on Wednesday night, the University of Minnesota women's basketball team (16-14, 5-13 B1G) is back for the second round on Thursday against the No. 6 seed, Michigan (18-12, 9-9 B1G). The game is scheduled to begin 25 minutes after game five on March 7 on Big Ten Network while Justin Gaard and Lynnette Sjoquist will broadcast the game on KFAN+.

GAME INFORMATION
TV/Stream: Big Ten Network
Tip Time: 25 Minutes After Game 5 (Penn State-Wisconsin starts at 5:30 p.m. CT)
Radio: KFAN+ (96.7 FM) and the iHeartRadio app (Justin Gaard and Lynnette Sjoquist)
Bag Policy: As a reminder, Target Center is not a clear bag facility. The policy is based on bag size: https://www.targetcenter.com/plan-your-visit-1/know-before-you-go

ABOUT THE MICHIGAN GAME

Minnesota and Michigan are meeting in the Big Ten Tournament for just the second time ever with the Wolverines winning the only matchup in 1999. In that game 25 years ago, the No. 6 seeded Wolverines defeated the No. 11 seeded Gophers 74-55.
Minnesota and Michigan are meeting for the 69th time, with the Gophers holding a 36-32 advantage in the series that started in 1976. Minnesota won the matchup earlier this season in Ann Arbor, 82-66.
Back on Jan. 9, a healthy Minnesota squad defeated Michigan on the road in the only meeting between the Wolverines and the Gophers this season. Minnesota out scored Michigan 29-12 in the fourth quarter, with Grace Grocholski hitting a then-career high five threes on her way to 19 points. Minnesota hit a total of 15 threes on 28 attempts, the first time the program had hit above 50 percent from beyond the arc since Jan. 15, 2017.
Michigan's Laila Phelia was named to the All-Big Ten first team for the first time in her career after garnering a second-team nod last season. Lauren Hansen earned honorable mention from both the coaches and media. Phelia and Hansen are Michigan's two double-figure scorers entering postseason play.
Freshman Taylor Woodson is returning to her home state of Minnesota for the first time in her collegiate career. Woodson hails from Minnetonka, starring at Hopkins High School alongside Minnesota's Amaya Battle. Woodson won a pair of state championships with the Royals during her prep career.

GOPHER NOTABLES

Minnesota won its first Big Ten Tournament game since 2020 on Wednesday with a 77-69 victory over Rutgers, avenging a loss to the Scarlet Knights just 22 days prior. Amaya Battle posted a career high 32 points in the victory, hitting on 10-of-20 from the floor while connecting on a career high 11 frees throws. Big Ten All-Freshman Grace Grocholski posted 12 points in her postseason debut while redshirt freshman Niamya Holloway added seven points and a career high nine rebounds off the bench to aid Minnesota's near wire-to-wire victory, holding the lead for 35:48 of the contest at Target Center.
The Big Ten announced the 2024 All-Big Ten awards on Tuesday, with Minnesota earning three nods for their play with Mara Braun and Amaya Battle earning All-Big Ten Honorable Mention while Grace Grocholski was on the conference's All-Freshman Team. Maggie Czinano was also named as Minnesota's representative for the Sportsmanship Award.
Battle's incredible Big Ten Tournament opener against Rutgers was one for the record books with the Hopkins, Minn., native registering a new program record for points in the Big Ten Tournament with 32 while also posting a program record 15 free throw attempts in a Big Ten Tournament game, hitting on 11 of those. Battle's seven assists, with zero turnovers, also pushed the sophomore to 300 career assists in just 60 games.
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 Braun in the lineup Janay Sanders has slid into the starting lineup for the past 10 games. She's upped her scoring from 5.3 to 11.8 points per game. Since becoming a starter Sanders has shot 44.4 percent (36-of-81) from the floor.
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 30 games this season are ranked in the top 50 nationally at 13.5.

BY THE NUMBERS
1 - Amaya Battle became the first player in the country this season to have a stat line of 32 points, seven assists, five rebounds and zero assists in the team's win over Rutgers on Wednesday (3/6).
14 - Amaya Battle is 14 assists away from breaking into the program's all-time top 10 assists list.
4 - Against conference opponents Janay Sanders has averaged 4.5 drawn fouls per game, which leads the team.
12 - Amaya Battle eclipsed her previous career of 20 with 32 against Rutgers on Wednesday night at Target Center.
109 - The Big Ten is expecting an attendance of around 109,000 fans that will attend the Big Ten Tournament from March 6-10.

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

Maggie Czinano

Grace Grocholski

Niamya Holloway

Janay Sanders