Minnesota’s top scorer Rachel Banham tears ACL, will miss rest of season

Minnesota’s leading scorer, senior guard Rachel Banham, will miss the remainder of the 2014-15 season after suffering a torn ACL in her right knee Wednesday night in the first half of the Gophers’ victory at North Dakota the program announced Thursday. She is considered a first round prospect for the 2015 WNBA draft.

“This is a devastating injury for Rachel and a great loss for our team,” said Gophers head coach Marlene Stollings in a statement. “Rachel has been a joy to coach and has put in the work to elevate her game to yet another level this season. We will support her throughout her rehabilitation process and she will continue to play a critical leadership role on this team as she recovers.”

Before the game, Banham was averaging 20.0 points, 5.0 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game. She posted 30 or more points on two occasions, including a season-high 35-point outing in Minnesota’s overtime win over Butler on Sunday night. In addition, she connected on five or more three-pointers twice this season, with her 3.33 three-pointers per game ranking 12th in the NCAA. She also ranks 31st in points per game and 47th in assists per game.

Banham leads NCAA’s active career leaders with her 2,173 career points and her 19.6 career points-per-game average ranks third among the nation’s active players. She is second on Minnesota’s career scoring register and needs just 113 points to surpass Lindsay Whalen for the Gopher record.