MINNEAPOLIS – In a homecoming for
Danielle Jorgenson,
Laura Bagwell-Katalinich,
Theresa Grace Mbanefo, and
Annika Hoff, the Big Red women's basketball team held its own, but ultimately fell to No. 23 Minnesota, 65-45. The Gophers got out to a fast start and led wire-to-wire to improve to 5-0 on the year, while Cornell evens its record at 2-2.
Halley Miklos had her second double-digit game of the season with 10 points, while
Samantha Clement knocked down 3-of-4 from beyond the arc to finish with nine points. Bagwell-Katalinich also made her presence felt with a game-high 10 rebounds.
Minnesota's Kenisha Bell tallied 18 points and nine rebounds, while Destiny Pitts chipped in 11 points as the only Gophers in double-figures.
The home team hit .344 from the field (21-61) but just .286 from 3-point range (4-14), while Cornell connected on .315 overall (17-54) and a season high .417 from beyond the arc (5-12). The Gophers held the slim edge in rebounds (45-41), had half of Cornell's turnovers (22-11). For the game, turnovers seemed to make the difference as Minnesota but capitalized by scoring 25 points on Cornell's 22 miscues.
With a large contingent of Cornell fans in the stands, the Big Red forced turnovers on the Gophers' first two possessions, and five overall in the first quarter, but Minnesota still managed to score the first seven points of the contest before Miklos hit a driving layup at the 7:23 mark. The home team pushed its lead to double-digits (12-2) on a trey from Pitts, one of three 3-pointers on the day for one of the top shooting guards in the nation, with 4:50 to go in the quarter
Jorgenson snapped a 12-0 Gopher run with a foul line jumper, before Clement hit her first 3-pointer of the season, and Samantha Widman hit one free throw to make it a 20-8 Minnesota lead at the end of the first quarter.
Widmann hit one more free throw to open the second quarter and the Big Red defense clamped down to hold the Gophers to just one field goal in the first 4:19 of the quarter. An offensive put back by Miklos made it a 22-11 contest at the 6:05 mark, but a jumper from Bell sparked a 16-0 that put Minnesota up by 27 points (38-11). A late layup by Bagwell-Katalinich and another trey from Clement sent Cornell into the half trailing, 40-16.
Minnesota came out on fire in the third quarter and took advantage of Cornell foul trouble to push its lead to 29 points but Cornell used a 5-0 run with a trey from Clement and a layup from Mbanefo to force Minnesota to take a timeout with a 49-25 leads with 5:36 to go in the quarter. The Gophers pushed its lead to a game-high 33 points (58-25), before the visitors closed the quarter on a 7-1 run, including
Samantha Will's first career points with a three pointer, to make it as 59-32 game at the final break.
Both teams subbed liberally in the fourth quarter and the Big Red outscored the home team, 13-6, over the final 10 minutes, including six points by Hoff to put all four Minnesota natives into the box score.
Cornell will head to the hometown of
Halley Miklos when it travels to Colorado State for a 2 p.m. contest on Sunday, Nov. 25.
