Minnesota Scene: Gophers Kenisha Bell, Destiny Pitts win Big Ten weekly honors

Gophers junior Kenisha Bell was chosen Big Ten co-player of the week (with Purdue sophomore Ae'Rianna Harris) in women's basketball, and Destiny Pitts was tabbed Big Ten freshman of the week. It is the first career honor for both players, who have helped the Gophers start 4-0.

Bell turned in double-doubles in each of the past three games. She tallied 22 points and 10 rebounds at Rhode Island on Nov. 13. Back at Williams Arena on Thursday, Bell had a point/assist double-double with 20 and 10.

She then scored a career-high 31 points and pulled down 10 rebounds vs. Boston College. Bell is leading the team with averages of 21.3 points and 7.8 assists per game.

Pitts led the team with 15 rebounds in the victory at Rhode Island and put up double-doubles in the next two games. She had 20 points on 6-of-11 shooting (3-for-6 from three-point range) and 12 rebounds against VCU.

Pitts followed this up with 14 points and a season-high 16 rebounds in Sunday's win over Boston College. She is averaging 13.3 points and 12 rebounds.

Southwest Minnesota State will host the NCAA Division II Central Region volleyball tournament from Nov. 30 to Dec. 2.

Top-seeded Southwest Minnesota State (26-3), ranked No. 2 in the latest AVCA poll released Monday, will be making its 14th straight NCAA tournament appearance and 15th overall in program history. Southwest Minnesota State last played host to the Central Region tournament in 2010.

Other pairings are: No. 4 seed Northern State (23-6) and No. 5 seed Minnesota Duluth (24-6); No. 2 seed and defending NCAA national champion Concordia (St. Paul) (28-3) vs. No. 7 Central Oklahoma (29-5), and No. 3 seed Nebraska-Kearney (33-3) will take on No. 6 Missouri Western State (24-10).

Ten semifinalists for the Gagliardi Trophy, awarded to the top football player in NCAA Division III, were announced Monday. They are: Austin Breunig, North Central (Ill.); Matt Gono, Wesley; Nick Holcomb, Wisconsin-La Crosse; Brett Kasper, UW-Oshkosh; Ty Parsons, East Texas Baptist; Matt Sacia, Wartburg; John Smith, Husson; Jordan Wilcox, Springfield (Mass.); Evan Wyse, Trine, and Jesse Zubik, Washington and Jefferson.

Four finalists will be announced Dec. 5. The winner will be named Dec. 13.

• The Gophers volleyball team fell one spot to No. 8 in the AVCA Division I poll. The Gophers (25-4) close out the regular season at home, facing Rutgers on Friday and top-ranked Penn State on Saturday.