WBB: Gophers v Memphis @ Williams-Game 8 (12/12)

Minnesota (5-2) plays Memphis (4-4). Memphis defeated, Jacksonville State, Eastern Illinois, Georgetown and Southern Illinois. The Tigers lost to Kansas, Arkansas Little Rock, Saint Louis and George Washington.

Stats of note:
Steals per game: Memphis (12.7) and Minnesota (6.8)
Turnovers per game: Memphis (17) and Minnesota (14.6)
Three point field goals: Memphis (3.9) and Minnesota (10.7)

Connections:
Melissa McFerrin returns to Williams arena where she was a Gopher assistant during the Final Four run. McFerrin, Stollings and Dawkins go back to early nineties Ohio State basketball when Stollings played while McFerrin and Dawkins coached.

Cheyenne Creighton who comes off the bench for the Tigers was a team mate of Danielle Garven on last summer’s Canada U/19 team.

http://www.gophersports.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/121015aab.html

Rachel Banham and Carlie Wagner are the No. 2 scoring duo in the nation as of Dec. 9. Banham (24.3 points per game) and Wagner (20.4) combine to score 44.7 points per contest. Their combined average trails only that of Washington’s Kelsey Plum (NCAA-best 28.4 ppg) and Talia Walton (18.3). Banham is one of two players in the country (along with UNC-Greensboro’s Lucy Mason, nine games) to have at least 20 points in every game so far. Banham is one of seven to have at least seven 20-point games

http://www.twincities.com/gophers/c...ens-basketball-going-small-yields-big-numbers

Marcus Fuller explores small ball:

When Rachel Banham looked at the University of Minnesota women's basketball team's box score for Sunday's win against Towson, she had to do a double take at the three players with double-doubles.

The Gophers (5-2), who host Memphis (4-4) on Saturday at Williams Arena, played with a five-guard lineup in their last game, but they still managed to have Banham, Carlie Wagner and Shayne Mullaney all reach the 20-point, 10-rebound mark.

The crazy thing is all three of them are under 6-feet tall.

In fact, the tallest player in the starting lineup with five guards this season was Joanna Hedstrom, a 6-1 former high school point guard.

"The strengths are definitely that we all can shoot the three and score in different ways," Banham said