Minnesota added a pair of depth pieces for the 2025-26 season
The initial few weeks of the off-season were quiet for the Minnesota Golden Gophers women’s basketball team after they came off of their WBIT Championship. With the entrance of McKenna Johnson into the transfer portal the Gophers had three roster spots open to add players this offseason. The Gophers filled a pair of those spots in the last week with a pair of players who each have one remaining year of eligibility and should add to the Gophers depth off the bench. Neither player likely will compete for a starting spot, but should hopefully be able to push the Gophers rotation at least nine deep tp start the season.
The first player to commit to the Gophers out of the portal was former Kansas State guard Brylee Glenn. Glenn joins the Gophers as a grad transfer after playing three seasons for the Wildcats. She did not play in the 2024-25 season. She is listed at 5’11 and will have one year of eligibility remaining.
In her most recent season in 2023-34 Glenn started all 34 games for Kansas State and averaged 20 minutes per game. She averaged 6.3 points per game on 42.7 percent shooting from the field. She shot 31.6 % from beyond the arc and 75.6% from the free throw stripe. Her stats got better and better in all three seasons she played for Kansas State. Glenn likely projects as the second guard off the bench for Minnesota at the moment after the one of Mara Braun, Grace Grocholski and Tori McKinney that will not end up starting. She will likely play either the 2 or the 3 and provide good depth.
The second Gopher transfer addition this week was UAB transfer Tracey Bershers. She is the older sister of incoming freshman Zoey Bershers. Tracey started her career at Oklahoma State, but played in just three games due to an injury her freshman season and earned an injury redshirt. She transferred to Alabama-Birmingham where she played the past three seasons. Last year the 6’2 forward came off the bench in all 32 games and averaged 17.2 minutes per game. She averaged 6.5 points per game shooting 43.5 percent from the field. Remarkably she shot almost exclusively three pointers. Of her 161 total field goal attempts last season, 129 of them were from beyond the arc. She knocked them down exceptionally well shooting 43.4% from beyond the arc. She went just 13-18 from the free throw line and for her career is a 77.6% free throw shooter.
Bershers seems to slot into the role that Nebraska transfer Annika Stewart filled last season. She was a backup stretch four who shot plenty of three pointers and made several clutch shots for Minnesota. She likely will be the backup to Mallory Heyer at the #4 spot, and could see some time backing up Sophie Hart at the #5 slot if the Gophers don’t find a true post to back her up with their final open roster spot. But she seems like a player who can provide some instant offense for Minnesota when she comes into the game with her three point shooting and is another tool Dawn Plitzuweit can use off the bench.
The two additions leave one open roster spot for the Gophers as they head into the 2025-26 season. The major glaring hole in the roster is a backup post player. Stewart spelled Hart for most of the season, but it’s not known if either of the Bershers sisters could fill that role currently. It would be better all around if Minnesota could still find a backup post player in the portal who can be a quality backup to Hart, can guard Big Ten caliber post players, and can provide rebounding and offensive help off the bench.
With 14 of the 15 roster spots filled at the moment, here is the current positional breakdown:
Point Guard:
Amaya Battle SR/ Tori McKinney SO / Kennedy Klick RS SO
Shooting Guard:
Mara Braun RS JR/ Brylee Glen 5th/ Makena Christian FR/ Brynn Senden JR
Small Forward:
Grace Grocholski JR/ Taylor Woodson JR
Power Forward:
Mallory Heyer SR/ Tracey Bershers SR/ Nia Holloway RS JR
Center:
Sophie Hart 5th/ Zoey Bershers FR