University of Minnesota Athletics
Friday, March 22
Williams Arena
6:30 PM
University of Minnesota
91
vs
75
Northern Iowa
Photo by: Brad Rempel
Gophers Overwhelm UNI to Advance in WNIT
3/22/2019 10:24:00 PM | Women's Basketball
MINNEAPOLIS -- With four players in double figures, Minnesota (21-10) defeated Northern Iowa (20-12) in the opening round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament Friday night, 91-75, at Williams Arena.
Minnesota now goes on the road to face Cincinnati (22-10) on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. CT in the WNIT's second round.
Gophers sophomore Destiny Pitts led all scorers with 29 points, her eighth straight game with at least 20 points. She was 10-of-16 from the floor, 5-of-10 from 3-point range and made all four free throw attempts.
Senior Kenisha Bell also reached the 20-point plateau with 22 points and a career-high 12 assists for her fifth double-double of the season. She also had seven rebounds and a pair of steals.
Freshman Mercedes Staples made the first start of her career and responded with a career-high 14 points. She also set career highs in field goals made (5) and attempted (8), 3-pointers made (4) and attempted (6), assists (6) and steals (3).
Junior Taiye Bello added 17 points to go with five rebounds, a block and a steal.
The Gophers stormed out of the gates and led 30-11 after the first quarter. Pitts scored 10 points and Staples had nine, while the Gophers shot 78.6 percent from the floor by making 11-of-14 shots. The 30 points marked their most in an opening quarter this year.
The lead was 52-28 at halftime for Minnesota and 70-49 through three quarters, but the Panthers fought back in the fourth quarter.
Northern Iowa used a 14-2 run to turn a 75-55 Minnesota lead into a 77-69 advantage with 4:44 to play. Bell broke an 8-0 run with an and-one play and the Gophers never trailed by less than double-digits the rest of the way.
Minnesota now goes on the road to face Cincinnati (22-10) on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. CT in the WNIT's second round.
Gophers sophomore Destiny Pitts led all scorers with 29 points, her eighth straight game with at least 20 points. She was 10-of-16 from the floor, 5-of-10 from 3-point range and made all four free throw attempts.
Senior Kenisha Bell also reached the 20-point plateau with 22 points and a career-high 12 assists for her fifth double-double of the season. She also had seven rebounds and a pair of steals.
Freshman Mercedes Staples made the first start of her career and responded with a career-high 14 points. She also set career highs in field goals made (5) and attempted (8), 3-pointers made (4) and attempted (6), assists (6) and steals (3).
Junior Taiye Bello added 17 points to go with five rebounds, a block and a steal.
The Gophers stormed out of the gates and led 30-11 after the first quarter. Pitts scored 10 points and Staples had nine, while the Gophers shot 78.6 percent from the floor by making 11-of-14 shots. The 30 points marked their most in an opening quarter this year.
The lead was 52-28 at halftime for Minnesota and 70-49 through three quarters, but the Panthers fought back in the fourth quarter.
Northern Iowa used a 14-2 run to turn a 75-55 Minnesota lead into a 77-69 advantage with 4:44 to play. Bell broke an 8-0 run with an and-one play and the Gophers never trailed by less than double-digits the rest of the way.
Players Mentioned
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