gophers/ncaa

u women gameday

6 P.M. VS. Ohio State

Sears Centre arena,

Hoffman Estates, ILL.

BTN, 1500-am

Gophers at a glance: Minnesota beat Ohio State twice during the regular season, and it needs a third victory over the Buckeyes and a Friday quarterfinal victory over league champ Penn State to be in the discussion for an NCAA at-large berth. ... The Gophers will go as far as Rachel Banham carries them. The sophomore guard led the Big Ten in scoring (all games) with a 21-point average; Ohio State’s Tayler Hill, a former Minneapolis South star, led the league in scoring in conference games with 22.3 ppg. ... In the Gophers’ last meeting with Ohio State, Banham’s jumper with 0.02 seconds left lifted Minnesota to a 57-56 victory. ...The Gophers are 6-18 all-time in the Big Ten tournament.

Ohio State at a glance: OSU coach Jim Foster doesn’t seem concerned that his club is 0-2 vs. the Gophers this season. “We’re an entirely different team than the one [the Gophers] played two weeks ago,’’ he said. After that loss, Foster moved sophomore Raven Ferguson into the starting lineup, giving the Buckeyes a four-guard lineup. The smaller, quicker version is 3-0 after the loss to Minnesota, having defeated Michigan State, Illinois and Michigan — each of which had a winning Big Ten record. ... Foster is the winningest active coach in Big Ten tournament play (19-6) and has won more tournament championships (four) than any coach.

Dennis Brackin