University of Minnesota Athletics

Photo by: Brad Rempel
Minnesota Drops Final Contest of 2020 to No. 19 Indiana
12/23/2020 5:17:00 PM | Women's Basketball
MINNEAPOLIS – Minnesota women's basketball closed out the 2020 calendar year with a 75-54 setback against No. 19/18 Indiana Wednesday afternoon at Williams Arena.
Sophomore Jasmine Powell and graduate transfer Laura Bagwell Katalinich each reached double figures for the Golden Gophers (1-4, 0-3 Big Ten), scoring 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Powell, who has scored at least 12 points in every game this season, added four rebounds, three assists and a steal.
Bagwell Katalinich, who made her first start at Minnesota, also tied for the team lead with six rebounds along with sophomore Kadi Sissoko and took a pair of charges. It was Bagwell Katalinich's 43rd career game in double figures.
The Hoosiers (4-2, 2-0) saw four players with at least 10 points, led by 19 each for Mackenzie Holmes and Jaylynn Penn. Grace Berger added 13, while Aleksa Gulbe scored 11 to go with a game-high eight rebounds.
Minnesota started the game strong and led after the first quarter, 16-15. Six different Gophers scored in the stanza, highlighted by freshman Alexia Smith's 3-pointer at the buzzer to put Minnesota ahead. It was a better start for the Gophers, who entered the contest being outscored 23.8 to 14.0 in the first quarter this year.
The Hoosiers showed why they are a top-25 team though in the second quarter, scoring the first seven points and 12 of the first 14. Minnesota closed the frame with a bit of momentum as Powell scored on a driving layup with three seconds left, though Indiana did have a 36-25 lead at intermission. Holmes and Berger each had seven points in the second quarter for IU.
Indiana extended the lead to 15 at 42-27 in the third, but sophomore Sara Scalia hit a 3-pointer and Bagwell Katalinich knocked down a pair of free throws to get it to a 10-point lead with 7:29 to play in the third. Minnesota would get no closer though as Penn scored five straight on her own, and Minnesota was held without a point for over five minutes to swing the game back to the Hoosiers.
Minnesota will now have 11 days off before it returns to the court on Jan. 3 at Wisconsin.
Game Notes
Junior Kayla Mershon made her Minnesota debut with three points and three rebounds ... graduate transfer Laura Bagwell Katalinich made her first start as a Gopher, she started 50 games in two seasons previously at Cornell … redshirt senior Gadiva Hubbard came off the bench for the first time since Dec. 3, 2017, a string of 58 straight starts in games she played ... Alexia Smith tied a career high with six points ... Sara Scalia set season highs in rebounds (4) and assists (2) and matched her season high in points (9) ... as a team, Minnesota was 13-of-16 at the free throw line, a season best percentage (.813) ... Indiana finished with 37 rebounds to Minnesota's 36; the Hoosiers entered the game leading the conference with 46.8 rebounds per game
Team Stats
IND
MINN
FG%
.459
.322
3FG%
.417
.167
FT%
.933
.813
RB
37
36
TO
13
18
STL
8
5
Game Leaders
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