University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Northwestern
Buford Reaches Milestone, but Gophers Lose at NU
2/20/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Northwestern rallied from a 43-37 deficit to outscore Minnesota 25-12 over the game's final twelve-plus minutes, as the Wildcats recorded a 62-55 victory on Senior Day at Welsh-Ryan Arena Sunday afternoon.
Junior guard Kiara Buford became the 20th Minnesota player to score 1,000 career points, and freshman guard Kionna Kellogg finished with a career-high 12 points and a team-best eight rebounds. But Northwestern pulled away in the closing minutes, as Minnesota struggled to find the offensive rhythm that had helped it maintain a lead for most of the game.
Buford finished with 15 points for Minnesota to increase her career total to 1,007 points in 88 games as a Gopher. She reached the milestone when she drove the length of the court and sliced through the middle of the lane for a layup with 15:48 left in regulation. Buford made 7-of-20 field goals, while adding six rebounds and two steals in 35 minutes.
But Amy Jaeschke had a game-high 21 points and Kendall Hackney added 20 points, as Northwestern improved to 17-11 overall and 6-9 in the Big Ten. Minnesota's loss was its fourth straight, as it fell to 11-16 overall and 3-11 in the conference.
The Gophers jumped out to an early 12-4 lead behind four points from Loberg and a three-pointer by Buford. Northwestern followed by scoring five straight points, keyed by a Meshia Reed trey, to cut it to 12-9 with 13:11 remaining in the half.
A layup by Jackie Voigt and an eight-foot pull-up jumper by Kionna Kellogg stretched Minnesota's lead back to 16-9, but the Wildcats responded with an 8-2 run over the next five-minutes, eight-seconds to trim the Gophers' lead to 18-17 at the 5:56 mark.
Minnesota was able to stay in the lead, though, as Loberg knocked down a jumper from just inside the free throw line, and Buford drove the left side of the lane for a layup to make it 22-17 with 5:00 left before the break.
An eight-foot jumper by Loberg with 4:09 left gave Minnesota a 24-19 edge, but that was the final field goal of the opening half for the Gophers, as Northwestern fought back to tie the score at 24-24 on a free throw by Jaeschke with 1:30 on the clock.
But Minnesota went to the break with a 26-24 lead after freshman forward Micaëlla Riché made two free throws with 0:36 remaining in the half.
Senior forward Kristen Dockery scored on a turnaround six-foot jumper to put Minnesota up 30-27 early in the second half, but Northwestern responded by scoring the next six points to take their first lead of the game.
Minnesota answered quickly, though, utilizing a 13-4 run to build its lead back to six points, 43-37, with 12:20 remaining. Freshman center Amber Dvorak and Buford each scored four points for the Gophers during the stretch.
Northwestern scored the next six points, tying the score at 43-43 with just over ten minutes left, but senior guard China Antoine made a three-pointer from the left corner to put the Gophers up by three points, 46-43.
The Wildcats responded with a trey by Allison Mocchi to tie the score, and went on to stretch their lead to as many as nine points in the final minute of play. After trailing by six points with 12:20 left, Northwestern outscored the Gophers by 13 points for the final seven-point margin of victory, which enabled the Wildcats to split the season series.
The Gophers will play at Michigan on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. (CST).
