2025–26 Minnesota Golden Gophers women's basketball team

2025–26 Minnesota Golden Gophers women's basketball
2025–26 Minnesota Golden Gophers women's basketball
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
AP	No. 23
Record	20–6 (11–4 Big Ten)
Head coach	Dawn Plitzuweit (3rd season);
Associate head coach	Jason Jeschke
Assistant coaches	Aaron Horn; Aerial Braker; Tyler VanWinkle;
Home arena	Williams Arena

2025–26 Big Ten women's basketball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 2 UCLA	15	–	0	1.000	25	–	1	.962
No. 6 Michigan	13	–	2	.867	22	–	4	.846
No. 10 Ohio State	11	–	3	.786	22	–	4	.846
No. 13 Iowa	10	–	3	.769	19	–	5	.792
No. 23 Minnesota	11	–	4	.733	20	–	6	.769
No. 14 Maryland	9	–	6	.600	21	–	6	.778
No. 18 Michigan State	9	–	6	.600	20	–	6	.769
Washington	9	–	6	.600	19	–	7	.731
USC	8	–	6	.571	16	–	9	.640
Illinois	7	–	7	.500	17	–	8	.680
Oregon	6	–	8	.429	18	–	9	.667
Nebraska	5	–	9	.357	16	–	9	.640
Wisconsin	5	–	10	.333	13	–	13	.500
Purdue	4	–	10	.286	12	–	13	.480
Indiana	3	–	12	.200	14	–	13	.519
Northwestern	2	–	12	.143	8	–	17	.320
Penn State	2	–	13	.133	9	–	17	.346
Rutgers	1	–	13	.071	9	–	16	.360

† 2026 Big Ten tournament winner As of February 15, 2026 Rankings from AP Poll

The 2025–26 Minnesota Golden Gophers women's basketball team represented the University of Minnesota during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Golden Gophers, led by third-year head coach Dawn Plitzuweit, and played their home games at Williams Arena as members of the Big Ten Conference.

Previous season

The Golden Gophers finished the 2024–25 season 25–11, 8–10 in Big Ten play to finish in thirteenth place. As the No. 13 seed in the Big Ten tournament, they lost in the first round to Washington. They received an at-large bid to the WBIT as the No. 2 seed in the Colorado bracket. They advanced to the championship game where they defeated Belmont.^[1]

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Alexsia Rose	0	G	5'7"	Graduate Student	Bloomfield, CT	Graduated
Maggie Czinano	5	G	6'0"	Senior	Watertown, MN	Graduated
McKenna Johnson	7	G	5'9"	Freshman	Wilmot, WI	Transferred to Butler^[2]
Annika Stewart	21	F/C	6'3"	Graduate Student	Plymouth, MN	Graduated
Jordan Brooks	34	C	6'3"	Senior	Apple Valley, CA	Transferred to North Florida^[3]

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Tracey Bershers	1	F	6'2"	Senior	Fort Smith, AR	UAB
Brylee Glenn	12	G	5'11"	Graduate Student	Kansas City, MO	Kansas State
Finau Tonga	31	F/C	6'2"	Graduate Student	Taylorsville, UT	San Jose State

2025 Recruiting class

College recruiting information
Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight
Makena Christian G	Hartford, WI	Hartford High School	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)	N/A
Makena Christian G	Recruit ratings: ESPN: (94)
Overall recruit ranking:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2025 Player Commits". ESPN. Archived from the original on September 8, 2025.

Recruiting class of 2026

College recruiting information (2026)
Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Natalie Kussow G	Hartland, WI	Arrowhead High School	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	N/A
Natalie Kussow G	Recruit ratings: ESPN: (94)
Tori Oehrlein G	Crosby, MN	Crosby Ironton High School	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)	N/A
Tori Oehrlein G	Recruit ratings: ESPN: (93)
Overall recruit ranking:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2026 Player Commits". ESPN. Archived from the original on September 8, 2025.

