Kenisha Bell scored a career-high 31 points and freshman Destiny Pitts had 16 rebounds to lead the Gophers women's basketball team to a 78-68 victory over Boston College on Sunday at Williams Arena.
The Gophers, who never trailed and led by double digits most of the way, improved to 4-0 for the fourth year in a row — a school first. The Eagles, dressing only seven players and missing their top rebounder, dropped to 2-2.
Bell has scored 20 or more points in three straight games, and with 10 rebounds against Boston College, she has three straight double-doubles. Her previous career high in points was 25 when she was still with Marquette.
Pitts, making her first start as a Gopher, had 14 points Sunday for her second consecutive double-double. The 5-9 guard is averaging 12 rebounds in four games.
"Me and Pitts had a competition in the locker room, who was going to get the most rebounds," said Bell, a junior guard from Minneapolis who also had a team-high five assists and three steals in front of an announced crowd of 2,454.
While the rest of her team was shooting 5-for-22 from the field in the first half, Bell had 23 points on 8-for-14 shooting. Nine of her rebounds also came in the first two quarters.
Fellow guards Carlie Wagner and Gadiva Hubbard shot a combined 6-for-25 for the game.
Wagner (nine points) went scoreless in the first half, when she played only seven minutes because of foul trouble. Hubbard was 0-for-7 from three-point range.
The Gophers shot 36.7 percent from the field as a team, but they attempted 17 more shots than Boston College and outrebounded the Eagles 54-30. Minnesota had 22 offensive boards.
Sydney Lowery led the Eagles with 19 points, and fellow freshman Milan Bolden-Morris had 14 points, all in the second half.
Katie Quandt, a Lakeville native, started for Boston College and had four points and eight rebounds in 22 minutes.
