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Amaya Battle scored 18, one of three Gophers in double figures, and Niamya Holloway came off the bench to score three big baskets to help Minnesota stave off a late run from Toledo in a 65-53 victory in their first-round WBIT game on Thursday night.
Grace Grocholski added 15 points, and Sophie Hart scored 14 to go with right rebounds as the Gophers (21-11) advanced to face the winner of Thursday night’s game between Missouri State (26-8) Sunday.
Holloway played only 8 minutes but they were huge. The sophomore whose career was sidetracked by a knee injury her freshman year, came in after the Rockets (24-9) cut an 11-point deficit to 49-45 with 6:31 left in the fourth quarter.
Holloway blocked a shot and scored the next two baskets as the Gophers went up 53-45, and her third basket, an inside bank shot after an offensive rebound by Grocholski, capped a 13-2 run that have Minnesota a 62-47 with 2:22 left.
That effectively put Toledo away. Holloway missed a pair of free throws but was 3 for 3 from the field with to rebounds in her 8 minutes.
Minnesota forced 19 turnovers that led to 25 points and held the Rockets to 36.5 shooting from the field (19 for 52) despite playing at Toledo’s Savage Arena, the result of Williams Arena being booked for state boys basketball this week.
“I thought our young ladies were really locked in, they did a really good job,” Plitzuweit told ESPN+ after the game. “We weren’t able to run off some of those turnovers because they were dead balls, but they competed.
“It was a great environment. To come here and come out on top, I’m really excited about it.”
Gophers coach Dawn Plitzuweit said this week she thought the arena would be unavailable on Sunday, as well. The second-seeded Gophers would be the home team in that game, as well.
Senior Sammi Mikonowicz, playing in her last game for the Rockets, scored eight points and pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds for Toledo, and teammate Kendall Carruthers added a team-high 10 points.
Missouri State scored the first nine points of its game against Oral Roberts and went on to beat the Golden Eagles 107-76. The Bears, led by Lacey Stokes’ 20 points, made 14 of 27 3-point attempts.
“Our defense has to remain solid,” Plitzuweit told ESPN+, “but it would be nice to make some shots. We didn’t get a lot of scores at the rim, so we’ve got to be a little better in that area. They worked hard and got good opportunities in those areas.”
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Grace Grocholski added 15 points, and Sophie Hart scored 14 to go with right rebounds as the Gophers (21-11) advanced to face the winner of Thursday night’s game between Missouri State (26-8) Sunday.
Holloway played only 8 minutes but they were huge. The sophomore whose career was sidetracked by a knee injury her freshman year, came in after the Rockets (24-9) cut an 11-point deficit to 49-45 with 6:31 left in the fourth quarter.
Holloway blocked a shot and scored the next two baskets as the Gophers went up 53-45, and her third basket, an inside bank shot after an offensive rebound by Grocholski, capped a 13-2 run that have Minnesota a 62-47 with 2:22 left.
That effectively put Toledo away. Holloway missed a pair of free throws but was 3 for 3 from the field with to rebounds in her 8 minutes.
Minnesota forced 19 turnovers that led to 25 points and held the Rockets to 36.5 shooting from the field (19 for 52) despite playing at Toledo’s Savage Arena, the result of Williams Arena being booked for state boys basketball this week.
“I thought our young ladies were really locked in, they did a really good job,” Plitzuweit told ESPN+ after the game. “We weren’t able to run off some of those turnovers because they were dead balls, but they competed.
“It was a great environment. To come here and come out on top, I’m really excited about it.”
Gophers coach Dawn Plitzuweit said this week she thought the arena would be unavailable on Sunday, as well. The second-seeded Gophers would be the home team in that game, as well.
Senior Sammi Mikonowicz, playing in her last game for the Rockets, scored eight points and pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds for Toledo, and teammate Kendall Carruthers added a team-high 10 points.
Missouri State scored the first nine points of its game against Oral Roberts and went on to beat the Golden Eagles 107-76. The Bears, led by Lacey Stokes’ 20 points, made 14 of 27 3-point attempts.
“Our defense has to remain solid,” Plitzuweit told ESPN+, “but it would be nice to make some shots. We didn’t get a lot of scores at the rim, so we’ve got to be a little better in that area. They worked hard and got good opportunities in those areas.”
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