Rachel Banham celebrated a milestone and a monster game Monday night. Unfortunately for her, though, she did not get to celebrate a victory.
The sophomore point guard scored 37 points, including 27 in the second half, and eclipsed 1,000 for her career, but it wasn't enough as the Gophers lost to Illinois 91-86, their fourth loss in a row.
"It's cool," Banham said after becoming the 21st player in program history to hit 1,000 points. "It would have been better if we won, but we just have to keep going and I have to keep producing."
Down by 11 at the break, Banham turned scorching hot in front of an announced crowd of 2,476 at Williams Arena. She finished with five three-pointers and surpassed the 1,000 mark early in the second half to spark a couple of rallies.
"I was just being more aggressive in the second half," she said. "I was playing too safe in the first; that was just on me."
The Gophers trailed 52-41 at halftime and 77-63 midway through the second half, but they charged back behind Banham, whose basket with 4:10 to play capped an 11-0 run that gave her team an 82-81 lead.
From there on out, though, the Gophers (13-8, 2-5 Big Ten) committed five turnovers and sent Illinois to the free throw line 11 times -- 12 counting a lane violation that cost them a point.
Illinois regained the lead on two Taylor Tuck free throws with 3:01 to go, and Karisma Penn followed a Banham turnover with a driving layup to make it 85-82. Ivory Crawford hit a long two-point jumper as the shot clock expired to give Illinois an 87-83 lead.
