University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
14-1, 3-0
Wisconsin
5-8, 1-2
Gophers Win Border Battle at Wisconsin, 72-60
1/4/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
MADISON, Wis. - The University of Minnesota (14-1, 3-0) women's basketball team used a strong first half in which it scored 40 points, shot .500 (17-34) from the floor and .556 (5-9) from three-point range to defeat Wisconsin (5-8, 1-2), 72-60, Sunday afternoon in a Border Battle at the Kohl Center.
The victory pushed the Gophers' winning streak to 10 games, their longest since 2003-04, while it also gave the Maroon and Gold a 3-0 record in Big Ten action for the first time since 2005-06. Head coach Marlene Stollings' 14-1 record to begin her first season at the helm of the Minnesota program ties for the best start to a season by a Gopher first-year head coach, while she is the only first-year head coach at Minnesota to post three-straight wins to open Big Ten play.
Senior Shae Kelley scored 13 points in the second half to finish the contest with a game-high 17 points, while sophomore Amanda Zahui B. notched her 11th double-double of the season, and eighth-straight, with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Carlie Wagner had 14 points for her sixth-straight double-digit scoring performance, and added a career-high four steals, four rebounds and four assists. Shayne Mullaney tallied 11 points, six rebounds and seven assists, while Mikayla Bailey was 3-for-6 from beyond the arch to contribute nine points in the winning effort.
The Gophers jumped out to a 19-8 lead at 11:03 thanks to seven points from Wagner and four points each from Kelley and Mullaney, before extending its advantage to 15 points, 29-14, at 7:34. The Badgers would fight back to within six points of Minnesota, 34-28, at the final media timeout of the half, but Mullaney sank a three-pointer to move the Gophers' advantage back to nine points.
Another three-pointer from Hedstrom made the score 40-30 with just over a minute to play and that's how the score would stay as the buzzer sounded at halftime.
The Gophers shot .556 from three-point range, connecting on five of its nine attempts, while posting a .500 (17-34) field goal percentage through the first 20 minutes of play. Wagner finished the stanza with nine points and Mullaney and Zahui added seven points apiece. Zahui also paced the squad with nine rebounds in the first half.
In the second half, Wisconsin was able to cut the Gophers' lead to just nine points, 51-42, at 12:28, but Minnesota would extend its lead to 20 points, 66-46, at the 6:47 mark of the second half following a 15-4 run. The Badgers cut the Maroon and Gold lead to 11 points with 1:26 to play, but that would be as close as they would get, as Minnesota closed out the victory with layups from Wagner and Mullaney.
The Gophers return to the friendly confines of Williams Arena on Sunday, Jan. 11 with a 2 p.m. contest against No. 14/10 Maryland on ESPN2.
