CYPRESS, Texas-Rachel Banham won not only the women's 3-point competition, but the overall 3-point competition at the State Farm College Slam Dunk & 3-Point Championships Thursday at the Berry Center.
The Golden Gophers' senior put on the most consistent long-range shooting performance. One of eight women invited to the contest, Banham sneaked into the semifinal round on a 15-point tie for fourth. She and Northwestern's Maggie Lyon remained in a deadlock with tiebreakers, and both advanced rather than going through a tiebreaking shootout.
In the semifinal round, Banham turned in the second-best performance of the remaining five shooters. Each round consisted of five racks of five basketballs, with the fifth ball on each counting for two points. Banham tallied 18 points in the semis, going 4-of-5 on her "money ball" shots and 4-of-5 on her final baseline rack.
Banham edged out Army's Kelsey Minato in the finals, again scoring 18 points. She drained four triples each on her second and third racks, including the money ball at the top of the key.
She then moved on to face the winner of the men's contest, Adam Smith of Georgia Tech. Smith shot first and notched 12 points. Banham clinched the win with the money ball on her second-to-last rack and finished with 14 points.
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Banham set Minnesota's program records for 3-pointers in a game (10), season (119) and career (354). She also set a Big Ten record with 75 triples in conference play this season.
