Gophers women to face Kentucky, the last team to defeat South Carolina

Kentucky has a different roster than the one that beat defending NCAA champion South Carolina in last year's SEC tournament championship.

December 6, 2022 at 11:57PM
Gophers guard Katie Borowicz drove toward the basket against Wake Forest guard Raegyn Conley in Wednesday’s 63-59 loss at Williams Arena. (Aaron Lavinsky, Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

GOPHERS WOMEN'S BASKETBALL GAMEDAY

7 p.m. Wednesday vs. Kentucky · BTN-plus, 96.7-FM

Gophers update: The Gophers are coming off a 98-96 double-overtime victory over visiting Penn State in their Big Ten opener Saturday. Freshmen accounted for 76 of those 98 points, with Mara Braun scoring 26, Amaya Battle with a career-high 19, Mallory Heyer (18 points and 11 boards) getting her second double-double of the season and Katie Borowicz scoring 13. The Gophers combined to hit 28 of 32 free throws, with Braun going 11-for-11.

Kentucky update: The Wildcats (6-1) are the last team to beat defending NCAA champion South Carolina. It happened in the SEC title game last season. But only five Kentucky players are back from the 2021-22 team that went 19-12 and played in the NCAA tournament. Three of the top five scorers are gone, including Rhyne Howard, who was the WNBA's Rookie of the Year. Kentucky is led by returners, G Jada Walker (14.9 ppg) and G Robyn Benton (14.3). Transfer Blair Green (10.3) is also scoring in double figures.

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Kent Youngblood

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Kent Youngblood has covered sports for the Star Tribune for more than 20 years.

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