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SportsWire » Gophers » Gophers women lead most of way, can't close deal against Penn State
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Updated: February 5th, 2012 10:01pm
Gophers women lead most of way, can't close deal against Penn State

Gophers women lead most of way, can't close deal against Penn State
by Marley McMillan
1500ESPN.com
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MINNEAPOLIS -- The Gophers women's basketball team led three-quarters of the way but couldn't hold on, falling 68-65 to No. 19/21 Penn State on Sunday at Williams Arena.

The skinny

Alex Bentley hit a 3-pointer and Mia Nickson sank two free throws to give the Lady Lions a three-point lead with 21 seconds remaining.

Rachel Banham's attempt at a game-tying 3-pointer on the Gophers' final advance sailed wide of the hoop with three seconds left.

"I felt it was a missed opportunity for us to continue protecting our home court today," Gophers coach Pam Borton said. "I thought our team had a great effort today. (We) played extremely hard. They made the plays down the stretch and we didn't."

The Lady Lions shot 1-of-18 from the floor in the first 12 minutes of play and trailed by as many as 15 in the first half.

"It was ugly early and middle and late," Lady Lions coach Coquese Washington said, "but somehow we managed to come away with the win, and we'll certainly take it."

Banham led the Gophers with 14 points, four rebounds, four assists and a steal. Kiara Buford finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, five steals and a block. Kionna Kellogg scored 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds, and Brianna Mastey scored 11 points off the bench.

Nickson, a sophomore, led scoring for the Lady Lions with 20 points, while Alex Bentley scored 16 and Maggie Lucas scored 10.

Turning point

It looked as if the Gophers might run away with this one early on, but after completing a 7-0 run to close the first half and steadily chipping away at the deficit throughout the second, the Lady Lions took their first lead of the game with just over eight minutes left to play.

Numbers game

• 10:21: Duration of the Lady Lions' longest scoring drought, coming between the 17:52 and 7:31 marks of the first half.
• 20: Points per game averaged by Lucas, double her production on Sunday.
• 19: Points by the Lady Lions off of the Gophers' 18 turnovers. The Gophers had 2 off of the Lady Lions' 14.
• 1st: Place predicted for the Lady Lions' to finish in the Big Ten in a vote by coaches and media.

Coming up

The Gophers will head south to take on Iowa at 7 p.m. on Thursday in Iowa City.

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