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Gophers Set Up Well for Big Ten, NCAA Tournaments After Beating Illinois

Minnesota women's basketball held on for a big win over the Illini in the regular season finale.
Will Ragatz|
Amaya Battle
Amaya Battle | Brad Rempel, University of Minnesota

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Minnesota Golden Gophers

The Gophers were thoroughly tested on Sunday against Illinois, but they held on for a big road win that sets them up quite nicely for the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments this month.

After Minnesota led by as many as 15 points in the first half, Illinois hung around and then mounted a late push to tie the score at 70 with a minute to play. But two free throws from Grace Grocholski gave the Gophers the lead back, Illinois missed a couple shots on the other end, and the Gophers (22-7, 13-5 Big Ten) hit several more free throws to close out a 78-73 win.

With the win, Minnesota secured the No. 4 seed in this week's Big Ten tournament in Indianapolis. That comes with a double bye. The Gophers' most likely opponent is No. 5 Ohio State, which also finished 13-5, in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Dawn Plitzuweit's team is also set up well to host one or two games in the NCAA Tournament in a few weeks. The Gophers were the No. 15 overall seed in the top 16 update from the selection committee earlier on Sunday. That translates into a No. 4 seed and would mean Minnesota hosting the first and second round at Williams Arena. It'll be the Gophers' first tournament appearance since 2018.

With this win, the Gophers might be secure in a top-4 seed in March Madness, but at least one win in the conference tournament would be ideal to truly feel safe in that spot.

Sophie Hart led the way for Minnesota with 17 points on Sunday, including 10 in the first quarter as the Gophers jumped out to a 22-14 lead. Amaya Battle had 16 points and 8 rebounds. Mara Braun, Tori McKinney, and bench big Finau Tonga also scored in double figures.

This game was won on the interior. The Gophers only hit four threes (three of which came from Braun), but they out-rebounded the Illini 39-25, shot 10 more free throws, and won 46-26 on points in the pain. That margin was 30-4 at halftime.

Illinois (19-10, 9-9) went 10 of 19 from three to hang around in this game. Every time the Gophers seemed ready to pull away, the home team had a response. That included an 8-0 run before halftime to trim a 15-point deficit to seven, as well as a 15-5 run in the third quarter after Minnesota went back up by 14 shortly after halftime. Illinois then went on one final run late in the fourth quarter to tie it, but it wasn't quite enough.

The Gophers ended a fantastic regular season with wins in 10 of their final 11 games.

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Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

Will Ragatz is a senior writer for Vikings On SI, who also covers the Twins, Timberwolves, Gophers, and other Minnesota teams. He is a credentialed Minnesota Vikings beat reporter, covering the team extensively at practices, games and throughout the NFL draft and free agency period. Ragatz attended Northwestern University, where he studied at the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. During his time as a student, he covered Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball for SB Nation’s Inside NU, eventually serving as co-editor-in-chief in his junior year. In the fall of 2018, Will interned in Sports Illustrated’s newsroom in New York City, where he wrote articles on Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball for SI.com.

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