gophers women gameday
7 P.M. aT IOWA • Carver-hawkeye ARENA • NO TV, 88.5-FM
Gophers at a glance: A late first-half meltdown left the Gophers (11-4, 0-1 Big Ten) licking their wounds following a disappointing 81-56 home loss in their Big Ten opener against Michigan State on Saturday. Minnesota failed to hit a field goal in the final 5:42 of the first half, as the Spartans went on a 22-5 run after Gophers guard Rachel Banham went to the bench with her second foul. … Redshirt freshman center Amanda Zahui B. had a rough first half of her own — she started 1-8 from the field — but finished with 21 points and seven rebounds to lead the Gophers. … Banham, who scored 13 points in the loss, moved into third place in program history with 77 double-digit scoring games. Lindsay Whalen sits atop the list with 108.
Iowa at a glance: The Hawkeyes (12-4, 0-2) are also looking to get back on track after losing three of their past five games — albeit, all to ranked opponents. Iowa opened its Big Ten slate with an 86-84 loss at No. 22 Indiana on Jan. 2, before losing at home to No. 14 Penn State 87-71 on Sunday. The now-unranked Hawkeyes were No. 22 in the AP Poll before those back-to-back league losses. … Iowa's other two losses are also came against ranked opponents, No. 11 Iowa State and No. 17 Colorado. … Two Minnesotans — senior Theairra Taylor of St. Paul Central and sophomore Kali Peschel of Sauk Centre — have started every game so far and are averaging 9.9 and 6.9 points per game, respectively.
Bryce Evans
