Gophers women’s basketball dominates UMass Lowell for 3-0 start

The Gophers women’s basketball team made relatively easy work of Massachusetts Lowell on Tuesday night at Williams Arena. The final: 82-37.

This was neither news for the undefeated Gophers, who were playing an overmatched and winless midmajor team in the River Hawks, nor a surprise.

The game lacked drama.

But there were things coach Dawn Plitzuweit was able to learn about her team, things to work on when the team resumes practicing Thursday.

“I thought we started well, played really hard,” she said. “But we were able to see some different rotations and see some players perform at a really high level.

A lot of players.

The entire 15-player roster got in the game. Of those, 11 scored. Of those, four scored in double figures. Of those, three are newcomers to the team this season.

McKenna Johnson (13 points, all in the fourth quarter), Taylor Woodson (12) and Tori McKinney (11) all scored in double figures off the Gophers bench, which totaled 50 points for the second time in three games. Part of that was the opportunity for minutes provided by a one-sided game. But it also points to the roster’s improved depth.

“I’m just trying to get comfortable on the floor again,” said Woodson, a sophomore who transferred back to her home state after one year at Michigan. She scored in double figures for the second time in three games. “I just try to do the things the team needs to win. Hustle plays, make it happen.”

McKinney and Johnson, freshmen, scored in double figures for the first time.

Woodson, McKinney and Johnson combined to make 13 of 23 shots. Johnson hit both her three-pointers, McKinney added seven rebounds.

Sophie Hart had 10 points and six boards. Mallory Heyer had nine points and 10 rebounds in 18 minutes.

That all said, there were things Plitzuweit wants to improve on.

The Gophers (3-0) were very good on defense while outscoring UMass Lowell (0-3) 20-2 in the first quarter, but they took too many chances after that. Minnesota, which shot a respectable 43.5% overall, was just 6-for-19 on threes and didn’t finish at the rim as well as Plitzuweit would like.

Part of that comes down to scheduling. Anticipating this weekend’s back-to-back games at the Briann January Classic tournament in Tempe, Ariz., Plitzuweit had the team practice Saturday, a day after beating Vermont, to get used to working on back-to-back days, before getting some time off, affecting preparation time.

There were some missed assignments, things to clean up, but, overall, Plitzuweit was pleased.

Particularly with her bench players. The Gophers staff is working with both Woodson and McKinney to not play too fast. Both showed signs of that early but settled down. Woodson scored 10 of her points in the second quarter. McKinney scored seven straight points in Minnesota’s 11-2 finish to the third.

The Gophers out-rebounded Lowell 53-32 and outscored the River Hawks 46-14 in the paint, 15-0 on the break, 50-11 off the bench.

This weekend’s games — against Oregon State on Saturday, Southern Methodist on Sunday — will be a step up in difficulty. Oregon State was an Elite Eight team in last year’s NCAA tournament and SMU is a part of the ACC Conference.