Mara Braun hits game-winning three at the buzzer to send Gophers past Lehigh

Mara Braun admitted she might not have actually, really, gotten a good look at the rim.

So much riding on the shot, so little time to take it.

With 1.7 seconds left Amaya Battle inbounded the ball to Braun, who had moved from the high post to behind the three-point line near the Gophers basketball bench, halfway from the top of the key and the baseline.

Braun caught, spun to square her shoulders, shot. The horn blew just as the ball went in, giving the Gophers a come-from-behind 101-99 victory over Lehigh on Sunday at Williams Arena.

The Gophers bench erupted, Braun was engulfed.

"It felt good,'' Braun said. "And all of a sudden I just turned and everyone was rushing and the place was just loud. It was a really cool feeling.''

On a night when the Gophers (2-0) struggled mightily to contain a veteran, well-coached Lehigh team, in the half-court but especially in transition, Minnesota found a way to win. In a game where the dynamic Minnesota-born duo of Frannie Hottinger and Mackenzie Kramer combined for 51 points for Lehigh, with the Mountain Hawks shooting nearly 56 percent and leading for nearly 35 minutes of the 40-minute game, the Gophers found a way.

Down 10 points with 7 minutes to go, the Gophers finished the game 29-17, with all but six of those points coming from freshmen Braun, Battle, Mallory Heyer and Katie Borowicz.

"It's the makeup of these young women,'' said Gophers coach Lindsay Whalen, who credited the game-winning play to her former Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve. The team had used it in practice to win a scrimmage over the scout team two weeks ago.

"That's how they play the game. They were able to hang in there when a lot of times it didn't look like it was going to go our way.''

Braun made 12 of 26 shots and scored 34 points, the second most ever scored by a Gophers freshman, behind the 41 Laura Coenen scored vs. Wisconsin in 1983.

Battle scored 17 points with nine rebounds and two assists; Heyer and Borowicz scored 12. Sophomore center Rose Micheaux had her second consecutive double-double (13 points, 10 rebounds).

Battle, Heyer, Braun and Borowicz scored 26 of Minnesota's 32 fourth-quarter points.

"I think it was really just heart,'' Borowicz said.

And they needed it. Every time the Gophers pushed themselves back into the game, the Mountain Hawks would respond. In the end, the Gophers toughed this one out. They made up for 38.5% shooting by grabbing 26 offensive rebounds and scoring 25 second-chance points and turning 22 Lehigh turnovers into 27 points.

Still, Lehigh was up eight with 3½ minutes left and by five with 2:24 left.

Battle scored in the paint, then Braun hit two free throws with 1:15 left for a one-point Minnesota lead.

Kramer immediately scored.

With 26 seconds left Kaylee Van Eps — who won a state title with Heyer at Chaska — made one of two free throws for a two-point Lehigh lead. At the other end, with 11 seconds left, Maggie Czinano made one of two free throws.

But it was nowhere near over. Borowicz then stole the ball from Kramer and scored with 8 seconds left. Out of a timeout Kramer returned the favor, hitting an unlikely bank shot with Braun all over her with 1.7 seconds left.

In the huddle during the timeout Whalen drew up the play. Braun was supposed to set a screen down low for Micheaux, then get free. But the Hawks, surprisingly, showed zone. Braun adjusted.

"I just saw her,'' Battle said. "I knew right away who I was giving the ball to.''

Braun said she sensed where the basket was. That was enough.

"It helped, the confidence my teammates had in me,'' she said. "Even after the game they were like, 'We knew it was going in.' That's why I was able to get it done.''