Gophers guards Rachel Banham and Carlie Wagner went into Saturday's game with Memphis as the No. 2 scoring duo in the nation.
And the pair delivered once again as the Gophers women's basketball team rallied to beat the Tigers 70-60 with a dominating third quarter at Williams Arena.
Trailing by eight points at halftime, the Gophers went on a 17-0 run to start the second half with Banham scoring seven of those points and Wagner six. Teammate Jessie Edwards got the first and last baskets in that big run, which put Minnesota ahead 46-37, after grabbing offensive rebounds.
Memphis finally got a basket when Cheyenne Creighton scored 4 minutes, 37 seconds into the third quarter.
Banham, who was honored before the game for breaking Lindsay Whalen's program record for career points, scored 23 points and had 10 rebounds. The 5-9 redshirt senior from Lakeville is averaging 24.1 points per game and is one of only two players in the country who has scored at least 20 points in every game. Lucy Mason of UNC-Greensboro is the other.
"We knew were going to keep getting [good looks] in the second half," Banham said. "Especially as they started to get tired, it became a lot easier. It's just finishing the layups, is all it is."
Wagner, who is averaging 20.5 points, added 21 points.
"The 17-0 run to start the second half obviously was huge," Gophers coach Marlene Stollings said. "We pride ourselves on being a second-half team. Incredible performance by these two young ladies [Banham and Wagner], with 20-plus scores and Rachel with the double-double. It was huge for us and will continue to be huge. This is a historic night of the program with Rachel being honored prior to the game."
Creighton led Memphis (4-5), coached by former Gophers assistant Melissa McFerrin, with 14 points while Asianna Fuqua-Bay had 11 points and 11 rebounds.
The Gophers (6-2) shot only 39.7 percent from the field — and made only three of 15 three-pointers, usually a strength — but Memphis was worse in both those area. The Tigers shot 35.8 percent and were 4-for-25 on threes.
