Gophers Beat Binghamton in Subway Classic Opener
November 19, 2011
After a slow start, the Minnesota Gophers finished the first half with a 16-3 run and cruised to a 65-40 win over the Binghamton Bearcats in the opening game of the Subway Classic at Williams Arena.
“I was very pleased with our defense once we got started after the first four or five minutes of the game,” said Minnesota coach Pam Borton. “I thought our defense really held the fort down for a majority of the game. Our offense has a long way to go. It usually does this time a year.”
Minnesota guard Sari Noga scored 10 of her game-high 16 points in the first half and also had 6 rebounds, 5 on the offensive boards. “The biggest thing is for Sari to bring toughness to our team,” Borton added. “She is a tough player, not afraid to get dirty and on the floor and I think that gets contagious with the rest of the team.”
“I think I brought some toughness, in terms of getting to the basket,” said Noga, a senior from Parkers Prairie. “I didn’t make all my points off of threes. Getting to the basket was something the team needed today. I just had a better game.
The Minnesota defense held Binghamton’s big scorer, Orla O’Reilly, to 13 points with just 4 in the second half. Binghamton shot only 29.4 percent from the field. The Gophers also harassed the Bearcats into 21 turnovers.
“Our biggest challenge was being pressured,” said Bearcats coach Nicole Scholl. “Everything we saw on film was what they gave us here tonight. To beat them we needed to have near perfect game. We had some good looks at the basket in the first half. They capitalized on that by pressuring us. We didn’t adjust to this which gave us problems.”
Kiara Buford was the other Minnesota player scoring in double figures, with 11. Buford and Rachel Banham each had five assists.
“If you have a great defense and you can rebound the basketball, you can always be in the position to win,” said Borton. “It really creates some transition opportunities for us. We have a lot of work to do on our half court execution but that will come. We have to continue to work hard on it.”
The schedule of the Subway Classic was thrown off when Nevada, which played North Dakota State in the second game, was unable to fly out of Reno on Friday because of high winds and a wildfire. The Wolfpack arrived Saturday, and their game with the Bison, which was to follow the Minnesota-Binghamton game, was played in the evening.