The Gopher women avoided a 2nd half collapse and emerged from Northwestern, where the Wildcats had come into the game at 6-3 in the Big 10, with a 61-54 win. The Wildcats were without their starting post, Abi Scheid of Elk River, MN, and they seemed to have little more depth than the notoriously not-deep Gophers. Minnesota outshot Northwestern just 41 percent to 38 percent, but that was good for 3 extra buckets which was essentially the margin of victory.
Minnesota started 4 guards for the 1st time this year, and got 50 points from Destiny Pitts, Kenisha Bell and Jasmine Brunson on a collective 18-of-37 shooting. Brunson returned to the starting lineup after a stint coming off the bench and had a nice game with 14 points, 5 assists and 4 steals.
Even without Scheid, Northwestern proved to be very tough inside, though of course the Gophers didn't take it inside a whole lot with 4 guards on the floor most of the way. The Gophers only big was Taiye Bello, who scored just 2 points on 1-of-1 shooting and added 9 boards. She led the Gophers at +15 however. Northwestern's 6-2 senior forward Palias Kunaiyi-Alapanah had 14 points, 11 boards and 3 steals, and 6-4 Abby Wolf came off the bench for some big minutes for the Wildcats. But, their big 3 in scoring were Kunaiyi and guards Lindsay Pulliam and Veronica Burton, and the 3 of them scored 37 points on just 14-of-36 shooting.
The Gophers led 19-10 after one period, 30-28 at the half and 48-37 after a big 3rd quarter. They suffered a bit of a letdown in the 4th but avoided disaster, holding on for a tough win.
Player of the Day--Kenisha Bell 17 points 7-of-17 shooting, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals, 1 turnover, +11
Team--Gopher Women
Coach--Lindsay Whalen
We'll have our January award winners here shortly.
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