| Northwestern (14-6, 4-5 B1G) vs. Minnesota (17-4, 6-3 B1G) |
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| Date | Sunday, Feb. 1 | 2:00 p.m. CST |
| Location | Welsh-Ryan Arena | Evanston, Ill. |
| Watch Live | BTN Plus on BTN2GO |
| Listen Live | WNUR - 89.3 FM |
| Live Stats | GameTracker |
| Social Media | @nuwbball  | Northwestern Women's Basketball  | @NUCATS_WBB  |
| Game Notes (PDF) |
Northwestern | Minnesota |
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern closes out a brief two-game homestand on Sunday afternoon when it welcomes the Minnesota Golden Gophers to Welsh-Ryan Arena for a 2 p.m. contest.
NCAA RECORD FALLS AT WELSH-RYAN ARENA
With 2.6 seconds left against Iowa on Jan. 29, Northwestern's Nia Coffey connected from downtown to help set an NCAA record. The Wildcats and Hawkeyes broke a 15-year-old NCAA record when they combined to make 32 3-point field goals on Thursday. Iowa made 19 on the night, while Northwestern added 13. The previous record, 31, was set by Ole Miss (17) and Bowling Green (14) on Nov. 26, 1999, but those teams needed 75 attempts to get there. NU and Iowa only attempted a combined 46 shots from beyond the arc. The combined shooting percentage was an eye-popping 69.6 percent from 3-point territory.
CONSISTENT 'CATS
Northwestern head coach Joe McKeown has used the same starting lineup, consisting of Alex Cohen, Nia Coffey, Maggie Lyon, Christen Inman and Ashley Deary, in all 19 games this season. That group has opened the last 24 consecutive games together and 47 of 53 contests since the start of the 2013-14 campaign. Lyon has the most career starts, 76, while Deary has started all 53 games of her career.
CAREER NIGHT FOR SEVERAL 'CATS
In addition to setting an NCAA team record on Thursday night, several members of Chicago's Big Ten Team posted individual career-high numbers. Sophomore Nia Coffey netted a career-high 35 points, while her classmate Ashley Deary added a personal-best 22 while making all five of her 3-point attempts. Christen Inman, who averaged 17 points per game in two contests last week, was held to only eight points against Iowa, but she handed out a career-high six assists.
LYON NETS 1,000
Northwestern junior Maggie Lyon entered Sunday's game at Penn State needing only three points to reach 1,000 for her career. The Wilmette, Ill., native wasted little time, burying a 3-pointer just 71 seconds into the game to reach the milestone. She would hit five triples on the day. Lyon, now with 1,037 points, is the first Wildcat to reach the mark since her former teammate Kendall Hackney did so on Jan. 26, 2012 against Purdue. The duo played together during the 2012-13 season when Lyon was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Hackney finished her career ranked ninth on NU's all-time scoring list with 1,547 points.
SCOUTING MINNESOTA
Overall Record: 17-4, 6-3 Big Ten
All-Time Series Record: NU leads, 34-31
Notable: Minnesota has not skipped a beat without the aid of the Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year Rachel Banham. Banham suffered a season-ending knee injury in December, but the Golden Gophers have won eight of 11 games in her absence. Minnesota leads the Big Ten with 44.0 rebounds per game and it ranks second behind the Wildcats with 17.7 assists per contest. The Gophers strong frontcourt is bolstered by sophomore Amanda Zahui B., who is scoring a team-high 17.5 points per game while pulling down 11.5 rebounds and blocking 3.9 shots per contest. Shae Kelly scores 16.3 points per game, while adding 9.0 rebounds. The Gophers are coached by Marlene Stollings, who is in her first season in Minneapolis after spending the previous two campaigns at Virginia Commonwealth.
UP NEXT
Northwestern will hit the road this week to take on the Indiana Hoosiers on Thursday, Feb. 5. It is the only meeting between the two teams scheduled during the regular season. The 'Cats will be back home on Sunday, Feb. 8 to host Illinois and celebrate National Girls & Women in Sports Day.
More notes and information are available for both teams in the Game Notes PDF packages linked at the top of the page.
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