Dec. 10, 2010

Final Stats

Forcing turnovers and hitting the occasional outside shot, the Southern women's basketball team hung tough against Minnesota on Thursday night at Williams Arena.

The Jaguars just weren't able to close the gap.

The Golden Gophers got a career-high 26 points from Leah Cotton and used a big rebounding advantage to defeat Southern 63-48, handing the Jaguars their fourth loss in five games. 

"I thought we outhustled (Minnesota), forced the turnovers, got some good looks. We were with them down toward the end of the ballgame, but just couldn't get over the hump."

It didn't help that Minnesota kept hitting free throws (19 of 26 in all) and that Southern missed chances to get to the foul line (the Jaguars were 6-for-10). SU also shot 24 percent from the floor in the second half and went 4-for-20 from 3-point range.

"We just couldn't get it in the hole," Pugh said. "Right there at the end, we were tired and probably took a couple of shots that we shouldn't have. But I'm telling you: Effort-wise, they gave it to us."

Southern (2-5) was led by Hannah Kador, who finished with 21 points. Tiffany Foster scored eight points for Southern, which plays at Louisiana Tech 2 p.m. Sunday. Jamie Floyd added six points and a team-high five rebounds.

Minnesota won despite committing 23 turnovers. Kiara Buford had 11 points and four assists for the Gophers. Kristen Dockery had a game-high nine rebounds.