For three-plus quarters, the Gophers women's basketball team had struggled on the boards and had been run ragged by Drake's incessant movement off the ball.
And yet:
With 7:09 left in Thursday's game in Des Moines, when Gadiva Hubbard took a pass from Jasmine Powell in the paint, turned and scored, the Gophers — who had been down by 13 points late in the third — had drawn within two.
But then, as coach Lindsay Whalen said, the floodgates opened.
In a 77-63 victory over Minnesota, Drake (8-3) responded with a 19-2 run over the next 4 minutes and 49 seconds that turned a close game into a rout. For the Gophers (7-7), it was another example of a team that has been in almost every game but has struggled to close them out.
"We have to be able to sustain things,'' Whalen said after her team finished its nonconference schedule. "We have to sustain what it takes to win games. It has to happen.''
Of the Gophers' seven losses, three have come to teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25, and five have come to teams in the top 30. The combined record of their opponents in those seven losses is 65-11.
The Gophers have held second-half leads in four of those losses, and they were within two in the fourth Thursday. But they keep struggling to finish.
After holding Drake to 12-for-37 shooting in the first half, the Bulldogs made 17 of 23 shots in the second. In the fourth quarter Drake was 9-for-13 overall, 6-for-8 on three-pointers and made eight of its final nine shots.
Moving without the ball, taking advantage of the Gophers' aggressive defense, Drake consistently got the ball to players cutting to the hoop. Drake, which got 14 points each from Katie Dinnebier and Grace Berg, had five players score in double figures despite losing leading scorer and rebounder Maggie Bair for the game early in the first quarter when she was hit hard in the nose.
BOXSCORE: Drake 77, Gophers 63
Sara Scalia continued her strong play for the Gophers, following up her 37-point performance against Ohio with 22 points on 8-for-16 shooting. She made six of 12 three-pointers — giving her 15 over the past two games — and led the team in rebounds (five) and steals (four).
But she got little help.
Kadi Sissoko picked up two quick fouls and never found her rhythm, scoring four points in 17 minutes. Powell, who was one assist short of a triple-double against Iowa, missed nine of her first 10 shots. She finished with 10 points. The Gophers bench was outscored 32-17, Minnesota was outrebounded 40-26 and outscored in the paint 40-28. Drake got 24 assists on 29 made baskets.
Ultimately, it was the defense that let the Gophers down.
"They started hitting their threes and started getting on a run in transition,'' Scalia said of Drake in the second half. "We have to do a better job of getting back on defense and getting out on the shooter. We have to communicate better on defense. They were cutting, curling, all over the place.''
The Gophers will have eight days off before picking back up with the Big Ten Conference schedule. It won't get any easier, with 9-3 Northwestern and sixth-ranked Maryland (10-3) as two of their next three opponents.
"They cut hard, their pace is really good, it's what they do,'' Whalen said of Drake. "We knew that. Give them credit. Our defense, especially in the first half, was good. We weren't able to sustain it.''
The Star Tribune did not travel for this game. This article was written using the television broadcast and video interviews before and/or after the game.
