University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
7-0
UNLV
4-1
Gophers Win Lady Rebel Round-Up Championship
11/26/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The University of Minnesota women's basketball team beat UNLV 79-72 in the championship game of the Lady Rebel Round-Up. It was the Gophers' first Thanksgiving tournament championship in nine years, and moved them to 7-0 on the season. Freshman Destiny Pitts was named tournament MVP, and Gadiva Hubbard made the all-tournament roster.
Pitts had 22 points and nine rebounds in Sunday's game in Las Vegas. She made a career-high six 3-pointers of the Gophers' 13. Hubbard had 17 points, including three triples. Carlie Wagner had 16, and Kenisha Bell 11. Jessie Edwards pulled down 13 rebounds.
After losing an early lead, the Gophers built it back up in the third quarter. They held off the Lady Rebels (4-1) after that. Minnesota had a slight edge in rebounding, 46-43, and shot 38.9 percent to UNLV's 35 percent. The Gophers shot 10-of-10 at the free throw line, while the Rebels were 24-of-33.
Brooke Johnson led the Rebels with 25 points. Katie Powell had 19. Nikki Wheatley notched a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Quarter: Minnesota built a large lead early with hot 3-point shooting, starting with the first possession of the game. The Gophers made five of their first six 3-point attempts, including two apiece for Pitts and Wagner. Minnesota led by as much as 13. Then free throws and a few triples of their own helped the Lady Rebels close the gap. UNLV took a 21-19 lead with 2:34 left in the quarter. The teams traded the lead a few times before the quarter ended with UNLV ahead 27-25 on a three-point play.
Second Quarter: In a tightly-contested quarter, no team led by more than three points for the majority of the way. Three-point field goals by Paloma Gonzalez and Bell put the Gophers up 40-35. Two free throws by Wagner later made it 44-37. Minnesota held onto a 46-43 lead going into halftime. Wagner had 14 points and Pitts nine at the break. Minnesota had eight 3-pointers. UNLV shot 13-of-14 at the free throw line and got 14 points from Johnson.
Third Quarter: More 3-pointers helped the Gophers push the lead back to double figures. Their defense held the Lady Rebels to 10 points in the third. Minnesota led by--at the time--a game-high 17 points, 70-53, heading to the fourth.
Fourth Quarter: After UNLV trimmed the Gophers' lead to single digits, 72-63, Pitts drained her sixth 3-pointer to make it 75-63 with 5:22 to go. UNLV got within eight
MORE NOTES
*Wagner moved into seventh place on Minnesota's all-time scoring list, passing Molly Tadich. Wagner has 1,719 career points. Janel McCarville (1,835) is one place ahead of her.
*Pitts has 80 rebounds in her first seven collegiate games.
*Minnesota has outrebounded its last six opponents.
UP NEXT
The Gophers will travel to North Carolina for the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. They will face the Tar Heels on Wednesday, Nov. 29 at 2:30 p.m. CT, with a live stream available on ACC Network Extra. Minnesota returns to Williams Arena for a Dec. 3 game against Eastern Michigan. Love Your Melon packages and Cub Family 4-Packs are available at mygophersports.com for the game against the Eagles.
