University of Minnesota Athletics
Thursday, February 21
College Park, Md.
6:00 PM
University of Minnesota
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Maryland
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Minnesota
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Maryland
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Photo by: Brad Rempel
Gophers Fall on Last-Second Bucket at No. 8 Maryland
2/21/2019 11:05:00 PM | Women's Basketball
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Minnesota saw its six-game win streak come to an end in heartbreaking fashion Thursday night, losing on a last-second shot at No. 8/9 Maryland, 71-69, in College Park, Md.
Minnesota (19-8, 8-8 B1G led 69-62 with 50 seconds remaining, but the Terrapins (24-3, 13-3) scored the final nine points of the game to defeat the Golden Gophers for the eighth time in nine all-time meetings.
Kaila Charles, who led all scorers with 29 points, tied the game up at 69-69 with six seconds to go, prompting Minnesota to call its final timeout. Shakira Austin then stole the ensuing inbounds pass and Charles made the go-ahead layup with less than a second remaining to snap the second-longest conference winning streak in Minnesota history.
Minnesota sophomore Destiny Pitts notched her fourth straight game with at least 21 points as she scored a team-high 24. She was 8-of-15 from the floor and 5-of-11 from 3-point range before fouling out with 50 seconds to play. Pitts also had five rebounds and a pair of steals.
In her last nine games, Pitts is averaging 20.2 points per contest while shooting 44.3 percent from 3-point range.
Senior Kenisha Bell also reached the 20-point mark as she tallied 23 to go along with five assists, four rebounds and two steals. She was 9-of-18 from the field and 5-of-7 from the free throw line.
Junior Jasmine Brunson also reached double figures for the third time in the last four games and fifth time in the last seven contests as she went for 10 points and four rebounds.
Fellow junior Taiye Bello had a game-high 16 rebounds, her 18th game this year with at least 10 boards and her 11th game with at least 15 off the glass. She also had seven points, three steals and a block.
Bell (8), Pitts (6) and Brunson (6) carried the Gophers to a 20-15 lead after the first quarter, combining for all of the team's points in the quarter.
In the second quarter, Maryland got within four at 32-28 with exactly four minutes to play in the opening half, but the Gophers answered with an 8-0 run that turned into a 13-3 spurt and they led 45-31 with 1:47 to go in the quarter. Maryland scored the final five points of the half, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer for Taylor Mikesell, but Minnesota still led 45-36 at intermission.
Pitts kept her scoring up in the second quarter, producing 13 points. It was her third straight game scoring at least 13 points in one quarter. Meanwhile, no other Gopher this year has scored more than 12 points in a stanza.
A 7-0 run midway through the third quarter gave Minnesota its biggest lead of the game at 54-38 with 5:36 left in the frame. At the end of the third, it held a 59-48 edge over the Terrapins.
In the fourth, Maryland outscored the Gophers, 23-10. The Terrapins slowly chipped away at the lead, and twice cut it to five, though Pitts and Bell both answered with layups to push the lead back up to seven. Unfortunately, Bell's layup with 1:58 to go that put the Gophers up 69-62 would mark the final points of the game for Minnesota.
Minnesota is back in action next Thursday at Rutgers for its final road game of the season. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. CT on Big Ten Network.
GAME NOTES
Minnesota is 0-5 all-time in College Park and 6-4 on the road this year … The Gophers are 2-3 against Top-25 teams this year … by going 5-of-7 at the free throw line, Kenisha Bell is now 145-for-215 at the line this year, marking the second most attempts ever in team history and the ninth most makes … Bell now has 565 made field goals and 1,401 field goal attempts in her career, passing Marty Dahlen (564-for-1393) for 10th and eighth in each category, respectively … Destiny Pitts' five made 3-pointers move her career total to 156, passing Sari Noga (154) for sixth in team history … Taiye Bello's 16 rebounds up her season total to 341, tying Laura Coenen (1984-85) for eighth in program history … 10 of Bello's rebounds were on the defensive end, pushing her season total to 201 to tie Angie Iverson (1996-97) for fifth in program annals … Jasmine Brunson's 15 field goal attempts were a career high
Minnesota (19-8, 8-8 B1G led 69-62 with 50 seconds remaining, but the Terrapins (24-3, 13-3) scored the final nine points of the game to defeat the Golden Gophers for the eighth time in nine all-time meetings.
