University of Minnesota Athletics
Thursday, March 7
Indianapolis, Ind.
5:30 PM
University of Minnesota
20-9
58
vs
66
Indiana
19-11
1
2
3
4
F
Indiana
20
22
11
13
66
Minnesota
10
18
14
16
58
Photo by: Brad Rempel
Minnesota Bested by Indiana at B1G Tournament
3/7/2019 10:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. --Â Seventh-seeded Minnesota (20-10) bowed out of the Big Ten Tournament in the second round with a 66-58 loss to No. 10 Indiana (20-11) Thursday night in Indianapolis.Â
Sophomore Destiny Pitts led all scorers with 25 points to post her seventh straight game with at least 20 points. It's the longest stretch for a Gopher since Rachel Banham ended the 2015-16 season with 20 straight 20-point games.Â
During her run, Pitts is averaging 24.1 points per game over her last seven games while shooting 46.9 percent from the floor, 38.3 percent on 3-pointers and 93.0 percent on free throws. Â
Joining Pitts in double figures was senior Kenisha Bell, who scored 15 points and had a game-high nine rebounds. She became the seventh Gopher in team history to go over 1,700 points and now has 1,707 in the Maroon and Gold.
As a team, Minnesota set a school record by making all 17 of its free throw attempts. It's the most makes without a miss at the line, bettering the previous mark of 11-for-11 against Michigan State on Feb. 27, 2000. The figure also ties for the fifth best in Big Ten history.
Coupled with a 31-for-32 effort on Sunday against Michigan State, Minnesota has made 48 of its last 49 free throw attempts (98.0 percent). Thursday, Pitts was 9-for-9 at the line, the second most makes without a miss by a Gopher in Big Ten Tournament history. In addition, Bell made all four of her attempts and junior Jasmine Brunson and senior Annalese Lamke were both 2-for-2.
In the first quarter, the Gophers were within two at 8-6 but the Hoosiers closed out the frame on a 12-4 run to lead 20-10 after the first quarter. It was just the fifth time all season that the Gophers trailed after the opening quarter, and the 10-point deficit was the largest they had faced.
Free throws from Bell and a jumper from Brunson got Minnesota within 20-14 less than two minutes into the second quarter, but Indiana responded with a 10-2 run and held a double-digit lead for the remainder of the first half. At halftime, Indiana led 42-28.
Down 44-30 in the third, Minnesota got within seven thanks to a 10-3 spurt to trail 47-40 with 3:04 left in the quarter. Indiana held off further damage, though, to lead 53-42 going into the fourth.Â
Minnesota fought until the end, three times making it a two-possession game in the fourth quarter. Trailing 60-49 with 5:15 to play, junior Taiye Bello scored and Pitts followed with a three-point play to make it a 60-54 game with 2:33 to play. Minnesota would get to within six two more times, but that would be as close as the Gophers would get.
Minnesota now awaits its postseason fate with an announcement expected to come on Monday, March 18.
GAME NOTES
Minnesota is 37-31 all-time against Indiana ... the Golden Gophers are 2-2 in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament and 10-26 overall ... the team's 683 attempted free throws this year are tied for fourth in team history ... Pitts' 209 3-pointers attempted this year tie for seventh in team history ... Taiye Bello's eight rebounds give her 367 this year to ranking sixth at Minnesota, while her 47 blocks this year are eighth ... Bell's 23 field goal attempts Thursday tied for the second most by a Gopher ever at the Big Ten Tournament
Sophomore Destiny Pitts led all scorers with 25 points to post her seventh straight game with at least 20 points. It's the longest stretch for a Gopher since Rachel Banham ended the 2015-16 season with 20 straight 20-point games.Â
During her run, Pitts is averaging 24.1 points per game over her last seven games while shooting 46.9 percent from the floor, 38.3 percent on 3-pointers and 93.0 percent on free throws. Â
Joining Pitts in double figures was senior Kenisha Bell, who scored 15 points and had a game-high nine rebounds. She became the seventh Gopher in team history to go over 1,700 points and now has 1,707 in the Maroon and Gold.
As a team, Minnesota set a school record by making all 17 of its free throw attempts. It's the most makes without a miss at the line, bettering the previous mark of 11-for-11 against Michigan State on Feb. 27, 2000. The figure also ties for the fifth best in Big Ten history.
Coupled with a 31-for-32 effort on Sunday against Michigan State, Minnesota has made 48 of its last 49 free throw attempts (98.0 percent). Thursday, Pitts was 9-for-9 at the line, the second most makes without a miss by a Gopher in Big Ten Tournament history. In addition, Bell made all four of her attempts and junior Jasmine Brunson and senior Annalese Lamke were both 2-for-2.
In the first quarter, the Gophers were within two at 8-6 but the Hoosiers closed out the frame on a 12-4 run to lead 20-10 after the first quarter. It was just the fifth time all season that the Gophers trailed after the opening quarter, and the 10-point deficit was the largest they had faced.
Free throws from Bell and a jumper from Brunson got Minnesota within 20-14 less than two minutes into the second quarter, but Indiana responded with a 10-2 run and held a double-digit lead for the remainder of the first half. At halftime, Indiana led 42-28.
Down 44-30 in the third, Minnesota got within seven thanks to a 10-3 spurt to trail 47-40 with 3:04 left in the quarter. Indiana held off further damage, though, to lead 53-42 going into the fourth.Â
Minnesota fought until the end, three times making it a two-possession game in the fourth quarter. Trailing 60-49 with 5:15 to play, junior Taiye Bello scored and Pitts followed with a three-point play to make it a 60-54 game with 2:33 to play. Minnesota would get to within six two more times, but that would be as close as the Gophers would get.
Minnesota now awaits its postseason fate with an announcement expected to come on Monday, March 18.
GAME NOTES
Minnesota is 37-31 all-time against Indiana ... the Golden Gophers are 2-2 in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament and 10-26 overall ... the team's 683 attempted free throws this year are tied for fourth in team history ... Pitts' 209 3-pointers attempted this year tie for seventh in team history ... Taiye Bello's eight rebounds give her 367 this year to ranking sixth at Minnesota, while her 47 blocks this year are eighth ... Bell's 23 field goal attempts Thursday tied for the second most by a Gopher ever at the Big Ten Tournament
Team Stats
IU
MINN
FG%
.462
.313
3FG%
.429
.067
FT%
.706
1.000
RB
36
38
TO
18
14
STL
5
4
Game Leaders
Pts
25
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
9
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
6
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
6
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
2
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G
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
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