Gophers women’s basketball team rallies to beat Illinois; Improves to 15-1 this season

The Minnesota women’s basketball team (15-1, 3-1 B1G) fought back from an 11-point deficit to beat the Illinois Fighting Illini (11-4, 1-3 B1G) 68-61 at Williams Arena on Sunday afternoon.

The win also marked head coach Dawn Plitzuweit’s 400th career win. Plitzuweit has a career record of 400-158 and is 35-17 in her second season leading the Golden Gophers.

The Maroon & Gold had five players score in double figures, led by Grace Grocholski, who had 19 points, seven rebounds and three steals. Annika Stewart tacked on 11 points off of the bench and Tori McKinney helped out with 11 points and five assists.

Minnesota grabbed 40 rebounds in Sunday’s game compared to Illinois’ 39, led by Mallory Heyer’s 10 boards.

The Minnesota defense held Illinois shooters to only 35 percent from the field. The Fighting Illini did not get many second opportunities on the offensive end, as they grabbed only nine offensive rebounds and scored four second chance points while Minnesota pulled down 31 defensive rebounds.