Gophers Overwhelmed By Illinois 95-69

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – (gophersports.com) - The University of Minnesota (17-6, 6-5) women’s basketball team got 26 points from Amanda Zahui B. and a career-high 19 points from Carlie Wagner in a 95-69 loss at Illinois (12-11, 3-8) at the State Farm Center Thursday night.

Shae Kelley scored 10 points to round out the trio of Gophers in double-figures, while Shayne Mullaney added eight points and eight assists and Mikayla Bailey scored six points to go along with four assists.

The Gophers trailed the Fighting Illini by 12 points at halftime, 48-36, but were able to make a run in the second half. The squad cut the home team’s lead to three points twice in the final 20 minutes of play, at 12:50 on a three-pointer from Bailey and again at 10:55 on a layup from Mullaney, but Illinois used an 18-4 run to extend its lead to 17 points with just over three minutes to play. Minnesota was not able to overcome the deficit as the Fighting Illini closed out the game on a 13-4 run.

Minnesota returns to Williams Arena Sunday afternoon against Michigan State. It's a 2 o'clock game and our coverage begins at 1:30 with the pre-game on KROC AM

Mullaney Earns Academic All-District Honors

MINNEAPOLIS – University of Minnesota junior guard Shayne Mullaney earned Capital One Academic All-District 6 First-Team honors from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) for her combined performances athletically and in the classroom.

With her selection to the first team, Mullaney will advance to the Capital One Academic All-America® Team ballot, where first-, second- and third-team All-America honorees will be selected later this month. She becomes the first academic all-district selection for the Gophers since Emily Fox earned a spot on the second team in 2009, while it is the first first-team selection since 2008.

Mullaney boasts a 3.74 grade point average as a communications studies major. Last season, the guard earned Big Ten Distinguished Scholar accolades and was also named Academic All-Big Ten for maintaining a 3.5 GPA or better.

On the court, Mullaney leads the Maroon and Gold and ranks seventh nationally with 7.0 assists per game and has dished out double-digit assists in five of Minnesota’s last seven games. In the Gophers’ home game against Purdue, the junior matched Debbie Hunters’ single-game program record with 15 assists. In Big Ten play, Mullaney leads the league with an assists average of 8.7 per game.

Capital One Academic All-District 6 First Team (AR, IA, LA, MN, MO, MS, ND, SD, WI)

Brook Brown, Northern Iowa, 3.97, Biology

Ally Disterhoft, Iowa, 4.04, Business

Samantha Logic, Iowa, 3.77, Health and Human Physiology/Sports Studies

Shayne Mullaney, Minnesota, 3.74, Communications Studies

Jenny Nash, Nicholls State, 3.92, Mathematics

Nicole Seekamp, South Dakota, 3.67, Psychology

Megan Waytashek, South Dakota State, 3.97, Mechanical Engineering