Braun’s double-double is the first in the freshman’s career and gives the Gophers three different players to secure a double-double this season. Braun shot 7-of-16 from the floor and hit 8-of-9 from the free throw line. Amaya battle again filled the stats list with seven points, 10 rebounds and six assists.
The Maroon and Gold jumped on the Cavaliers early, leading 15-6 on a 13-2 run just over six minutes into the contest Isabelle Gradwell scored all five of her points in the game during the run. Minnesota shot 8 of 15 in the first 10 minutes to lead 21-13 in the second.
It was a two-quarter story as Virginia scored the first 18 points of the second quarter to forge a 31-21 lead with 5:13 in the first half. Katie Borowicz broke the run with a shot at 3:02 that stayed in the half and it started a 10-4 run to finish the half and go to the dressing room 35-31.
The two teams traded buckets in the first six minutes of the third quarter, but six straight points from Virginia late in the quarter pushed the lead up to 10. Battle and Mi’ Cole Cayton hit a pair of threes in the last 90 seconds to reduce Virginia’s lead to 51-45 and move into fourth place.
After a layup by Micheaux early in the fourth race, the Cavaliers scored eight of the next 10 points to extend their lead to 10 with 7:37 to go. Minnesota continued to fight back the rest of the way, with Braun scoring the next eight points to take the score to 59-55 with a 6-32 lead.
Battle hit another triple and Minnesota combined it with a layup by Micheaux to make the score 61-59 with 5:07 left. Virginia then used a 10-3 run to extend the lead back to nine, leaving 3:06. On the stretch, the Golden Gophers continued to battle with threes from Braun and Borowicz and had the ball with 19 seconds left, but a turnover would ultimately stop the Gophers from getting a shot in the dying moments.
Overall, Maroon and Gold led the Cavaliers by 41 percent (25 of 61) and held Virginia at 40.8 percent (31 of 76). Minnesota hit 8 of 21 from beyond the arc and was 12 of 15 (80 percent) from the charity streak.
The Gophers take on Liberty on November 27 in Charlottesville. The games can be heard on KFAN+ and the iHeartRadio app, with the Virginia game streaming on ACCNX.
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GAME NOTES: Mara Brown joined Mallory Heyer and Alanna Micheaux as Gophers to record double-doubles this season…43 of the Gophers 70 points were scored by freshmen (61.3 percent)… Mara Brown pulled a career-high eight fouls in the loss to Virginia.