Gopher Women to play Big Ten home opener against Ohio State

February 23, 2012; Columbus, OH, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes guard Samantha Prahalis (21) fires a pass around Minnesota Golden Gophers guard Leah Cotton (11) at Value City Arena. Ohio State won the game 81-56. Mandatory Credit: Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports

The Gopher women’s basketball team will host Ohio State Thursday night at Williams Arena in the Big Ten home opener.

This will be the 63rd meeting between the two teams and Ohio State holds the all-time record at 51-11 — but Rachel Banham and the Gophers hope to take advantage of a Buckeyes team that has started the Big Ten season 0-2. The last time the Buckeyes started winless in Big Ten was in 2000-01.

Minnesota last played Ohio State in February, losing 81-56, but Banham, who is the Big Ten’s second-leading scorer at 20.6 points per game, hopes to launch the Gophers to a 3-1 conference record.

Eight of Minnesota’s 11 wins over Ohio State have been at Williams Arena.

Game time is 7 P.M. CT and can be streamed online at Gophers All-Access. 1500 ESPN will also broadcast the game over the AM radio dial.