University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Creighton
WBB: Gophers Defeat Creighton Behind 20 Points by Liz Podominick
11/28/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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Sophomore Liz Podominick scored a career-high 20 points to lead five Golden Gophers in double figures in No. 18/17 Minnesota's 79-71 victory over Creighton in Omaha on Sunday. The Gophers improved to 4-1 on the season and handed the defending WNIT champion Bluejays only its fourth home loss in 41 games.
"We played well for 25 minutes but we are still working on team chemistry to put together a full 40 minutes in a game," said Golden Gopher head coach Pam Borton. "Liz was our dominating player in the first half. She provided a big spark for us off the bench."
Podominick was a force in the paint, coming off the bench in the first half to hit her first five shots. The first of her two three-point field goals at the 12:16 point gave the Gophers an 11-10 lead, one they would not relinquish, and ignite an 11-0 run. Podominick made another big play right before halftime. April Calhoun stole the ball from Ally Thrall at half court, nudged it to Podominick who pulled up for a three-pointer with three seconds left in the half. Minnesota took a 34-19 lead at the half, with Podominick scoring a dozen.
The Gophers notched its biggest lead of the game on Katie Alsdurf's three-pointer at 50-26 with 15:18 left to play. Creighton started chipping away at the Minnesota lead and cut it to seven points when Kristi Woodard hit the Bluejays only three-pointer of the game with 4:18 remaining.
Minnesota turned to its All-American in its next three possessions with McCarville responding with six straight points giving the Gophers a 73-60 lead. The Bluejays (2-2) still didn't fold and fought to the end. The Gophers hit 6-of-6 free throws in the last 40 seconds to seal the victory.
McCarville finished with 14 points and added nine rebounds and a team-high seven assists. Jamie Broback chipped in 14 points as well. Kelly Roysland, starting for the injured Shannon Bolden, and April Calhoun each contributed 10 points.
The Gophers shot 54.2 percent for the game and outrebounded Creighton by a 36-26 margin. Creighton, who came into the game averaging over 11 three-point field goals made per game, was held to a 1-of-4 performance from long range.
Minnesota plays two home games in the next week, Thursday against Detroit and Sunday versus Kansas.
