Nov. 30, 2008

Box Score

BOULDER, Colo. - Despite taking an eight-point lead into the locker room at half time, the UMass women's basketball team was unable to hold off a talented Minnesota squad, falling by the score of 86-67 in the Coors Classic Championship Game on Saturday night at the Coors Events Center. The Minutewomen's record levels at 3-3 following the setback, while the Golden Gophers improve to 6-1, their only loss of the season coming against then-No. 2 Stanford.

Sophomore Cerie Mosgrove led UMass in scoring with 17 and was named to the Coors Classic All-Tournament Team, averaging 13.0 points over the squad's two games. Against Minnesota, she was 5-for-9 from three-point range. Also reaching double figures for the Minutewomen were senior Stefanie Gerardot with 15 and her classmate, Sakera Young with 10, tying a career high. Young was the top rebounder for the Minutewomen with six and dished five assists, while shooting 6-for-6 at the free throw line, as well.

Freshman Kristina Danella had nine points and five rebounds, shooting 6-for-6 from the charity stripe and junior Kim Benton finished with seven points.

With 14:45 remaining in the opening half and the score tied at 10, the Minutewomen went on an 11-3 run to build an eight-point advantage. Minnesota responded by scoring the next seven points to pull within one at 21-20, but a three by Benton and two more by Mosgrove helped UMass stretch the margin to nine at the 1:56 mark, its largest lead of the night. The Minutewomen shot 10-for-21(47.6%) in the first half, were 6-for-10 from three-point range (60%) and 10-for-12 at the free throw line (83.3%). In contrast, the Golden Gophers were just 10-for-30 (33.3%) overall, 3-for-15 (20%) from three and made only five of 13 free throws (38.5%) in the opening period.

However following the intermission, Minnesota stormed back, erasing its deficit with a 10-0 run over the first 2:43 of play in the second and led by double figures from the 11:05 mark on. The Golden Gophers shot 19-for-34 (55.9%) from the field in the second and finished at 45.3% for the night (45.3%). Minnesota recovered to post a 41.2 three-point percentage for the game with the help of an 11-for-19 clip over the final 20 minutes of action.

Emily Fox led all scores with 24 and added six assists, while Kaite Ohm had 20 points and was 6-for-12 from beyond the arc. Ashley Ellis-Milan had a double-double on 11 points and 14 rebounds and Brittany McCoy handed out 10 assists for the Golden Gophers.

UMass ended the night shooting 15-for-37 (40.5%) overall, 10-for-19 from three (52.6%) and 27-for-32 at the charity stripe (84.4%).

The Minutewomen return home to Amherst for their next game, playing host to Providence in the Mullins Center at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 3.