Women’s basketball: Gophers’ rally falls short at Michigan State
Mara Braun scored 12 fourth-quarter points as Minnesota rallied to tie Michigan State, but the Gophers went cold in the last three minutes in a 71-67 loss in East Lansing on Wednesday afternoon.
Braun finished with a team-high 17 points, five rebounds, four assists and a blocked shot, and Rose Micheaux added 15 points and nine boards for Minnesota, but after pulling within 68-64 with 2:54 remaining, the Gophers made only one basket.
Kamaria McDaniel and Matilda Ekh each scored 15 points, and Taiyier Parks grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds for the Spartans (14-13 overall, 6-10 Big Ten), who won for the third time in four games.
Trailing 51-45 heading into the final period, Minnesota (10-18, 3-14) tied the game 53-53 on Braun’s 3-pointer with 7:18 remaining but missed its next three shots and fell behind 57-53.
Amaya Battle pulled the Gophers within 68-64 with a jump shot, but the Gophers turned the ball over twice and made only 1 of 6 shots the rest of the way — Isabelle Gradwell’s 3-pointer to make it 71-67 with 22 seconds left.
Battle then forced a steal, but the Gophers missed a layup and shot from beyond the arc before Moira Joyner grabbed the last defensive rebound, The game was moved from 6 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. because of an ice storm in the region.
The Gophers finish their regular season on Sunday against Purdue at Williams Arena. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m.
Related Articles
College Sports | Women’s basketball: Gophers fall to last-place Northwestern, 76-62
College Sports | Women’s basketball: Gophers head for Northwestern with wind at their backs
College Sports | Women’s basketball: Gophers hold off Nebraska to snap six-game skid
College Sports | Women’s basketball: During skid, Gophers’ mistakes have eclipsed the bright spots
College Sports | Women’s basketball: Minnesota squanders late lead, loses to Wisconsin in overtime
