Dawn Plitzuweit believes Gophers are a 'better team this year'

Minnesota has a chance to take a big step in year two under Plitzuweit.

Minnesota's head coach Dawn Plitzuweit talks to a referee during the second quarter in the game against Michigan State on Monday, Feb. 5, 2024, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing. / Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

There was a lot to like from Dawn Plitzuweit's first season as head coach of the Gophers women's basketball program. Injuries to star guard Mara Braun limited their ceiling, but a deep run to the WNIT championship game showed the potential they have when fully healthy.

"I was thinking about how our season went last year, at first we started off at a pretty high level, then faced adversity and had to learn how to embrace adversity and then I thought the WNIT run was really good for us. We learned a lot of lessons at that time, and started to put things together," Plitzuweit said. "This crew has taken a lot of those lessons and kind of amped them up at this time, so we're a better team this year than we were last year at this point."

Minnesota will be led by Braun and Amaya Battle, who form one of the most impressive backcourt duos in the Big Ten. Braun averaged a team-high 17 points per game last season and Battle was second at 12.1 per contest.

If Plitzuweit and her staff are able to figure out how they can play next to each other, the Gophers can have one of the most dynamic tandems in the country. There were only 22 games last season when they both played, but she has seen improvement throughout the offseason.

"Players who are primary ball-handlers for you, as time goes on, coaches will say the game has slowed down for them. They're attacking, but they're aware of all the other options that they have," Plitzuweit said. "I think we're now starting to see some of that come into fruition."

The Gophers return all five of their top scorers from last season, but they added four players from the transfer portal and two incoming freshmen this offseason. Their lack of depth was noticeable when players like Braun and Sophie Hart were dealing with injuries in 2023-24.

Big Ten transfer forwards Taylor Woodson from Michigan and Annika Stewart from Nebraska lead the way and they're joined by UMass guard Alexsia Rose and CSU Bakersfield post player Jordan Brooks.

"All six of our newcomers are going to provide us something that we really need," Plitzuweit said. "Annika Stewart is a name that a lot of people in this community are very familiar with and [she] is somebody that provides us with the ability to shoot it from the perimeter, so that's really helpful for us with the way that we want to play. Alexsia Rose, I think people are going to get really comfortable and have a lot of fun watching her play. She plays hard, she plays fast, primary ball-handler, makes a lot of things happen."

Plitzuweit was also very complimentary of Woodson as a player that could have a big role this season. The Gophers' regular season will tip off in just over a month on Nov. 4 against Central Connecticut State at Williams Arena.