Deja Winters (3) made a play against Michigan State’s Alisia Smith (4) in the Gophers’ victory on Feb. 6 at Williams Arena. (Carlos Gonzalez, Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

GOPHERS WOMEN'S BASKETBALL GAMEDAY

Vs. Northwestern, 3:30 p.m., at Williams Arena

Radio: 96.7-FM * Streamed on B1G+

Gophers update: This is a reschedule of a Dec. 31 game that was postponed because of COVID-19 issues within the Northwestern program. The Gophers (11-14 overall, 4-9 Big Ten) are coming off a 10-point loss at Iowa Wednesday in a game the Gophers trailed by one after three quarters — before Iowa opened the fourth 11-0. Still, considering that was the same Iowa team that beat the Gophers by 56 points at Williams Arena Jan. 20, Wednesday's result could be seen as progress. G Deja Winters is coming off a season-high 30 points at Iowa. She scored 25 of those — 25 of the Gophers' 41 points — in the second half. Sara Scalia had 23 points, her 15^th straight game in double figures and third straight with 23 or more points. Scalia and Winters are tied for seventh in the Big Ten in three-point shooting (42.0%). Scalia is second in the conference in threes made per game (3.2). Including this game, the Gophers have five more games in the regular season, and four of them are against teams currently at or below .500.

Northwestern update: This season has to be a disappointment so far for the Wildcats, who finished fifth in the Big Ten a season ago, earned an NCAA tournament berth and advanced to the second round. But the Wildcats (13-8, 5-5) have won consecutive road Big Ten games, at Purdue and Penn State. Their last game, a 78-72 win at Penn State on Sunday, was due to a 23-10 fourth quarter. The squad is led by PG Veronica Burton, who is eighth in the conference in scoring (17.7), second in assists (6.1) and first in steals (4.0). Caileigh Walsh is averaging 9.2 points and is first in the conference in blocks per game (1.8). Northwestern has only one player averaging double figures but has seven players averaging 6.0 points or more. First in the league in steals per game (10.2), the Wildcats will be a challenge for a Gophers team averaging 15.1 turnovers per game.