On a night when the Gophers started slowly, their veteran backcourt — and a dialed-up defense — made the difference.
Both Battle and Braun scored 21 points. Both made eight of 14 shots. Battle was 3-for-5 on three-pointers, Braun 3-for-6. Battle had four rebounds, five assists and just one turnover. Braun had four assists, zero turnovers.
And a career-high eight steals, a big reason why the Gophers had an 18-4 edge on points off turnovers. Braun’s eight steals are a career high and tied for fourth most in a game by a Gophers player. It’s the most since Janel McCarville had 10 steals vs. Ohio State on March 5, 2004.
Annika Stewart scored 11 for Minnesota. Former Monticello athlete Anna Olson led Vermont (1-1) with 14 points.
Plitzuweit talked about the Catamounts’ patience leading up to the game, and it showed in a first quarter that ended in a 17-17 tie. Vermont hit half of its shots and had one more field goal after the first 10 minutes. The Gophers, meanwhile, shot south of 40 percent. Olson scored six for Vermont, Battle six for the Gophers.
And then the Gophers offense went into a stall. The Gophers missed their first eight shots of the second quarter and didn’t manage a point until Sophie Hart scored in the paint with 5:06 to go.