Gophers Recover, Take Down Nittany Lions by 31 Points

TOWSON, Md. — For a team that came in averaging 92 points per game, it was a wee bit unsettling when Goucher missed its seven shots from the field and took nearly five minutes to score its first points in this afternoon's game against Penn State-Berks.

But the Gophers, who were looking to start a season 3-0 for the first time since 1993-94, recovered from the slow offensive start. Down by as many as four points early on, they evened the score at 9-9 midway through the first half on a 3-point basket by Briana Bull (Baltimore, Md./Owings Mills), they went ahead to stay on a made jumper by Joyce Woolen (Trumbull, Conn./Trumbull) with just under two minutes remaining before halftime and then they outscored the Nittany Lions, 45-18, over the final 20 minutes to claim a 70-39 victory.

The Gophers (3-0) were only 8-for-32 from the field in the first half, but they made up for that .250 shooting percentage by converting eight offensive rebounds into 12 second-chance points and turning the 15 turnovers committed by their opponent into 10 points.

Goucher scored the first 14 points of the second half, extending their lead to 39-21 on a Woolen jumper in the paint with 15:21 left to play. A short jumper by Khadijah Robinson at the 14:01 mark produced the first points for Penn State-Berks of the period.

Bull turned in another shining all-around performance for the Gophers, who are now 6-2 in their last eight games against non-conference opponents in the Decker Sports & Recreation Center. The freshman guard knocked down 15 points, grabbed eight rebounds, handed out four assists and made five steals, all without commiting a single turnover.

Woolen delivered 14 points off the bench and Olivia Nono (Silver Spring, Md./Montgomery Blair) supplied Goucher with 14 points and a game-high 14 rebounds, her second double-double of the young season.

The leading scorer for the Nittany Lions (0-2) was Shanelle Koch, who ended up with 16 points despite a 5-for-17 shooting effort.

Goucher, which has outscored its first three opponents this season, 254-100, doesn't play again until one week from today when it takes part in the Woodcliff Hotel & Spa Invitational in Rochester, N.Y. The Gophers' first-round opponent is Union (N.Y.).