One more rout for Gophers women

Judging by her play Friday night, Rachel Banham seems as though she is ready for the Big Ten women's basketball season to begin.

The freshman guard and Lakeville North graduate scored a career-high 20 points, powering the Gophers to a 71-47 beating of the New Jersey Institute of Technology at Williams Arena.

It was the Gophers' final tune-up before Big Ten play begins next Friday at No. 20 Purdue, and Banham took full advantage of it.

"I was feeling it. I was getting into a flow," Banham said.

Banham's previous high point total came against considerably higher-quality competition -- she scored 19 in the Gophers' loss to top-ranked Baylor on Dec. 4. Friday, she shot 7-for-13 from the floor, including 2-for-3 from three-point range, and added seven rebounds and four assists while going 4-for-4 at the free-throw line.

Kiara Buford scored 12 points and Katie Loberg added 10 with seven rebounds. Micaella Riche led the Gophers (8-6) off the bench with nine points in another dominating nonconference victory at home. Since losing to Baylor, the Gophers have beaten Air Force, Harvard, Alcorn State and NJIT at Williams Arena by an average of 28.5 points.

But the Gophers lost the last time they played, at Denver on Dec. 14, then had to scrape off some rust in playing for the first time in nine days. Still, they handled the Highlanders (5-6) with ease, going on an 18-3 run midway through the first half and entering the break with a 42-23 lead.

"We're not going to be playing perfect basketball this time of the year, but I really like how Kiara and Rachel came out attacking offensively, making sure they got their shots and just really being aggressive and getting our team off to a pretty good start," coach Pam Borton said.

The Gophers held NJIT scoreless 5:48 into the second half and to only two points at the 10-minute mark. The Highlanders shot 31.6 percent in the game and trailed by 20 points or more for almost the entire second half.

It wasn't all gravy for the Gophers, who shot 23-for-48 in the paint, something Borton was not pleased with. She's hoping for better post play entering the conference schedule.

"We just have to be tougher and figure out how to make layups," said Borton, whose team shot only 11-for-31 from the floor after halftime. "We were right under the rim."

The Gophers will get a few days off before returning for practice Tuesday. After opening conference play at Purdue, they will have their Big Ten home opener against Indiana on Jan. 2.