The Gophers women’s basketball team survived a late game comeback from Wisconsin, earning its first Big Ten win of the season, to improve to 2-4.

After a 10-day layoff, the Golden Gophers returned to action with a matchup against the Badgers of Wisconsin. The opposition entered this contest with early season struggles of their own, sitting at a 3-3 overall record and 0-3 in the Big Ten thus far. Wisconsin is led by sophomore guard Sydney Hilliard, who averaged 20.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists per contest coming into Sunday’s game.

After beginning the season with games against four perennial NCAA tournament teams in its first five games, the Wisconsin matchup presented a get-right opportunity for the Gophers.

The Gophers came out firing, building on their best first quarter of the season from last time out against Indiana, jumping out to a 22-11 lead over the Badgers. They were able to flip the script, as early season struggles of three-point defense and committing too many turnovers were flipped.

Wisconsin had seven first quarter turnovers compared to Minnesota’s two. The Gophers 57.1% shooting from beyond the arc in the first ultimately opened their biggest first-half lead of the season.

Sara Scalia has gotten out to a slow start in this season, after an All-Big Ten Honorable Mention season last year as a freshman. Sunday against Wisconsin, the Stillwater, Minn. native showed her potential with a team-high 11 first-half points. Unfortunately, Scalia ran into a hard screen in the second half, forcing her out of the game completely.

“We will have to re-evaluate tomorrow and where she is at,” Gophers’ head coach Lindsay Whalen said following the game.

The Gophers led at the half for the first time this season, 41-30, after forcing 13 first-half Wisconsin turnovers and committing only four of their own. After the game, Whalen was happy with her team’s improved decision making.

“We only turned it over 10 times and had 19 assists, that’s how you play the game,” she said.

A second-half slugfest saw both teams commit 25 fouls combined. The Gophers’ 11 point first-half lead quickly shrunk, as they cooled off dramatically only shooting 29.4% as a team in the final two quarters.

Wisconsin’s backcourt of Julie Pospíšilovà and Hilliard took over the game combining for 17 points, nine assists and three rebounds in the final two quarters, as well as limiting Jasmine Powell to zero points in the second half. Minnesota was able to limit the damage as Gadivia Hubbard, Laura Bagwell-Katalinich and Kadi Sissoko combined for 27 of the team’s 29 second half points.

A late layup from Hubbard seemed to seal the game, until Wisconsin’s Imani Lewis sank a layup of her own to send the game to overtime, tied at 70.

The extra period saw the Gophers jump out to a 7-0 lead and Wisconsin, then answered with a 10-5 run of its own. A late-game blunder from the Badgers — they attempted to call a timeout when they did not have one — which resulted in a technical foul would ultimately extend the Gophers’ lead.

“Our team chose to fight and persevere,” Whalen said. “How you play is generally how you practice, and that mental focus is what I saw yesterday in practice. They deserved to win. We kept fighting and kept playing.”

Minnesota won 88-80, earning its first Big Ten win of the season to improve to 2-4 overall. Five Gophers scored in double figures led by Hubbard’s 24 points, 19 of which came after halftime.

“Gadiva [Hubbard] was huge down the stretch,” Whalen said. “She played with four fouls from the third quarter on with four fouls; you just can’t replace that savviness and experience.”

Minnesota will now travel to Iowa City, Iowa, for a Jan. 6 matchup with the Iowa Hawkeyes (7-1).

The 1-3 Gophers women’s basketball team received some positive news Tuesday, as Nebraska-transfer Kayla Mershon was granted immediate eligibility by the NCAA and Big Ten.

Mershon, a Minnetonka, Minn. native, will have two full years of on-court eligibility remaining after playing the past two seasons for the University of Nebraska. The junior forward averaged 2.4 points and 2.8 rebounds in 14.6 minutes of action in each of the 60 games she appeared in as a Cornhusker. She believes that her game has plenty of room to grow.

“I really want to work on my scoring mentality. At Nebraska, they saw me more as a defensive threat, while the coaches here want me to be more of an overall player,” Mershon said. “I think working on my offensive game and connections with my teammates will make the transition that much easier.”

In her high school career with the Minnetonka Skippers, Mershon found great success. She was a four-time first-team All-Lake Conference player and led the Skippers to the 2016 state title as a junior. She followed that up, averaging 12.7 points, 9.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.2 steals per game as a senior. Her heralded prep career led to her being ranked as the No. 14 wing nationally by ESPN. Growing up in Minnesota, Mershon knew that the University of Minnesota was the place for her.

“When I came to play at Minnesota last season [with Nebraska], there were 30 of my friends and family at the game, and I just felt loved,” she said. “I knew that this place felt like home.”

