University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Northern Arizona
Gophers Earn Pam Borton's 173rd Victory
12/23/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
It wasn't easy, but head coach Pam Borton became Minnesota's all-time wins leader for women's basketball when her Gophers held off a pesky Northern Arizona squad to win, 82-74, on Wednesday night at Williams Arena.
Borton, in her ninth year at Minnesota, improved her all-time record at the school to 173-95, surpassing Ellen Mosher-Hanson, who was 172-125 during her tenure with the Gophers from 1977-87.
"I think when the season's over I'll have a chance to enjoy it," Borton said of the record. "It's probably the furthest thing from my mind. I'd love to win every game that we play...All the wins mean is that I've coached a lot of great players. You can't win basketball games unless you have great players. And I've had great staff members on my staff over the last eight, nine years. They've all been part of that, and every player that I've been able to coach. All the credit goes to the players I've coached here."
The teams opened the game by battling back-and-forth, with six tied scores over the first 9:27. Trailing 19-16 with 10:01 left in the half, the Golden Gophers went on a 19-4 run over the next 4:46 to open a 12-point lead at 35-23. Senior point guard China Antoine, junior guard Kiara Buford, and sophomore guard Leah Cotton each scored five points during the run, with Antoine and Buford making three-pointers.
The Gophers, who closed the non-conference portion of their schedule at 8-5, shot the ball very well in the opening half, making 15 of their first 20 attempts and ending the half at 16-for-25 (.640) with a 42-35 lead.
The Lumberjacks opened the second half by scoring the first four points to cut Minnesota's seven-point halftime lead to three, 42-39, at the 18:04 mark. Northern Arizona twice cut the Gophers' lead to one point, but Minnesota never relinquished the lead, building the margin back to 10 points by going on a 12-3 run to take a 58-48 advantage with 10:23 left.
Northern Arizona (4-8) battled back by scoring the next seven points to pull within 58-55, but the Gophers answered with a 6-0 run on four points by sophomore forward Katie Loberg and a layup by Buford to get it back to a 64-55 lead at the 7:29 mark.
Down the stretch, the Gophers struggled at the free throw line to allow the Lumberjacks to stay close, but were still able to make enough plays to fend off NAU's runs and hold on for the win.
Loberg led the Gophers with a career-high 20 points and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds, while Buford finished with 17 points, and senior forward Kristen Dockery had her first career double-double with 10 points and 11 boards. Cotton also reached double-figures with 12 points, while junior guard Brianna Mastey finished with nine points and seven boards as the Gophers held a 42-31 advantage in rebounding.
NAU was led by Amy Patton's 23 points, while Melissa Spaich (13 points) and Trinidee Trice (12 points) also scored in double figures. The Lumberjacks made 27-of-67 (.403) field goals, but Minnesota made 28-of-52 (.538).
The Gophers will now have some time off for the holidays, before opening Big Ten play at Illinois on Thursday, Dec. 30. The game will tip off at 7:30 p.m. (CST), and will be televised on the Big Ten Network. The game will also be broadcast on WCCO Radio (830 AM) and other selected affiliates on the Gopher Radio Network, with Corbu Stathes calling the play-by-play and Lynnette Sjoquist adding color analysis.
