Minnesota Women's Basketball Falls to 14/13 Florida State at WBI Tip Off

Despite having three players score in double figures, led by Kiara Buford’s team-best 13 points, the University of Minnesota women’s basketball team fell just short, 68-56, against 14/13 Florida State Saturday afternoon at the WBI Tip Off Classic in Daytona Beach, Fla.
 
“I thought that we worked and fought extremely hard (against Florida State),” head coach Pam Borton said. “Playing a team ranked in the top-15 was a good measuring stick for us this time of year. We have big goals, so, although we have a lot of work to do, I thought out team put up a great fight today.” 
 
Buford shot .500 (6-for-12) from the floor, while adding a team-best five assists and four rebounds. Junior Katie Loberg concluded the game with 11 points, six rebounds and a block, and freshman Rachel Banham added 10 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals. 
 
Though the Golden Gophers finished the contest 12 points behind the Seminoles, the final score did not accurately portray how close of a game the two teams played.
 
The Maroon and Gold led, 7-4, early in the game, before the Seminoles came back to take a three-point lead on four baskets. But, jumpers from senior Brianna Mastey, who finished the game with two points and three rebounds, and Loberg sparked an 8-0 run by the Gophers and gave the squad a 17-12 lead midway through the half. Back-to-back jumpers by senior Jackie Voigt gave Minnesota its biggest lead of the opening stanza, 26-20, with 5:58 remaining in the first.
 
Buford posted 11 of her 13 points in the opening half, while Voigt added six points, two rebounds and an assist off of the bench. For the contest, the senior finished with eight points four boards.
 
Heading into the locker room, FSU held a one-point advantage following a 13-6 run to end the half, but Minnesota came out of the halftime break fired up. The Gophers opened the second half on a 12-4 run, which included six points from Loberg, to take a 44-37 lead at 15:20.
 
Minnesota and Florida State were neck-and-neck with just over six minutes to play in the contest, but back-to-back three-pointers from FSU’s Alexa Deluzio kick-started a 14-0 run to put the Seminoles ahead 61-50 with just under four minutes to play.
 
Minnesota was not able to overcome the double-digit deficit as it scored only four points in the last 3:25 of regulation and committed six personal fouls.    
 
The Gophers conclude play in the WBI Tip Off Classic Sunday afternoon with a contest against South Florida at 3:30 p.m. CT.
 
Season tickets for the 2011-12 women's basketball season are on sale now and may be purchased by calling the Golden Gopher Ticket Office at 612.624.8080 or 1.800.U.GOPHER. For 2011-12 season ticket pricing information, as well as other helpful links, visit the Women's Basketball Tickets site.