Gophers junior point guard Jasmine Powell is back at her home in Detroit to attend the funeral of her grandmother and will miss Sunday's game against 10th-ranked Maryland at Williams Arena.
Gophers junior point guard Jasmine Powell to miss Sunday's game vs. Maryland
Jasmine Powell is back at her home in Detroit to attend the funeral of her grandmother. Powell is
January 9, 2022 at 7:24PM
Powell, the Gophers women's basketball team's most trusted ball-handler, leads the team in assists (5.7) and is second in scoring (13.5) and rebounds (4.7) for the 8-7 Gophers.
Backup point guard Alexia Smith will get more minutes, but the entire backcourt – including Sara Scalia, Deja Winters and Gadiva Hubbard – will have to do more in Powell's absence.
Against a Maryland team that likes to pressure the ball, and often uses a trapping defense the entire length of the court after a made basket, ball-handling and ball protection will be key for the Gophers. Doing that without Powell will be a challenge.
Powell missed the Gophers' Big Ten Conference opener, against Nebraska Dec. 6, due to an ankle injury. Nebraska turned 18 Gophers turnovers into 21 points in a 70-67 victory over Minnesota.
Each team has a loss to Michigan, by the same score (27-24), that suggests this one could be close, too.
