All good things come to an end, which was the case for the Gophers women’s basketball team’s perfect start on Sunday.
The Gophers were never able to recover from a rough start in an 84-65 loss to No. 25 Nebraska in Lincoln, Neb., on Sunday, resulting in their first loss of the season in what was their first Big Ten Conference matchup of the year.
The Cornhuskers (8-1, 1-0 Big Ten) got off to a dominant offensive start and jumped out to a 27-11 lead over the Gophers (10-1, 0-1) after one quarter of play. While the U held them to just nine points in the second quarter, they still entered the half trailing 36-19. Nebraska didn’t do much damage the rest of the way, but it was a hole the Gophers couldn’t dig out of.
Minnesota played clean basketball, too, only turning it over four times in the game. But they did have just 10 assists on 25 made shots, compared to an efficient Nebraska offense that assisted on 22 of its 31 makes from the field. It was a truly balanced effort from the Huskers, who had four players score in double figures and four more score at least seven points.
Alberte Rimdal led the Huskers with a game-high-tying 12 points, and Alexis Markowski and Callin Hake scored 11 apiece.
Nebraska shot 52% from the field and 42% from deep, while the U shot just 35% from the field and 25% from 3. The Huskers bench outscored Minnesota’s 42-23, and they dominated the glass 49-30, resulting in 23 second-chance points.
Mallory Heyer led the Gophers with 12 points and eight rebounds. Tori McKinney finished with 11 points, three assists and three rebounds, and Grace Grocholski and Alexsia Rose scored 10 points each. Annika Stewart added nine points.
The Gophers return to nonconference action on Wednesday when they host Jackson State for a 7 p.m. tipoff.
