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Pitts' Buzzer Beater Lifts Gophers in Florence
8/12/2018 3:01:00 PM | Women's Basketball
FLORENCE, Italy – Sophomore Destiny Pitts' runner at the buzzer gave the Minnesota women's basketball team a 65-63 win over German squad TK Hannover Sunday evening in Florence, Italy. With the win, the Golden Gophers improve to 2-0 on their foreign tour with one game remaining.
"I'm happy with the win," said Carly Thibault-DuDonis, who served as acting head coach for the game. "I thought our team showed a lot of toughness and fight to come back when we were down late in the fourth.
"The focus and the fight were there and usually when that happens you can pull something out. There were some good things we can learn from and some things we can build on going forward."
Minnesota led 53-49 heading into the final quarter, but TKH opened the fourth by scoring 12 of the first 16 points to pull ahead 61-57. It was the team's first lead since 4-2. A jumper from junior Taiye Bello tied the game up at 57, but TKH extended the lead back to four at 61-57. Pitts then made a layup and junior Jasmine Brunson knocked down a pair of free throws to even the score at 61-all.
TK Hannover went back ahead at 63-61 with 1:45 to go and held that lead until senior Annalese Lamke converted on a pair of free throws with just 29 seconds remaining. With just 5.2 seconds remaining, the Gophers' defense stepped up and forced a five-second violation as TKH was unable to inbound the ball in their front court.
That set the stage for Pitts' heroics. Thanks to a screen from Lamke, Pitts was able to get past her defender and into the lane to put up the game-winning runner.
Pitts led Minnesota with 16 points, while Lamke and Bello also reached double figures with 10 points each. Brunson and freshman Mercedes Staples both scored nine points, junior Gadiva Hubbard contributed five points, senior Kenisha Bell added four and junior Kehinde Bello rounded out the scoring with two points.
Minnesota opened the game on a 13-6 run thanks in part to a pair of 3-pointers by Pitts, while Staples scored the final five points of the opening quarter to put the Gophers ahead 22-18. The lead grew to 36-30 in the second quarter before a six-point TKH run tied the game. Brunson gave the Gophers a 38-36 lead at halftime on a pair of free throws. For the game, Minnesota was 14-of-16 at the line.
The Golden Gophers came out hot to start the second half, opening the third quarter on a 9-0 run to achieve their biggest lead of the contest at 47-36. TKH answered, however, with a 9-0 stretch of its own to make it a 47-45 game. Staples and Bell both made a pair of free throws down in the stretch in the quarter, though, to give the team a four-point cushion heading into the dramatic fourth quarter.
Minnesota's final game of their Italy tour will take place Tuesday night in Venice. The team is scheduled to face Italian Select at 6:30 p.m. local time, which is 11:30 a.m. CT in Minnesota.
"I'm happy with the win," said Carly Thibault-DuDonis, who served as acting head coach for the game. "I thought our team showed a lot of toughness and fight to come back when we were down late in the fourth.
"The focus and the fight were there and usually when that happens you can pull something out. There were some good things we can learn from and some things we can build on going forward."
At the buzzer!@desip33 comes through with the game-winning shot for the #Gophers. pic.twitter.com/Vm9r5ig9DB
— Minnesota WBB (@GopherWBB) August 12, 2018
Minnesota led 53-49 heading into the final quarter, but TKH opened the fourth by scoring 12 of the first 16 points to pull ahead 61-57. It was the team's first lead since 4-2. A jumper from junior Taiye Bello tied the game up at 57, but TKH extended the lead back to four at 61-57. Pitts then made a layup and junior Jasmine Brunson knocked down a pair of free throws to even the score at 61-all.
TK Hannover went back ahead at 63-61 with 1:45 to go and held that lead until senior Annalese Lamke converted on a pair of free throws with just 29 seconds remaining. With just 5.2 seconds remaining, the Gophers' defense stepped up and forced a five-second violation as TKH was unable to inbound the ball in their front court.
That set the stage for Pitts' heroics. Thanks to a screen from Lamke, Pitts was able to get past her defender and into the lane to put up the game-winning runner.
Pitts led Minnesota with 16 points, while Lamke and Bello also reached double figures with 10 points each. Brunson and freshman Mercedes Staples both scored nine points, junior Gadiva Hubbard contributed five points, senior Kenisha Bell added four and junior Kehinde Bello rounded out the scoring with two points.
Minnesota opened the game on a 13-6 run thanks in part to a pair of 3-pointers by Pitts, while Staples scored the final five points of the opening quarter to put the Gophers ahead 22-18. The lead grew to 36-30 in the second quarter before a six-point TKH run tied the game. Brunson gave the Gophers a 38-36 lead at halftime on a pair of free throws. For the game, Minnesota was 14-of-16 at the line.
The Golden Gophers came out hot to start the second half, opening the third quarter on a 9-0 run to achieve their biggest lead of the contest at 47-36. TKH answered, however, with a 9-0 stretch of its own to make it a 47-45 game. Staples and Bell both made a pair of free throws down in the stretch in the quarter, though, to give the team a four-point cushion heading into the dramatic fourth quarter.
Minnesota's final game of their Italy tour will take place Tuesday night in Venice. The team is scheduled to face Italian Select at 6:30 p.m. local time, which is 11:30 a.m. CT in Minnesota.
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