Roster

2025–26 Minnesota Golden Gophers women's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Year	Previous school	Hometown
F	1	Tracey Bershers	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	Sr	UAB	Fort Smith, AR
G	3	Amaya Battle	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	Sr	Hopkins	Hopkins, MN
G	10	Mara Braun	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	RS Jr	Wayzata	Wayzata, MN
G	12	Brylee Glenn	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	GS	Kansas State	Kansas City, MO
G	14	Tori McKinney	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	So	Minnetonka	Minnetonka, MN
G	15	Brynn Senden	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)	Jr	Wayzata	Wayzata, MN
F	20	Taylor Woodson	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Jr	Michigan	Minnetonka, MN
G	22	Kennedy Klick	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	RS So	Maple Grove	Brooklyn Park, MN
F	24	Mallory Heyer	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	Sr	Chaska	Chaska, MN
G/F	25	Grace Grocholski	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	Jr	Kettle Moraine	North Prairie, WI
C	30	Zoey Bershers	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	Fr	Farmington	Glenwood, AR
F	31	Finau Tonga	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	GS	San Jose State	Taylorsville, UT
G	35	Makena Christian	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Fr	Hartford Union	Lomira, WI
F	41	Niamya Holloway	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	RS Jr	Eden Prairie	Eden Prairie, MN
C	52	Sophie Hart	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	GS	NC State	Farmington, MN

Head coach

Dawn Plitzuweit (Michigan Tech)

Assistant coach(es)

Jason Jeschke (Southwestern (KS))
Aaron Horn (Toledo)
Ariel Braker (Notre Dame)
Tyler VanWinkle (Illinois State)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 4, 2025* 7:00 p.m., B1G+		North Dakota	W 91–47	1–0	23 – Christian	10 – Battle	7 – Battle	Williams Arena (3,384) Minneapolis, MN
November 7, 2025* 7:00 p.m., B1G+		Manhattan	W 99–36	2–0	17 – Braun	8 – Grocholski	7 – Grocholski	Williams Arena (2,904) Minneapolis, MN
November 11, 2025* 7:00 p.m., B1G+		Marquette	W 90–47	3–0	19 – Grocholski	11 – Battle	7 – Tied	Williams Arena (2,999) Minneapolis, MN
November 14, 2025* 5:00 p.m., B1G+		NJIT	W 88–39	4–0	13 – Glenn	10 – Battle	5 – Christian	Williams Arena (2,973) Minneapolis, MN
November 19, 2025* 6:30 p.m., ESPN+		at Kansas	L 57–63	4–1	14 – McKinney	9 – Battle	4 – Tied	Allen Fieldhouse (3,518) Lawrence, KS
November 24, 2025* 3:00 p.m., FloCollege		vs. South Florida Pink Flamingo Championship Junkanoo Division semifinals	W 57–45	5–1	14 – Grocholski	10 – Hart	4 – Glenn	Baha Mar Convention Center (207) Nassau, Bahamas
November 26, 2025* 3:00 p.m., FloCollege		vs. Alabama Pink Flamingo Championship Junkanoo Division finals	L 58–63	5–2	13 – Glenn	11 – Hart	4 – Glenn	Baha Mar Convention Center (247) Nassau, Bahamas
December 1, 2025* 7:00 p.m., B1G+		Samford	W 77–40	6–2	17 – Hart	10 – Hart	4 – McKinney	Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
December 7, 2025 3:00 p.m., BTN		No. 7 Maryland	L 99–100 ^2OT	6–3 (0–1)	31 – Grocholski	12 – Battle	7 – Battle	Williams Arena (4,854) Minneapolis, MN
December 10, 2025* 7:00 p.m., B1G+		Alabama A&M	W 82–44	7–3	13 – McKinney	8 – Glenn	6 – Tied	Williams Arena (2,803) Minneapolis, MN
December 14, 2025* 5:00 p.m., B1G+		Wyoming	W 80–34	8–3	14 – Glenn	8 – Battle	5 – Braun	Williams Arena (3,266) Minneapolis, MN
December 21, 2025* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Drake	W 68–43	9–3	18 – Grocholski	11 – Grocholski	3 – Grocholski	Knapp Center (2,570) Des Moines, IA
December 29, 2025 5:00 p.m., B1G+		at Indiana	W 71–48	10–3 (1–1)	20 – Battle	12 – Hart	3 – McKinney	Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (8,134) Bloomington, IN
January 5, 2026 5:30 p.m., BTN		at No. 9 Michigan	L 60–70	10–4 (1–2)	22 – Grocholski	8 – Grocholski	2 – Tied	Crisler Center (3,046) Ann Arbor, MI
January 8, 2026 7:00 p.m., B1G+		Northwestern	W 79–47	11–4 (2–2)	20 – McKinney	8 – Tonga	5 – Battle	Williams Arena (3,865) Minneapolis, MN
January 11, 2026 2:00 p.m., B1G+		No. 21 USC	W 63–62	12–4 (3–2)	25 – Grocholski	10 – Braun	4 – Battle	Williams Arena (5,514) Minneapolis, MN
January 14, 2026 7:00 p.m., B1G+		No. 3 UCLA	L 58–76	12–5 (3–3)	16 – Battle	7 – Battle	5 – Battle	Williams Arena (4,374) Minneapolis, MN
January 18, 2026 5:00 p.m., BTN		at Washington	L 54–67	12–6 (3–4)	18 – Braun	7 – Grocholski	3 – Tied	Alaska Airlines Arena (3,509) Seattle, WA
January 21, 2026 8:00 p.m., B1G+		at Oregon	W 65–60	13–6 (4–4)	20 – Battle	9 – Braun	3 – Tied	Matthew Knight Arena (4,675) Eugene, OR
January 25, 2026 2:00 p.m., B1G+		Wisconsin	W 88–53	14–6 (5–4)	20 – McKinney	7 – McKinney	5 – Glenn	Williams Arena (5,749) Minneapolis, MN
January 28, 2026 5:00 p.m., B1G+		at Penn State	W 87–66	15–6 (6–4)	23 – McKinney	10 – Battle	4 – Tied	Rec Hall (1,546) State College, PA
February 1, 2026 2:00 p.m., B1G+		Purdue	W 88–55	16–6 (7–4)	17 – Battle	9 – Battle	5 – McKinney	Williams Arena (4,502) Minneapolis, MN
February 5, 2026 6:00 p.m., BTN		at No. 10 Iowa	W 91–85	17–6 (8–4)	21 – Grocholski	14 – Battle	6 – Battle	Carver–Hawkeye Arena (14,998) Iowa, City, IA
February 8, 2026 11:00 a.m., B1G+		at Rutgers	W 63–52	18–6 (9–4)	17 – Hart	10 – Hart	3 – Tied	Jersey Mike's Arena (5,480) Piscataway, NJ
February 12, 2026 7:00 p.m., BTN		Nebraska	W 84–67	19–6 (10–4)	–	–	–	Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
February 15, 2026 5:00 p.m., BTN		at Wisconsin	W 83–60	20–6 (11–4)	–	–	–	Kohl Center Madison, WI
February 18, 2026 7:00 p.m., B1G+	No. 23	No. 10 Ohio State						Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
February 22, 2026 5:00 p.m., FS1	No. 23	No. 18 Michigan State						Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
March 1, 2026 2:00 p.m., B1G+		at Illinois						State Farm Center Champaign, IL
Big Ten Women's Tournament
March 4–8, 2026 TBA		vs.						Gainbridge Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Source:^[4]

