Staff Reports
INDIANAPOLIS — Ali Patberg led Indiana University with 20 points and seven rebounds Thursday night to lift the 10th-seeded Hoosiers to a 66-58 win against seventh-seeded Minnesota in the second round of the Big Ten women’s basketball tournament.
Patberg, a redshirt junior from Columbus North, went 7 for 12 from the field, including 3 for 4 from 3-point range, and 3 for 4 from the free-throw line. She added four rebounds and a steal in 36 minutes of action.
Brenna Wise scored 19 points, and Jaelynn Penn added 11 for Indiana (20-11). Destiny Pitts led the Golden Gophers (20-10) with 25 points, but Patberg was instrumental in limiting her to 8 for 21 shooting from the field, including 0 for 7 from 3-point range.
“I thought Ali Patberg did a terrific job on Pitts,” IU coach Teri Moren told the Big Ten Network. “Collectively as a group, I thought we played very, very well defensively. I thought we were sound. I thought we were disciplined for the most part. It’s always a battle of the rebounds with these guys. I thought we did a much better job in the second half of keeping them off the free-throw line.”
The Hoosiers will play second-seeded Iowa in the quarterfinals at 6:30 p.m. today at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. IU upset the Hawkeyes 75-73 two weeks ago.
Iowa is led by national Player of the Year candidate Megan Gustafson.
“There’s no recipe for Gustafson,” Moren said. “You just have to dig and show her a few different looks and then hope that they’re missing from the outside. That’s what they did at our place in the second half. We’re going to enjoy this one tonight. The coaches will do our prep, and we’re going to give it everything we’ve got (tonight).”
