Thursday night was one of firsts for the Gophers.

The Minnesota women’s basketball team welcomed Rutgers to Williams Arena for the first time and won for the first time Thursday 85-72, according to a press release.

The Scarlet Knights jumped out to an early lead, but the Gophers hung around, never letting the deficit grow to more than four points. The Gophers took the lead halfway through the quarter, starting a 7-0 run. They would add a 6-0 run later in the quarter to finish the first leading 23-16. Rachel Banham had 12 points in the first, including two 3-pointers.

Minnesota held the lead for the entirety of the second quarter, leading by as many as 10 at one point. Banham had seven points and Carlie Wagner added six for the Gophers. Rutgers would hang around, closing the gap to 43-40 at the half.

Karley Barnes provided Minnesota with a defensive presence in the third, blocking two Scarlet Knights shots. Rutgers committed its fifth team foul early in the quarter, allowing the Gophers to pick up four points from bonus free throws. Shayne Mullaney scored six points in the third, including a breakaway jumper and a perfect 4-4 mark from the free throw line. The Gophers extended the lead to 61-51 at the end of the third.

Joanna Hedstrom made a layup and a free throw after a foul to give the Gophers a 12-point lead early in the fourth quarter, their largest lead of the game to that point. As a team, the Gophers were 10-10 at the free throw line in the fourth. Wagner had 10 points for the Gophers in the final quarter.

Banham scored 24 points for the Gophers (15-7, 7-4 Big Ten), and Wagner added 22 points in the win. This was Banham’s career-best 10th straight game scoring over 20 points, breaking her previous record of nine set earlier this season. The game also marked the 11th time this year in which Banham and Wagner each scored 20 points in the same game.

Mullaney and Hedstrom also recorded double-digit points for the Gophers, with 17 and 11 points, respectively. Jessie Edwards had eight points and led the team with eight rebounds.

Minnesota outrebounded Rutgers (13-10, 4-7 Big Ten) 41-32 and scored 30 more points against the Scarlet Knights than it did in the team’s first meeting this season. The Gophers led for most of the game. They made 22 free throws, their most this season, to help seal the win.

Kaleah Copper lead the Scarlet Knights with 31 points and nine rebounds. Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer missed the game due to her mother’s death.

 

Notes

The win moved Minnesota to 11-2 at Williams Arena this season.

Banham moved into the NCAA’s top 30 scorers of all time. She passed Chandi Jones (Houston), Cindy Brown (Long Beach State) and Seimone Augustus (LSU) and is 28th all-time with 2,713 points.

Barnes tied a season high with two blocked shots in the game. This was her third game with multiple blocks.

Hedstrom was 2-2 from three-point range. She has gone 7-10 from beyond the arc across the last two games and has three straight games scoring in double figures.

Minnesota’s bench outscored Rutgers’ bench 38-18. The Maroon and Gold bench has outscored its counterparts in the past five games in a row.

 

Up next

The Gophers will head to Evanston to face Northwestern to complete their season series. The game will air at 2 p.m. Sunday on Big Ten Network.