University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Michigan
Minnesota Defeats First-Place Michigan, 60-50
1/30/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Junior guard Kiara Buford and junior forward Jackie Voigt each scored 11 points and freshman guard/forward Kionna Kellogg grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds, as Minnesota fought off a second-half rally by Michigan to defeat the first-place Wolverines, 60-50, on Sunday afternoon before a crowd of 5,318 at Williams Arena.
It marked the second-straight win for the Golden Gophers, who improved to 10-12 overall and 2-7 in the Big Ten, while Michigan fell to 13-8 overall and 6-3 in the conference.
Minnesota had its 12-point lead with just under 17:00 left in the game dwindle to as little as one point on two occasions. But the Gophers went on a 6-0 run over about a three-minute period of the second half to stretch their 43-42 edge to 49-42 with 4:34 remaining, and then made some key shots in the waning minutes to hold on for the victory.
The Gophers jumped out to an early 13-4 lead behind four points from Buford and six from Kellogg. After the Wolverines cut it to 13-7 on a three-pointer by Kate Thompson, Minnesota went on an 11-2 run to stretch its lead to 24-9 with 8:33 left in the half, with China Antoine, Leah Cotton, and Brianna Mastey all hitting treys during the stretch.
Michigan closed the gap with a 9-4 run of its own to get within 28-18 with 3:40 remaining before the break, but the Gophers went to the locker room with a nine-point lead, 31-22.
After the Wolverines cut Minnesota's halftime advantage to seven points, Buford score the Gophers' next five points by hitting a trey from right in front of Minnesota's bench and then adding a pair of free throws for a 36-24 lead with 16:49 left.
But Michigan started chipping away at Minnesota's lead, going on an 11-2 run over the next 4:35 to pull within 38-35. The Wolverines then twice closed within one point, the latter time at 43-42 with 7:21 left.
But that's when Minnesota went on its 6-0 surge to push the lead back to seven points, with senior forward Kristen Dockery scoring on a putback, followed by a layup from Antoine, and a layup by Voigt on a great pass from Antoine. That made it 49-42 in favor of the Gophers, and Minnesota never led by fewer than six the rest of the game.
The Gophers now hit the road for their next two games, beginning with a Thursday evening contest at Indiana. That game will begin at 6:00 p.m. (CST), as the Gophers attempt to split the season series. The Hoosiers defeated Minnesota, 80-79 in overtime on Jan. 2, rallying from a 10-point deficit with 6:00 to play in regulation.
