Battle leads Gophers women’s basketball team past Toledo in WBIT opener

The Minnesota women’s basketball team (21-11 B1G) held Toledo (24-9, 13-5 MAC) to just 36.5 percent shooting from the field on the way to a 65-53 victory against the Rockets on the road Thursday.

With the win, the No. 2 seeded Golden Gophers advance to the second round of the WBIT and will face the Missouri State Bears in Springfield, Mo., at Great Southern Bank Arena on Sunday at 2 p.m. CT. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.

The Maroon & Gold had three players score in double figures, led by Amaya Battle, who had 18 points. Grace Grocholski added 15 points and three steals and Sophie Hart helped out with 14 points, eight rebounds and two steals.

Led by Hart’s seven offensive rebounds, Minnesota did a great job crashing the offensive glass, pulling down 14 boards that resulted in 11 second chance points.

The Minnesota defense caused its share of mistakes in Thursday’s game, forcing 19 Toledo turnovers while committing 11. Those takeaways turned into 25 points on the other end of the floor. Grocholski’s three steals led the way individually for the Gophers.