Big fourth quarter propels Gophers women to 59-48 victory over Eastern Illinois

The change in the game's momentum, frankly, was rather stunning.

Sudden.

For three quarters Thursday the Gophers women's basketball team's offense was struggling, badly. Up six after the first quarter of their nonconference game against Eastern Illinois (8-3) at Williams Arena, the Gophers made just seven of 38 shots while being outscored by 12 points and falling behind by six entering the fourth.

And then everything changed. So, after the Gophers had finished off a 23-6 fourth quarter, after they had improved to 8-5 with a 59-48 victory — one accomplished with coach Lindsay Whalen home sick — the question was:

What the heck happened?

"Our intensity changed,'' said Gophers associate head coach Shimmy Gray-Miller, who coached the team. "And our efficiency. We talked about it at halftime, and again between quarters. That's now how we play. We need to be more unselfish, we need to move the ball more, attack closeouts and get the ball into the paint. And that's what you saw in the fourth quarter.''

It was a neck-straining 180-degree turn. The Gophers made 10 of 11 fourth-quarter shots, scored 18 of 23 points in the paint, turned five EIU turnovers into eight points.

And it started right away. Alanna Micheaux drove for a layup. After an EIU miss, Micheaux put back a Mara Braun miss. After forcing an EIU turnover, Amaya Battle scored on the break. The Gophers had made up that six-point deficit in 1½ minutes, forcing a Panthers timeout.

"When they called that timeout it was a sign where I felt, 'We have this, this is our game,' '' Micheaux said.

Out of that timeout Taris Thornton hit two free throws. But, at the other end, great ball movement resulted in an open look from the corner and Mallory Heyer hit the three, putting the Gophers up for good with 7:07 left.

"The ball came to me and I was open in the corner,'' she said. "So I just let it fly. I've been working on that shot.''

Heyer scored seven points, Battle six and Micheaux four in a 19-4 start to the fourth that had the Gophers up nine. They never let up after that. Micheaux finished with 14 points, Heyer 10 and seven rebounds. Battle had nine points and eight boards.

"Who we are is that fourth quarter,'' Gray-Miller said. "We moved it around, we got open. That three [Heyer] took was wide-open. That fourth quarter is us.''

The Gophers are one of the youngest teams in the nation. But the team showed maturity by not letting its offensive woes affect the defense. That was good, start to finish. The Panthers (8-3) averaged nearly 73 points and 44.5% shooting coming in. They were held to season lows in points and shooting (31.5). In the fourth quarter Eastern Illinois made two of 12 shots.

Afterward, Whalen talked to the team via FaceTime.

"It was good to get the win for her,'' Heyer said.

Said Micheaux: "It was a good, heart-felt message. Talking about how she was proud of us. We felt her spirit.''