Starting guard Powell to leave U women’s basketball, enter transfer portal
The Gophers women's basketball team will play host to Wisconsin on Sunday afternoon at Williams Arena, looking to end a four-game Big Ten Conference losing streak.
They will play the game, and the rest of the season, without starting point guard Jasmine Powell.
Powell has left the team, entered the NCAA transfer portal and will not finish her third season with the Gophers. Because of the extra year of eligibility given to athletes by the NCAA during the COVID-19 pandemic, Powell, a native of Detroit, will have two years of eligibility remaining.
"Jasmine Powell has informed the team she will be leaving the program effective immediately,'' the team said in a release. "We want to thank Jasmine for her contribution to the Minnesota women's basketball program and wish her well.''
On Twitter, Powell (@jazzy3gang) wrote: "I would like to start off by saying how grateful I am for my time in Minneapolis. Thank you to my coaches for making my dream of playing in the Big Ten a reality. Thank you to my teammates who have supported and encouraged me each and every day. With that being said, after much reflection, I am entering my name in the transfer portal. Thank you to those who have supported me on my journey."
— Jazzy❤️ (@jazzy3gang) January 29, 2022
Gophers scoring leader Sara Scalia wrote (@sara_scalia14): "I am grateful to have played the last 3 years with you. I'm going to miss playing with you and everything that has come with it. I will always support you, go be great."
Powell appeared in 68 games for the Gophers, starting 48 of them, 36 of 37 the past two seasons. She was the Big Ten's leading freshman scorer in 2019-20 (12.1 points, 3.1 assists). As a sophomore she was named second-team all-Big Ten by the coaches, honorable mention by the media after tying for the Gophers team lead in scoring (14.5) and averaging 5.4 assists.
In 19 games this season Powell averaged 12.4 points, 4.0 rebounds and 5.7 assists. But her 32.2-percent shooting was a season low. She shot 32.2 percent on three-pointers.
Powell had struggled during the team's four-game losing streak, shooting 11-for-46 overall (23.9 percent) and 3-for-18 on three-pointers (16.6) while averaging six assists and three turnovers per game. After a difficult first half in a one-sided loss to Iowa at Williams arena, Gophers coach Lindsay Whalen did not start Powell in the second half.
Without Powell, Whalen will likely turn to Alexis Smith and veteran Gadiva Hubbard to absorb those minutes. Powell was the team's primary ball-handler, which will make her loss difficult to overcome.
This is the second high-profile transfer under Whalen. Destiny Pitts left the team and entered the transfer portal. In January of 2020 — Whalen's second season — Pitts, the team's leading scorer, left the team after being suspended for "conduct unbecoming a member of the program.''
Pitts ended up at Texas A&M, where she is averaging 10.7 points and 5.6 rebounds per game this season as a part-time starter.
