University of Minnesota Athletics
Saturday, November 23
2:00 PM
University of Minnesota
4-1,0-0Big Ten
71
vs
60
Montana State
3-2,0-0Big Sky
1
2
3
4
F
Montana St.
16
20
14
10
60
Minnesota
19
14
14
24
71
Photo by: Christopher Mitchell
Minnesota Rallies Past Montana State, 71-60
11/23/2019 5:23:00 PM | Women's Basketball
MINNEAPOLIS – Trailing by as many as 12 points, RV/RV Minnesota (4-1) used a second-half rally to defeat Montana State (3-2), Saturday afternoon at Williams Arena, 71-60.
Junior Destiny Pitts led all scorers with a season-high 26 points, including 19 in the second half, and senior Taiye Bello registered her third double-double of the season as Minnesota logged its biggest comeback since overcoming a 13-point deficit in the opening round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament against Green Bay.
Montana State led by three points at halftime, but opened the third quarter on an 11-2 run to lead 47-35. The Gophers started chipping away, though and outscored the Bobcats, 12-3, over the final 5:50 to trail by only three entering the final quarter. Pitts scored 10 of those points thanks to a couple 3-pointers and successful trips to the free throw line.
The Bobcats pushed the lead back up to five at 54-49 with 8:16 to go, but Minnesota responded with a 13-0 run and never looked back to take the first ever meeting between the schools.
After senior Jasmine Brunson converted a three-point to cut the lead to two, freshman Jasmine Powell gave the Gophers their first lead since the 7:16 mark of the second quarter when she made a tough layup and followed with a free throw. Montana State then turned the ball over on three straight possession as Pitts turned those into five more points and a 60-54 Minnesota lead.
Another layup from Powell extended the lead to eight with 2:08 to play and the Bobcats would not get closer than six points the rest of the way.
For Pitts, her 26 points upped her career total to 1,043, moving her from 24th on the Gophers' all-time scoring list to 20th. It was her 19th career game reaching 20 points as she made four 3-pointers and was 8-of-9 at the line. She also added four rebounds, a pair of steals and a blocked shot.
Bello notched the 18th double-double of her career with 11 points and a season-high 14 rebounds. Eight of the rebounds came on the offensive end, giving her 363 for her career to pass Janel McCarville (361) for the most in school history since the stat was first tracked in the 1987-88 season.
Powell also reached double figures for the third time in five games this season with 14 points off the bench, nine of which came in the fourth quarter alone. She was 8-of-10 at the line and tied junior Gadiva Hubbard for the team lead with three assists.
Notable
After allowing Montana State to shoot 46.7 percent (14-for-30) in the first half and scored 36 points, the Minnesota defense clamped down in the second half. The Bobcats only scored 24 points in the third and fourth quarters, shooting 28.6 percent (8-for-28).
Quotable
""It shows a lot of fight in our team and how well connected we can be, but we have to put it all together for four quarters." -- Destiny Pitts on the team's comeback.
Up Next
Minnesota closes out its season-opening six-game homestand Tuesday as it hosts Bryant at 7 p.m. on BTN Plus.
Junior Destiny Pitts led all scorers with a season-high 26 points, including 19 in the second half, and senior Taiye Bello registered her third double-double of the season as Minnesota logged its biggest comeback since overcoming a 13-point deficit in the opening round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament against Green Bay.
Montana State led by three points at halftime, but opened the third quarter on an 11-2 run to lead 47-35. The Gophers started chipping away, though and outscored the Bobcats, 12-3, over the final 5:50 to trail by only three entering the final quarter. Pitts scored 10 of those points thanks to a couple 3-pointers and successful trips to the free throw line.
The Bobcats pushed the lead back up to five at 54-49 with 8:16 to go, but Minnesota responded with a 13-0 run and never looked back to take the first ever meeting between the schools.
After senior Jasmine Brunson converted a three-point to cut the lead to two, freshman Jasmine Powell gave the Gophers their first lead since the 7:16 mark of the second quarter when she made a tough layup and followed with a free throw. Montana State then turned the ball over on three straight possession as Pitts turned those into five more points and a 60-54 Minnesota lead.
Another layup from Powell extended the lead to eight with 2:08 to play and the Bobcats would not get closer than six points the rest of the way.
For Pitts, her 26 points upped her career total to 1,043, moving her from 24th on the Gophers' all-time scoring list to 20th. It was her 19th career game reaching 20 points as she made four 3-pointers and was 8-of-9 at the line. She also added four rebounds, a pair of steals and a blocked shot.
Bello notched the 18th double-double of her career with 11 points and a season-high 14 rebounds. Eight of the rebounds came on the offensive end, giving her 363 for her career to pass Janel McCarville (361) for the most in school history since the stat was first tracked in the 1987-88 season.
Powell also reached double figures for the third time in five games this season with 14 points off the bench, nine of which came in the fourth quarter alone. She was 8-of-10 at the line and tied junior Gadiva Hubbard for the team lead with three assists.
Notable
After allowing Montana State to shoot 46.7 percent (14-for-30) in the first half and scored 36 points, the Minnesota defense clamped down in the second half. The Bobcats only scored 24 points in the third and fourth quarters, shooting 28.6 percent (8-for-28).
Quotable
""It shows a lot of fight in our team and how well connected we can be, but we have to put it all together for four quarters." -- Destiny Pitts on the team's comeback.
Up Next
Minnesota closes out its season-opening six-game homestand Tuesday as it hosts Bryant at 7 p.m. on BTN Plus.
Team Stats
MSU
MINN
FG%
.379
.361
3FG%
.316
.250
FT%
.833
.750
RB
43
33
TO
23
13
STL
6
10
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
26
FGM
7
3FGM
4
FTM
8
Pts
14
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
8
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
6
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG/F
/ Women's BasketballG
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