The 6-foot-3 forward will be eligible to join the Gophers as soon as Wednesday’s matchup with preseason Big Ten favorite Indiana. Mershon will provide much needed experience for a Gophers team that starts only one player with more than two full years of experience playing in the Big Ten conference.

Lindsay Whalen’s struggling Gophers team is slated to host the No. 19 ranked Hoosiers Wednesday, followed by a trip to Madison, Wis., on Jan. 3 and Iowa City, Iowa, on Jan. 6.

With four rotation players out due to either an injury or illness, Minnesota faced an uphill battle in its season opener against Eastern Illinois, but left victorious 72-68.

Sophomore guard Sara Scalia, five-star freshman Alexia Smith, transfer post player Laura Bagwell-Katalinich, and freshman guard Caroline Strande were all on the bench for Wednesday’s season opener.

The Gophers who did suit up began their 2020 campaign with an up and down performance. Syracuse transfer Kadi Sissoko opened her Minnesota career with quite a game. Having not appeared in a college game in over a year, the redshirt-sophomore finished with 24 points, eight rebounds and two assists.

“She is really a great player and we all knew it. It is just fun when your teammate is doing as good as she was,” Gophers’ point guard Jasmine Powell said.

Eastern Illinois’ Lariah Washington did not go down without a fight. Washington, a St. Cloud, Minn. native and member of the All-OVC preseason team, finished with 22 points of her own.

“She is the returning freshman of the year in the conference. There is no question that she had a great game, give her credit she played a heck of a game,” Gophers’ head coach Lindsay Whalen said.

Whalen quickly established a short rotation with only seven players making an appearance all game. The lack of depth saw the Gophers get off to a slow start, trailing 14-17 after the first quarter.

Sophomore point guard Jasmine Powell struggled to find a rhythm in the first half, shooting 3-14 from the field, yielding only seven points along with four turnovers.

“She is going to be on the top of everyone’s scouting report all year. They switched every ball screen and made it hard for us,” Whalen said. “She knows that some of her turnovers were unforced, but at the same time we don’t win if she is not out there.”

Sophomore center Klarke Sconiers added productive minutes from the post resulting in eight first-half points and five rebounds. Eastern Illinois’ 48% shooting from the field and 40% from behind the arc proved to be instrumental in the Gophers’ two-point deficit going into the break down 31-33.

Whalen’s team came out of the locker room with a different level of intensity, tempo, and decisiveness. They opened the third quarter on an 18-7 run extending their lead all the way to nine. Powell was leading the offense with a different level of instinctual play as she was seeming to find her rhythm.

Eastern Illinois did not fold in, as they kept within striking distance all the way until the clock hit zero. Sissoko picked up her pivotal fourth foul about halfway through the fourth quarter, and it seemed that the Panthers had gotten back into it.

Whalen made the decision to sit her on the bench at the first dead ball following the call after playing nearly the entire game prior. The Paris, France native returned with about three minutes remaining in the game, setting up the Gophers to lean on their two stars, Sissoko and Powell down the stretch.

Sissoko would eventually foul out with 38.7 seconds remaining, but it was too late for an EIU comeback and Minnesota survived 72-68.

The lack of fans was an experience that was hard to describe. It provided a unique environment that most players would not expect when competing inside Williams Arena.

“It is really different. I am used to Coach Whalen trying to hype up the crowd and she couldn’t do that this time except for the cutouts. It is really weird, but it’s kinda like practice,” Powell said.

The Gophers will next host Drake on Sunday, Dec. 6 at 2 p.m. as they look to begin the season 2-0.

The 2020-21 women’s basketball season is set to begin this Wednesday on Nov. 25, and the Minnesota Gophers are scheduled to play in two nonconference games and 20 Big Ten conference games.

Minnesota’s nonconference schedule will begin Dec. 2 when it hosts Eastern Illinois at 11 a.m. It then will host Drake four days later at 2 p.m.

Big Ten conference play will begin Dec. 9, three days after the team concludes nonconference play. With 20 conference games and 14 schools in the conference, Minnesota is only able to play 10 teams in a traditional home-and-home series.

The Gophers will play Wisconsin, Iowa, Penn State, Maryland, Nebraska, Michigan and Illinois twice, leaving Michigan State, Northwestern, Rutgers, Indiana, Purdue and Ohio State for only one matchup this season.

The regular season will be capped off with a road game at Illinois on either March 5 or March 6.

Following regular season play, the Gophers will be seeded in the Big Ten conference tournament depending on their final standing within the conference. The tournament will take place in Indianapolis at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, March 9-13.