Kaila Charles, who led all scorers with 29 points, tied the game up at 69-69 with six seconds to go, prompting Minnesota to call its final timeout. Shakira Austin then stole the ensuing inbounds pass and Charles made the go-ahead layup with less than a second remaining to snap the second-longest conference winning streak in Minnesota history.
Minnesota sophomore Destiny Pitts notched her fourth straight game with at least 21 points as she scored a team-high 24. She was 8-of-15 from the floor and 5-of-11 from 3-point range before fouling out with 50 seconds to play. Pitts also had five rebounds and a pair of steals.
In her last nine games, Pitts is averaging 20.2 points per contest while shooting 44.3 percent from 3-point range.
Senior Kenisha Bell also reached the 20-point mark as she tallied 23 to go along with five assists, four rebounds and two steals. She was 9-of-18 from the field and 5-of-7 from the free throw line.
Junior Jasmine Brunson also reached double figures for the third time in the last four games and fifth time in the last seven contests as she went for 10 points and four rebounds.
Fellow junior Taiye Bello had a game-high 16 rebounds, her 18th game this year with at least 10 boards and her 11th game with at least 15 off the glass. She also had seven points, three steals and a block.
Bell (8), Pitts (6) and Brunson (6) carried the Gophers to a 20-15 lead after the first quarter, combining for all of the team's points in the quarter.
In the second quarter, Maryland got within four at 32-28 with exactly four minutes to play in the opening half, but the Gophers answered with an 8-0 run that turned into a 13-3 spurt and they led 45-31 with 1:47 to go in the quarter. Maryland scored the final five points of the half, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer for Taylor Mikesell, but Minnesota still led 45-36 at intermission.
Pitts kept her scoring up in the second quarter, producing 13 points. It was her third straight game scoring at least 13 points in one quarter. Meanwhile, no other Gopher this year has scored more than 12 points in a stanza.
A 7-0 run midway through the third quarter gave Minnesota its biggest lead of the game at 54-38 with 5:36 left in the frame. At the end of the third, it held a 59-48 edge over the Terrapins.
In the fourth, Maryland outscored the Gophers, 23-10. The Terrapins slowly chipped away at the lead, and twice cut it to five, though Pitts and Bell both answered with layups to push the lead back up to seven. Unfortunately, Bell's layup with 1:58 to go that put the Gophers up 69-62 would mark the final points of the game for Minnesota.
Minnesota is back in action next Thursday at Rutgers for its final road game of the season. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. CT on Big Ten Network.
GAME NOTES
Minnesota is 0-5 all-time in College Park and 6-4 on the road this year … The Gophers are 2-3 against Top-25 teams this year … by going 5-of-7 at the free throw line, Kenisha Bell is now 145-for-215 at the line this year, marking the second most attempts ever in team history and the ninth most makes … Bell now has 565 made field goals and 1,401 field goal attempts in her career, passing Marty Dahlen (564-for-1393) for 10th and eighth in each category, respectively … Destiny Pitts' five made 3-pointers move her career total to 156, passing Sari Noga (154) for sixth in team history … Taiye Bello's 16 rebounds up her season total to 341, tying Laura Coenen (1984-85) for eighth in program history … 10 of Bello's rebounds were on the defensive end, pushing her season total to 201 to tie Angie Iverson (1996-97) for fifth in program annals … Jasmine Brunson's 15 field goal attempts were a career high
Team Stats
MINN
UM
FG%
.456
.418
3FG%
.333
.375
FT%
.611
.750
RB
42
37
TO
18
12
STL
10
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
24
FGM
8
3FGM
5
FTM
3
Pts
23
FGM
9
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
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