B1G Game 10: Gophers Go to Penn State, January 28 5PM CST.

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EaganGopher22

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From Penn State University website:

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- Penn State women’s basketball is set to face Minnesota on Wednesday, Jan. 28. The contest between the Lady Lions (7-14, 0-10 Big Ten) and the Golden Gophers (14-6, 5-4 Big Ten) is set to tip off at 6 p.m. inside Rec Hall. The game will serve as a National Girls and Women in Sports Day celebration.

LAST TIME OUT

  • Penn State fell to Oregon, 89-59, on Saturday in Eugene. The Lady Lions battled in the first and second quarters of the contest, trailing by just six points at halftime. The Ducks used a 34-point third quarter to create a significant deficit that PSU could not climb back from.
  • Nyla McFadden and Kiyomi McMiller led the Lady Lions offensively with 15 points each.
  • McFadden posted 15 points on six-of-eight shooting from the floor, marking her fourth double figure scoring performance of the season. She also posted six rebounds.
  • Maggie Mendelson led the Lady Lions on the glass with seven boards.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN GOPHERS

  • Minnesota is 14-6, 5-4 Big Ten. The Golden Gophers are on a two-game win streak with victories over Oregon and Wisconsin most recently on Sunday. Minnesota owns a ranked win over no. 21 USC.
  • Grace Grocholski leads the team offensively, scoring 14.0 points per game. Tori McKinney (12.5) and Mara Braun (10.7) also average double figure scoring.
  • Grocholski is ranked third in the country and second in the conference in three-point percentage (47.7).
    As a team, the Golden Gophers are second in the nation in turnovers per game (10.7) and own the seventh-best assist to turnover ratio (1.56). The Golden Gophers are ninth in the country in scoring defense, only allowing 54.2 points per game.
  • Minnesota finished the 2024-25 campaign 25-11, 8-10 Big Ten. The Golden Gophers earned a spot in the WBIT, becoming the eventual WBIT Champions with a win over Belmont in the championship game.
PENN STATE – MINNESOTA SERIES

  • Penn State owns the all-time series by a 32-26 margin.
  • The Golden Gophers won the most recent meeting last season, 90-54.
  • In the 2023-24 campaign, the teams faced twice with Penn State earning both wins including a 90-34 victory in the regular season finale.
LADY LIONS IN THE RANKS

  • Merkle ranks first in the nation in field goal percentage (74.2) and 11th in field goals (170). She is also fifth in the conference points per game (19.3).
  • McMiller ranks 10th in the nation in field goals (172) and first in field goal attempts (400), ranking fifth and first across the B1G consecutively in those categories. She sits sixth in the conference in points per game (18.8).
  • Murray is second in the Big Ten in three pointers (55) and third in three pointers per game (2.62).
And some additional information from Daily Collegian article:

Penn State women’s basketball suffered two double-digit losses in its West Coast trip to Washington and Oregon last week, falling to 7-14 on the season. The Lady Lions are still searching for their first Big Ten win since Jan. 19, 2025.

The blue and white have eight games left this season to find its footing and earn a conference victory, starting with a battle against Minnesota.

The Lady Lions’ last game against Oregon was a tale of two halves. After trailing 40-34 at halftime, the blue and white fell 89-59. Freshman Nyla McFadden and sophomore Kiyomi McMiller each scored a team-high 15 points.
Penn State played without 6-foot-6 Gracie Merkle after suffering a head injury in the previous game against Washington. Merkle is the Lady Lions’ leading scorer at 19.3 points per game.
The Gophers present tough guard play thanks to the likes of Grocholski and McKinney; the Lady Lions will look for a strong outing from their backcourt, which is led by McMiller and redshirt junior Moriah Murray.

McMiller is the blue and white's second leading scorer, averaging 18.8 points per game. Murray averages 9.5 points per game, and matches Grocholski’s scoring from deep by also netting 2.6 three pointers per contest.

Both teams own a nearly similar total points per game average, with Penn State averaging 74.4 points, compared to Minnesota’s 74.2. The bigger outlier between the two opponents comes from the defensive side of the ball.

Statistically, the Gophers have the best defense in the Big Ten, allowing just 54.2 points per game, and this number also ranks in the top-10 nationally.

On the other hand, the Lady Lions have the conference’s worst defense, with opponents averaging 82.3 points per game.

Wednesday’s matchup presents Penn State with both a clear challenge and an opportunity. If the Lady Lions can generate consistent offense from their guards while tightening up defensively, they’ll give themselves a chance to crack Minnesota’s elite defense and potentially break through in conference play.
 

In Penn States last game against Oregon McMiller came off the bench and Merkle did not play (dont think she was dressed)
 

According to the availability report on the Big Ten Website, it looks like Klick and Tracy Bershers are out again, Gracie Merkle also out for PSU.
 





A bit of a rough start for Battle and Tonga but lead after 1 quarter
 

1st quarter thoughts:

Pro: That was probably the best basketball I have ever seen Hart play. Dominating and passing out to cutters like she’s a pro. It’s was a beautiful thing to see.

Con: Battle. The way she can appear lazy and not attack the soft press as a senior is mind boggling. Some of these passes make you cringe
 




McMiller from Penn State is all
About stuffing her stats.

If Penn State keeps up this press we should get a layup every time if we don’t turn it over. They got a little hot from three but can’t believe that will last.
 


Gophers cannot afford to get into a scoring match with PSU,we’re not consistent enough scoring wise for that.
 

Tough defensive sequence there. In watching Brauns only 3-point attempt in the game, you could tell it was going be off well before she let the ball go. It's harder to tell on TV when she's on the other side of the floor, but I swear that at least a dozen to 15 3-pointers she's missed in the games I've watched from the camera side of the floor (which generally gives a decent angle) she seems to be fading in the direction she was moving before she set to shoot. If she's coming toward the baseline, she continues to fade in that direction and if she's coming up from the baseline, she seems to fade up toward midcourt as she releases. From what I've watched during the season, she goes straight up and down on most of her made 3's. Gotta believe she works on that with her coaches on her own, but sometimes it's hard to break a habit at game speed. Or is it just me seeing something that's not there?
 







when did Penn State learn to make 3's...

they had 5,4,6 made 3's in their last 3 games... and tonight already 8... what a joke
 

Up four at half. Still been really impressed with Hart. I feel like she has been playing at a different level the last four/five games.

Breaking the press still gives me anxiety, but when we do we get a pretty easy basket.
 



DietCokeFan said:
Up four at half. Still been really impressed with Hart. I feel like she has been playing at a different level the last four/five games.

Breaking the press still gives me anxiety, but when we do we get a pretty easy basket.
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Agree with this. Seems like as we move on thru the conference season, more and more teams are applying the press throughout the whole game. But you’re right there are easy baskets in this game when they do break it
 

Katogopher said:
Agree with this. Seems like as we move on thru the conference season, more and more teams are applying the press throughout the whole game. But you’re right there are easy baskets in this game when they do break it
Click to expand...
 


BBJones said:
Please, no more 3's from Glenn.
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Her 3-point shooting percentage is almost equal to McKinney and Braun. She's in a slump and as the old saying goes, you don't get out of a slump by not shooting open 3's. Do you say the same thing when McKinney shoots 'em?
 


This is the type of game where Christian would get some was wide open looks; but, she’s got like a minute of playing time.
 

After tonight 7-1 or 6-2 to end the season lots of winnable games… time for a legit big win.. no fringe top 25…
 



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