Banham Sets Another B1G Record, Gophers Fall at No. 6 Maryland

(Gophersports.com) -- The Golden Gophers (19-10, 11-7 Big Ten) ended the regular season with a 110-77 loss at No. 6 Maryland (27-3, 16-2 Big Ten). Minnesota will have the No. 5 seed for the Big Ten Tournament this week.

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Rachel Banham led the Maroon and Gold with 26 points and is the Big Ten’s scoring champion with a conference-record average of 30.5 points per game in league play. She also ends the 18-game Big Ten schedule with a record 75 3-pointers. Joanna Hedstrom made five triples and had 21 points

Maryland shot 57.5 percent as it captured the Big Ten regular-season title outright with the win. Tierney Pfirman led the Terrapins with 29 points. The Gophers kept the game close until early in the second quarter before the Terps opened up a larger lead. Maryland outrebounded Minnesota 53-23 and scored 56 of its points in the paint.

MORE NOTES
*As a team, Minnesota set the Big Ten season record with 169 3-pointers, edging out Ohio State (167). The Gophers made 13 of its 37 3-point attempts on Sunday.
*Banham broke the scoring record set by Northwestern’s Anucha Browne in 1984-85. Browne scored 529 points (29.4 per game) during that conference season.
*The 3-point record Banham broke stood for just one season, as Ohio State’s Kelsey Mitchell made 69 last season. Mitchell matched her freshman year total but Banham already had 70 entering Sunday’s game.

UP NEXT
Minnesota has a first-round bye and will begin play in Indianapolis against the winner of a game between Northwestern and Wisconsin. The Thursday, March 3 game will air on BTN 25 minutes after the 11 a.m. game ends.

Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament Bracket Announced
Maryland enters tournament as No. 1 seed for second consecutive season

ROSEMONT, Ill. – The Big Ten announced the bracket on Sunday for the 2016 Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament, held March 2-6 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Maryland secured its second consecutive outright Big Ten Championship and the No. 1 seed in the tournament.

With a 110-77 victory over Minnesota, the Terrapins closed out the season with a 16-2 Big Ten record and 27-3 overall. The Terrapins will play their tournament-opening game on Friday, March 4, at Noon ET, the first game of the day.

Ohio State enters the tournament as the No. 2 seed after compiling a 15-3 conference record and a 23-6 overall mark this season. The Buckeyes open tournament play on Friday at 6:30 p.m.

Michigan State secured the No. 3 seed, going 13-5 in Big Ten play and 22-7 overall. The Spartans’ first tournament game will be the last game on Friday night at approximately 9 p.m.

Indiana locked in the No. 4 seed with a 12-6 Big Ten record and 20-10 overall mark, as the final team with a double-bye in the tournament. The Hoosiers will play in Friday’s second game at approximately 2:30 p.m.

Minnesota earned the No. 5 seed, closing out Big Ten play with an 11-7 conference mark and 19-10 overall. The Golden Gophers will first play on Thursday, March 3, in the second game of the day at approximately 2:30 p.m.

Purdue enters the tournament as the No. 6 seed after finishing 10-8 in the conference and 19-10 overall. The Boilermakers will play in Thursday’s final game at approximately 9 p.m.

Michigan and Nebraska tied for seventh place with matching 9-9 Big Ten records. The Huskers won the tiebreaker based on their victory over the Wolverines in the regular season. At 18-11 overall, Nebraska earned the No. 7 seed and will play No. 10 Rutgers in Thursday’s third tilt at 6:30 p.m. The Scarlet Knights tied with Iowa for ninth place at 8-10 in conference play, but the Hawkeyes won the tiebreaker based on their regular-season win over Rutgers.

The eighth-seeded Wolverines went 17-12 overall and will take on ninth-seeded Iowa in Thursday’s first contest at Noon. The Hawkeyes finished the regular season 18-12 overall.

The tournament will open on Wednesday with a 1:30 p.m. matchup between No. 13 Wisconsin and No. 12 Northwestern, followed by No. 14 Illinois taking on No. 11 Penn State at approximately 4 p.m.

BTN will carry the first 12 games of the Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament, while Sunday’s championship game will be televised by ESPN.

In 2015, Maryland became the eighth school to win the conference tournament, joining Indiana, Iowa, Michigan State, Nebraska, Ohio State, Penn State and Purdue.

Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament tickets can be purchased at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse box office, Ticketmaster.com or charge by phone at 800-745-3000. For more information on the Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament, go to www.bigten.org.

Source: Banham Sets Another Record

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