Minnesota erased a 10-point halftime deficit to take two one-point, second-half leads but went cold at crunch time in a 63-58 loss to Alabama in the championship game of the Baha Mar Hoops Classic in Nassau, Bahamas, on Wednesday.

Grace Grocholski led the Gophers with 18 points that included a 3-pointer to give Minnesota a 53-52 lead with 6 minutes, 1 second left. But the Gophers whiffed on two chances to increase that lead.

After inside misses by Sophie Hart and Mara Braun, Alabama’s Jessica Timmons hit a 3-pointer to give the Crimson Tide a 55-53 lead. Alabama never trailed again. The Gophers were 2 for 9 from the field the rest of the way, with many misses on uncontested layups.

“We missed too many shots when we were close to the rim and never got caught back up,” Gophers coach Dawn

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