Nov. 26, 2013

Box Score

Minneapolis, Minn. - Homestanding Minnesota shot 56% from the floor in an 80-36 win over Loyola tonight at Williams Arena in Minneapolis, Minn. Troy Hambric led the Ramblers (2-4) with 14 points.

The Golden Gophers started the game on fire from the three-point line, knocking in three in a row to combat a pair of two-point jumpers from Hambric as they jumped out to an early 9-4 lead. Sari Noga knocked down another trey later and Rachel Banham followed with back-to-back triples to quickly bump the lead to 16 (22-6). Becca Smith scored six points but Loyola struggled to find the range the entire half and went to the locker room at halftime trailing 39-18. Hambric, Smith and Simone Law all scored six points apiece in the half to account for all of Loyola's points as the team shot just 27% (8 of 30) in the period.

Minnesota hit its first three shots of the second half to extend the lead as the Gopher offense continued to operate at a high level. Bailey Farley knocked down her first collegiate shot, a three-pointer, to get Loyola on the board in the second half, but Minnesota connected on 17-of-26 (65%) shots after halftime and cruised to the victory.

Loyola struggled to find the basket from everywhere on the floor tonight, shooting 27% overall while hitting just 1-of-7 (14.3%) from the free throw line.

Hambric finished 7-of-18 from the floor for her team-high 14 points. Smith finished with eight points while Farley scored all eight of her points in the second half in her first collegiate appearance after missing the first five games through injury.

The Ramblers take a quick break for Thanksgiving and return to action on Friday (Nov. 29) when they host Lafayette at Gentile Arena. Tip time is scheduled for 2 p.m.