Junior guard Emily Fox, one of the offensive leaders of this year’s Minnesota women’s basketball team, took home Big Ten Player of the Week honors after two solid games at home last week.

Fox averaged 22.5 points and five assists per game en route to helping her team to a pair of wins over No. 15 Ohio State and Michigan State. The two wins moved the Gophers up in the standings to a tie for second place, just one game back of Ohio State for the conference lead.

Fox ranks third in the Big Ten in scoring, averaging 17.7 points per game, trailing teammate Leslie Knight and Wisconsin guard Jolene Anderson for the lead.

Fox’s 29-point game Sunday against Michigan State was her highest since she scored 30 against Virginia Tech on Nov. 11. Continued success will be needed from the guard if the Gophers are to have another successful week, as Minnesota hits the road to face Ohio State and Purdue.

–Mark Heise

Kish cleared

In what is perennially the most important match of the year, the No. 6 Gophers announced that two-time All-American Roger Kish will be able to wrestle against the top-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes when they come to Williams Arena on Feb. 1.

The fifth-ranked Kish has been plagued by injuries and has wrestled just twice since Dec. 6. Being in the 184-pound division, Kish will wrestle eighth-ranked Phil Keddy in an anticipated match.

“It’s exciting,” head coach J Robinson said. “When you go against the number one team in the country, you want to make sure that you have your whole lineup out there.”

The team also announced that 149-pound Dustin Schlatter, a 2006 national champion, may wrestle in the meet. Plagued by a hamstring injury, Schlatter hasn’t wrestled since late December.

Schlatter would take on third-ranked Brent Metcalf of the Hawkeyes. The two have never wrestled, and the match would be one of the most highly anticipated match-ups of the year.

–Trevor Born