That Sara Scalia did what she pretty much always does was important, certainly.
Sara Scalia leads group effort as Gophers women defeat Michigan State 71-60
Scalia scored 24 points, 17 in the first half, then got plenty of scoring help from her teammates down the stretch.
February 7, 2022 at 1:00PM
Scalia, the Gophers women's basketball team's top scorer, scored 24 points against Michigan State on Sunday at Williams Arena. It was her 14th consecutive game in double figures. It featured at least one of her now-signature long bombs. In the Gophers' 71-60 victory, Scalia righted a listing ship in the first quarter, hit her free throws down the stretch in the fourth.
But here's what was maybe the nicest thing about the victory for Minnesota (11-13, 4-8 Big Ten): They held onto — indeed grew — a halftime lead Sunday when Scalia went without a field goal for the final 20 minutes.
This was, in the best sense of the word, a team win.
"A great win," coach Lindsay Whalen said. "And against a really good team.''
Thursday at fifth-ranked Indiana, the Gophers led by four late in the game only to be outscored 14-0 down the stretch by the Hoosiers.
Not this time. Because so many players contributed at different times:
- Alexia Smith came off the bench to score 13 points, her best showing in a Big Ten game in two seasons. She had two steals, two assists and no turnovers. She was a team-best plus-19. Her three-pointer at the end of the first half stemmed the tide after the Spartans had cut a seven-point lead to one. Her three-point play 3 minutes into the second half keyed a Gophers surge.
- Alanna Micheaux scored seven of her nine points in the Gophers' 23-18 third quarter.
- Bailey Helgren came off the bench to score six points with seven rebounds and two blocks. And what timing. A 15-point Gophers lead in the third quarter was down to six early in the fourth. Then Helgren scored. At the other end, she blocked a shot from Tamara Farquhar. Moments later, Helgren grabbed an offensive rebound and fed Deja Winters (10 points) for a three-pointer that pushed the lead back to 11 with 6:38 left.
But it started with Scalia after the Gophers opened the game 2-for-13 with three turnovers that the Spartans (12-10, 6-5) turned into eight points while taking a 15-5 lead.
Then Scalia hit three consecutive threes, the second a cold step-back, the third from about 24 feet, in a personal 9-2 run to end the quarter. From the time Scalia hit her first three-pointer with 1:56 left in the first quarter until she hit one of two free throws with 2:43 left in the first half to put the Gophers up 31-24 — a stretch of 9:13 — the Gophers out-scored the Spartans 26-9. In that stretch Scalia scored 13 points, Smith eight.
"Ever since the first game ended, I was ready to play 'em again,'' said Scalia, referring to Minnesota's 74-71 loss at Michigan State two weeks ago. Scalia scored 31 in that one, but she missed a shot near the end of the game that might have forced overtime. "I was glad we won. We needed it."
Sunday they needed everyone. Certainly Smith, who played with aggression and confidence.
"In practice, before shootaround, after shootaround I've been putting in the work," Smith said. "It gives me confidence in the games, with my teammates and coaches believing in me, to be aggressive at all times."
Ultimately it was all that and defensive grit. Michigan's Nia Clouden scored a game-high 29, but she was 1-for-5 with a turnover in the fourth quarter. The Gophers were 3-for-13 in the fourth quarter but still out-scored the Spartans, who were 3-for-12.
"We dug in and got stops," Whalen said. "Overall, a really great team win."
The Gophers are still in the 18-team Big Ten’s top half -- for now, at least -- and Nebraska hopes to keep climbing.
