The Gophers overcome a 16-point deficit in the fourth quarter and rally to beat Northwestern

It may not have been the way the Gopher women’s basketball team planned it, but it was an absolutely perfect ending.

No. 24 Minnesota rallied from a 16-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat Northwestern 87-82 on Sunday in Evanston, Ill.

It looked all but over for the Gophers (17-2, 5-2 Big Ten). After a strong first quarter, the Wildcats (7-10, 0-6) outplayed them over the next two frames, taking an 11-point lead into the fourth quarter and scoring the first five points in the final frame to go up by 16 , their biggest lead of the afternoon.

But the Gophers closed on an improbable 26-6 run to pull out a win. Niamya Holloway made three buckets all day, all coming during that stretch, the first of which was a layup that cut the deficit to single digits with 5 minutes, 32 seconds remaining. Grace Grocholski made a bucket, drew a foul and hit the free throw to cut the deficit to five points.

The game-tying shot came off the hands of Tori McKinney, in her second game back from a concussion, who drilled a 3-pointer with 2 minutes, 13 seconds left to make it an 80-80 ball game. Holloway made back-to-back layups for an 84-80 Gophers lead with 44 seconds left on the clock. But Minnesota wasn’t quite ready. Not yet anyway.

Caileigh Walsh had an offensive rebound and a putback to make it 84-82. Amaya Battle was fouled on the next possession and made 1 of 2 from the free throw line. Caroline Lau got a look at a matching 3, but it was off the mark. The game was fouled again on the next possession and both drilled from the line to officially seal the deal on the Gophers win.

What a comeback.

Grocholski posted a double-double with a game-high 27 points and 10 rebounds. Battle made 8 of 10 from the free throw line and finished with 18 points, six rebounds and six assists. McKinney had 13 points, four assists and three rebounds.

Grace Sullivan led the Wildcats with 18 points, and Walsh and Kyla Jones scored 17 each.

The win was crucial for the Gophers, who earned their first appearance in the Associated Press Top 25 this week since 2019 and came off a loss to No. 8 at Maryland on Tuesday. They will look to keep the momentum rolling when they host Michigan at Williams Arena in Minneapolis for a Wednesday night tipoff at 7 p.m.