Grace Grocholski totaled 27 points and Sophie Hart added 22 as the Minnesota women’s basketball team (20-8, 8-8 B1G) knocked off the Purdue Boilermakers (9-17, 2-13) 74-61 on the road Wednesday night.
The Golden Gophers had three players score in double figures, led by Grocholski, who had 27 points, six rebounds and five assists. Hart tacked on 22 points and Amaya Battle chipped in as well with 11 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Minnesota out-rebounded Purdue 30-27 in Wednesday’s game, paced by 10 boards from Mallory Heyer.
Minnesota forced 18 Purdue turnovers while committing 15 themselves in Wednesday’s game. The Gophers turned those takeaways into 16 points on the offensive end of the floor. Battle’s three steals led the way for Minnesota.
How It Happened
Minnesota started out the scoring by going on a 5-0 run to take an early lead with 8:51 left in the first quarter. The Gophers then lost some of that lead, but still entered the quarter break with an 18-17 advantage. Minnesota did most of its first quarter damage in the paint, scoring 12 of its 18 points close to the basket.
Purdue rallied to take a 34-28 lead before Minnesota went on an 8-0 run starting at the 2:41 mark in the second period, highlighted by a bucket from Grocholski, to take a 36-34 lead, a score that would hold until halftime. Minnesota dominated in the paint, scoring 18 of its 18 points close to the basket.
Minnesota surrendered its halftime lead until, with the game tied at 36-36 they went on a 9-0 run, punctuated by a basket from Grocholski, to grab a 45-36 lead with 7:52 to go in the third. Before the conclusion of the third period, the Boilermakers had cut into that lead somewhat, but the Gophers still entered the fourth quarter with a 53-46 edge. Minnesota knocked down three three-pointers in the quarter to score nine of its 17 total points.
Minnesota kept its lead intact before going on an 8-0 run to grow the lead to 64-53 with 3:03 to go in the contest. The Gophers kept expanding the margin and coasted the rest of the way for the 74-61 win.
Game Notes
» Minnesota never trailed in the second half on its way to victory.
» Minnesota tallied 18 total assists in the game.
» Grace Grocholski, Sophie Hart, and Amaya Battle combined to account for 81 percent of the Gophers points.
» Minnesota had a 30-27 edge on the boards in the win.
» The Minnesota defense forced 18 turnovers.
» Grace Grocholski had a game-high 27 points and Sophie Hart added 22.
» Minnesota got a game-high 10 rebounds from Mallory Heyer.
(info and photo courtesy of Gopher Sports)
