Gophers Advance Past Penn State Thanks to Second-Half Surge

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INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Five Gophers scored in double figures as 11th-seeded Minnesota (16-14) defeated No. 14 Penn State (7-23) Wednesday, 85-65, in the opening round of the 2020 Big Ten Tournament.

With the win, the Gophers advance to face 6th-seeded Ohio State (18-11) Thursday night at 8 p.m. CT on Big Ten Network. The Buckeyes won both regular season matchups between the teams: 66-63 in Minneapolis on Dec. 31 and 99-76 in Columbus on Feb. 13.

Senior Jasmine Brunson was the top scorer for Minnesota against the Lady Lions Wednesday, posting a career-high 20 points thanks to a personal best four 3-pointers. Thirteen of Brunson's 20 points came in the second half. She also tied a career high with six assists and added a pair of rebounds and a pair of steals.

A trio of Gophers finished with 16 points, including senior Taiye Bello, redshirt junior Gadiva Hubbard and freshman Jasmine Powell.

Bello notched her 12th double-double of the season (tied for 10th in program history) and the 27th of her career as she added 13 rebounds. She now has 1,001 rebounds in her career to become the fifth Gopher to reach that mark. She is also just 33 points away from reaching 1,000 points in her career.

Hubbard's 16 points were highlighted by four made 3-pointers, while Powell added five assists, four rebounds and four steals to her 16 points. Also in double figures was senior Masha Adashchyk, who finished with 11 points for her fourth career game in double figures.

As a team, Minnesota was 11-of-23 from 3-point range, the most 3's made in a game in the team's history at the Big Ten Tournament. The Gophers also set a program record at the tournament with 20 assists.

The Golden Gophers came out strong as they opened the game on a 16-3 run, however the Lady Lions got back in the game later in the quarter thanks to a 9-0 run and Minnesota led 22-19 after one quarter.

Penn State then scored seven of the first nine points of the second quarter, taking its first lead of the contest at 26-24. Anna Camden hit three 3's in the frame and a 23-15 advantage for PSU led them to a 42-37 lead at halftime.

The game turned in the Gophers' favor in the third quarter, however, as they outscored the Lady Lions, 30-13, to wrest away control. It was the Gophers' highest scoring quarter of the season. Powell and Bello each had eight points in the quarter, while Brunson had six and Hubbard had five as Minnesota was 11-of-16 from the field and 5-of-6 at the free throw line.

Minnesota opened the third quarter on a 16-5 run to turn the 42-37 halftime deficit into a 53-47 lead in just 4:43 of game time. Penn State got back within four at 55-51 but Brunson hit a 3-pointer, Bello scored five straight and Powell added a layup to give Minnesota breathing room thanks to a 10-0 stretch.

Leading 67-55 through three quarters, Minnesota kept up the pressure in the fourth as it didn't let Penn State get closer than 12 in the final frame. A jumper from Adashchyk put the Gophers up 85-64 with 1:15 to play, giving them their largest lead of the contest.

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