By james art 
The No. 23-ranked Gophers women’s basketball team let archrival Wisconsin hang around for a while in the first half, but dominated the second half en route to a 71-50 victory Sunday afternoon at Williams Arena in Minneapolis.
Tied 28-28 entering the second half, the Gophers (18-3, 6-3 Big Ten) opened the third quarter on a 15-2 run. That included a 9-0 run in which the U held the Badgers (10-10, 1-8) scoreless over a five-minute stretch. Mallory Heyer scored seven of her 15 points in the third quarter and Sophie Hart scored six of her 16 points during the frame.
Heyer recorded a double-double while also pulling down 11 rebounds.
Minnesota ended up winning the quarter 20-10 and carried that momentum into a 23-12 fourth.
Serra Williams scored 12 of her game-high 16 points in the first half as the Badgers went toe-to-toe with the Gophers, who got off to a terrible shooting start. Minnesota shot just 27 percent in the first half, while Wisconsin shot 50 percent. The saving grace for the Gophers was Grace Groholski, who scored 14 of her game-high 17 points in the first 20 minutes.
The U shot 53% from the field in the second half to end up shooting 40% for the game. Hart scored 12 of his points after the halftime break and Torey McKinney scored 10 of his 14 points in the final 20 minutes of action.
No Wisconsin players other than Williams finished in double figures for the Badgers.
The U’s return to action Thursday for a big game against #4 Southern Cal in Los Angeles. Tipoff is set for 9:30 p.m