Penn State Hosts Minnesota In Monday Night Battle at BJCPenn State Hosts Minnesota In Monday Night Battle at BJC
Craig Houtz

Penn State Hosts Minnesota In Monday Night Battle at BJC


UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State women's basketball team looks to complete the season sweep of Minnesota Monday night when the Lady Lions welcome the Gophers to the Bryce Jordan Center for a 6 p.m. battle on the Big Ten Network.
 
FOLLOW ALONG

 
OPENING TIPS

  • Penn State returns to action Monday night when the Lady Lions look to complete the season sweep of Minnesota in front of a nationally-televised audience on the Big Ten Network.
  • Penn State will be playing its first game in eight days due to a midweek postponement.
  • The Lady Lions earned a 69-60 win in the season's first meeting with Minnesota on Jan. 10 in Minneapolis.
  • A young Penn State squad has faced ranked opponents in five of its last seven contests. The Lady Lions are the youngest team in the Big Ten with an average age of 19.56 and eight true freshmen on the roster.

 
IF PENN STATE BEATS MINNESOTA

  • Penn State would complete the season sweep of the Gophers for the first time since the 2012 season.
  • Penn State would improve to 4-4 inside the Bryce Jordan Center this season.
  • The Lady Lions would move to 5-6 overall and 2-5 in the Big Ten.

 
SCOUTING THE GOPHERS

  • Minnesota carries a 3-7 overall record and 2-6 mark in conference play into Monday night's contest.
  • The Gophers are coming off a 76-71 win at Nebraska in their most recent game Tuesday night.
  • Minnesota's other Big Ten win came on Jan. 3 with an 88-83 overtime victory at Wisconsin.
  • Four Gophers are averaging double-digit points, led by Jasmine Powell with 17.1 per game. Kadiatou Sissoko (12.0 ppg), Sara Scalia (11.6 ppg) and Gadiva Hubbard (10.9 ppg) follow.

 
AGAINST MINNESOTA

  • Penn State will be looking for the season sweep of Minnesota when the two teams meet for the second time in 15 days Monday night.
  • The Lady Lions earned a 69-60 victory in the season's first meeting on Jan. 10 in Minneapolis.
  • It marked Penn State's first win in Minneapolis since Feb. 5, 2012 and the Lady Lions' first conference victory of the season.
  • Minnesota held a 34-33 edge at halftime, but Penn State outscored the Gophers 21-10 in the third quarter to gain the advantage it would need to hold on for the 69-60 win.
  • Graduate transfer Kelly Jekot led the team with 15 points. Senior Johnasia Cash recorded her second-straight double-double with 14 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Freshman Maddie Burke rounded out the double-digit scoring with 13 points.

 
DEFENDING THE ARC

  • Penn State is holding opponents to a 23.9 percent clip from three-point range, a mark that ranks 15th in Division I and second in the Big Ten.
  • The Lady Lions will be facing a Minnesota team that ranks ninth in the conference with a 31.7 three-point FG percentage.

 
TOUGH STRETCH

  • Penn State is coming off a tough stretch of facing five top-25 opponents in its last seven games.
  • The strength of the Big Ten is on full display this season as nine different Big Ten programs have been ranked or received votes in a major national poll, while six different teams have appeared in either the AP Top 25 or USA Today Coaches poll.

 
YOUNGEST TEAM IN THE BIG TEN

  • Penn State's 2020-21 roster features eight freshmen and four transfers who are seeing their first court time in in the Blue and White this season. The eight freshmen, all true freshmen, are tied for the national lead in number of freshmen on Division I rosters. Oral Roberts and Incarnate Word also have eight freshmen on their rosters.
  • Penn State is ranked as the ninth-youngest team in Division I, and the youngest in the Big Ten, with an average age of 19.56.
  • Penn State has 12 players that have two or less years of Division I playing experience, which equates to 75 percent of its roster. The 12 rostered players with two or less years of DI playing experience is tied for ninth-most amongst all Division I rosters.

 
UP NEXT

  • Penn State hits the road for its next two contests with a Thursday night trip to Illinois and Sunday showdown at Purdue. Tipoff of Thursday's game against the Illini is set for 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT.