Sylva Paces Golden Gophers to Victory

Senior Kay Sylva scored a career-high 17 points to lead Minnesota to a 74-50 victory over Drexel in the Colorado Coors Classic on Friday in Boulder , Colo. The Golden Gophers, 5-1 on the season, will face the winner of the Colorado/UMass in the Classic championship game on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. CT.   After holding only a 32-27 halftime lead and seeing their leader Emily Fox without a point in the first half, the Gophers broke the game open early in the second half behind their senior captain. Fox, playing in the Coors Event Center for the first time since winning her third state title in as a high school senior at ThunderRidge, buried a three-point field goal with 16:50 left to play to break into the scoring column. Seconds later Fox grabbed a steal and went coast-to-coast continuing a scoring streak that would extend to 11 straight points to give her team a 14-point lead with 13:49 remaining.   "Kay was the spark off the bench once again," said Golden Gopher head coach Pam Borton. "We have been fortunate to have players step up and make big contributions for us. I don't know if our offense struggled because we were overly concerned with our defense but we played so much better in the second half."   Minnesota connected on 56.5 percent of its field goal attempts in the second half, building as big as a 26-point lead late. Fox scored all 13 points in the half, while Sylva attacked the basket for 10 of game-high 17. The Gophers also controlled the boards, outrebounding Drexel (2-3) by a 24-13 margin and pressuring the Dragons into shooting 29.6 percent for the game.   Jackie Voigt was the standout in the first half, not with a big offensive display, but with a solid defensive performance on Drexel senior Gabriela Marginean. Marginean, voted the preseason Colonial Athletic Association Preseason Player of the Year and entering the game averaging 29.5 points a game, was held to just six points on just 1-of-6 field goal attempts in the first half.   "Jackie played very well on Marginean," added Borton. "She was up to the challenge and was able to frustrate Marginean in that first half. That a very impressive outing from a true freshman."   Marginean finished with 15 points, nearly half her season scoring average, and hit on just five of 14 shot attempts. When Voigt was out of the game, Brittany McCoy took over on Marginean in the second half and finished the task on defense.   Ashley Ellis-Milan was the third Gopher in double figures with 13 points. The junior center added 10 rebounds, her fourth game in a row with double-digit rebounds, to earn her second double-double of the season.   The Gophers needed their defense in that first half as their offense struggled shooting a cold 32.1 percent. The first half was also marred by a combined 23 turnovers and 23 personal fouls whistled.   Minnesota visited the free throw line 36 times in the game, making 26. Thanks to the big second half, the Gophers finished the game with a 43.1 percent field goal percentage.   The Gophers will seek to win their second early-season tournament title coming off a title performance last week at their own Subway Basketball Classic.   - UM -