University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Utah
Gophers Drop 66-54 Decision to Utah
12/8/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Minnesota couldn’t come up with the big shot when the Golden Gophers needed it, in a 66-54 loss to Utah at Williams Arena on Saturday. Leslie Knight led the Gophers with 17 points, while Emily Fox added 14.
Utah (6-3) made 15 of its first 20 field attempts to take a 34-17 lead in the first half. The Gophers fought back with a 13-6 run to make the deficit nine points at halftime, 39-30. The Utes finished the half shooting a blistering 63 percent from the floor.
The Gophers seemed poised for a comeback in the second half but was hindered by poor shooting and turnovers at critical times.
Ashley Ellis-Milan banked home a lay-up off an assist by Zoe Harper to bring Minnesota to within five points, at 46-41, with 9:02 left to play. The Gophers came up empty-handed on their next five possessions, coming up with solid defensive efforts, yet unable to find the basket on the offensive end.
The teams would exchange free throws before Utah junior guard Morgan Warburton swished a huge three-pointer that would break the scoring drought. The Gophers would get no closer the rest of the way.
Knight played well in the second half, scoring 15 of her season-high 17 points after halftime. She make 6-of-8 from the field.
Utah cooled offensively in the second half shooting 33.3 percent from floor to finish the game at 50 percent. Minnesota shot just 25.7 percent in the second half.
Minnesota has a 13-day break before its next competition. The Gophers play host to Iowa State on Dec. 21.
Minnesota Gophers (8-3) vs. Utah Utes (6-3)
Dec. 8, 2007
Gopher Head Coach Pam Borton quotes
Opening statement
“We lost to a very good basketball team today. They played well on both ends of the court. Our defense did not show up in the first half, which made us get down by a large margin. Utah out hustled us, which gave them the game.”
On Utah’s guards
“We knew that their point guard was a great player. I told the kids that they had to stop her tonight, which we didn’t. Their perimeter game was very solid. Unfortunately, we did not play well enough to stop it.”
On Minnesota’s bench troubles
“Utah’s defense did a great job stopping our bench players from contributing in the game. However, we just weren’t able to run our style of play.”
Gopher Guard Emily Fox
On the second half
“We picked up our defense in the second half. We were down by five and we needed to step up our game to take the lead. I know that is something that I need to do. Unfortunately, I did not perform well and struggled in scoring.”
Gopher Forward Leslie Knight
On Minnesota’s defense
“We were giving Utah too many easy shots. We didn’t get back on defense fast enough, which gave them easy baskets. Every game we need to come out and start each half aggressively so we do not get down by a large margin, like we did today.”
Utah Head Coach Elaine Elliott quotes
On the biggest concern coming into the game:
“Our biggest concern coming into this game was Minnesota’s physical play. They are a very physical team, and we did not want to give up a lot of offensive rebounds. In the second half, it got pretty nasty on the boards, but we did a good big staying physical with them.
On stepping up the defense in the second half:
“It was an interesting second half. We were just talking about defending going into it, and we packed it in pretty well. Minnesota just was not able to put us away.”
On handling the pressure by Minnesota:
“We don’t have trouble when teams step up the pressure on us. We have one of the best point guards in the nation so there isn’t a lot of pressure you are going to be able to put on us. At times, I think I would rather have teams bring full court pressure on us.”
On Utah’s outside shooting:
“We have a really good outside attack. It’s not our greatest strength, but it really complements our team.”
