Michigan State’s 6-foot-9 senior, Allyssa DeHaan, wasn’t much of a factor Sunday.
But the University of Minnesota women’s basketball team didn’t take advantage of an off night by one of the Big Ten’s top post players in a 66-57 loss to the Spartans in front of 6,018 fans at Williams Arena.
DeHaan was held to just four points on 1-of-5 shooting, but the Gophers (11-8, 4-4 Big Ten), who suffered their first Big Ten home loss, still were overpowered inside. The Spartans scored 26 points on offensive rebounds.
“They were just tougher,” said Gophers coach Pam Borton, whose team was 10-1 at home entering Sunday’s game. “It doesn’t take a whole lot of skill to rebound. It’s determination. It’s heart. It’s making an effort.”
Michigan State (13-7, 4-5) erased a 10-point deficit to take a 48-46 lead on two free throws from DeHaan with 8:20 left, but the Spartans played much better without their starting center on the floor.
Kalisha Keane, who finished with 16 points on 4-of-8 shooting from three-point range, hit her second straight three-pointer and then backup center Lauren Aitch capped a 7-0 run with a reverse layup to make it a 10-point lead with 3:49 left.
The Gophers cut the deficit to 60-54 on a basket from Zoe Harper less than a minute later, but Michigan State answered with six straight points to extend it to a 12-point margin.
Katie Ohm’s three-pointer before the final buzzer was the only basket for Minnesota in the final 2 minutes, 37 seconds.
Ohm and Kiara Buford combined for 21 points, but they were 8 of 21 shooting from the field and 4 of 13 from three-point range. Ashley Ellis-Milan led the Gophers with 12 points, but she wasn’t effective in the post down the stretch, despite DeHaan playing only eight minutes in the second half.
“I wasn’t getting as many touches as I was before,” Ellis-Milan said. “It was hard to get the ball in because of the ball pressure on the guards.”
Ellis-Milan, an All-Big Ten senior from St. Paul, went scoreless in the final 16 minutes of the game. After her last basket, Buford made a layup to give the Gophers a 41-31 lead with 15:27 left. But the Spartans outscored the Gophers 35-16 to end the game.
Borton said the Gophers missed the penetrating ability of junior guard China Antoine, who sat out her second straight game after knee surgery. The Gophers fell to 0-2 without Antoine, who was averaging 9.6 points per game.
“It’s literally day to day with her,” Borton said. “She should feel great tomorrow, then she’ll start doing more and something could come to a screeching halt. She hasn’t been practicing with the team, but she’s been working out.”
