Washington's hot shooting too much for Gophers in Big Ten Tournament first round

Minnesota and Washington opened this year's 2025 Big Ten Tournament on Wednesday afternoon, but the Huskies' hot-shooting helped them take down the Gophers for the second time in the last seven days, 79-65.

Minnesota began the Big Ten Tournament strong, but star guard Amaya Battle picked up her second foul at the 5:44 mark in the first quarter, and Washington took advantage. Second-team All-Big Ten guard Elle Ladine sparked a 16-7 Huskies run, and they took a commanding 23-14 lead.

Battle checked back into the game at the 9:20 mark in the second quarter, and the Gophers fought back thanks to impressive energy from Mallory Heyer and leading scorer Grace Grocholski getting on the board with eight second-half points. Ladine led all scorers with 15 points, as Washington held onto a 32-30 lead at the half.

15 first half points for Elle Ladine 😤

📺 Peacock
📊 https://t.co/pCDVOzPBIB #Becoming pic.twitter.com/fzAaguUICX
— Washington Women’s Basketball (@UW_WBB) March 5, 2025

Much like last week's senior night loss at the Barn, Minnesota struggled to slow down Washington's hot shooting. The Huskies started the second half 8-11 (72.7%) from the field and 4-6 (66.7%) from three and took a commanding 52-38 lead in the third quarter.

As this team has done all season, they didn't go down without a fight. Battle and Grocholski sparked a 7-0 run to end the third quarter, cutting Washington's lead to 54-48 heading into the final 10 minutes. That was the closest Minnesota got, as the Huskies outscored them 25-17 in the fourth quarter and cruised to a 79-65 win.

Washington shot 30-55 (54.5%) from the field and 10-24 (41.7%) from three, and Minnesota simply had no answer. Grocholski scored a team-high 21 points, but the Huskies had four different players with 14 or more points.

The Gophers officially finish their season 3-9 in their final 12 games after starting 17-2, and they are without a Quad 1. Their NCAA Tournament resume will have two huge blemishes, and they'll now wait 11 days until Selection Sunday on March 16.

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