Amaya Battle put up a career high 35 points to lead the University of Minnesota women’s basketball team (23-11, 8-10 B1G) over the Gonzaga Bulldogs (24-11, 17-3 WCC) 82-77 on Thursday night at Williams Arena to advance to the WBIT semifinal game.
Minnesota will face Florida on Monday at 4 p.m. CT at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind., live on ESPNU.
The Gophers had three players score in double figures, led by Battle’s 35 points, also notching 10 assists. Grace Grocholski tacked on 20 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals and Tori McKinney helped out with 19 points and two steals.
Minnesota utilized excellent ball movement in Thursday’s game, piling up 17 assists on 29 made field goals.
How It Happened
After jumping out to a 19-16 advantage, Minnesota went on a 6-0 run with 2:52 left in the first quarter, culminating in a bucket from Heyer, to increase its lead to 25-16, a score that would hold for the rest of the period.
The Gophers could not maintain their lead in the second quarter and entered halftime trailing 35-34.
Gonzaga continued to increase its lead after halftime, building a 48-40 advantage before Minnesota went on a 6-0 run, punctuated by a three from Grocholski, to trim its deficit to 48-46 with 2:32 to go in the third. Gonzaga countered and stretched its lead to 56-50 heading into the fourth. Minnesota scored six fast break points in the quarter.
Minnesota kept the Bulldogs from increasing their lead before going on a 9-0 run, finished off by Grocholski’s three, to seize a 70-67 lead with 1:14 to go in the fourth. The Bulldogs then fought back to even things up at 70-70 and send the game to overtime. Minnesota fired away from deep in the quarter, knocking down four shots to account for 12 of its 20 points.
Gonzaga then snagged a 72-70 advantage with 3:40 left in the first overtime before Minnesota responded by going on a 5-0 run, finished off by Grocholski’s jumper, to seize a 75-72 lead with 2:09 to go in the period. The Maroon & Gold kept expanding the margin and coasted the rest of the way for the 82-77 win.
Game Notes
» Amaya Battle notched a double-double for the Golden Gophers with 35 points and 10 assists.
» The Gophers rallied from a six-point 56-50 third quarter deficit to force the game into overtime.
» Minnesota found success from beyond the arc, knocking down eight treys in the game.
» Minnesota tallied 17 total assists in the game.
» Amaya Battle, Grace Grocholski, and Tori McKinney combined to account for 90 percent of the Gophers points.
» Amaya Battle totaled 10 assists for Minnesota.
» Minnesota had a 43-37 edge on the boards in the win.
» Minnesota cleaned up on the offensive glass, collecting 18 offensive boards in the game.
» Amaya Battle had a game-high 35 points and Grace Grocholski added 20.
» Minnesota got 6 rebounds from both Sophie Hart and Grace Grocholski.
(info and photo courtesy of Gopher Sports)
