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.
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.
