Nov. 15, 2009

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - The Lamar women's basketball team couldn't overcome an ice-cold start as they dropped an 84-45 decision at the University of Minnesota on Sunday.

Minnesota (1-0) scored the first 20 points of the game and never trailed. The Golden Gophers held a 40-23 advantage at halftime and never looked back.

Ang Green led Lamar (0-1) with 17 points. Darika Hill added eight points and eight rebounds for Lamar, which cut the Minnesota lead to six points (22-16) in the first half, but could never get any closer.

Lamar was 17-of-76 (22.4 percent) from the field and 3-of-28 (10.7 percent) from 3-point range.

"Give Minnesota credit, they're a very good team," Lamar coach Larry Tidwell said. "I think they're a better team than last year when they went to the NCAA Tournament. We didn't have our best day, but we played hard to the end."

Kiara Buford led Minnesota with 23 points and 11 rebounds. The Golden Gophers held a 66-42 rebounding advantage for the game.

Lamar is at Grambling at 5 p.m. Thursday.