After an 11-1 start to the 2019-20 women’s basketball season, the Minnesota Gophers dropped their second consecutive game in Big Ten play, losing 72-58 to the Nebraska Cornhuskers Saturday night.

Minnesota struggled to score points early in the game but remained competitive thanks to its defense as the first quarter ended with Nebraska leading 13-10. However, Minnesota was unable to overcome their offensive struggles and finished the game shooting 31.5 percent from the floor.

Heading into Saturday night’s matchup, Minnesota was a significantly better three-point shooting team, shooting 40 percent from three while Nebraska was only shooting about 29 percent. Nebraska, however; flipped the script against the Gophers and connected on nearly 53 percent of its three-point attempts while the Gophers struggled from behind the arc, shooting just under 28 percent.

Nebraska also halted Minnesota. The Cornhuskers successfully attacked the glass throughout the game and finished with 50 rebounds compared to the Gophers’ 38. Nebraska center Kate Cain played well on both ends of the floor, recording a game-high 19 points, 15 rebounds and six blocks.

Nebraska was ready to pull away from Minnesota in third quarter until senior forward Taiye Bello started to heat up on the offensive end to keep the Gophers’ hopes alive. Bello scored 12 points in the third quarter and finished with 16 points, five rebounds and added two blocks and two steals.

Junior forward Destiny Pitts finished with 12 points, three rebounds and four assists. Redshirt junior guard Gadiva Hubbard added 10 points and four rebounds.

The road loss marks the Gophers’ first of the season, as Minnesota won its first four road games of the season by an average of roughly 16 points.  The Gophers will look to return to their winning ways Thursday Jan. 9 when they host Northwestern at Williams Arena.