University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
7-3
North Dakota
4-7
Gophers Top Fighting Hawks 57-47
12/23/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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Minnesota (7-3) capped off its fall semester with a 57-47 win against North Dakota (4-7). Rachel Banham led the Gophers in scoring with 17 points, and Karley Barnes tied a season-high with eight rebounds. Banham added seven rebounds and four steals. She also moved into fifth place on the Big Ten's all-time career scoring list and has 2,411 points.
Mikayla Bailey scored 11 points, and Carlie Wagner and Jessie Edwards had 10 each to join Banham in double figures. Banham and Wagner have reached double figures in every game this season, while Bailey and Edwards have done so five times apiece.
The win was head coach Marlene Stollings' 30th at Minnesota. She is the second-fastest Gophers coach to reach 30 victories, doing so in 43 games.
The Fighting Hawks took an early 4-0 lead before Minnesota rattled off a 12-0 run. Drives to the basket by Shayne Mullaney and Banham tied the game, then a putback by Annalese Lamke gave the Gophers their first lead. They were ahead 19-8 after the first quarter, their fourth single-digit quarter defensively this season.
North Dakota started to catch up in a low-scoring second quarter, but Minnesota still held a 24-19 advantage at halftime. Banham and Wagner each had six points at the break.
A Barnes three-point play pushed the Maroon and Gold lead back to 11 points, 34-23, early in the third. The Fighting Hawks trimmed the lead to 46-40 in the fourth but the Gophers prevented them from closing the gap.
The Gophers held a slight shooting advantage at 35.5 percent to North Dakota's 34 percent. The Fighting Hawks had a 46-34 advantage in rebounding, but Minnesota turned the ball over just 13 times to UND's 28. Each team made four 3-pointers.
The Gophers will conclude non-conference play with a home game against NJIT on Monday, Dec. 28 at 7 p.m. Minnesota will open its Big Ten schedule at Rutgers Dec. 31 before returning home to face Penn State on Jan. 3. For ticket information, please visit mygophersports.com or call 1-800-U-GOPHER.
