Gophers Travels to Iowa on Sunday Looking to Extend Winning Streak

Minnesota Golden Gophers (11-4, 3-1) vs. Iowa Hawkeyes (8-7, 1-3) LOCATION  Carver-Hawkeye Arena / Iowa City , Iowa DATE / TIME:  Sunday, Jan. 11 / 4:30 p.m. TELEVISION:  Big Ten Network Steve Schlanger (Play-by-play), Vera Jones (Color Analyst) RADIO / WEBCAST:   KBEM 88.5 / Gopher Radio Network / gophersports.com, (WCCO 830 AM, joined in progress) Corbu Stathes (Play-by-play), Lynnette Sjoquist (Color Analyst) Golden Gopher Watch List — Jan. 11, 2009 • Golden Gophers Head to Iowa on Sunday - Minnesota looks to continue its winning ways on Sunday, Jan. 11, when the Golden Gophers travel to Iowa for a 4:30 p.m. game versus the Hawkeyes. The Gophers (11-4, 3-1) have won their last three games. • Tip Time Announced For Iowa Game on Jan. 11 - The tip for the Minnesota / Iowa has been set for 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 11. The game will be televised by the Big Ten Network. • Close Games in Past Two Seasons - The last four games against Iowa have been decided by either two or three points, with a pair of those games going to overtime. Minnesota and Iowa will meet for the 60th time on Sunday, equaling the Wisconsin series for the longest in Minnesota history. • Ellis-Milan Leads Gophers to Victory - Ashley Ellis-Milan scored a season-high 18 points and collected a double-double with 10 rebounds in a big 70-62 win over Indiana on Thursday. The loss broke the Hoosiers' nine-game winning streak.   Gophers Look to Extend Winning Streak Minnesota travels to Iowa on Sunday, Jan. 11, in a game that will tip off at 4:30 p.m. in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Golden Gophers have won their last three games, including a big 70-62 win over Indiana on Thursday, and own an overall record of 11-4, 3-1 in Big Ten action. The Hawkeyes are 8-7 overall and 1-3 in Conference play. Minnesota Part of BTN Double-Header on Sunday Both the Minnesota men's and women's teams will take part in a Big Ten Network double-header on Sunday. The Gopher men host Penn State at 2:30 p.m. in Williams Arena in the first BTN game. Immediately following that broadcast at 4:30 p.m., the Gopher women's game at Iowa takes center stage. Calling the Minnesota/Iowa game for BTN is Steve Schlanger and Vera Jones. Tip Off Change Affects Radio Coverage The 4:30 p.m. tip off at Iowa and the men's game at 2:30 p.m. caused a change in Minnesota 's radio lineup. The Gophers' game at Iowa will be carried in its entirety on KBEM FM 88.5, while the originally scheduled WCCO Radio (830 AM) broadcast of the contest will be joined in progress following the completion of the men's broadcast. Stations throughout the state-wide Gopher Radio Network will also join the Gopher women's game in progress. Great Coverage on the Road Each of Minnesota 's 10 road games in Big Ten play have been or will be either televised or streamed live on the internet. The Illinois game was televised by CBS and the game at Penn  State on Feb. 5 will be streamed on the bigtennetwork.com website. The remainder of the games are BTN television broadcasts. This extensive coverage marks the first time in Gopher history that every Conference road game is available in the Twin Cities. Unfortunately, the down side of the great coverage on the road is having only three home games televised in Williams Arena. A Rivalry Like None Other The series between Minnesota and Iowa has more going for it than a border battle or that it matches the Wisconsin series for the longest-standing series in Minnesota history (the Gophers will face the Hawkeyes for the 60th time). What makes this series special is that the last four games, or the home-and-home meetings of the last two seasons, have been decided a margin of two or three points. Additionally, two of those games were decided in overtime. No other Big Ten series in Minnesota history has enjoyed a string of games that close.             The Last Four Meetings             Dec. 28, 2006    Iowa , 58-56        Minneapolis             Jan. 25, 2007     Minnesota , 80-78 ot       Iowa City             Jan. 3, 2008      Iowa , 68-66, ot   Minneapolis             Feb. 17, 2008    Iowa , 72-69        Iowa City Ellis-Milan Key to Gopher Win Over Indiana Junior center Ashley Ellis-Milan played a huge role in the Gophers' 70-62 victory over Indiana on Thursday. Ellis-Milan scored a season-high 18 points on an impressive 8-for-10 shooting night from the field. She added 10 rebounds to notch her sixth double-double of the season. Taking Care of the Rock Minnesota enjoyed its most efficient offensive outing of the 2008-09 committing a season-low nine turnovers in the win over Indiana . Another indicator of the Gophers' solid overall offensive outing was collecting 20 assists on their 26 field scored. The Gophers' guard tandem of Emily Fox and Brittany McCoy trammed to dish out 14 assists (seven a piece) with just four turnovers. You Play, You Score Minnesota played eight players in the Indiana game and all eight contributed in the scoring column. Five of the eight Gophers scored three-point field goals. The Gophers have had two games (Dec. 29 at Wisconsin the other) this season where