Rachel Banham scored 21 points but the U of M women’s basketball team was defeated by 22nd-ranked Purdue 75-63 at Williams Arena Sunday.
The Gophers fought back to within a hoop, but Purdue scored the final 10 points of the game — eight of them from the free throw line.
The box score shows Minnesota shot less than 40 percent from the field, while the Boilermakers were just under 50 percent.
After the game Banham said she had trouble in the second half, when Purdue began to double team her. Coach Pam Borton cited a paltry contribution from the bench (four points) and a failure to get defensive stops down the stretch as key factors in the loss.
The Gophers have two regular-season games left, including their home finale Thursday night against league-leading Penn State. Minnesota is sitting in eighth place in the Big Ten with a 5-8 record, 16-12 overall.
