Gophers get first-round bye in WNIT

Minnesota will play the winner of Cal Poly and Pacific.

The Gophers women’s basketball team will have a first-round bye in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament and will play the winner of Pacific and Cal Poly.

The date, time and location for the U's second-round game has not yet been revealed.

Cal Poly and Pacific will face off at 8 p.m. on Thursday in the first round of the tournament. The Gophers have never played Pacific before but are 2-0 all-time against Cal Poly. The second-round games take place from March 23-26.

The Gophers accepted an invitation to the WNIT after finishing the 2024 campaign with a 16-15 record and a 5-13 record in the Big Ten. 

The U initially had a quite promising start to the season before losing star guard Mara Braun indefinitely to a foot injury. Center Sophie Hart also missed significant time toward the end of the season due to a hip injury.

But after losing four straight games to close the regular season — two in blowout fashion — the Gophers opened the Big Ten Tournament with a 77-69 victory over Rutgers before falling 76-57 to Michigan in the second round.

Despite some of the struggles down the stretch of the season, Minnesota will get the chance to play in March as it looks toward what could potentially be a promising future for the program. Find the WNIT bracket below. 

WNIT bracket