The Big Ten’s preseason media poll voted Indiana, Northwestern, Maryland, Michigan and Ohio State as the conference’s top five teams. Northwestern senior Lindsey Pulliam was voted as preseason Big Ten player of the year.

With plans changing day to day, Gophers’ head coach Lindsay Whalen has tried to keep the same mindset and relay that to her team.

“I have tried to not look too far back and not look too far forward, and try to stay as much as you can in the moment and understand that a lot of it is out of your control.”

The year 2020 will see the Gophers’ women’s basketball team without 49.1% of its scoring from a season ago, likely causing Whalen to rely on her team’s youth and transfers to take on a much-expanded role this season.

The 2020-21 women’s basketball season is set to begin this Wednesday on Nov. 25, and the Minnesota Gophers are scheduled to play in two nonconference games and 20 Big Ten conference games.

Minnesota’s nonconference schedule will begin Dec. 2 when it hosts Eastern Illinois at 11 a.m. It then will host Drake four days later at 2 p.m.

Big Ten conference play will begin Dec. 9, three days after the team concludes nonconference play. With 20 conference games and 14 schools in the conference, Minnesota is only able to play 10 teams in a traditional home-and-home series.

The Gophers will play Wisconsin, Iowa, Penn State, Maryland, Nebraska, Michigan and Illinois twice, leaving Michigan State, Northwestern, Rutgers, Indiana, Purdue and Ohio State for only one matchup this season.

The regular season will be capped off with a road game at Illinois on either March 5 or March 6.

Following regular season play, the Gophers will be seeded in the Big Ten conference tournament depending on their final standing within the conference. The tournament will take place in Indianapolis at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, March 9-13.

The Big Ten’s preseason media poll voted Indiana, Northwestern, Maryland, Michigan and Ohio State as the conference’s top five teams. Northwestern senior Lindsey Pulliam was voted as preseason Big Ten player of the year.

With plans changing day to day, Gophers’ head coach Lindsay Whalen has tried to keep the same mindset and relay that to her team.

“I have tried to not look too far back and not look too far forward, and try to stay as much as you can in the moment and understand that a lot of it is out of your control.”

The year 2020 will see the Gophers’ women’s basketball team without 49.1% of its scoring from a season ago, likely causing Whalen to rely on her team’s youth and transfers to take on a much-expanded role this season.

On Friday, the University of Minnesota’s Board of Regents passed the athletics department’s proposal to eliminate three men’s sports: indoor track and field, tennis and gymnastics. A revised proposal introduced Friday included only the elimination of indoor track and field, rather than both indoor and outdoor.

The decision on the motion regarding the vote to eliminate the three sports following the conclusion of the 2020-21 season was passed on a 7-5 vote. A motion was made to delay the vote until a later date, but was rejected on a 7-5 vote.

The proposal to cancel all three sports had been widely argued across the Gophers athletics community. University President Joan Gabel opened the meeting with an introduction to the issue.

“We have heard significant feedback from a wide variety of constituencies,” Gabel said. “I want everyone listening to know that we are listening to that feedback and we are aware and deeply respect that this is a very difficult decision for everyone involved.”

In May, 2020 the University’s athletic department had forecasted a revenue shortfall as high as $75 million for this fiscal year. They are expected to retain $9.5 million in proposed savings from coaching salary cuts and numerous budget cuts. With the Big Ten conference’s recent return of football they now expect only a $30 million loss for the 2021 year.

The department’s previous proposal at September’s Board meeting had stated the eliminated positions and pay cuts will save the department $1.3 million this fiscal year, $2 million in fiscal year 2022 and annual savings of $2.7 million once all student-athletes in the program on athletics-based aid have graduated. The new proposal will save the department $1.6 million this fiscal year.

The proposal had stated that every impacted student-athlete will continue to earn their scholarship that had previously been offered as well as continue to have access to academic advising, athletic medicine and mental health resources until each student has the opportunity to earn their undergraduate degree from the University.

Minnesota athletics director Mark Coyle’s presentation continued with regards to the impact that Title IX would have on the elimination of all three sports.

“The impetus for sports reduction is financial. The proposed plan also recognizes our obligation to provide Title IX gender-equitable participation opportunities for female and male athletes,” Coyle said. “We need to address the underrepresentation and unfortunately we are not in a financial position to add any teams.”

The initial proposal also would include mass cuts to women’s programs. Coyle’s revised proposal – with the elimination of only indoor but not outdoor track and field – the department expects less cuts to women’s sports, but did not provide an update to expected roster spots for team’s in 2021-22.