Tigers Women's Basketball To Meet Minnesota Saturday

Saturday, December 12

Minneapolis, Minn.

2 pm CT

University of Memphis

Minnesota

Tickets

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Tigers Women's Basketball To Meet Minnesota Saturday

Dec 11, 2015 | Women's Basketball

Game is Memphis' first trip to state of Minnesota since 1982.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – For the University of Memphis, college finals week is over, but the smiles from students can be ones not of exhilaration but exhaustion.

Memphis head coach Melissa McFerrin, though, doesn't see that in her players as they finished up exams this week and look forward to only playing games over the school break.

"I haven't sensed that our players were overloaded during finals, so I hope they are fresh and rested," said McFerrin. "Finals week is a little different than it used to be. In years past, finals week was that grind week. It's still a little of a grind, but now some professors give finals either the last week of class or the last day of class. I believe our players will be ready to go."

The Tigers had better be ready to play Saturday when they face a high-powered Minnesota squad that averages nearly 85 points a game (84.9 ppg). The Golden Gophers, however, are producing offense in a different fashion than last season. Instead of getting the ball to the post like it did in 2014-15, Minnesota is letting it fly from deep. The Golden Gophers are fourth in the nation in three-pointers made per game (10.7) and average 29.0 three-point attempts per game.

"Minnesota is a little different this year because they don't have the inside presence yet that they did a year ago," McFerrin said. "They are a team that likes the push the ball up the floor and take the first three(-pointer). Minnesota has three or four three-point shooters, and they are going to let them fly.

"They want the score to get really, really high, and they also try to slow you down. They will play zone on defense most of the game. They want to run on offense and slow you down on defense."

Radio: 91.7 FM (WUMR)
Internet Video: Big Ten Network (BTN) Plus
Live Stats: Gophersports.com/Gametracker
LiveTweet: @MemphisWBKB, #MEMWBKB, #GoTigersGo

Tigers Tidbits/Five Notes To Know
• Saturday's game is the first of a two-game road swing for the Tigers. After Saturday's game at Minnesota, Memphis stays on the road and plays at Central Michigan Tuesday, Dec. 15. The Tigers play another two road games back-to-back in mid-February at UCF Feb. 10 and East Carolina Feb. 13.

• Saturday's contest features a match-up of top scorers. Memphis' Ariel Hearn and Minnesota's Rachel Banham have combined for nearly 4,000 points (3,960, to be exact). Entering Saturday's game, Hearn is No. 11 on the Tigers all-time scoring chart with 1,611 career points. On the other side, Banham will be honored before Saturday's game as Minnesota's all-time leading scorer. She has 2,349 career points.

• Minnesota holds a 2-1 series lead. The Golden Gophers won last season's meeting in Memphis, a 68-62 victory at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse. Saturday's game is the first trip to Minnesota for the Tigers since 1982-83 – a span of 33 seasons ago. Memphis played in the University of Minnesota's Dial Classic and fell to the Golden Gophers 84-76 in the tournament's title game in November of 1982.

• For Tigers head coach Melissa McFerrin, Saturday's game could be considered a reunion. McFerrin spent two seasons as the Golden Gophers associate head coach from 2002-04. Both seasons, Minnesota earned NCAA Tournament berths, and in 2004, advanced to the NCAA Final Four. Leading the Golden Gophers to the 2004 NCAA Final Four was All-America Lindsay Whalen, who also will be in attendance at Saturday's game. Whalen is coming back to Williams Arena to take part in pregame ceremonies honoring Rachel Banham as the program's all-time leading scorer. Banham took over the top scoring spot from Whalen.

• The Tigers defense is creating a lot of havoc, and it's causing trouble for opponents. Memphis leads the American Athletic Conference is forcing opponent turnovers at 20.6 miscues per game. Included in those turnovers are 12.5 steals per game by Memphis. The 12.5 steals are second-best in The American. Leading the Tigers steals brigade are Ariel Hearn and Brianna Wright, both of whom are ranked among the conference's leaders (Hearn, 1^st at 3.3 spg; Wright, 11^th at 2.0 spg).

Scouting Minnesota
The Golden Gophers bring a 5-2 record into Saturday's match-up. Minnesota bounced back after a two-game skid with a 105-86 victory over Towson in its last outing Dec. 6. Prior to that win, the Golden Gophers suffered losses to Auburn and No. 14/13 Duke. The Golden Gophers return three starters and six letterwinners from last season's squad. Rachel Banham, the Golden Gophers' all-time leading scorer, leads the 2015-16 squad with a 24.3 scoring average. Carlie Wagner also averages over 20 points per game (20.4 ppg). Minnesota has three players averaging over six rebounds per contest with Shayne Mullaney at 6.9 rpg, followed by Banham (6.6 rpg) and Wagner (6.4 rpg). The Golden Gophers also have three players — Banham (47.1 percent), Bailey (37.3 percent) and Wagner (35.7 percent) — that shoot over 35 percent from the three-point arc. Minnesota averages 29.0 three-point attempts per game (203 total) and ranks among the nation's top-five in three-pointers made per game (10.7).