Saturday at Williams Arena, over the course of a 50-minute, double-overtime marathon that wasn't over until the final shot failed to fall, the Gophers women's basketball team showed one thing:
The kids are all right.
"It shows we never give up," said Mallory Heyer, one of four freshmen who started for the Gophers against Penn State in the Big Ten Conference opener for both teams. She scored 18 points with 11 rebounds.
"We compete every day," said Heyer. "We compete every game. We'll keep fighting till the end. That showed tonight."
In a pressure cooker of a Big Ten opener for both teams, the Gophers did what they had to do to come away with a 98-96 victory.
For at least one night, the Gophers didn't look like a team that started four freshmen and a sophomore. They looked poised, ready.
Minnesota shook off early difficulties with Penn State's pressure defense, rallied from 10 down with 9-plus minutes left in regulation and down five with 1:18 left to force overtime.
"It's growth," said Mara Braun. She scored 26 points. She hit three free throws to tie the game with 13 seconds left in regulation. But it took two more from Katie Borowicz with a half-second left to force the first overtime. Braun hit two free throws with 3 seconds left in the first OT, but it wasn't enough when Shay Ciezki hit a fallaway deuce to force the second OT.
