Gophers women's basketball coach Marlene Stollings will face her former team for the first time Tuesday when the Gophers play Virginia Commonwealth in Richmond, Va.
Stollings coached at VCU from 2012-14, leading one of the top turnarounds in the nation. The 2013-14 Rams went 22-10, their third-most wins in program history, and set school records of 75.8 points per game and 235 three-pointers made.
Gophers associate head coach Nikita Lowry Dawkins coached with Stollings in both seasons at VCU, and first-year Gophers assistant coach Tamisha Augustin was on staff in 2013-14.
The Gophers won their season opener 103-87 over Harvard at Williams Arena led by Carlie Wagner's 27 points. The Rams, also 1-0, opened their season with a 73-44 victory over against Coppin State.
• The Gophers also announced that guard Destiny Pitts of Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich., an ESPN four-star recruit, will play for the Gophers. The 5-10 Pitts won a state championship with Detroit Country Day in 2015, leading her team with 16 points per game last year.
Thielbar to Marlins
Former Twins lefthanded reliever Caleb Thielbar, who spent the 2016 season with the Saints, had his contract purchased by the Miami Marlins on Monday.
Thielber, 29, a Randolph, Minn., native, was 5-2 with four saves and a 2.39 ERA in 42 game for the Saints last season.
Thielbar appeared in 109 games for the Twins between 2013-15. He played in six games with the Twins in April of 2015 before being sent to Class AAA Rochester. In August 2015, he was claimed on waivers by the San Diego Padres and finished the season pitching for Class AAA El Paso.
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• Gophers senior outside hitter Sarah Wilhite was chosen the Big Ten volleyball player of the week. Wilhite, from Eden Prairie, had 12 kills in each of the Gophers' victories over Illinois and Northwestern. Wilhite is the only Big Ten player to receive the award three times this season.
• Wisconsin-Milwaukee forward Lizzie Odegard, a Minnetonka native, was named the Horizon League women's basketball freshman of the week. Odegard had five points and five rebounds in her Panthers debut, a 76-68 win over Western Illinois.
