Two upsets of top 10 teams in one week was a bit too much to ask from Rachel Banham and the Golden Gophers (19-10, 11-7) as they were pounded in a 110-77 road loss to sixth-ranked Maryland on Sunday.
Minnesota topped fifth-ranked Ohio State 90-88 earlier in the week, but the Big Ten champion Terrapins (27-3, 16-2) were way too much for the Gophers to handle.
Maryland has reached the Final Four in two consecutive seasons and they’ll be one of the favorites to return again in March.
Banham led the Gophers with 26 points.
Up next: Minnesota will open play in the Big Ten Tournament as the five seed. They have a first-round bye and await the winner of Wednesday’s opening round game between Wisconsin and Northwestern.
A win on Thursday (tipoff around 2:30 p.m.) for the Gophers would put them into the quarterfinals against fourth-seeded Indiana.
