Preview: Maryland at Minnesota

Published 11:36 pm Friday, February 16, 2018

Minnesota continues its four-game homestand Sunday afternoon as No. 10/9 Maryland visits Williams Arena at noon on Big Ten Network. Jordan Bernfield and Shelley Till will be on the call.

Here are five things you need to know before tipoff:

• The Golden Gophers have won five straight home games and their last contests against top-25 teams, defeating No. 20 Iowa, 77-72, on Jan. 21 and topping No. 23 Michigan, 93-87, on Wednesday.

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• The Gophers are 51-11 at Williams Arena under head coach Marlene Stollings, including a 12-1 mark this year. The 51-11 record includes six wins over ranked teams, most notably an overtime victory against No. 5 Ohio State in 2016 and wins over No. 20 Iowa on Jan. 21 and No. 23 Michigan on Feb. 14 this year.

• In the latest AP poll, Minnesota was among teams receiving votes for the third time this year, also doing so on Nov. 27 and Jan. 29. The team is also ranked 39th in the RPI (as of 2/16). At 20-6, Minnesota has reached the 20-win mark for the 13th time in program history, including three times in four years under Stollings.

• Junior Kenisha Bell is one of the most versatile players in the country. She leads the Big Ten in both assists per game (6.6) and steals per game (2.7) and is the only player in the Big Ten to rank in the top five of those two categories and points per game (19.7). Nationally, she ranks 36th in scoring average and 12th in assists per game, joining her with Miami (Ohio)’s Lauren Dickerson (16th and 36th, respectively) as the only players in the country to rank in the top 40 of each category. With 994 points scored as a Gopher, Bell is six points away from becoming the 24th player in school history to reach 1,000 points.

• Minnesota’s scoring average of 85.2 points per game ranks second in the Big Ten and fourth nationally. It’s also on pace to be the highest scoring average in team history, which currently stands at 83.6 set in head coach Marlene Stollings’ second season at Minnesota in 2015-16. Junior Kenisha Bell leads the Gophers with 19.7 points per game, while senior Carlie Wagner is not far behind at 17.7. They rank fifth and ninth, respectively, in the conference in scoring. The Gophers also sit 14th in the country in 3-pointers made (236). 16th in 3-point shooting pct. (38.0) and 17th in 3-pointers made per game (9.1).

SCOUTING THE TERRAPINS

• Maryland is 22-4 on the season and 11-2 in Big Ten play. After starting 2-2 (with losses to No. 4 South Carolina and No. 1 Connecticut), the Terrapins have since won 20 of their past 22 games. The team’s seven-game win streak was snapped Thursday, though, in a 75-65 loss at home to Purdue.

• Maryland has six players averaging double figures this year with Kaila Charles leading the way at 17.8 points per game. Charles also leads the Terps with 8.2 rebounds per contest and 29 blocked shots.

• Kirsten Confroy leads the Big Ten and is third nationally by shooting 47.3 percent on 3-pointers.

• The Terrapins boast the top scoring margin in the conference and are fifth nationally at +20.3. Additionally, Maryland leads the B1G in offensive rebounds/game (16.0) and 3-point field goal percentage (40.6).

LAST MEETING WITH MARYLAND

• Minnesota’s run at the 2017 Big Ten Tournament came to a close with a 92-80 loss to Maryland in the quarterfinals.

• Gadiva Hubbard scored a career-high 28 points for the Golden Gophers. She shot 11-of-20 from the floor, including 3-for-6 behind the 3-point line.

• In addition to Hubbard, Carlie Wagner scored 21 points, including five made 3-pointers, while Bryanna Fernstrom and Kenisha Bell each had 11.

• A 27-14 first quarter in Maryland’s favor was too much for the Gophers to overcome. They outrebounded Maryland 36-35 overall, shot 56.8 percent in the second half and outscored the Terrapins 66-65 in the final three quarters but got no closer than five points after the first quarter.

‘33’ FOR THREE

• With 20 points at Iowa on Feb. 4, senior guard Carlie Wagner became the fifth player in Minnesota history to reach 2,000 points in a career. Ranked 11th among active DI players with 2,055 career points, she is 42 points away from tying Carol Ann Shudlick (2,097) for third on Minnesota’s career list. (See page 3 for more of Wagner’s ranks).

• Wagner is second on the team this year with an average of 17.6 points per game and ranks second in the Big Ten in 3-point pct. (42.6) and third in the Big Ten in 3-pointers made (78) and 3-pointers made per game (3.00).

• Wagner has 107 career games in double figures, including a streak of 44 consecutive games from March 6, 2015 to Dec. 8, 2016 where she scored at least 10 points.

• Wagner’s 38 points at Michigan last season (1/15/17) was the 12th-best scoring game in program history.

• Wagner has earned All-Big Ten Second Team (2016, 2017) and Big Ten All-Freshman honors (2015).

FABULOUS FROSH

• Freshman Destiny Pitts has been named Big Ten Freshman of the Week a league-best six times this season. She’s one of just seven players in B1G history to reach that number and is second in school history. The Minnesota record belongs to Amanda Zahui B., who had seven such honors in 2013-14.

• Pitts, who was named the USBWA National Freshman of the Week on Feb. 13, has recorded double-figure points 15 times this season and has five double-doubles.

• She recorded 22 points and 11 rebounds in the first Big Ten game of her career at Northwestern, while at No. 10 Ohio State she finished with a career-high 28 points.