Banham Hits Game-Winner, Gophers Beat Iowa 78-76
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The Gopher women's basketball team has been playing at its very best of late, in large part because of out of this world scoring by senior guard Rachel Banham.
She had scored a combined 92 points in her last two games before Minnesota hosted Iowa Monday night at Williams Arena. That included setting a Big Ten record and tying an NCAA record with 60 points in a win at Northwestern last Sunday.
Just when Gophers fans thought they had seen it all from Banham, she did it again. Minnesota trailed by as many as 13 points to the Hawkeyes before Banham led the Gophers on a comeback.
The two teams exchanged leads late, but Banham nailed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Minnesota the 78-76 victory. She led the Gophers with 35 points.
And not long after the win, Banham once again heard from her favorite player in Kobe Bryant via Twitter.
Clutch @rachelbanham15 not many players can side fade, let alone for a game winner #mambablood
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) February 16, 2016
Bryant also reached out to her on Twitter after her 60-point game at Northwestern.
At 18-7 overall and 8-4 in Big Ten play, the Gophers are making a late season rush to try and earn an NCAA tournament berth.