After a shocking season-opening upset loss to Jacksonville to begin their season, the Gophers responded with a pair of impressive wins over Arizona State and George Washington.
Friday, Nov. 12: Gophers knock off Arizona State 66-59 in overtime road win
Minnesota traveled to Tempe, Arizona for their first road game of the season against an Arizona State team that went 12-12 a season ago.
After deploying the same starting lineup, as they did to open the season, the Gophers found success from some familiar faces.
Junior point guard Jasmine Powell led the team with 21 points on 9-22 shooting to go along with a team-high nine rebounds and five assists.
Redshirt junior forward Kadi Sissoko added 14 points, while junior guard Sara Scalia netted 13 points, after a team-high 25 point performance against Jacksonville. The Stillwater, Minnesota native’s double-digit scoring streak is now at 15 games.
The Gophers defense was able to force the Sun Devils into tricky situations all game, resulting in a 33.3% shooting performance as a team. Winning the rebound margin 53-45 was the cherry on top of a physical performance for the Gophers, ultimately leaving with a 66-59 victory.
Sunday, Nov. 14: Gophers defense shuts down George Washington 48-32 in first home win of season
A busy start to the 2021 season continued, as the Gophers welcomed a George Washington team that went 9-14 a season ago to Williams Arena for their third game in six days.
Points were tough to come by for both the Gophers and Colonials in a mid-afternoon Sunday matchup. A combined 28-109 shooting performance between both teams made for a defensive battle.
NC A&T transfer graduate student Deja Winters led the way with 17 points, her most in a Minnesota uniform. Her 6-13 shooting performance with eight rebounds gave the Gophers some much-needed production.
“Her familiarity with our system and what we do has just gotten better,” Gophers head coach Lindsay Whalen said. “Just getting more comfortable and fluent with the stuff we run, what we’re trying to do and getting more comfortable with her teammates, it’s a process.”
Sara Scalia continued to find offensive success with 14 points for the game, but Minnesota was able to only find 17 more points outside of Winters and Scalia.
George Washington’s 19.2% shooting performance was a Minnesota school record for an opposing team. The Gophers were able to take advantage and come out of the sloppy game with a 48-32 victory.
“This performance says a lot about our team’s toughness after the travel we’ve had this week,” Whalen said. “The win is what we are focused on today. To bounce back this week has been really fun, and just getting back to being us and performing this way.”
The Gophers’ abnormally busy start to the season continues Wednesday with a home matchup with American at 7:00 p.m. It will be their fourth game in eight days to start the season.
