University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
4-2
Duke
7-1
Minnesota Drops Road Game to No. 14/13 Duke
12/3/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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The Minnesota women's basketball team fell to the hands of No. 14/13 Duke, 84-64, in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Carlie Wagner led the way with 23 points on 10-of-17 shooting from the field. Rachel Banham chimed in with 21 points and added seven rebounds.
Minnesota was outrebounded 44-30 and surrendered a 15-4 margin in second-chance points. The Gophers, however, did score more points off turnovers (15-14) and had 13 points off the bench compared to nine for Duke.
The Blue Devils (7-1) were paced by Azura Stevens who recorded a double-double with 26 points and 11 boards. Rebecca Greenwell aided Stevens with 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
Duke started fast on its home floor and opened the game on a 10-2 run before back-to-back buckets by Wagner brought the Gophers within four just three minutes into the contest. The Blue Devils then made six of their next eight shots and closed the quarter with a 25-16 lead.
Minnesota scraped away at the deficit in the second stanza and was able to get within eight following a 7-2 run on makes from Shayne Mullaney, Banham and Wagner to force a timeout. Duke was able to regain a nine-point cushion heading into halftime, 42-33.
Banham guided the Maroon and Gold into the break with 12 points, three rebounds, three assists and a trio of thefts.
Eleven seconds into the third quarter, Mikayla Bailey hit a three and made it a six-point margin. Duke responded with a 14-5 run in which four different players scored to bring the score line to 56-41.
The Gophers again chipped away and came within 11 following a layup by Jessie Edwards off an assist from Mullaney.
Minnesota would not get any closer as the Blue Devils put their foot on the gas in the fourth quarter. Duke began the final period of play with a 17-2 run over four minutes and gave it the largest lead of the game at 82-56.
Bailey, Banham and Wagner scored eight of the game's final 10 points to finish the non-conference duel, 84-64.
Minnesota returns home for a matchup with Towson on Sunday night. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. inside Williams Arena. Please note, Banham will be honored at the Dec. 12 game against Memphis for setting the program's career scoring record.
Postgame Quotes from head coach Marlene Stollings
On Duke's strong play in the paint:
"Well first of all they are very good. Obviously a lot of size. One of our keys coming into the game is that we wanted to be physical and get them away from the basket. We did that at times but not nearly enough. Obviously that was a huge difference in the game. [Azurá] Stevens is just outstanding, tough to go against one-on-one. We tried to send two people at her at times, but she's just extremely talented. Credit to Duke."
On only being 5-for-25 in 3-pt shooting:
"I thought for the most part we got really good looks, we forced a few shots but overall our looks were excellent. They were the shots that we wanted, we don't typically shoot that poorly from the 3-point line. It was just an off night for us out there."
