Gophers Pound Boards, Go to 4-0 with 90-57 Win over Seton Hall
November 20, 2016

Taking advantage of cold-shooting by Seton Hall, the Minnesota Gophers pulled down 66 rebounds on their way to a 90-57 win over the Pirates, who had been 3-0 coming into the game.

Freshman Taiye Bello came off the bench to lead the team with 12 rebounds, and Carlie Wagner was game-high with 20 points, despite limited time on the floor in the fourth quarter, as coach Marlene Stollings emptied her bench. Minnesota had held a 71-39 lead after three quarters and extended its lead to 34 points in the final period before letting up on the gas.

Gadiva Hubbard and Joanna Hedstrom were in the starting lineup for the first time this season, joining Kenisha Bell, Jessie Edwards, and Wagner. Seton Hall took a 3-0 lead as Kaity Healy hit a long-ranger as the shot clock ran out. A three-pointer by Claire Lundberg—a graduate of Anoka High School—later gave the Pirates an 8-7 lead, but Hubbard answered with a three-point basket to put the Gophers ahead to stay.

Healy, after her early field goal, missed on her remaining five shots in the game, indicative of the problems Seton Hall had in shooting. Seton Hall shot only 22.6 percent in the first half—although the Gophers weren’t much better at 29.5 percent—and finished the game at 27.3 percent. Minnesota put on a better shooting show in the second half, opening up leads of more than 30 points in the third quarter.

Bell scored 17 for the Gophers, and Hubbard and Jasmine Brunson were also in double-figures with 13 and 11 points, respectively.

For the Pirates, non-starters Deja Winters and Skyler Snider each had 10 points. Snider shared the team lead in rebounds with six with Lundberg.

Seton Hall did block 11 Minnesota shots, with 2 each from Winters, Lubirdia Gordon, and Jordan Molyneaux, who all came off the bench.

Minnesota now heads to the Bahamas for the Junkaroo Jam, opening against Georgia and then facing either South Florida or North Carolina.