GOPHERS WOMEN'S HOCKEY PREVIEW

6 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday vs. St. Thomas · BTN Plus

Gophers update: The No. 3 Gophers (16-3-2, 13-1-2 WCHA) defeated Merrimack (9-2) and New Hampshire (8-1) last weekend at Ridder Arena in their final nonconference games. ... Grace Zumwinkle was named the WCHA forward of the week after recording seven points in the victories. In the victory over New Hampshire, she set career highs in points (six) and assists (four) while becoming the sixth Gopher in program history to score 100 career goals. ... The Gophers lead Division I teams with 107 goals while Taylor Heise leads D-I with 17 goals.

Tommies update: St. Thomas (7-14-1, 2-13-1 WCHA) has a four-game winning streak and has already surpassed last year's victory total of five. ... The Tommies swept Bemidji State (3-1 and 5-2) on Dec. 16 and Dec. 17 in their final games before the holiday break and then swept RIT 5-1 and 3-0 at home last weekend. ... Gabby Billing and Maddy Clough lead the team with nine points, while Maija Almich has a team-high seven goals. ... Saskia Maurer, who earned her second shutout of the season last weekend, has a 2.63 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage in 12 starts. ... The Tommies were 0-6 against the Gophers last season in their first season in Division I, including 0-2 in the WCHA playoffs.