The Gopher women are firmly on the NCAA Tournament bubble and face a big game against Iowa Thursday night in Dinkytown.
This is not Caitlin Clark's Iowa Hawkeyes, but they are coming off a big win against a top ten USC team, handing them only their second loss of the season. Gopher head coach Dawn Plitzuweit says Iowa is a handful, Caitlin Clark or not.
"They have a lot of similarities to what they've done in the past," Plitzuweit told Vineeta Sawkar on the WCCO Morning News this week. "They obviously had the ball in Caitlin's hands a lot more, most of the time, but they still had the toughness component. They have the ability to space the floor. They've got a really good post, two really good post kids inside that can make you pay in a lot of different ways."
Playing at home will make a difference after the Gophers struggled in losses on the road in LA to both USC and UCLA, both a couple of the best teams in the country.
"Our fans, our last game against Wisconsin, our best crowd of the season and our best in a few years besides our two sellouts last year," Plitzuweit explains. "We had great fan attendance. We're getting more students. It's women's sports on the rise."
PREVIEW
Iowa Hawkeyes (15-7, 5-6 Big Ten) at Minnesota Golden Gophers (18-5, 6-5 Big Ten)
Minneapolis; Thursday, 7 p.m.
BOTTOM LINE: Iowa takes on Minnesota after Lucy Olsen scored 28 points in Iowa’s 76-69 win against the USC Trojans.
The Golden Gophers have gone 12-1 in home games. Minnesota ranks seventh in the Big Ten with 10.6 offensive rebounds per game led by Sophie Hart averaging 2.7.
The Hawkeyes are 5-6 in Big Ten play. Iowa has a 0-3 record in one-possession games.
Minnesota averages 75.6 points, 9.5 more per game than the 66.1 Iowa allows. Iowa has shot at a 46.8% clip from the field this season, 8.6 percentage points greater than the 38.2% shooting opponents of Minnesota have averaged.
The Golden Gophers and Hawkeyes square off Thursday for the first time in conference play this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Grace Grocholski is shooting 34.5% from beyond the arc with 1.9 made 3-pointers per game for the Golden Gophers, while averaging 12 points. Amaya Battle is averaging 16.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.8 steals over the last 10 games.
Hannah Stuelke is averaging 13.6 points and 7.9 rebounds for the Hawkeyes. Olsen is averaging 14.2 points over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Golden Gophers: 6-4, averaging 73.0 points, 33.0 rebounds, 15.8 assists, 7.3 steals and 1.4 blocks per game while shooting 43.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 67.7 points per game.
Hawkeyes: 5-5, averaging 73.3 points, 34.4 rebounds, 18.0 assists, 7.4 steals and 2.9 blocks per game while shooting 46.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 68.8 points.