Gophers women’s basketball beats Florida 66-52 to advance to WBIT title game

As has been the case for most of their best moments this season, the reason the Gophers women’s basketball team will play in April for the second consecutive year can be found here:

On defense.

On Monday evening at Hinkle Fieldhouse on the campus of Butler University in Indianapolis, the No. 2-seeded Gophers put on a defensive clinic in a 66-52 victory over No. 3-seeded Florida in a WBIT semifinal.

They won the battle of the boards. They got hands on passes, bodies in lanes. They slowed the Gators in transition, where they love to score.

They are peaking at the right time.

“This is the best we’ve played besides when we had Mara and Tay,” Gophers coach Dawn Plitzuweit said via videoconference after the game, referring to Mara Braun and Taylor Woodson, who were lost to injury early in the season. “We’re learning things about ourselves. We’re understanding the game.”

Minnesota (24-11) will face Belmont (26-12) in the WBIT final at 5 p.m. Wednesday. The Gophers, who went to the final of the WNIT last season, will try to become the second Big Ten team to win a WBIT title in the second year of the tournament. Illinois won it last year.

BOXSCORE: Gophers women 66, Florida 52

“We brought such a good energy today,” said Mallory Heyer, who had a season-high 15 rebounds to go with 13 points, her sixth double-double of the season. “We were really connected. Florida is a great team, and they really pushed the ball and played at a good pace. But we just did what we do best.”

And that is defend. From start to finish, adjusting as they went.

Florida’s 52 points represented its third-lowest total of the season. The Gators (19-18) shot 35% overall from the field, struggling to get the ball inside, either by driving or passing. They made only four of 21 three-point tries and turned the ball over 16 times. The Gophers had nine steals.

“A lot of credit to Minnesota,” Florida assistant coach Susie Gardner said. She took over for head coach Kelly Rae Finley, a former Breck standout who gave birth to a son early Monday. “Their defense was better than our offense.”

The Gophers offense was good enough. Grace Grocholski scored 20 points for her second consecutive game. She was 7-for-12 from the field and 4-for-6 on three-pointers to go with six rebounds and four assists. She is averaging 18.3 points and shooting 43.3% on threes in WBIT play.

She and Heyer were two of four Gophers starters in double figures in scoring. Tori McKinney had 14 points, making three threes. Amaya Battle had 10 points, five rebounds and four assists.

Florida was led by freshman guard Liv McGill — Battle’s former teammate at Hopkins High School — who had 18 points.

But all 18 came in the first half, which ended with the Gophers leading 37-29.

The key run of the game came in the second quarter.

A McGill jumper with 6:17 left in the quarter put Florida up 24-23. Over the next five-plus minutes the Gophers got nine consecutive stops, turning it into a 12-0 run.

Heyer hit a three, then cut to the hoop for a layup off a pass from Grocholski. Grocholski hit two free throws, McKinney a three. Finally, Battle hit two free throws with 57 seconds left in the half to put Minnesota ahead by 11.

On the other hand during that stretch: Florida went 0-for-7 with three turnovers. McKinney had a steal and a block.

The Gators never got closer than eight points again.

“We did a good job making adjustments,” Grocholski said. “Things would happen, we turned the ball over a couple times, but we made the adjustments.”

From beginning to end.

“We’ve been playing a complete game,” Heyer said. “Tonight, we started off strong and we also ended strong. We kept the momentum throughout the whole game.”