University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Iowa
Gophers Upended at Iowa
2/9/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 9, 2012
The Minnesota women's basketball team fell down early and was never able to recover as it dropped a Big Ten Conference contest, 75-58, to Iowa Thursday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
The loss dropped the Gophers' record to 12-14 overall and 4-8 in league contests, while the Hawkeyes improved their record to 15-10 on the season and 7-5 in Big Ten play.
Freshman Rachel Banham was the scoring and rebounding leader for the Maroon and Gold, extending her double-digit scoring streak to 22 games with 20 points to go along with six rebounds.
Also scoring in double-figures for Minnesota was junior Katie Loberg, who chipped in 10 points and three rebounds. Kiara Buford added eight points and five rebounds, while Brianna Mastey also pulled down five rebounds for the visitors.
Minnesota lost the battle on the boards, 43-26, but had eight steals and shot .421 from the field, which included a .500 percentage in the second half. The Maroon and Gold struggled from beyond the arch, connecting on only two of 14 attempts, while Iowa had seven treys in the contest, five of which came off the hand of Kamille Wahlin.
The Gophers fell down early, 11-4, but thanks to Banham and the cold shooting of the Hawkeyes, Minnesota was able to pull within one point, 11-10, at the 12:23 mark. The home team was able to thaw out enough to put together a 16-2 run and put the Maroon and Gold down by 15 points, 27-12, with 6:10 to play in the half.
At the 2:07 mark, Minnesota trailed by 18 points, which was its largest deficit of the half. The visitors were only able to pull within 15 points before the horn sounded for halftime
Another three-pointer by Wahlin to open the second half put the Gophers down by 18 once again, before a short jumper by Johnson put the Maroon and Gold in a 20-point hole, 47-27, at 17:31. At the 14:24 mark, Iowa was outscoring the Gophers, 14-6, in the second half.
The visitors went on a 7-0 run to make the score 60-42 with 9:01 on the clock. Four-straight points by Buford would close the gap to 16 points with 4:09 to play
Minnesota trailed the Hawkeyes by as many as 25 in the second half, a mark that was just too much for the squad to overcome as time ran out.
The Maroon and Gold will host No. 13/15 Nebraska at Williams Arena Monday, Feb. 13, with tip off scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
-UM-
