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. 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.
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.
Gopher coach Lindsay Whalen talks about the importance of the time between now and the Badger game:
(info and photo courtesy of Gopher Sports)