The Gophers probably need at least one win to clinch an NCAA Tournament berth
The Minnesota Golden Gophers women’s basketball team will get a chance to avenge a loss in their home finale a week ago on Wednesday when they open play in the 2025 Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament. The #13 seeded Gophers will rematch against the #12 seeded Washington Huskies who defeated Minnesota 72-62 last Wednesday night at Williams Arena. Minnesota will need to find a way to shut down the Huskies potent offense that shot greater than 68% in the second half en route to the win. With both teams sitting in the latest ESPN NCAA Tournament Bracketology in the last four teams in the field, this game may be a potential play-in game to see who ends up in the Field of 68, and who ends up in the WBIT.
Minnesota is looking to win at least one game in the Big Ten tournament for the second season in a row. A year ago the Gophers defeated Rutgers 77-69 behind Amaya Battle’s 32 points in the opening round at the Target Center before losing to Michigan in the second round. The Gophers are 11-31 overall in the Big Ten Tournament with their only finals run coming in 2005. Washington is obviously making their Big Ten Tournament debut in their first season in the conference.
Minnesota closed the regular season on a two game losing streak. They fell to the Huskies last Wednesday and finished the season with a 73-58 loss at #23 Michigan State on Saturday. In that game the Gophers trailed the Spartans by just one point headed into the fourth quarter, but were outscored 27-13 in the final session.
Washington heads into the Big Ten Tournament on a roll having won four straight games. The Huskies defeated Rutgers at home before going on the road and picking up wins at Nebraska and Minnesota. They closed out the regular season at home defeating Oregon 64-56. Elle Ladine has been on a tear for Washington as she is averaging 24.3 points and 5.8 rebounds while shooting above 60 percent from the field and from three over the past four wins. She scored 27 against Minnesota on 10-13 shooting including a perfect 4-4 from beyond the arc. Everyone made shots against the Gophers as the entire team shot 58% from the floor for the game and 50% from three. Washington’s ball movement stymied the Gopher defense and allowed for open shots from all over the court.
For the Gophers to win, they will need big games from Amaya Battle and Grace Grocholski. Grocholski led the Gophers with 13 points in the loss to the Huskies, and Battle had nine points. But they combined for seven turnovers and are a combined 3-8 from beyond the arc. Sophie Hart will hopefully be back to full strength in the middle for Minnesota as she has been limited at the end of the regular season with the flu. She played just 16 minutes against Washington.
Both players were honored by the Big Ten on Tuesday. They were both named Honorable Mention All-Big Ten when the conference awards were announced. No other Minnesota players were honored.
Both teams really need this win to improve their NCAA Tournament chances. Both teams are riding the bubble as we head into the various conference tournaments and are only a few upsets away from seeing their bubble get popped. The loser of this game will need to sit for a full 11 days until Selection Sunday wondering if their resume is strong enough to get them a berth. It won’t be a comfortable wait.
The winner will advance to play the #5 seeded Michigan Wolverines in the second round on Thursday. That game is scheduled to tip at approximately 1:45 PM and will air live on Big Ten Network.
Wednesday’s game is set to tip off at 2:30 PM and will stream on Peacock.