Gracie Merkle Scores 22 on 10 of 11 Shooting as No. 17 Minnesota Pulls Away From Harvard 82-62

For three quarters, Harvard made No. 17 Minnesota work for every inch of its season opener. Then the Gophers ran away with the fourth quarter, outscoring the Crimson 28-10, and turned a two-point game into an 82-62 win over Harvard on Monday, Nov. 2, at The Barn in Minneapolis.

Gracie Merkle led Minnesota with 22 points on 10 of 11 shooting in only 18 minutes off the bench. Grace Grocholski added 20 points, six rebounds and five assists, and Tayla Thomas posted a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds in front of 7,185 fans, according to the school.

Minnesota opens 1-0 and Harvard starts 0-1. Here is the ESPN box score (opens in a new tab) and Minnesota's official recap (opens in a new tab).

A tight first half

This was not the walkover a 20-point final suggests. Minnesota's biggest lead in the first quarter was four points, according to The Daily Gopher, and the Gophers led only 17-14 after one. Minnesota did most of its early damage around the rim, scoring 10 of its 17 first-quarter points in the paint, per the school.

Harvard hung around in large part because of Sam Wills. The sophomore, a Minnesota native, came off the bench and tied the game at 23 with a 3-pointer in the second quarter, according to Harvard Athletics. Later in the period, after Minnesota pushed the lead to eight, Wills scored five straight points to keep the Crimson close.

Minnesota did not make a 3-pointer of its own until Grocholski hit one with 4:06 left in the second quarter, per The Daily Gopher, for a 28-25 lead. A 7-0 run starting at the 1:50 mark, highlighted by a Merkle basket, pushed the lead to 37-29, according to the school, and Minnesota took a 37-30 lead into halftime.

Harvard punches back

The third quarter belonged to Harvard for long stretches. The Crimson opened the second half with a 7-0 run to tie the game at 37, helped by five Minnesota turnovers, according to The Daily Gopher. The Gophers did not make a field goal until nearly four minutes into the half.

Minnesota answered with a 7-0 run of its own, finished by a Thomas basket, for a 44-37 lead with 4:57 left in the third, per the school. Harvard came back again and took the lead late in the period before Grocholski hit a 3-pointer with six seconds left, according to The Daily Gopher, sending Minnesota into the fourth up 54-52. Harvard won the third quarter 22-17.

The fourth quarter flips it

Then the game turned completely, and Harvard's 10 fourth-quarter points were its fewest in any period. Minnesota opened the fourth on a 21-4 run, according to The Daily Gopher, and never trailed again. The school's recap traced the decisive part of it: from 61-56, the Gophers scored 14 straight points, capped by a Natalie Kussow layup, for a 75-56 lead with 2:11 left.

Harvard's foul trouble played a role. The Crimson were whistled for 24 fouls, and Minnesota went to the line 28 times, making 25. Harvard attempted only seven free throws. Two Harvard starters, Abigail Wright and Olivia Jones, finished with five fouls each, and Harvard Athletics pointed to foul problems early in the game and again in the fourth quarter.

With a minute left, Minnesota emptied the bench, and freshmen Kylee Paben and Adit Kuol played their first minutes as Gophers, according to The Daily Gopher.

Merkle, Grocholski and Thomas

Merkle's debut in a Minnesota uniform could hardly have been more efficient. Merkle missed one shot all night, going 10 of 11 from the field, and added seven rebounds and a steal. The 22 points came in just 18 minutes, better than a point per minute, and three of Merkle's seven rebounds came on the offensive glass. The only blemish was at the free throw line, where Merkle went 2 of 4 on a night the rest of the team made 23 of 24.

Grocholski played 34 minutes and went 7 of 14 from the field, 3 of 7 from deep and 3 of 3 at the line, with a team-high five assists. Those 3s mattered, because the rest of the roster went 0 of 9 from beyond the arc. Minnesota finished 3 of 16 from 3-point range.

Thomas, a Northwestern transfer according to The Daily Gopher, scored 13 on 3 of 9 shooting and 7 of 8 at the line and grabbed 10 rebounds, three of them offensive, in 21 minutes. Grocholski led the team with four offensive rebounds, and Minnesota collected 17 offensive boards and turned them into 18 second-chance points, according to the school.

The rest of the rotation

Kussow started, played 32 minutes and scored nine on 2 of 8 shooting, 0 of 4 from deep, while going 5 of 5 at the line. Leah Harmon scored eight points, half of them at the free throw line, where Harmon was 4 of 4, and added two steals and a block.

Mara Braun had a tough shooting night, scoring four points on 1 of 7 shooting with a team-high five turnovers, though Braun also had three steals and a block. Braun is coming back from a pair of foot injuries, according to The Daily Gopher.

The bench scored 28 points, with Merkle accounting for most of them. Tori Oehrlein added four on 2 of 3 shooting in 14 minutes, and Kennedy Klick made two free throws.

Minnesota shot 44.3 percent (27 of 61) and won the rebounding battle 44-38. The Gophers had 12 assists, 10 steals and 16 turnovers, and they forced 18 Harvard turnovers, per the school. The turnover count is one to watch: The Daily Gopher noted that Minnesota averaged 11.4 turnovers per game last season.

The Gophers were also playing shorthanded. Tori McKinney was out and Amaya Battle was missing from the lineup, according to The Daily Gopher.

Wills' homecoming and Harvard's outlook

For Harvard, the bright spot was easy to find. Wills scored a team-high and career-high 20 points on 8 of 8 shooting, including 4 of 4 from 3-point range, with four rebounds and two steals in 20 minutes, according to Harvard Athletics. Before Monday, Wills' career high was three points.

Jones, a sophomore, added 14 points on 5 of 11 shooting, including 3 of 4 from deep, with five rebounds. Karlee White, a senior, scored 11 with five assists, four rebounds and four steals, but went 5 of 20 from the field and 1 of 12 from 3-point range and committed seven turnovers. Wright scored eight with a team-high seven rebounds. Lydia Chatira played 33 minutes, second most on the team behind White's 36, and had four assists without scoring. Mary Hollensteiner added two points and five rebounds, Asani Ceaser made both shots for four points, and Ava Krumwiede hit a 3-pointer in four minutes.

Harvard shot 34.3 percent (24 of 70) and 9 of 31 from deep. Wills and Jones combined to make 7 of 8 from 3-point range, while the rest of the Crimson went 2 of 23. The Harvard bench scored 27 points, almost matching Minnesota's 28, with Wills supplying most of it. The Crimson did win the battle of offensive rebounds 19-17, but the 18 turnovers and the fourth-quarter collapse undid a strong road performance.

Harvard hosts Boston College in its home opener on Thursday, Nov. 5, at Lavietes Pavilion, according to the school.

Minnesota's next game was its first road trip of the season, at Marquette on Saturday, Nov. 7. The Gophers won that one 87-79 behind 25 points from Grocholski, and it is recapped here on Undrafted.

Sources: ESPN, Minnesota Athletics, Harvard Athletics, The Daily Gopher.

Photo: Brad Rempel/Minnesota Athletics.