University of Minnesota Athletics
Saturday, January 4
Lincoln, Neb.
5:00 PM
University of Minnesota
11-3,1-2Big Ten
58
at
72
Nebraska
12-2,2-1Big Ten
1
2
3
4
F
Minnesota
10
16
18
14
58
Nebraska
13
22
19
18
72
Photo by: Craig Lassig
Minnesota Dealt First Road Loss by Nebraska
1/4/2020 9:40:00 PM | Women's Basketball
LINCOLN, Neb. -- No. 24/RV Minnesota was dealt its first road loss of the season Saturday in a 72-58 setback at RV/NR Nebraska (12-2, 2-1 B1G).
Minnesota, which won its first four road games of the season, is now 11-3 on the year and 1-2 in league play.
Three Gophers reached double figures with senior Taiye Bello leading the way with 16 points. Twelve of her 16 came in the third quarter, matching junior Destiny Pitts for the most in any quarter this season by a Gopher. Pitts also had 12 in the third quarter of the season opener against Missouri State.
Bello also had five rebounds (four offensive), two blocks and two steals to fill out the stat sheet.
Pitts was second on the team with 12 points, snapping a string of five straight games with at least 19 points. She added a game-high four assists and three rebounds.
Fellow junior Gadiva Hubbard had her best scoring game of the young conference season with 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers that tied her with Mikayla Bailey for eighth on the Gophers' all-time list with 145 made in her career.
Meanwhile, freshman Sara Scalia tied a career high with seven rebounds to lead the team, while senior Kehinde Bello came off the bench to record six boards, a pair of steals and a block in just under 16 minutes of action.
The Gophers started hot with back-to-back 3-pointers from Scalia and Hubbard, though the team's 6-2 lead two minutes into the game would be its largest of the contest. The first quarter featured four lead changes the Huskers led 13-10 after the first 10 minutes.
The second quarter was full of runs as a Pitts jumper made it 13-12 early in the second, but Nebraska responded with the next 10 points to go up 23-12. That was met with a 12-4 run by Minnesota that got it back within 27-24 with just under three minutes left in the opening half.
Nebraska had one more run before the teams hit the locker room, though, as it scored 8 of the last 10 points to lead 35-26 at the break.
Taiye Bello scored on back-to-back baskets to open the third quarter to cut the lead to five, but the Gophers would not get any closer the rest of the way as a 10-0 spurt from the Huskers gave them their largest lead of the game at 45-30 midway through the third.
The Gophers kept chipping away at the lead, however. Down 50-36, they scored eight of the next nine points, with Taiye Bello scoring six of them, to trail only by seven with 1:34 left in the third.
Nebraska pushed the lead back to 10 through three quarters at 54-44, and the Gophers cut the lead to single digits when Pitts made a 3-pointer, was fouled and hit the free throw to trail 56-48 with 8:50 to play. Nebraska scored the next six points, however, and led by double digits the rest of the way.
The Cornhuskers were led by Kate Cain, who had a double-double of 19 points and 15 rebounds, and added six blocks. In addition, Hannah Whitish and Sam Haiby both finished with 17 points and combined to go 8-of-13 on 3-pointers.
Minnesota returns home Thursday to host Northwestern (12-1, 2-0 B1G) at 7 p.m. on BTN Plus.
Minnesota, which won its first four road games of the season, is now 11-3 on the year and 1-2 in league play.
Three Gophers reached double figures with senior Taiye Bello leading the way with 16 points. Twelve of her 16 came in the third quarter, matching junior Destiny Pitts for the most in any quarter this season by a Gopher. Pitts also had 12 in the third quarter of the season opener against Missouri State.
Bello also had five rebounds (four offensive), two blocks and two steals to fill out the stat sheet.
Pitts was second on the team with 12 points, snapping a string of five straight games with at least 19 points. She added a game-high four assists and three rebounds.
Fellow junior Gadiva Hubbard had her best scoring game of the young conference season with 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers that tied her with Mikayla Bailey for eighth on the Gophers' all-time list with 145 made in her career.
Meanwhile, freshman Sara Scalia tied a career high with seven rebounds to lead the team, while senior Kehinde Bello came off the bench to record six boards, a pair of steals and a block in just under 16 minutes of action.
The Gophers started hot with back-to-back 3-pointers from Scalia and Hubbard, though the team's 6-2 lead two minutes into the game would be its largest of the contest. The first quarter featured four lead changes the Huskers led 13-10 after the first 10 minutes.
The second quarter was full of runs as a Pitts jumper made it 13-12 early in the second, but Nebraska responded with the next 10 points to go up 23-12. That was met with a 12-4 run by Minnesota that got it back within 27-24 with just under three minutes left in the opening half.
Nebraska had one more run before the teams hit the locker room, though, as it scored 8 of the last 10 points to lead 35-26 at the break.
Taiye Bello scored on back-to-back baskets to open the third quarter to cut the lead to five, but the Gophers would not get any closer the rest of the way as a 10-0 spurt from the Huskers gave them their largest lead of the game at 45-30 midway through the third.
The Gophers kept chipping away at the lead, however. Down 50-36, they scored eight of the next nine points, with Taiye Bello scoring six of them, to trail only by seven with 1:34 left in the third.
Nebraska pushed the lead back to 10 through three quarters at 54-44, and the Gophers cut the lead to single digits when Pitts made a 3-pointer, was fouled and hit the free throw to trail 56-48 with 8:50 to play. Nebraska scored the next six points, however, and led by double digits the rest of the way.
The Cornhuskers were led by Kate Cain, who had a double-double of 19 points and 15 rebounds, and added six blocks. In addition, Hannah Whitish and Sam Haiby both finished with 17 points and combined to go 8-of-13 on 3-pointers.
Minnesota returns home Thursday to host Northwestern (12-1, 2-0 B1G) at 7 p.m. on BTN Plus.
Team Stats
MINN
Nebr
FG%
.315
.443
3FG%
.278
.526
FT%
.875
.615
RB
38
50
TO
10
16
STL
8
3
Game Leaders
Pts
16
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
8
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG/F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballMaking Connections: Sophie Hart & Zoey Bershers
Friday, October 17
Behind the Scenes: B1G Media Day
Tuesday, October 14
Braun & Battle at B1G Media Day
Wednesday, October 08
Coach Plitzuweit at B1G Media Day
Wednesday, October 08