University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Chicago State
Gophers Cruise Past Chicago State to Improve to 7-2
12/3/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Minnesota used a school-record 40-0 run in the first half to cruise to an easy 72-34 victory over Chicago State in Williams Arena on Saturday. Senior Kelly Roysland paced the Golden Gophers with 15 points, while redshirt freshman center Ashley Ellis-Milan tallied her third double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
The Gophers quickly turned an 8-6 deficit to a 48-6 lead over a 13 minute, 24 second span late in the first half. Katie Ohm scored all 12 of her points during the stretch. Chicago State (3-5) had two chances from the free throw line to end the run and finally did so on their third try when Chandra Timberlake hit a free throw with 1:13 on the clock. The Cougars didn’t hit a field goal for the last 14:39 of the half. Minnesota led by a 48-11 count at halftime, the 11 points allowed tying a school record for fewest opponent points in a half.
The second half was rather sloppy as Minnesota played several different combinations of players on the court and still maintained at least a 36-point lead throughout. Freshman Breanna Salley saw her first action of her career after missing the opening eight games of the season due to a foot injury.
Minnesota (7-2) finished with four players in double figures as Leslie Knight joined Roysland, Ellis-Milan and Ohm in double digits. Emily Fox and Korinne Campbell scored eight points apiece.
The Gophers take to the road for two games against Big 12 Conference opponents next week, at Nebraska on Dec. 5 and at Iowa State on Dec. 9.
Game Quotes
Minnesota head coach Pam Borton
“It was nice to get another win under our belt. I thought that it was a decent game to learn from and now hopefully we understand that we have to play hard for 40 minutes. We have to work hard through the growing pains. This game enabled us to focus on trying some different things out and helped us get better no matter the score. This is a young basketball team and with that we cannot take anyone lightly. We were able to see a lot of different combinations out on the floor and get everyone some experience.”
“I think that we took better care of the ball in the second half. Certain players are becoming more consistent. There are some lessons that we can take with us from this game and all I want is for this team to focus on giving our best effort, getting better and working hard every game. If we do this consistently, we will be where we need to be at the end of the season.”
Senior Kelly Roysland
“There were a lot of things that we wanted to work on and I think we did that. We tried to implement the focus and energy that we bring to practice. This is the type of game that we should work on executing certain plays. It was a learning phase and experience for such a young basketball team.”
