Braun, Borowicz lead Gophers past Milwaukee

The Gophers women’s basketball team won its second game in three days with a 75-59 decision over Milwaukee on Monday afternoon. Mara Braun (21) and Katie Borowicz (17) paced the Gophers on the offensive end.

Just two days removed from the team’s 51-point victory over Chicago State the Gophers came back with another solid shooting night. Braun finished 8-of-17 from the floor and added four steals while Borowicz shot an efficient 5-of-7 from the floor and 3-of-5 from beyond the arc to go along with her career high seven assists and five rebounds. A total of four Gophers reached double figures with Alanna ‘Rose’ Micheaux scoring 12 and adding six boards while Mallory Heyer scored 10, giving the freshman 10 or more points in four of her last five contests.

The opening quarter saw Minnesota jump out to a 10-4 lead early using a 7-0 run. Milwaukee responded with six straight of their own, and overcame eight first quarter turnovers to trail by just 17-12 after 10 minutes at the Barn.

It was a 7-0 combo from Braun and Heyer that gave Minnesota the game’s first double digit lead at 24-13 early in the second, but a Milwaukee 15-4 run tied the game at 28 late in the half. Minnesota was able to hold off the Panthers, scoring the final five points of the half to take a 33-28 lead into the locker room.

After starting slow in the third, making just one of the team’s first six shots, the Gophers turned up their offense with a 10-2 run that was highlighted by threes from Mi’Cole Cayton and Mara Braun and capped with third three from Isabelle Gradwell. Braun then put an exclamation point on the run for the Gophers with a triple at the buzzer to send Minnesota into the fourth with a 12-point advantage on the Panthers.

The lead grew to as large as 19 points in the fourth quarter with the Gophers 13-4 run in the middle of the quarter putting the game out of reach for the visitors.

In the end the Gophers and Panthers both attempted 61 shots in the game with the Gophers converting on 45.9 percent of those shots and Milwaukee shooting 37.7 percent. Minnesota hit 9-of-22 from three on Wednesday, tying a season high the team set back against Lehigh on Nov. 13. The Gophers defense forced 22 Milwaukee turnovers; which is the fifth time this season the Gophers have forced 20 or more turnovers.