Monday night, in the home of the Penn State Nittany Lions, it was the Gophers who roared.
By the time Minnesota had earned its first winning streak of the season, the Gophers had outscored Penn State by 19 points over the final 8 minutes and 18 seconds of the game, coming back from 10 down to win 85-76.
It was the second straight Big Ten Conference victory for the Gophers (4-7, 3-6), and it featured a 28-9 run and furious finish after a third quarter that, frankly, made coach Lindsay Whalen furious, period.
"I blew my top in the third," Whalen said. "I told the guys…." At that point Whalen paused, deciding it wasn't the right time for full disclosure. But: "Then I took my deep breath. I said, 'Dig in, get stops. We can win this thing. Third quarter we were playing frustrated, coaching frustrated. But then we started moving a little on offense, getting stops on defense."
Sara Scalia made a career-high five three-pointers and scored a season-high 21, eight coming in the fourth.
Jasmine Powell finished with 16 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, scoring nine in the fourth. Gadiva Hubbard scored 18, but twisted her ankle late. On her birthday, Kadi Sissoko had 15 points and eight rebounds.
The Gophers led by two at the half, but were outscored 21-12 in the third while making just five of 20 shots.