Freshman Amanda Zahui records triple-double as Gophers top Kansas
By Frank Bi
Wednesday was a big night for Gopher women’s hoops as Minnesota handed Kansas their first loss of the season while redshirt freshman Amanda Zahui recorded a triple-double in a 70-59 victory at Williams Arena.
Zahui had 11 points, 11 rebounds and 10 blocked shots for the Gophers. The triple-double was only the fourth in program history — the first since Janel McCarville — but the points/rebounds/blocks combination was the first in Minnesota history.
The 6-foot-5 center from Stockholm, Sweden is second on the team in scoring, averaging 14.7 points per game in three games and is quickly shooting to the top of the freshman class this season in the Big Ten.
Minnesota’s leading scorer, Rachel Banham led the Gophers again with 26 points while Micaella Riche also added 20 points. The five Gopher starters, Banham, Riche, Zahui, Shayne Mullaney and Sari Noga, scored all of Minnesota’s points and all five starters played more than 32 minutes. As a team, the Gophers shot 54.2 percent from the field.
As for Minnesota’s defense, they held Kansas to just 32.8 percent shooting and kept the Jayhawks to just 27 points in the second half while the Gophers scored 40 points to run away with the lead late in the contest.
The win is Minnesota’s fourth of the season with just one loss to Creighton. The Gophers will host Navy on Nov. 24 for a Sunday matinee match up.