Gophers-Drake women's basketball preview

Gophers update: The Gophers are coming off a six-point win against Ohio in which they scored a season-high 99 points. G Sara Scalia hit nine of 13 three-pointers and scored 37 points, making 14 of 21 shots overall. PG Jasmine Powell had 18 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists in the game; in her past five games, Powell has averaged 15.6 points, 6.6 assists and 6.2 rebounds. The Gophers are getting a lot of production from the backcourt. They rank third in the Big Ten Conference in three-point percentage (.379) first in threes made (114) and tied for first in threes made per game (8.8).

Drake update: Drake has a new coach — Allison Pohlman was elevated to head coach after Jennie Baranczyk went to Oklahoma — but has eight letter-winners from last year's team that put a 99-66 loss on the Gophers in Williams Arena just over a year ago. Among those returning players are Grace Berg, who is averaging 11.0 points and was last year's newcomer of the year in the Missouri Valley Conference, and Maggie Bair (13.1 points), the sixth player of the year in the MVC. Megan Meyer, a transfer from Iowa, is averaging 12.0 points.