Hoosiers Drop Close One at Minnesota, 78-76

Sunday, January 17

Minneapolis, Minn.

3 pm

Indiana University

at Minnesota

1/17/2016 5:35:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Indiana took the lead with under a minute to play, but came up short on the road to Minnesota on Sunday afternoon, 78-76. IU's Kym Royster scored a career-high 17 points in the effort as Tyra Buss also finished with 17 for the Hoosiers.

A Karlee McBride layup with 38 seconds remaining gave Indiana a 76-75 lead before a Mikayla Bailey 3-point field goal for Minnesota lifted the Gophers to the win inside Williams Arena.

Early on Royster made her presence known with back-to-back- buckets to put IU in front 10-8 at the 4:44 mark. Later in the first quarter with a 14-14 tie, IU's Lyndsay Leikem nailed field goal before a steal and run out layup by Buss gave IU a four-point cushion.

Buss would later close the quarter with a 3-point field goal to give IU a 21-16 advantage as the opening period came to a close.

Minnesota came out firing in the second quarter led by its leading scorer Rachel Banham, scoring six straight to take the lead. Buss scored her seventh-straight point for Indiana to stop the run momentarily before the Gophers scored five more in a row for an 11-2 overall run to lead the Hoosiers 27-23.

The Gophers built its lead to as much at 10 points on three difference occasions in the second period, but Indiana closed the half strong with a three-point play from Jenn Anderson and a running layup by Buss at the horn to trail by just five at the halftime break, 43-38. Minnesota shot 12-of-15 from the field in second quarter.

Out of the break, IU fought its way back to tie the game at 45-45, the first of five ties during the third period. Indiana took a 52-49 lead after a Buss 3-point field goal at the 5:47 mark to give the Hoosiers their first lead since early in the second quarter.

Minnesota's Carlie Wagner scored on back-to-back occasions to take the lead right back for the Gophers. With the game knotted at 58-58 late in the third, Minnesota scored five points in the final 27 seconds, including a 3-point field goal by Bailey as time expired, to take a 63-58 lead into the final period.

In the fourth, Indiana trailed by one with under a minute to play. The Hoosiers were able to get a stop defensively and McBride grabbed the long rebound and dribbled coast-to-coast to hit a layup to put IU in front, 76-75, with 38 seconds remaining.

Minnesota responded with the 3-point field goal from Bailey to take the lead with 24 seconds to play. Indiana's Jenn Anderson missed a field goal in the final seconds as the Gophers would hold on to take the win.

Despite battling foul trouble all afternoon, Anderson and Amanda Cahill added 14 points each for the Hoosiers. Cahill grabbed seven boards on the day while shooting 6-of-8 from the field. Anderson added six boards as well.

Along with a career high in points, Royster also hit a career mark with eight rebounds in the game. She shot 4-of-6 from the field and nailed 9-of-11 free throws.

Buss tied her season high with eight assists in the game to go along with two steals.

The Hoosiers will next return to Assembly Hall to take on Illinois on Wednesday, Jan. 20 at 7 p.m. ET.