Gophers women's gameday
7 p.m. VS. NW • Williams Arena • 88.5-FM
Gophers (11-6, 3-3 Big Ten): The Gophers are coming off a 78-76 victory over Indiana. Mikayla Bailey's three-pointer with 24 seconds left were the final points of the game. Four players scored in double figures, led by Rachel Banham with 24. She also had a team-high nine rebounds. … Banham, with 2,581 points, is now third on the Big Ten's all-time career scoring list, trailing Ohio State's Jantel Lavender in second by 237. … The Gophers are averaging 79.5 points per game, which ranks fourth in the Big Ten but they are giving up 71.7, which puts them 12th. … They have made a league-high 153 three-pointers, but are making only 33.4 percent of their shots behind the arc, that's only eighth in the conference but better than 14th Northwestern at 30.6 percent.
Northwestern (13-5, 2-4): Hopkins grad Nia Coffey is the Wildcats' best player. The 6-1 junior forward is averaging 18.9 points per game, sixth in the Big Ten, and a league-high 10.6 rebounds. She is the sister of Amir Coffey, the top incoming recruit next fall for Richard Pitino at Minnesota. … Northwestern was 11-1 in nonconference games and got as high as No. 12 in the Associated Press national rankings before falling out. … The Wildcats lead the Big Ten in steals with 11.5 per game and turnover margin, a plus-7.7. Junior guard Ashley Deary averages 4.5 steals per game, which leads the country. She needs three more to reach 250 career steals. … Northwestern routed the Gophers 70-49 in Evanston, Ill., on Feb. 1 last year, forcing 22 turnovers and holding the visitors to 29.3 percent shooting from the field.
Roman Augustoviz
