Gophers Game 8

Minnesota Golden Gophers (6-1) vs. St. Mary's College Gaels (1-6) LOCATION  Williams Arena (14,625) - Minneapolis , Minn. DATE / TIME:  Monday, Dec. 1 / 7 p.m. TELEVISION:  none RADIO / WEBCAST:   KBEM 88.5 FM / Gopher Radio Network / gophersports.com Corbu Stathes (Play-by-play), Lynnette Sjoquist (Color Analyst)   Gophers Host St. Mary's on Monday Minnesota continues a busy schedule with a home game on Monday against St. Mary's College. Tip off is set for 7 p.m. in Williams Arena. The Golden Gophers returned home at 3 a.m. on Sunday morning after winning the title in the Colorado Coors Classic over the weekend. Minnesota , winners of six straight games, owns a 6-1 record. St. Mary's is 1-6 on the season coming off a loss to Indiana in the title game of its own tournament in Moranga , Calif. , last weekend. Big Ten/ACC Challenge on Thursday Minnesota welcomes Boston College to WIlliams Arena on Thursday for the second year of the BIg Ten/ACC Challenge. The game will be video-streamed live on the Big Ten Network's website - bigtennetwork.com. Gophers Collect Second Tourney Title Minnesota added the championship trophy for last weekend's Colorado Coors Classic to the hardware from winning the Subway Basketball Classic two weeks ago. The Gophers have now won two early-season tournament titles in a season four times under head coach Pam Borton (2002-03, 2003-04, 2005-06 and 2008-09). Fox Collects MVP Honor in Home State The trip to the Colorado Coors Classic was a special one for Gopher senior guard Emily Fox. Fox, a Colorado native, had the chance to play in front of her family and friends in her home state and she made the best of it, leading the Gophers to the team title and earning the Classic's Most Valuable Player honor. The MVP award is Fix's second of the season and third of her career. She averaged 18.5 points and 4.0 assists per game in the Classic, topped by a 24-point, 6-assist effort in the title game versus UMass. Double-Doubles Land Ellis-Milan on All-Classic Team Gopher center Ashley Ellis-Milan joined Emily Fox on the Colorado Coors Classic all-tournament team. Ellis-Milan notched double-doubles in both games, with 13 points and 10 rebounds versus Drexel, and 11 points and a season-high 14 rebounds in the title game against UMass. She has three double-doubles on the season and 15 in her Golden Gopher career. Ellis-Milan has also collected double digits in rebounds in five straight games. An Ovation Due to Ohm Katie Ohm's performance in the Colorado Coors Classic championship game was definitely worthy of all-tournament team consideration. Ohm scored a career high with 20 points, including five three-pointers made. The Gopher guard hit three huge triples in the second half, scoring 14 points in Minnesota 's victory over UMass. Ohm Hits Century Mark in Three-Pointers Katie Ohm's five three-pointers in the win over UMass propelled  the Gopher junior over the century (100) mark for three-point field goals made. Ohm, currently with 102 treys, is the seventh Golden Gopher to hit trifecta triple digits. The Big Ten's most accurate long-ball threat from a year ago, Ohm has netted three or more three-point field goals in five of the Gophers' seven games this season. She leads the Big Ten making 3.0 three-pointers a game this season and with 21 threes made has made seven more triples than her closest conference competitor. Oh What a Half of Basketball It Was... Minnesota needed a big half to overcome an eight-point halftime deficit against UMass. What the Gophers responded with was an exceptional half of basketball. The list of highlights is a long one: •           58 points scored – the most scored in a half is 69 points vs. IPFW (11-21-02)  •           11-of-19 from three – five different Gophers hit a three-point field goal in the half •           4-of-5 from three – Both Katie Ohm and Emily Fox go 4-for-5 from three-point range in the half •           Emily Fox scores 18 points – Fox hits a big three for the Gophers' first points of the half, then 15 mores points to finish the game with 24 points   •          Rebounding dominance – the Gophers dominate the glass with a 23-7 rebounding margin  •           O-board big – the Gophers grabbed two offensive rebounds on their first possession of the half before Emily Fox hit the big three to ignite a 10-0 scoring run. Minnesota finished the half with 11 offensive rebounds to just one for UMass •           9 and 9 for Ashley – That's nine points and nine rebounds, five of them offensive, for Ashley Ellis-Milan •           Lucky 7 – Brittany McCoy dished out seven assists and finished with 10 in the game Takeaways a Big Part of the Game Plan Minnesota is using its defense to fuel its offense. The Gopher "D" has forced opponents in an average of 22.0 turnovers a game in 2008-09. Over 40 percent (30 points) of Minnesota 's 74 against Drexel were the result of Dragon turnovers. Something About 17 A fun trend for the Gophers this season revolves mysteriously around the number 17. In six games so far this season, the Gophers' leading scorer(s) have totaled 17 points five times: Emily Fox and Katie Ohm versus Santa Clara , Ohm versus North Dakota State , Fox versus Yale and now Kay Sylva versus Drexel. Sylva Simply Sensational Senior Kay Sylva is known for her defensive prowess, after all, she was the Gophers' Defensive Player of the Year last season. In back-to-back games versus Yale and Drexel, however, Sylva was a force on the offensive end of the court, posting new career scoring in both games. Sylva scored 12 against Yale, making 6-of-7 shots from the floor. She continued her aggressive looking for the basket versus Drexel, tallying 17 points on 5-7 from the field. That was an average of 14.5 points per game and a 78.6 shooting percentage for of 29 points a total that nearly surpassed her total points from last season (31). Sylva contributed five points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals in the Gophers' win over UMass in the Colorado Coors Classic title game. Pitching the Second Shutout of the Season Minnesota held Drexel without a second-chance point in the Gophers' win last Friday, marking the second time this season that Gophers pitched a shutout on the defensive glass. The other game was at Santa Clara . Rookie Comes Up Big On "D" Freshman forward Jackie Voigt drew the assignment of defending Drexel's prolific scorer Gabriela Marginean and passed the test with flying colors. Voigt set the tone for the Gophers in the first half playing 18 minutes matched up with Marginean, who entered the game averaging 29.5 points a game. Marginean managed to score just two points in that half when Voigt was on the defense. Frustrated the entire game, Marginean finished with 15 points, half of her season average. Fox Moves Into Third on Career Assists List, Jumps Into Mix in Three-Pointers Made Senior Emily Fox is making it a habit of moving up the Gophers' statistical career lists this season. Fox moved into third place in career assists with six dishes versus UMass and currently has 320 in her career. She moved past a threesome with 314 career assists – Debbie Hilmerson (1984-88), Holly Thompson (1988-92) and Janel McCarville (2001-05). Also in the UMass (11/29) game, Fox hit four three-point field goals to jump to ninth on the all-time three-point field goals made list. In the North Dakota State game (11/19), Fox moved up on the points and steals lists. Fox bypassed Kelly Roysland (2003-07) to move into 12th on the Minnesota all-time scoring list and now has 1,147 points. The Gopher senior also moved into fifth on the all-time career steals list with 188.