Gophers women hit wall in final minutes of loss to Michigan State

For a few moments, it looked like the Gophers women's basketball team was going to make the charge.

Down six halfway through the fourth quarter of their game at Michigan State on Wednesday — a scheduled 6 p.m. start that was pushed up to 3:30 because of weather — two threes by Mara Braun and one from Katie Borowicz in a 9-5 run had the Gophers within two.

But then the Gophers offense hit a wall.

Turnovers and missed shots down the stretch translated into a 71-67 loss to the Spartans in the final Big Ten road game for the Gophers (10-18 overall, 3-14 Big Ten) this season.

Minnesota went 2-for-6 with four turnovers over the final four minutes of the game.

Out of a timeout, the Spartans turned consecutive Gophers turnovers into four points to go up six. Amaya Battle answered with a bucket, but the Spartans (14-13, 6-10) pushed the lead to seven before Isabelle Gradwell hit a three with 22 seconds left for the final score.

"We had a few too many empty possessions down the stretch," Gophers coach Lindsay Whalen said. "Costly turnovers, they got a few run-outs. It was hard to come back from that."

The Gophers finished the game with just 12 turnovers. But it was when they happened, and what happened after, that mattered. The Spartans scored 20 points off those turnovers — 15 in the second half — and had a 14-point edge in points off turnovers.

"We needed to take care of the ball better and get some stops," said Braun, who scored 12 of her 17 points in the fourth quarter. "We didn't do either of those. We kept the turnovers down, especially early on. But the turnovers late are what cost us. Down the stretch is where we've been struggling. And we have to clean that up quick because the season is coming to an end."

The Gophers finish the regular season at home against Purdue on Sunday.

Center Rose Micheaux finished with 15 points and nine rebounds. Gradwell had a season-high 12. Battle finished with 10 rebounds and four assists to go with eight points.

Kamaria McDaniel scored 10 of her 15 points in the fourth quarter. That included a 6-0 run that ended with her two free throws with 5:29 left in the game after the Gophers had tied it 53-53 on Braun's second-chance three.

Matilda Ekh also scored 15 for Michigan State. DeeDee Hageman and Moira Joiner each had 11.

Minnesota played catch-up most of the game. The Gophers were down 17-7 after shooting 2-for-16 in the first quarter, but they came back to tie the game midway through the second quarter and were down three at the half.

Down six after three quarters, the Gophers started the fourth 8-2.

With four minutes left it was still a two-point game.

"I think we could have beat this team," Braun said. "I think we should have beat this team. We have to learn from it."

The Star Tribune did not send the writer of this article to the game. This was written using a broadcast, interviews and other material.