The Big Ten women’s basketball tournament in Minneapolis is underway with a one-and-done from the home team as the No. 12 seed Minnesota Gophers lost to No. 13 Penn State 72-67 in the first game of the tournament.
Minnesota got off to an ice-cold start and trailed 21-3 in the first quarter and was down by 15 points entering the fourth quarter, which is when the Gophers turned it on and rallied to tie the game 66-66 with 47 seconds to go.
But it was for naught as the Nittany Lions got an easy bucket at the basket on an inbounds play with 30 seconds left for the go-ahead – and ultimately the game-winning – shot by Makenna Marisa, who led Penn State with 22 points.
Trailing 63-58, Mara Braun got the rally stated with a 3-pointer out of a timeout with 5:54 to play. Isabelle Gradwell’s 3 cut Penn State’s lead to 63-54 with 4:36 remaining, and an and-1 layup by Amaya Battle made it 66-59 with 3:06 left on the clock.
Gradwell then hit another 3 to cut the deficit to 66-64 with 1:05 to play, followed by Alanna Micheaux turnaround jumper in the paint to tie the game with 47 seconds to go.
Braun led Minnesota with 25 points and seven rebounds.
Penn State advances to play Michigan on Thursday.
