The University of Minnesota women’s basketball team is set to take a major step forward this season after winning 20 games and advancing to the championship game of WNIT last season.

Those were big steps for the program that hadn’t won 20 games since 2018-19 and was playing its first year under coach Dawn Plitzuweit. But those achievements wouldn’t have meant much for the 2024-25 team had the Gophers lost the players who made that happen to the NCAA transfer portal.

Minnesota guard Mara Braun shoots between Iowa guard Gabbie Marshall, left, and forward Hannah Stuelke during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Dec. 30, 2023, in Iowa City. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Instead, Plitzuweit and her staff are running summer workouts with 13 healthy players, seven of whom collectively played an average of 33.0 games last season. That includes leading scorer Mara Braun (17.0), leading rebounder Mallory Heyer (8.6) and assists leader Amaya Battle (5.6).

In fact, it includes the team’s top five scorers and minutes leaders: Braun, Battle, Heyer, Grace Grocholski, Sophie Hart and Janay Sanders. In the age of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) — which allows private collectives to pay college athletes — and an NCAA transfer portal that allows players to change schools without penalty, that’s something of a miracle.

Before practice Wednesday at the Athletes Village, Plitzuweit told reporters that some of her big guns, particularly Braun, didn’t lack for suitors when the portal opened in March.

“We know that Mara was contacted, reached out to, quite a bit,” she said.

But Braun’s recruiting class has been under duress about transferring before. She, Battle, Heyer and Nia Holloway all chose to remain in Dinkytown after the coach who recruited them, former Gophers all-America and WNBA champion Lindsay Whalen, was let go after the players’ freshmen season.

All are entering their junior seasons for Minnesota.

“NIL’s been crazy. It’s really increasing a lot,” Battle said. “But I’ve had a lot of people in my life who center me, like my dad. And like (Mara) said, we’re loyal to the maroon and gold. There’s really nowhere else we’d rather be, and no money could really change that.”

Last season, the Gophers appeared to be on their way to their first NCAA tournament since 2017-18 when Braun broke a foot in a 73-68 loss at Illinois on Jan. 28. Before that, they were 14-5 overall and 4-4 in Big Ten play but finished the regular season 1-9.

Braun returned for two WNIT games but reinjured her foot late in a victory over North Dakota State and missed the last three games, including a 69-50 loss to St. Louis in the WNIT championship game on the Evansville campus in Indiana.

Braun has been a full participant in practice this summer.

“I think we saw the potential. I think a lot of people saw what can be,” she said. “Obviously, we went through a lot of adversity, and I think any team is going to go through that at some point. It was unfortunate. It sucked for a while, but I think you saw strides, especially at the end of the season. We got to see a little glimpse of what I think everyone’s going to see this season.”

That confidence comes from a roster loaded with veterans that also added four players through the portal — the Gophers lost three — including 6-foot-3 centers Annika Stewart (Nebraska) and Jordan Brooks (Cal State Bakersfield), and Michigan guard Alexsia Rose, who won two high school state championships with Battle at Hopkins.

Eleven of the 15 players on the Gophers roster are from Minnesota, including Stewart, who played with Braun at Wayzata.

“It’s exactly what we wanted, and kind of what we planned for coming in under Coach Whay, who’s obviously from Minnesota,” Braun said. “It’s kind of a full-circle moment. We wanted this to be where the best Minnesota players end up, to play for the hometown team.

“So, now to have these people coming back and realizing maybe they shouldn’t have left in the first place is kind of fun for us. I think it’s kind of cool to show this is the place to be.”

Briefly

Redshirt freshman guard Kennedy Klick is rehabbing from a season-ending knee injury suffered last September, and Brooks is recovering from surgery after suffering a lower-body injury on Jan. 20. Asked if they would be ready for fall camp, Plitzuweit said, “I sure hope so. That’s the goal.”

FANTASIC FIVE

The Gophers return their top five minutes leaders, and among them their top scorer, rebounder and assists leader from last season:

Player                                 Pts.   RB    A      Min.
Mara Braun, Jr., G              17.0*  4.3.   3.1   33.2
Amaya Battle, Jr. G             12.1   4.7    5.6*  30.2
Grace Grocholski, So., G    10.8   4.6    1.9   34.3*
Sophie Hart, Sr., C              10.6   5.1    1.0   23.8
Mallory Heyer, Jr., F             9.5    8.6*   1.1   34.1
*team leader

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