Minnesota had a dreadful shooting performance and was in foul trouble yet again in a 82-65 loss to Wake Forest. The team fell to 4-4 on the season with the loss.
Wake Forest beat the Gophers at their own game. The Deacons out-hustled Minnesota up and down the court in transition.
Minnesota couldnâÄôt hit a shot for the first 10 minutes of the game and started with 20-0 deficit that it was never able to overcome.
The Gophers shot 0-for-13 and had 10 turnovers before they made their first field goal with 10:03 left in the first half.
Astonishingly, Minnesota was only down 40-31 at halftime. After starting with the 20-point deficit, the Gophers went on a 31-15 run to get back into the game.
Senior Kiara Buford and freshman Rachel Banham led the mini-comeback. Buford and Banham hit three shots from behind the arc and had three steals to make the contest close before the half.
Minnesota couldnâÄôt get over the final hurdle and overcome the early deficit to the Deacons and Wake Forest pulled away in the second half.
Banham was reprimanded by the referee for her language and had to keep her composure to avoid a technical foul. She finished the night with 12 points on 4-for-16 shooting and five turnovers.
Minnesota had 26 turnovers on the night and the Deacons scored 29 points off those turnovers.
The Gophers continued to have trouble with fouls. They put Wake Forest on the free throw line 24 times and had 19 fouls on the night. Senior Jackie Voigt fouled out of the game with more than 10 minutes remaining in the game.
All the missed shots and foul trouble left plenty of opportunity for Katie Loberg and Micaella Riche to wrangle rebounds.
Loberg finished with ten points and 11 rebounds. It was her third straight double-double. Riche scored in double digits for the first time in her career. She had 11 points and seven rebounds.
The Gophers were outscored in the paint 40-24.
Minnesota shot only 30 percent in the first half and 34 percent for the game.
Buford finished with 15 points and was the only Gophers player with a good shooting percentage, 4-for-5.
The Gophers welcome Baylor to Williams Arena on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.