Gophers women again can't find a way to close in loss to Rutgers

Again, the Gophers women's basketball team had a sizable third-quarter lead, only to see it leak away. Thursday at Williams Arena it was a nine-point advantage sabotaged by a succession of turnovers.

Again, the Gophers fought back to take a lead in the fourth. This time it came with 3 minutes, 42 seconds left when Mallory Heyer broke a tie with a three-pointer.

Again, the Gophers couldn't execute down the stretch, outscored 16-7 over the final 3½ minutes by Rutgers in a 65-59 loss that felt a whole like Minnesota's loss in Wisconsin on Sunday.

With their fourth straight loss the Gophers (8-9, 1-5 Big Ten) fell to 13th place in the Big Ten, one spot above last-place Northwestern. Rutgers (8-10, 2-4) won its second straight.

"I don't think it was one thing,'' Heyer said. "We didn't keep our composure the whole game. We kind of lost it in the third. It's all about keeping composure. We have to hold ourselves responsible for our mistakes.''

The frontcourt of Heyer (18 points, seven rebounds, three assists) and Rose Micheaux (17 points, 10 rebounds) scored 35 of Minnesota's 65 points but they combined for eight turnovers as well. Together they shot 14-for-24. The rest of the Gophers lineup scored 31 points on 7-for-35 shooting.

The Gophers were outscored in the paint (42-36), on second-chance points (12-11, despite 21 offensive rebounds), off the bench (15-9) and on the break (13-4).

Again, the stat that jumps out: Both teams had 20 turnovers. But Rutgers had a 20-11 edge in points off turnovers.

All 20 Gophers turnovers came from the starters. The three guards in Minnesota's starting lineup were a combined 4-for-24 with 12 turnovers.

"The coaches gave us a blueprint, and we didn't execute the plan,'' Micheaux said.

Up five at the half, Mara Braun had two three-pointers in a 12-8 start to the third quarter that had the Gophers up 40-31 on Micheaux's shot in the lane.

Then things fell apart. Erica Lafayette scored at the other end. Then Kai Carter stole the ball, drove and scored. After another turnover, Lafayette scored. Then Carter stole the ball again and scored to make it a one-point game. Gopher Maggie Czinano hit one of two free throws. But then freshman Kaylene Smikle scored the final four points of the quarter, the last two after yet another Minnesota turnover, for a two-point lead. The Gophers were outscored 12-1 over the final 5:07 of the third, with eight of those points coming off Gophers turnovers.

Coach Lindsay Whalen said she could feel the Gophers starting to falter a bit defensively in the second half. The Gophers held Rutgers under 38% shooting and 14 points in the paint in the first half. In the second half, Rutgers scored 28 of its 44 points in the paint, shooting 53.3%.

Smikle finished with a game-high 20 points. Awa Sidibe had 13, Carter 12.

"Obviously our front line was good,'' Whalen said. "We have to see where we can help get [other players] good looks, get confidence going on some things. I've liked the balance we've had throughout the year. Tonight it wasn't there.''