A lack of scoring proved to be the biggest issue for the Minnesota women’s basketball team Saturday.
Indiana
what: Women’s basketball
when: 7 p.m., Thursday
where: Williams Arena
The Gophers (18-10 overall, 9-7 Big Ten) shot just .308 from the floor to lose at home for just the second time during the Big Ten season, dropping a close game to Wisconsin, 57-59.
The Badgers (15-11, 8-8) improved their record and came one win away from NCAA tournament eligibility, using seven different scorers to top Minnesota and climb in the conference standings.
“Minnesota is a solid, solid basketball team,” Wisconsin coach Lisa Stone said. “To come in here and get a road win is a great credit to my players.”
The Gophers struggled to contain both senior guard Jolene Anderson and protect the lane in the first half, either giving the hot shooting Anderson an open look from the outside, or risk a weaker interior defense, allowing several driving layups.
Anderson put up 14 points, including four three-pointers, while the rest of the Badgers combined for 16 points from the paint. Anderson was the only player to score outside of the lane, as the team totaled 30 points in the half.
At halftime, a Minnesota fan passing by might have said it best commenting to another fan, “Thank goodness for Emily Fox.”
Had it not been for the junior guard’s hot shooting and solid defense in the first half, it wouldn’t have looked like much of a game.
Fox scored 16 points on 7 of 10 shooting in the first half alone, and collected three steals and two blocks on the defensive end, keeping the Gophers in the game.
Minnesota added six more points off free throws, and put together a stronger defensive front late in the half to escape to the locker room in a 30-30 tie game.
“I think we did a good job of adjusting defensively,” sophomore Brittany McCoy said. “We picked it up in the second half, and showed that our defense can keep us in games.”
But even a stronger defense and Fox’s heroics couldn’t save the Gophers in the second half, as Minnesota made just five shots all half, and missed its last 17 field goal attempts over the last 12 minutes of the game, allowing the Badgers to pull out their eighth win of the conference season.
Wisconsin finished the game on a 15-6 run, but gave the Gophers several opportunities to at least tie the game.
With 15 seconds remaining, Anderson went to the free throw line, up two points with a chance to make it a two-possession game.
Instead of sealing it, the senior missed the front end of the one-and-one, and then made a rookie mistake, going hard for the rebound and fouling sophomore forward Ashley Ellis-Milan, sending her to the charity stripe.
“I was thinking, they’re trying to give us this game right here,” coach Pam Borton said of her reaction. “We sent one of our best free throw shooters to the line to tie the game, it was a great opportunity.”
But Minnesota couldn’t take advantage of the gift, missing both free throws. From there, Wisconsin missed another free throw at the other end, but Fox’s game-tying jumper at the buzzer fell just short, sending the Gophers to a 57-59 loss.
“You live for moments like that,” Fox said. “It really hurts when it doesn’t go in. I probably should have taken it to the basket, but I thought it was in.”
The Gophers shot just 5-of-30 in the second half, and were 2-12 from the paint. Fox scored 28 points, hitting nine field goals while the rest of the team combined to hit seven shots.
Senior forward Leslie Knight, Minnesota’s steadiest player all season long, struggled to finish with just seven points.
