“I think it was our defense,” said Annika Stewart, who scored 16 points, making three of the Gophers’ six three-pointers. “We know our defense leads into our offense. And I just think we struggled to get quick stops. We weren’t as aggressive, and that led to a slow-paced offense, which is not what we want. Give them credit. They’re a good team and they were solid defensively.”

Swords and Olson combined to score 10 points in Michigan’s 14-6 start to the final quarter.

That included two baskets and a three-pointer by Swords as the Wolverines outscored the Gophers 7-3 over the first two minutes of the fourth quarter. With 5:26 left, Swords hit another three to put Michigan up seven and the Gophers never got closer than four again in front of a crowd of 4,344.

Next the Gophers host a struggling Wisconsin team Sunday, before making a road trip to USC and UCLA and coming home to play Iowa, Indiana, Ohio State and Oregon.

“I think we’re learning, we’re improving,” Plitzuweit said. “We’re entering the toughest stretch of our schedule. Now we have to get recovered and get ready for a really tough matchup.”