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Final
AP	RV	RV	RV	RV	—	—	—	—	—*	—	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	23
Coaches	RV	RV	RV	RV	—	—	—	—	—	—	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV

*AP did not release a week 8 poll.

References

^ "Minnesota Golden Gophers win 2025 WBIT". ncaa.com. NCAA. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
^ "Minnesota Transfer McKenna Johnson Signs with Butler". butlersports.com. Butler Athletics. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
^ "Women's Basketball Announces 2025-26 Roster". unfospreys.com. North Florida Athletics. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
^ "2025–26 Women's Basketball Schedule". gophersports.com. Gopher Sports. Retrieved 8 September 2025.

[1] "Minnesota Golden Gophers win 2025 WBIT". ncaa.com. NCAA. Retrieved 8 February 2026.

[2] "Minnesota Transfer McKenna Johnson Signs with Butler". butlersports.com. Butler Athletics. Retrieved 8 February 2026.

[3] "Women's Basketball Announces 2025-26 Roster". unfospreys.com. North Florida Athletics. Retrieved 8 February 2026.

[4] "2025–26 Women's Basketball Schedule". gophersports.com. Gopher Sports. Retrieved 8 September 2025.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

Minnesota Golden Gophers women's basketball
Venues	Williams Arena (1971–present)
Culture & lore	History Goldy Gopher
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics