The No. 24 Minnesota women’s basketball team (16-2, 4-2 B1G) fell short in a 99-92 loss to the No. 8 Maryland Terrapins (16-1, 6-1 B1G) on the road Tuesday night.  The Golden Gophers had four players score in double figures, led by Amaya Battle, who had 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Grace Grocholski tacked on 16 points, five assists and two steals and Mallory Heyer helped out with 15 points.

Minnesota shared the ball well in Tuesday’s game, racking up 17 assists on 34 made field goals. Battle’s six assists led the Maroon & Gold. Minnesota forced 18 Maryland turnovers while committing 12 themselves in Tuesday’s game. The Gophers turned those takeaways into 20 points on the other end of the floor. Grocholski’s two steals led the way for Minnesota.

How It Happened
After falling behind 11-8, Minnesota went on a 5-0 run with 4:55 left in the first quarter, culminating in a bucket from Battle, to take a 13-11 lead. The Gophers then maintained that lead and entered the quarter break with a 19-17 advantage. Minnesota did most of its first quarter damage in the paint, scoring 14 of its 19 points close to the basket.

The Maroon & Gold could not maintain their lead in the second quarter and entered halftime trailing 42-37.

Minnesota’s deficit continued to grow after halftime, and the Gophers faced a 71-60 disadvantage heading to the fourth quarter. Minnesota played well near the basket, scoring 14 of its 23 points in the paint. Maryland kept widening its lead in the fourth, constructing a 93-73 advantage before Minnesota went on a 16-0 run, finished off by Battle’s layup, to shrink the deficit to 93-89 with 36 seconds to go in the contest. Maryland  responded and outscored the Gophers the rest of the way, ending the game with a final score of 99-92. Minnesota took advantage of seven Maryland turnovers in the quarter, scoring nine points off of those takeaways.

Game Notes
» The Maroon & Gold lit it up from beyond the arc, knocking down eight treys in the game.
» Minnesota recorded 17 total assists in the game.
» The Minnesota defense forced 18 turnovers.
» Minnesota cleaned up on the offensive glass, collecting 14 offensive boards in the game.
» Amaya Battle led the Gophers with 19 points.
» Minnesota got a team-high nine rebounds from Sophie Hart.

(info and photo courtesy of Gopher Sports)

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