every player who clocked minutes scored. A Break From the Books Minnesota's game versus Iowa is the Gophers' sixth of eight games between the Fall and Spring semesters on Thursday versus Illinois . Classes resume on Tuesday, Jan. 20. Big Ten Defensive to Start the Season The Big Ten is known as a physical league. Starting the Conference season where experienced coaches know so much about their Big Ten opponents, the statistics are revealing just how important team defense is this season. Only one team, Indiana, is averaging over 70 points per Big Ten game and barely over mark at 70.2 points per game. Amazingly over half the teams - six ( Michigan State , Iowa , Michigan , Northwestern, Wisconsin and Illinois ) - are averaging less than 60 points a game this season in Conference play. Minnesota is just above that group at 60.8 points per game. So, This Only Makes Sense Ohio State is leading the Big Ten and tops the stat sheet in team defense allowing just 50.0 points a game. Surprisingly, however, Illinois - yet to win a Big Ten game this season - ranks second at 52.8 points allowed an outing. Minnesota checks in fifth at 56.8, and as one of six Conference teams whose defensive in Big Ten play is allowing less than 60 points a game. Iowa is 11th allowing 67.0 points a game. Ohm Firing on Record Pace From Long Range Katie Ohm has been sensational from behind the arc this season. Her 44 three-point field goals in on record pace to set Minnesota 's single-season record of 73 (Lindsay Lieser, 2001-02; and Shannon Schonrock, 2004-05). Ohm has 13 more three-point field goals made than her nearest Big Ten competitor and twice the number of everyone but five Conference players. Ohm has netted three or more three-pointers in nine games this season. Voigt One of Four Big Ten Rookie Starters Minnesota forward Jackie Voigt is one of four true freshmen in the Big Ten to earn a spot in the starting lineup of their respective teams for the opening games of the Conference season. The 6-1 forward has started all 15 games for the Gophers this season. Other rookie starters around the Big Ten are: Fabiola Josil ( Illinois , guard), Brittany Orban (Northwestern, forward) and Samantha Prahalis ( Ohio  State , guard). Emmy Continues Climb Up Scoring Chart Emily Fox started her season in 13th on the Minnesota all-time leading scorers list and is currently 11th with 1,243 career points. Looking ahead, Fox's next target on the list in 10th place is Ellen Kramer (1987-91) with 1,336 points. It Starts With the Defense Minnesota has used its pressure defense to force opponents into an average of 20.6 turnovers a game. In seven games this season, the Gophers have snagged 10 or more steals. Buford Making Most of Minutes Gopher rookie Kiara Buford is averaging 11.6 points per game when she sees 20 or more minutes of action. Buford's latest 20-minute outing was a 14-point performance on an impressive 6-for-7 shooting outing in 21 minutes versus Illinois . Averaging 7.8 points per Conference game, Buford is currently the Big Ten's third-leading freshman scorer behind Purdue's Brittany Rayburn (9.8) and Ohio State 's Samantha Prahailis (8.3). Extra Opportunities A team can win some games if they enjoy continuous success in this statistic - turnover margin. Minnesota   with a ratio of +4.87 owns a ratio of over twice that of its nearest Big Ten rival - Penn State at +2.21. In easy terms, Minnesota 's defense is giving its offense extra possessions to the tune of nearly five a game. Coaches Love This One Minnesota's starting backcourt of Brittany McCoy and Emily Fox are ranked first and second in the Big Ten statistics in a very important, but under-appreciated stat of assist-to-turnover ratio. McCoy checks in with a ratio of 1.74 with 75 assists and 43 turnovers. Fox has 63 assists to 37 turnovers for a 1.70 assist/turnover ratio. The duo enjoyed their best collective outing versus Boston College , combining for 13 assists without a single turnover. In their last outing, the McCoy/Fox duo trammed for 14 assists and four turnovers. Closing in on Century Mark For Record Third Time Brittany McCoy is closing in on adding the 2008-09 as her third consecutive season with 100 or more assists. McCoy has 75 assists averaging 5.0 dishes a game, which ranks second in the Big Ten. The Gopher junior is already the only player in school history to dish out 100 or more assists as both a freshman and sophomore. McCoy's 311 career assists currently stands seventh in Minnesota history. Scouting Iowa Iowa owns an 8-7 overall record, 1-3 in Big Ten play, this season after sharing the Big Ten regular-season crown with Ohio  State a year ago. The Hawkeyes were defeated at Purdue by a score of 60-49 on Thursday, their second loss the Boilermakers in a one-week span. Iowa opened the Big Ten season with a win at Wisconsin (73-63), followed by losses to Purdue (69-60) and at Indiana (76-54). Senior Megan Skouby leads the Hawkeyes averaging 14.1 points per game. The Minnesota / Iowa Series Iowa leads the series with Minnesota by a 39-20 margin, though this series has been one of the Gophers' most competitive over recent seasons. Iowa has won three of the last four games versus Minnesota