First the Michigan women’s basketball team needed to figure out how to stop Minnesota freshman Rachel Banham.

Then the Wolverines put together a big second-half run to pull away for a 61-57 Big Ten win Sunday at the Crisler Center.

Banham, the reigning Big Ten Player of the Week, scored a game-high 28 points, but was shut out over the game’s final 14 minutes. Not coincidentally, that’s when Michigan (14-4, 3-2) rallied to avoid its first back-to-back losses of the season and remain unbeaten on its home court.

Minnesota’s first shot of second half -- a 3-pointer by Banham -- gave the Golden Gophers (10-9, 2-3) their first lead, 33-31, since the seven-minute mark of the first half.

Another Banham 3-pointer put Minnesota up by 10 points, 45-35, with 14:11 left to play.

Rachel Sheffer

At that point, Banham went silent -- she wouldn’t score again until just 5 seconds remained in the game -- and the Wolverines took control.

"(Banham) was killing us coming off screens and we got mixed up. Offensively, they give you a scheme that is extremely difficult to guard," Michigan coach Kevin Borseth said in a post-game press conference. "We had trouble with it and every time we got caught in the wrong spot, she would wind up hitting a three. After the timeout, we went into a zone and kept a better eye on her, and I think that was the difference defensively for us."

The Golden Gophers made 30 percent (9-of-30) of its second-half shots after connecting on half (12-of-24) of their first-half attempts. Michigan also forced 22 turnovers, which led to 24 points.

Junior forward Rachel Sheffer scored nine of her team-high 20 points during an 18-2 Michigan run that put the Wolverines ahead 53-47 with 9:25 remaining.

Michigan led the rest of the way, although the Golden Gophers’ Katie Loburg had a chance to tie the game with 26 seconds left. She missed a short jump shot in the paint and Carmen Reynolds and Sheffer iced the win from the free-throw line.

Junior guard Kate Thompson, a Minnesota native, came off the bench to score 13 points for Michigan, which bounced back from a 78-63 loss at Penn State on Thursday. Junior guard Jenny Ryan turned in an all-around game that included eight points, six rebounds, six steals and five assists.

Banham, who made six of her first seven 3-point shots, finished 6-of-10 from the arc and pulled down five rebounds for Minnesota. Over her last four games, Banham is averaging 21.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and has made 14-of-20 shots from 3-point range.

Michigan, now 7-0 at home, plays at Northwestern on Thursday. The Wolverines are 7-4 away from the Crisler Center, which includes a 3-0 record in neutral site games.