Upset bid falls short as Gophers women's basketball loses 80-70 at No. 5 Indiana

It took a little over four minutes for the Gophers women's basketball team to go from being on the precipice of an upset to the frustration of a loss.

On the road against fifth-ranked Indiana, not backing down from the start, getting 26 points from Sara Scalia, the Gophers held a four-point lead with 4 minutes, 42 seconds left when Scalia hit her seventh and final three of the game.

Minnesota did not score again.

Going 0-for-6 with two turnovers down the stretch, Minnesota was outscored 14-0 to finish the game, giving the Hoosiers the 80-70 victory.

"We had 'em for most of the game, so that's tough,'' said Scalia, again doing the bulk of the ball-handling duties in the Gophers' second game since Jasmine Powell entered the NCAA transfer portal. "We should have won that one. But I saw a lot of good things to come out of that.''

It might have been a case of experience. The fifth-ranked Hoosiers (15-3. 6-1 Big Ten) made it to the Elite Eight in last year's NCAA tournament. Even playing without injured star Mackenzie Holmes, this is a Hoosiers team that has been through situations like this before. The Gophers? Perhaps not so much.

"They executed,'' coach Lindsay Whalen said. "I give them credit. Overall, that's a really good team. We wanted to be with 'em with five minutes left and we were. We didn't execute as well as they did."

BOXSCORE: Indiana 80, Gophers 70

The contrast was stark. The Gophers (10-13, 3-8) made five of their first six fourth-quarter shots, just one of their final eight. Over the final four-plus minutes, while being outscored 14-0, the Gophers were 0-for-6 with two turnovers.

The Hoosiers? They made six of their final seven shots, shooting 75% in the fourth quarter.

Laura Bagwell-Katalinich came off the bench to score 10 points, the only other Gophers player besides Scalia in double figures.

Indiana got 28 points from Aleska Gulbe, 12 in the fourth quarter on 5-for-6 shooting. Grace Berger had 19 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. Nicole Cardano-Hillary had 14.

Berger had just hit two free throws to pull Indiana within a point when Scalia took a pass from Gadiva Hubbard and hit a three.

The rest of the game? Five Indiana players scored in the run to end the game. Gulbe hit a three 15 seconds after Scalia hit hers. After Kadi Sissoko missed at the other end, Gulbe fed Grace Waggoner for a layup to put Indiana up a point.

Big Ten women's basketball standings

At the other end Hubbard dribbled to the paint, then passed out, but the ball went right to Cardano-Hillary, who promptly hit a three and the lead was four.

That was a crucial stretch.

"I feel the offense, everyone was kind of standing around,'' Scalia said. "It was a little tough at the end there. We didn't hit our shots, couple turnovers … Indiana is ranked fifth for a reason.''

It was a difficult end to a game the Gophers had competed well in. They led by four after a quarter, by one at the half and again after three quarters. They led by five early in the fourth, and by four when Scalia hit that three.

"This team is growing,'' Whalen said. "They're growing together. But this was a tough one, after having the lead for much of the game.''

The Star Tribune did not travel for this event. This article was written using the television broadcast and video interviews before and/or after the event.