University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Ohio State
Gophers Take Down Buckeyes on the Road
2/21/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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Feb. 21, 2013
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Rachel Banham nailed a jumper with 0.02 seconds to play to lift the University of Minnesota (16-11, 5-8 B1G) women's basketball team to a 57-56 victory over Ohio State (14-12, 4-9 B1G) Thursday night in Big Ten action from Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
Back-to-back three-pointers from the Buckeyes' Raven Ferguson in the final 18 seconds of play gave Ohio State a one-point lead with 13 seconds remaining, but Banham led the Gophers down the floor and drilled the game-winner to give Minnesota just its second win in Columbus all-time and secured the squad's first-ever Big Ten series sweep vs. the Buckeyes.
The only other time the Gophers had won on the road against Ohio State was on Jan. 15, 2009, when they pulled out a 59-56 victory.
Including the game-winner, Banham has 17 points, eight rebounds and two assists, while Micaella Riche pitched in 17 points, five rebounds, two assists and a steal. Kionna Kellogg also pulled down eight rebounds for Minnesota, while Leah Cotton had a 5-6 performance at the free throw line.
The Maroon and Gold shot .422 (19-45) in the contest as a team, while the Buckeyes registered a .310 field goal percentage, which included a .444 mark in the second half.
The Gophers and the Buckeyes played the opening minutes of the game pretty evenly, sitting in an 8-8 tie at the 12:58 mark, but Minnesota used an 11-2 run to go ahead by nine points, 19-10, with 7:39 to play in the first half.
Ohio State closed the gap to six points with just under five minutes to play in the opening stanza and to four points with 1:13 to play, 24-20, but a basket from Banham with :56 on the clock sent the Gophers into halftime with a 26-20 lead.
Minnesota notched a .435 field goal percentage in the first half, connecting on 10 of its 23 attempts, while the Buckeyes were held to a .194 (6-31) shooting percentage, but bailed themselves out with an 8-10 showing from the free throw line.
Banham finished the first half with a team-leading seven points and five rebounds, while Riche added six points and three rebounds, but was limited to just seven minutes on the floor due to foul trouble. Kellogg chipped in five rebounds for the Gophers.
The Gophers would go up by eight points twice early in the second half, but the Buckeyes managed to tie the game, 35-35, on a pair of free throws and a layup from OSU's Tayler Hill.
Minnesota answered with a pair of free throws from Banham and two-consecutive three-point plays from Riche to pull ahead by eight points, 43-35, with just under 12 minutes to play in the contest. Ohio State made it a five-point game at 11:12 and again at 8:19, before cutting the Gophers' lead to just two points with 4:04 to play, 50-48.
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