University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Illinois-Chicago
Minnesota Cruises to Win Over Illinois-Chicago
11/22/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Ten Golden Gophers scored, led by Ashley Ellis-Milan with a season-high 16 points, as Minnesota cruised to a 94-58 win over Illinois-Chicago in the second game of the Subway Classic on Saturday. The Gophers (2-1) will face Colorado (2-0) on Sunday at 6 p.m. in the Classic championship game.
“We were very pleased with our total team effort tonight,” said Golden Gopher head coach Pam Borton. “Our defense really created our offense tonight. The first 12 minutes was about as good as we have played and we can build on that.”
Minnesota took it right to the Flames opening with a 30-5 run in the game’s first 10 minutes. The Gophers made eight of their first nine shots in the game, including three-point field goals by Kiara Buford and China Antoine.
The Gophers continued their hot shooting throughout the half to take a commanding 49-31 lead into the locker room at intermission. Ellis-Milan with 12 points and Brittany McCoy with 10 were already in double figures.
The Minnesota defense made sure Illinois-Chicago (0-4) would not have a chance for a big comeback. The Gopher defenders hounded the Flames all game resulting in 29 UIC turnovers, 16 coming in the second half. McCoy led the defense attack collecting five the Gophers’ 18 steals in the game and adding 13 points on the offensive end.
Minnesota’s reserve backcourt of China Antoine and Leah Cotton electrified the crowd with several nifty plays on both ends of the court. Antoine dished out a game-high seven assists, grabbed four steals and scored six points. Cotton tallied her first game in double figures, matching her uniform number with 11 points. She also added three steals.
Buford was the fourth Gopher in double figures with a quiet 15 points in just 23 minutes of play. She was 3-of-5 from behind the arc.
Minnesota finished the game shooting 59.6 percent from the floor and committing just 14 turnovers.
