For the second consecutive season, the University of Toledo women’s basketball team will continue their season with an appearance in the WBIT.
The event debuted last season, supplanting the WNIT in the postseason tournament pecking order after the NCAA tournament. UT advanced to the quarterfinals, where it lost at Washington State in the final seconds.
The Rockets hope to make an even deeper run this year.
Toledo has a first-round date with No. 2 seed Minnesota at 7 p.m. Thursday at Savage Arena, the second Big Ten team to play at UT in as many seasons.
Here are five things to know about the Golden Gophers:
Late season tailspin
Minnesota won its first 10 games of the season, and the Gophers were 18-3 and ranked No. 23 in the AP top 25 before a February and March swoon. They lost eight of their final 10 games, cratering to 13th in the 18-team Big Ten.
Minnesota’s last win came on Feb. 19 at Purdue. The Gophers were 0-7 against ranked opponents, with varying degrees of success. Incredibly, six of the seven games were on the road.
They lost 79-53 at No. 1 UCLA, 82-69 at No. 4 UCLA, 99-92 at No. 8 Maryland, 87-84 in overtime at No. 9 Ohio State, 73-58 at No. 23 Michigan State, 70-65 vs. No. 24 Michigan, and 84-65 at No. 25 Nebraska.
Common opponents
Toledo and Minnesota share two common opponents, Iowa and Maryland. The Rockets lost 94-57 at Iowa in the second game of the season. In December, they lost 92-70 to Maryland at a holiday tournament at the Naval Academy.
Minnesota lost 99-92 at Maryland and 68-60 vs. the Hawkeyes.
Stat sheet stuffers
Minnesota guard Amaya Battle averages 11.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.8 steals per game. She ranked ninth in the Big Ten in assists, 12th in steals, and 34th in rebounds.
Along with Battle, the Gophers had four players rank in the top 50 in rebounding — Mallory Heyer (7.5 rebounds per game), Grace Grocholski (4.9), and Sophie Hart (4.4).
Minnesota ranks eighth nationally with a 1.42 assist-to-turnover ratio. Two players average four assists per game and three more average two.
The Gophers rank 57th in rebounding margin (4.8), 63rd in free throw percentage (75.2 percent), 86th in field goal percentage (43.4 percent), 98th in offensive rebounds (12.5 per game), and 100th in scoring defense (61.2 points per game)
Program history
Minnesota might not roll off the tongue when people recite the best women’s basketball programs. But the Gophers have a storied history that includes a Final Four (2004) and four top-five WNBA draft picks.
In recent years, however, they’ve hit a rut. The last NCAA tournament appearance came in 2018. From 2017 to 2023, Minnesota missed the postseason four times. The last time it finished better than seventh in the Big Ten was 2018-19.
Coaching pedigree
The Dawn Plitzuweit era could mark a return to glory for Minnesota.
Over the past two decades, she has been one of the winningest coaches in women’s basketball, winning a Division II national championship at Grand Valley State, a 30-win season and two 29-win seasons at South Dakota, including taking the Coyotes to the Sweet 16 in 2022, and going to the NCAA tournament during her one and only season at West Virginia.
In two years at Minnesota, Plitzuweit has increased the Gophers’ Big Ten win total from five to eight. Last season, they finished runner-up in the WNIT.
First Published March 18, 2025, 5:52 p.m.
