Gophers women's basketball gets closer but still can't solve Iowa

Less than three weeks ago the Gophers women's basketball, at home in Williams Arena, were beaten by Iowa by 56 points.

Wednesday in Iowa City, in the rematch against the 25th-ranked Hawkeyes, the Gophers fought, rebounded hard, defended ...

And lost, 88-78.

It was a result that showed how far the Gophers have come since that first Iowa loss, but also showed the Gophers struggling again to finish a game. Down just a point entering the fourth quarter, the Gophers went scoreless over the first four-plus minutes of the quarter during an 11-0 Iowa run that put the Hawkeyes up by 12 with 6:56 left.

Coach Lindsay Whalen seemed just as frustrated as she did after that first Iowa loss. But she was also proud.

"It's like I said to the team,'' she said. "We told the team that in the last two weeks, we've won both our home games and gone toe-to-toe, on the road, with two top-25 teams in our conference. Obviously nobody likes to lose. We want to win. But, as far as moving forward, there is lot that we can take from how we're playing right now.''

BOXSCORE: Iowa 88, Gophers 78

Minnesota (11-14 overall, 4-9 Big Ten) led by four at fifth-ranked Indiana before losing there.

Wednesday, up until the start of the fourth quarter, the Gophers were able to answer every Iowa run. They fell behind 17-7 to start the game, but pulled within six entering the second. Down 11 early in the second, Sara Scalia had 10 of her 23 points as the Gophers pulled within five at the half.

And then Deja Winters got hot. After going 1-for-7 in the first half she went 10-for-14 in the second, scoring 25 of her 30 points — and 25 of her team's 41 in the second half.

"My teammates kept telling me to shoot,'' Winters said. "They said the shots would start falling. And, eventually, that happened.''

She had 13 points in the third quarter, during which the Gophers pulled within a point. Winters scored Minnesota's final five points of the quarter, which ended with Iowa up 62-61.

Then things got away from the Gophers. Minnesota was 0-for-3 with three turnovers to start the fourth quarter, falling behind 73-61 on two free throws by Monika Czinano with 6:56 left.

"We had some looks,'' Whalen said. "But they made some plays, got to the free-throw line. We did a good job of moving Czinano off the block, but she hit a big jumper there.''

Caitlin Clark was again outstanding for Iowa (16-6, 10-3). She had 32 points with eight rebounds and four assists. She had a three-point play during that 11-0 run. Czinano scored 23, six during that run.

Also, they both had help. Two other Hawkeye player were in double figures. For Minnesota, Winters and Scalia scored 53 of the team's 78 points on a combined 19-for-40 shooting. The rest of the team was 8-for-29.

Winters said the team was both frustrated and encouraged. "We see what we can do," she said. "We can hang with a good team like that.''

The Gophers have a quick turn-around. Minnesota hosts Northwestern Friday afternoon at Williams Arena in a game that was originally scheduled for Dec. 31 but was postponed because of COVID-19 problems within the Northwestern program. It is the first of the final five regular-season games for the Gophers, none against teams with winning conference records.

The Star Tribune did not travel for this event. This article was written using the television broadcast and video interviews before and/or after the event.