The Minnesota Golden Gophers advanced through the first round of the women's Big Ten Tournament on Thursday evening, handily defeating the Wisconsin Badgers in a battle of the eight and nine seeds. Senior Kiara Buford scored 19 points as the Gophers rolled to an 81-49 victory in a postseason version of the Border Battle.
Buford had an efficient day from the field as she finished the game making eight of her 10 field goal attempts to finish with the game-high 19 points, but Big Ten Freshman Player of the Year Rachel Banham wasn't bad either. Banham scored 11 points and corralled 10 rebounds to offset her 4-of-15 shooting from the field.
The win was a milestone of sort for the Gophers as they defeated the Badgers for the first time in six attempts and picked up their fifth-ever victory in the Big Ten Tournament. Buford reached an individual milestone, too, as her 1,461 career points pushed her past Emily Fox for the No. 7 spot on Minnesota's all-time scoring register.
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