Wednesday night’s Gophers women’s basketball opener at Williams Arena was only six seconds old when freshman Grace Grocholski took a pass from Amaya Battle at the right elbow and drained a three-pointer. Her first college points.
With less than a minute gone, Sophie Hart rebounded a miss by Mara Braun, scored, was fouled and hit the free throw.
Her first points as a Gopher.
In the final minute of a one-sided first quarter, Nia Holloway — who missed all last season because of a knee injury — scored her first college points, too.
The Gophers’ 92-57 victory over Long Island University (0-2) was one-sided early, with the Gophers starting the game on fire before cooling a bit in the second half. Given the level of competition, it’s hard to draw many conclusions. But in coach Dawn Plitzuweit’s debut as Gophers coach, a few things stood out:
* The shooting. Led by Braun, who hit nine of 15 shots and was 5-for-11 on threes while scoring 25 points, the Gophers moved and shot the ball well. The Gophers were 34-for-63 overall (54%), 11-for-28 on three-pointers (39.3%).
* The defense, which held the Sharks to 20-for-57 shooting (35.1%).
The Gophers pretty much put this game away early, building a 34-9 lead after the first quarter and a 34-point lead at halftime. Perhaps that’s why the team lost a bit of focus in the second half.
There were some hiccups. The Gophers struggled against LIU’s full-court press at times in the second quarter. But Plitzuweit, animated on the sideline, saw to that quickly. Those turnovers continued in the third quarter in the half court, a big reason why the Gophers were outscored 23-13 in the quarter.
But overall, it was a feel-good game of firsts.
Hart, limited by foul trouble, scored 11 points with six boards. She sat much of last year after leaving North Carolina State. Holloway — part of the recruiting class with Heyer, Braun and Battle — had to watch her friends and roommates play last year as her knee heeled. On Wednesday, she scored 11 points and grabbed six rebounds.
Both Grocholski (10 points) and Ajok Madol (seven points) started their careers strong. Battle, Braun and Heyer picked up where they left off last year.
Especially Braun. Heyer had 10 points and eight rebounds. Battle scored only three points but had six rebounds and five assists.
Minnesota had a 27-13 edge on points off turnovers and a 20-4 edge on second-chance points.
Plitzuweit used her starters to start the fourth quarter and Minnesota pushed the lead to 28 points before Plitzuweit went to the bench, which extended the advantage even more.
Mariah Elohim led LIU with 13 points.