Rachel Banham is bringing home the hardware and gaining some national attention following her big accomplishment in the Gophers double-overtime victory over Northwestern Sunday.
Banham broke the Big Ten single-game scoring record and tied the NCAA mark with her 60 point performance.
As a result, the Gophers senior guard and Lakeville native was named the ESPNW National Player of the Week. Unsurprisingly, she also won the Big Ten Player of the Week award.
Banham told GopherSports.com that she knew she was in the zone in the fourth quarter after banking in a three-pointer. But she was speechless when she found out what she had accomplished.
“Coach Nik [Lowry-Dawkins] grabbed me and said, ‘You just scored 60 points.’ I didn’t know what to say. I guess that did just happen. I couldn’t feel it. I didn’t know what was going on, there was so much adrenaline. It’s still crazy to think about and to say. It’s really wild,” Banham said Monday.
She made 19 of 32 shots against the Wildcats, including eight three pointers. Banham became the first Gopher woman to score 40 points in a game since Lindsay Whalen did that in 2002.
.@GopherWBB guard @rachelbanham15 tied the NCAA scoring record with 60 at Northwestern. A shot-by-shot breakdown. pic.twitter.com/52Dk7sYO4U
— Synergy Basketball (@SynergySST) February 8, 2016
ESPN notes that Banham tied a record held by former Long Beach State post player Cindy Brown. Brown originally set the record on Feb. 16, 1987.
Banham is Minnesota’s all-time scoring leader, but things haven’t always been easy for her. She was forced to red shirt last season after tearing her ACL in a game on Dec. 10, 2014.
It is the first time she has ever won the national player of the week award, but her fourth Big Ten Player of the Week Award, and her second of the season.
