It's a big night for Gophers women's basketball. A win Wednesday against Rutgers would give the team, and head coach Dawn Plitzuweit, their 11th straight home win, and sixth straight win overall.
Plitzuweit spoke to Vineeta Sawkar on the WCCO morning News, and says players are stepping up including Tori McKinney, the most recent Big Ten Freshman of the Week.
"Tori's playing at a really high level, and we've needed her to do that with, with Mara (Braun) being out, and with Taylor Woodson being out," Plitzuweit said. "We've needed other players to step up and Tori certainly has been one of them who has done that at a very, very high level."
Minnetonka native Tori McKinney has started 11 straight games and is averaging just over 12 points a game during that stretch.
Plitzuweit says she's pleased with the improvement she's seen so far this season.
"We're getting a little bit better, we're boxing out a little bit harder, a little bit better, we're taking care of the ball a little bit better," she says. "We're defending and helping each other a little bit better and all those things add up, the aggregation of small gains, and we're getting a little bit better in a lot of different areas right now."
Preview
Rutgers Scarlet Knights (8-7, 0-4 Big Ten) at Minnesota Golden Gophers (15-1, 3-1 Big Ten)
Minneapolis; Wednesday, 7 p.m.
BOTTOM LINE: Minnesota hosts Rutgers aiming to extend its 12-game home winning streak.
The Golden Gophers have gone 10-0 at home. Minnesota averages 8.8 turnovers per game and is 13-1 when it has fewer turnovers than its opponents.
The Scarlet Knights are 0-4 against Big Ten opponents. Rutgers is second in the Big Ten with 13.5 offensive rebounds per game led by Chyna Cornwell averaging 4.6.
Minnesota scores 76.6 points, 7.5 more per game than the 69.1 Rutgers gives up. Rutgers scores 20.3 more points per game (71.1) than Minnesota gives up (50.8).
The matchup Wednesday is the first meeting this season for the two teams in conference play.
TOP PERFORMERS: Mallory Heyer is averaging 8.3 points and seven rebounds for the Golden Gophers.
Kiyomi McMiller is shooting 37.8% from beyond the arc with 2.2 made 3-pointers per game for the Scarlet Knights, while averaging 19.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists.
LAST 10 GAMES: Golden Gophers: 9-1, averaging 76.2 points, 36.1 rebounds, 17.3 assists, 8.8 steals and 2.9 blocks per game while shooting 44.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 53.0 points per game.
Scarlet Knights: 4-6, averaging 65.4 points, 36.8 rebounds, 11.3 assists, 8.7 steals and 4.1 blocks per game while shooting 39.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 66.9 points.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.