Gophers Topple Troy, Advance to WNIT Championship

The University of Minnesota women's basketball team defeated Troy 74-69 on the road in the Fab 4 of the WNIT on Wednesday night at Trojan Arena. The Gophers will now face St. Louis for the WNIT Championship on Saturday, April 6. 

The Gophers, who improved to 20-15 on the season, had four players score in double figures. They were led by Amaya Battle, who had 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Mallory Heyer tacked on 15 points and nine rebounds and Sophie Hart chipped in 12 points and 11 rebounds. Grace Grocholski added 11 points, including a late-game three that put Minnesota up by four points with 38 seconds remaining. 



Minnesota has now won 20 games in a season for the first time since 2018-19 when it went 21-11 and advanced to the second round of the WNIT. 

On defense, Minnesota held Troy (22-12) to 3-of-17 from three and grabbed 31 rebounds. Troy came into the game averaging 81 points, but were held to 69 by Minnesota. It was just the eighth time – and second since early February – that Troy was held below 70 points. 

How It Happened

After playing to a 7-7 tie early in the game, Minnesota went on an 8-0 run with 6:09 left in the first quarter, culminating in a bucket from Hart, to take a 15-7 lead. The Gophers maintained that lead and entered the quarter break with a 23-15 advantage. Minnesota did most of its first quarter damage in the paint, scoring 14 of its 23 points close to the basket.

Minnesota kept its first quarter lead intact before going on a 6-0 run starting at the 5:21 mark in the second quarter, highlighted by a bucket from Battle, to increase its lead to 36-28. Minnesota led 45-36 at halftime. 

After intermission, Minnesota held on to its advantage and owned a 62-59 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Minnesota turned four offensive rebounds into five second chance points on the way to scoring 17 total points in the third quarter.

The Gophers held on for the win from there, as they outscored Troy 12-10 in the fourth quarter. Minnesota took advantage of its opportunities in the post, scoring six of its 12 points in the paint.

Game Notes

» Sophie Hart notched a double-double for the Golden Gophers with 12 points and 11 rebounds
» The Gophers held the Trojans to only 35.4 percent shooting from the field
» Minnesota never trailed after taking a 23-15 first quarter lead
» Minnesota had a great day defensively, holding Troy to 18 percent from beyond the arc on 17 attempts
» The Gopher defense forced 16 turnovers
» Minnesota cleaned up on the offensive glass, collecting 15 offensive boards in the game
» Amaya Battle led the Gophers with 18 points
» Minnesota got a team-high 11 rebounds from Sophie Hart