Carlie Wagner scored 20 points and Gadiva Hubbard 18 as the Gophers routed Army 70-52 on Thursday night in nonconference women's basketball at Williams Arena.
The story of this game, though, was defense, not offense. Army (7-2), which was on a six-game winning streak, made just 19.8 percent of its shots — nine of which were blocked — and committed 14 turnovers.
"I'm really proud of our team's defensive showing tonight … very, very proud," Gophers coach Marlene Stollings said. "Holding them to 52 total points, only 15 in the first half is huge for us and our advancement.
"I think come March [when the NCAA field is picked], it's certainly a quality win for us. We were really aggressive in the first half, defensively, which created a lot of stuff."
Kenisha Bell, another starter for the Gophers (7-3), also was in double figures with 15 points, although she struggled with ballhandling: eight turnovers vs. five assists.
The victory gave Stollings her 50 wins in 75 games at Minnesota, making her the second-fastest coach to reach that milestone in program history.
The Gophers shot 42.4 percent from the field and also made their free throws (17 of 21) which Army didn't (13 of 20).
Army's Madison Hovren had 17 points — she was four of 19 shooting — and 17 rebounds.
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