Gopher Women Score Rare Win at Purdue

WEST LAFAYETTE – (Gophersports.com) - The University of Minnesota (13-1, 2-0) women’s basketball team did something Thursday afternoon that it had not done in the last nine years, it picked up a 81-68 win over Purdue (8-5, 1-1) at Mackey Arena behind a 21-point, 19-rebound performance from Amanda Zahui B.

The last time the Gophers won a contest in West Lafayette was on Jan. 13, 2005, while the victory also snapped the Maroon and Gold’s six-game losing skid against Purdue dating back to 2010 and extended Minnesota’s Big Ten-leading winning streak to nine games. It is the longest streak for the Gophers since 2003-04, when they posted 15-straight wins to open the season.

Zahui tallied 20 points for the third-straight contest, while her 19 rebounds matched her career high and tied for seventh on the Minnesota single-game record chart. Zahui also secured her Big Ten-leading 10th double-double of the season and added five blocks and four assists in the victory over the Boilermakers.

Shae Kelley paced Minnesota in scoring with 22 points, 14 of which came in the second half, while Carlie Wagner finished with 16 points and career-highs with eight assists and six rebounds. Shayne Mullaney rounded out the double-figure scoring with 15 points, which included a career-best 12-for-12 performance from the free throw line in the second half.

Minnesota out-shot the Boilermakers, .536 (15-28) to .364 (12-33) in the final 20 minutes of play, while they also concluded the contest with a 42-33 advantage on the boards.

Minnesota took a seven-point lead, 21-14, midway through the opening stanza, thanks to back-to-back three-pointers from Wagner and Zahui, but Purdue was able to get back on top of the Gophers by six points, 29-23, following a 15-2 run in which the visitors were held scoreless for 5:29.

The Maroon and Gold were able to take momentum and a one-point advantage into halftime, 34-33, thanks to an 11-4 run capped by a pair of free throw from Mullaney in the final seconds of play.

The Gophers scored 24 points in the paint in the first half, compared to just 12 for the home team, but Purdue was able to capitalize on 10 Minnesota turnovers, turning them into 16 points. The two teams battled to seven lead changes and three tie scores in the first 20 minutes of play.

Zahui finished the first half with 15 points and 11 rebounds for her 10 th double-double of the year to pace the Gophers. Kelley had eight points and Wagner added seven points, while McDaniel and Mullaney each had two points.

The Gophers extended their lead to 12 points in the second half, 64-52, with just over seven minutes to play in the contest. Purdue would pull to within seven points of Minnesota, 70-63, at the 2:55 mark, but the Gophers closed out the game on an 11-5 run, which included eight free throws from Mullaney, to close out the game with a 13-point victory, which was its largest of the contest.