University of Minnesota Athletics
Sunday, November 17
3:00 PM
University of Minnesota
3-1,0-0Big Ten
80
vs
66
Arizona State
2-1,0-0Pac-12
1
2
3
4
F
Arizona St.
9
23
12
22
66
Minnesota
20
17
22
21
80
Photo by: Kelly Hagenson
Pitts Hits 1,000 as Gophers Knock Off No. 19 Arizona State
11/17/2019 6:34:00 PM | Women's Basketball
MINNEAPOLIS – Juniors Destiny Pitts and Gadiva Hubbard each scored over 20 points, including career point No. 1,000 for Pitts, as RV/RV Minnesota (3-1) knocked off No. 19/18 Arizona State (2-1) Sunday afternoon at Williams Arena, 80-66.
The Golden Gophers scored the first nine points of the game and never trailed as they knocked off a top-25 opponent for the second time in their last three games against ranked foes. Dating to 2017-18, they have won seven of their last 12 such games with six of those wins coming with the Gophers unranked.
Minnesota shot 50 percent from the floor while holding Arizona State to just 33.8 percent shooting. The Sun Devils came in shooting 47.7 percent on field goals and averaging 85.0 points per game.
After the Gophers' game-opening 9-0 run, Arizona State answered with seven straight of their own. The two-point margin was as close as the Sun Devils got all game as Minnesota immediately countered with 10 straight points and ended the first quarter up 20-9.
Pitts led all scorers with 22 points, the most scored by a Gopher this season. She entered Sunday's game just five points away from becoming the 25th player in Gophers' history to hit the 1,000-point mark, and she reached it with a pull-up jumper in the paint with 2:07 to play in the first quarter.Â
Nine of the Gophers' 20 points in the opening quarter came off turnovers, and they scored 17 points off 14 Arizona State turnovers for the game. That ups Minnesota's points-per-turnover average from 1.12 entering the game to 1.14 through Sunday.
Arizona State outscored the Gophers, 23-17, in the second quarter to make it 37-32 in Minnesota's favor entering the locker room at halftime. The third quarter belonged to Minnesota though, as a 22-12 edge in the frame, aided by an 11-2 run to start the half, gave Minnesota the cushion it needed.
A 3-point play from senior Jasmine Brunson, who finished with a season-high 15 points and tied a career-high with six assists, gave Minnesota its biggest lead at 65-44 with 8:53 to play in the game. The Sun Devils chipped away though and got within 10 at 70-60 with 2:36 remaining. However, freshman Sara Scalia immediately responded with a 3-pointer and, after a pair of ASU free throws, Hubbard hit another from long range to put the game away.
Hubbard finished the game with 20 points, her 11th career game with at least that many points.
Meanwhile, senior Taiye Bello had nine points and 11 rebounds, just missing out on her third straight double-double and moving up to eighth on the program's all-time rebounding list with 752.
Notable
While she became the 25th player at Minnesota to reach 1,000 career points, Destiny Pitts did it 69 career games, the ninth fewest in program history. In addition to her 22 points, which give her 1,017 to rank 24th all-time at Minnesota, Pitts also had a career-high seven assists.
Quotable
"Yeah, it's cool. I would just like to thank my teammates and coaches for all the work I put in with them. I couldn't have done it without all of them so I am just thankful for all of them." – Minnesota junior Destiny Pitts on reaching 1,000 career points.
Up Next
Minnesota continues its season-opening six-game homestand next Saturday as it hosts Montana State at 2 p.m. on BTN Plus.
Â
The Golden Gophers scored the first nine points of the game and never trailed as they knocked off a top-25 opponent for the second time in their last three games against ranked foes. Dating to 2017-18, they have won seven of their last 12 such games with six of those wins coming with the Gophers unranked.
Minnesota shot 50 percent from the floor while holding Arizona State to just 33.8 percent shooting. The Sun Devils came in shooting 47.7 percent on field goals and averaging 85.0 points per game.
After the Gophers' game-opening 9-0 run, Arizona State answered with seven straight of their own. The two-point margin was as close as the Sun Devils got all game as Minnesota immediately countered with 10 straight points and ended the first quarter up 20-9.
Pitts led all scorers with 22 points, the most scored by a Gopher this season. She entered Sunday's game just five points away from becoming the 25th player in Gophers' history to hit the 1,000-point mark, and she reached it with a pull-up jumper in the paint with 2:07 to play in the first quarter.Â
Nine of the Gophers' 20 points in the opening quarter came off turnovers, and they scored 17 points off 14 Arizona State turnovers for the game. That ups Minnesota's points-per-turnover average from 1.12 entering the game to 1.14 through Sunday.
Arizona State outscored the Gophers, 23-17, in the second quarter to make it 37-32 in Minnesota's favor entering the locker room at halftime. The third quarter belonged to Minnesota though, as a 22-12 edge in the frame, aided by an 11-2 run to start the half, gave Minnesota the cushion it needed.
A 3-point play from senior Jasmine Brunson, who finished with a season-high 15 points and tied a career-high with six assists, gave Minnesota its biggest lead at 65-44 with 8:53 to play in the game. The Sun Devils chipped away though and got within 10 at 70-60 with 2:36 remaining. However, freshman Sara Scalia immediately responded with a 3-pointer and, after a pair of ASU free throws, Hubbard hit another from long range to put the game away.
Hubbard finished the game with 20 points, her 11th career game with at least that many points.
Meanwhile, senior Taiye Bello had nine points and 11 rebounds, just missing out on her third straight double-double and moving up to eighth on the program's all-time rebounding list with 752.
Notable
While she became the 25th player at Minnesota to reach 1,000 career points, Destiny Pitts did it 69 career games, the ninth fewest in program history. In addition to her 22 points, which give her 1,017 to rank 24th all-time at Minnesota, Pitts also had a career-high seven assists.
Quotable
"Yeah, it's cool. I would just like to thank my teammates and coaches for all the work I put in with them. I couldn't have done it without all of them so I am just thankful for all of them." – Minnesota junior Destiny Pitts on reaching 1,000 career points.
Up Next
Minnesota continues its season-opening six-game homestand next Saturday as it hosts Montana State at 2 p.m. on BTN Plus.
Â
Team Stats
ASU
MINN
FG%
.338
.500
3FG%
.333
.444
FT%
.833
.824
RB
43
34
TO
14
12
STL
6
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
22
FGM
8
3FGM
3
FTM
3
Pts
20
FGM
7
3FGM
4
FTM
2
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG/F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballThe Story Behind The Photos | Episode 7
Friday, September 05
The Story Behind The Photos | Episode 6
Tuesday, September 02
The Story Behind The Photos | Episode 5
Monday, August 25
Lake Day | WBB Summer Workouts
Tuesday, August 12