University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
17-6; 6-4
Iowa
18-6; 6-5
Wagner Joins 2,000 Point Club in Loss at Iowa
2/4/2018 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
IOWA CITY, Iowa - Senior Carlie Wagner joined exclusive company and junior Kenisha Bell logged a career high in points but it wasn't enough as the Minnesota women's basketball team (17-6, 6-4 B1G) fell at Iowa (18-6, 6-5 B1G) Sunday, 92-84.
Needing 10 points entering the game to reach 2,000 in her career, Wagner posted 20 to become the fifth player in Minnesota basketball history to reach the figure. The history-making basket came on a 3-pointer with 5:48 remaining in the third quarter, while her career total currently stands at 2,010.
Wagner joins Rachel Banham (3,093), Lindsay Whalen (2,285), Carol Ann Shudlick (2,097) and Laura Coenen (2,044) as the only Gophers to eclipse 2,000 points. Wagner is the 29th player in Big Ten history to reach that number.
Minnesota's leading scorer Sunday was Bell, who poured in a career-high 35 points. She was 13-of-27 from the field and 8-of-13 at the free throw line to best her previous career high of 31 points, set earlier this year against Boston College on Nov. 19. It was also the most points by a Gopher since Wagner had 38 on Jan. 15 of last year at Michigan.
Bell had 13 points in the first half, including 11 in the first quarter, before following it up with nine in the third quarter and 13 in the fourth. It was her fourth career game reaching 30 points, all of which have come this season. In addition to the game against Boston College, she also had 30 against UC Riverside on Dec. 22 and Nebraska on Dec. 31.
Sophomore Gadiva Hubbard also contributed with 10 points, while fellow sophomore Taiye Bello pitched in with 12 rebounds, one away from her career high, off the bench.
Hot starts to the opening quarters for Iowa hurt the Gophers. The Hawkeyes opened the first quarter on a 13-2 run but Minnesota was able to cut the deficit to five at the end of the first at 24-19. Unfortunately, the second stanza saw Iowa open on another 13-2 run to push the lead to 37-21.
Iowa's biggest lead came at 50-33 with 8:36 to play in the third quarter, but Minnesota never gave up. The Gophers slowly worked their way back and used an 8-1 run to cut the Iowa lead to eight at 69-61 with 7:50 to play. The Hawkeyes grew the lead back up to 14 but a 7-0 run had the Gophers within 77-70 with 2:37 remaining in the game.
After the Hawkeyes extended the lead to 83-70, Minnesota embarked on a 12-3 run over the next 1:08 to trail by just four with 32 seconds to play. Unfortunately that would be the closest the Gophers would get as the home team won for the sixth straight time in the series.
The Gophers return to action next Thursday at Purdue to close out a season-long three-game road trip. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Game Notes
- Minnesota shot 53.9 percent (21-39) in the second half, including 54.5 percent (12-22) in the fourth quarter alone.
- Bell's 13 made field goals and 27 field goal attempts were both career highs
- The team's 206 made 3-pointers this year rank third in Minnesota history, while the 549 3-point attempts rank fourth
