U women gameday

Last update: November 18, 2008 - 8:19 PM

Preview: The Gophers lost to No. 2 Stanford 68-55 and beat Santa Clara 70-45 in last weekend's season-opening road trip. North Dakota State lost its opener to Northern Iowa 77-73, spoiling the debut of head coach Carolyn DeHoff. She succeeds Amy Ruley, who coached the Bison for 29 years and led them to five NCAA Division II championships. DeHoff is assisted by former Gopher Kelly Roysland, who finished her career in 2007 with 1,074 points.

Players to watch: Gophers guard Emily Fox rebounded from a 2-for-11 shooting performance against Stanford to hit seven of 11 shots against Santa Clara. She is averaging 11.5 points per game and needs 13 points to pass Roysland for 12th place on the Gophers' all-time scoring chart. Katie Ohm led all scorers in both of last weekend's games, with 15 points against Stanford and 17 against Santa Clara, and made six of 13 three-point attempts. North Dakota State returns six players from last season's 17-11 team but retains only one starter: 6-2 senior Jerri Penley, who averaged nearly three blocks per game along with 8.5 points and 5.6 rebounds.

Numbers: The Gophers shot only 39.5 percent in their first two games, and the freshmen made only eight of 33 shots. But their defense recorded 23 steals. The Gophers are 3-1 against the Bison, including last season's 68-65 home victory.

RACHEL BLOUNT

Recent Gophers stories

Agho hits 7 3-pointers, scores 23 points to lead Columbia to 73-59 victory over Bucknell - November 18, 2008

Agho hits 7 3-pointers, scores 23 points to lead Columbia to 73-59 victory over Bucknell - Noruwa Agho scored 23 points and Columbia finished the game on a 30-8 run to defeat Bucknell 73-59 on Tuesday night. More