Three-pointers make all the difference in U rout

China Antoine made sinking three-point shots look easy Saturday.

The point guard sank five of six attempts from behind the arc as the Gophers women's basketball team rolled over Wisconsin-Milwaukee 76-53 at Williams Arena on the first day of the Subway Classic.

The Gophers (3-1) will play Dayton (1-2) at 3:30 p.m. Sunday for the tournament title. The Flyers crushed South Dakota 78-56.

UW-Milwaukee tried to keep pace by heaving up 25 three-pointers, but the Panthers might as well have been shooting at one of those tricky baskets at a carnival.

UW-Milwaukee (1-2) made only one three-pointer in the first half and three total (12.0 percent). It would have cost the Panthers a small fortune on midway games this day to win a small teddy bear.

"Every three they took was contested," Gophers coach Pam Borton said.

The Gophers also held 6-4 Panthers center Courtney Lindfors to 12 points -- 10 under her average.

"I was hoping she would miss one of them" threes, said Panthers coach Sandy Botham, joking about Antoine's accuracy. "We knew she was coming off a big game [6-for-7 on threes against Pittsburgh on Wednesday].

"You can't leave her open. She is automatic. Definitely a spark plug for them."

The Gophers outscored the Panthers 27-9 on three-pointers and 14-2 on fast-break points.

"Our heads were spinning," Botham said. "They got a lot in transition. [Antoine] was leading the break a lot."

Said Antoine, "It feels better sometimes to throw a good pass and get my teammates open than to score, but I have been working on that."

As a team, the Gophers also shot well -- 51.7 percent from the field, compared to 31.7 percent for UWM. Lindsay Laur, a senior forward from Roseville who played at Cretin-Derham Hall, led the Panthers with 14 points and seven rebounds.

An 11-2 run late in the first half, fueled by nine of Kiara Buford's 15 points, enabled the Gophers to open a 32-14 lead. Buford hit two three-pointers and had a three-point play.

"They were playing a 1-3-1 or some type of zone," Buford said. "There were just a lot of holes, so I got two wide-open shots."

By halftime it was 37-20. Borton went to her bench frequently in the second half.

Twelve Gophers played, 10 scored. Passes from Antoine, the spark plug, set up six of them for at least one basket.

The Gophers will be the third Big Ten team the Flyers have faced on the road this season, joining Michigan State and Ohio State.

"They are big, physical, fundamental," Dayton coach Jim Jabir said of the Gophers.