The University of Minnesota (15-17, 7-11 B1G) overcame a nine-point second half deficit to come from behind and take out Green Bay (20-8, 14-4 Horizon) on Thursday night in the first round of the WNIT at the Kress Center in Green Bay, Wis. Sara Scalia notched her fourth 30-point game of the season, scoring 17 in the fourth, to aid the Golden Gophers comeback.
Scalia finished with 33 points on 11-of-26 shooting from the floor, hitting all seven of her shots at the free throw line. Her 33 points is the most points a Gopher has scored in their postseason debut, eclipsing head coach Lindsay Whalen’s 29 points in the 2002 NCAA Tournament against UNLV. Scalia’s performance was not the only notable one with Kadi Sissoko’s third straight double double making a big difference. Sissoko finished with 18 points, 14 rebounds and had five of Minnesota’s 11 offensive rebounds. Gadiva Hubbard was the final member of the Maroon and Gold to finish in the double figures, scoring 12 and hitting 3-of-4 from beyond the arc.
Throughout the first quarter the two teams exchanged buckets with Green Bay’s 8-2 run being the big difference in the quarter that ended with Green Bay leading 18-16. Gadiva Hubbard hit two of her three triples in that opening quarter, scoring eight in the quarter to keep Minnesota close with the host Phoenix on the road.
The second quarter saw Green Bay take control with an early seven-point lead by scoring the quarters first five points. Minnesota immediately stopped the bleeding with a 14-0 run with Scalia and Sissoko scoring all 14 to swing the seven-point lead to the visiting Gophers. The second quarter trend of runs continued with the Phoenix scoring the half’s final eight points to take a 34-32 lead into the locker room. In the quarter Sissoko dominated, scoring 11 points and brining down seven rebounds while playing all 10 minutes.
Riding their 8-0 run at the end of the first half, Green Bay extended that run to a 15-0 run by scoring the first seven points of the second half. Although Minnesota was unable to take back the lead in the third, the Gophers scored the next six points to cut into the Green Bay lead with Laura Bagwell Katalinich and Scalia hitting shots to keep Minnesota within range heading into the fourth down by six.
After scoring eight in the third, Scalia turned it up even more in the fourth. Scoring 17 of her 33 points in the final 10 minutes, Scalia made 6-of-9 from the floor and hit a trio of big-time threes to help the Minnesota comeback. In the fourth Minnesota scored 27, the second most in a single quarter this season, with Scalia peppering in back-to-back makes multiple times during the quarter. Arguably the biggest shot of the game came off a pass from Scalia with Hubbard hitting a three with 1:55 to go to put the Gophers up 67-62. Scalia then helped seal the game with a defensive rebound on the other end followed by a steal on the next possession. Minnesota was then able to salt away the contest with free throws down the stretch.
As a team the Golden Gophers shot 24-of-61 (39.3 percent) and hit eight threes as a team. Minnesota was effective at the free throw line, hitting 17 of their 22 attempts with Scalia and Sissoko combining for 14-of-16 from the charity stripe. After turning the ball over 10 times in the first half, Minnesota’s offense became much more efficient in the second half with just two.
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GAME NOTES: Sara Scalia reached double figures for the 22nd game in a row with her 33 points; Sissoko’s three straight double doubles is the first time the redshirt junior has done that in her career; Sissoko’s 14 rebounds ties Amanda Zahui B. for the most rebounds in a WNIT for Minnesota; Five Minnesota student-athletes made their postseason debut (Scalia, Bagwell Katalinich, Micheaux, Smith and Helgren); Scalia’s 33 points is the third-most points scored by a Gopher in the WNIT (first and second are Rachel Banham with 48 and 37); Minnesota is now 5-1 in the opening round of the WNIT with the Maroon and Gold winning four straight in the opening round.
(info and photo courtesy of Gopher Sports)