Gophers women rebound from loss in a big way with 84-31 rout of Cal State-Northridge

Wednesday night at Williams Arena, everything went pretty much as expected.

The Gophers women's basketball team was playing host to Cal State-Northridge. After a loss Sunday to then-eighth-ranked Connecticut, it was safe to assume the Gophers would come out strong.

Yup. The final: 84-31.

"We did a lot of work trying to get our offense flowing," said center Sophie Hart, one of four Gophers in double-digits scoring with 13 points on 6-for-6 shooting in less than 20 minutes. "I thought we looked better tonight."

It was a rather historic win. The 53-point margin of victory was the third-biggest in program history and the largest since 1981. The 31 points scored by the Matadors was the sixth-lowest total against a Gophers opponent ever. The previous five all came in the 1970s.

The Gophers (4-1) shot 48.4% and held Northridge to 25.5%. Minnesota started the second quarter 14-0. The Gophers outscored Northridge (2-3) 16-2 in the fourth quarter. Twelve Gophers played, with 10 scoring.

"We went out and did what we were supposed to do," said Janay Sanders, who scored 10 points off the bench. "We took care of the ball [14 turnovers]. We held them to 25 percent shooting. We defended the way we're supposed to."

They did all of that.

The other two Gophers in double figures were Mara Braun and Amaya Battle, though both played fewer than 24 minutes. After struggling with her shot in Sunday's 62-44 loss to UConn, Braun hit six of 10 shots from the field overall and five of nine three-point tries while scoring 21 points.

Gophers coach Dawn Plitzuweit said Braun needed to see her shots fall.

"Absolutely," she said. "It was really important for her to see it. She was maybe a little slowed down in how she attacked. … She is continuing to learn and understand how much we need of her on each end."

Battle, meanwhile, scored 10 points with five assists and four steals without a turnover. While the numbers were relatively modest, Plitzuweit said it was the best game she had seen Battle play.

"She played really smart defensively," Plitzuweit said. "She made really good decisions. She was active, she was in the right spots. She attacked under control. She just looked really comfortable."

Ultimately, the Gophers — who scored 40 points in the paint and 24 from behind the arc — did what they needed to do against an overmatched opponent. The one-sided win was the start of the stretch run before the Big Ten Conference schedule gets going, and the next three nonconference games will provide a step up from the competition Northridge provided.

"I thought there were a lot of good things our young ladies did with a one-day prep," Plitzuweit said. "They really bounced back. It was good to see Mara sticking some shots. Mallory [Heyer] did a great job hitting the boards at both ends. Grace [Grocholski] did a good job taking care of the basketball."

Though she shot only 1-for-6, Grocholski had a team-high seven assists and no turnovers.

After taking a 25-8 lead after a quarter, Braun hit three three-pointers in the 14-0 run to start the second quarter.

Up 35 points at the half, the Gophers allowed the Matadors to score 14 points in the third quarter. But that changed down the stretch. With mainly reserves playing in the fourth quarter, the Gophers held Northridge to two points on 1-for-15 shooting.

The next three Gophers opponents — Stony Brook (5-0), Norfolk State (5-0) and Drake (3-1) — are a combined 13-1. Both Norfolk State and Drake were NCAA tournament teams last season. So it was good to take care of business Wednesday.