2024–25 Minnesota Golden Gophers women's basketball team

2024–25 Minnesota Golden Gophers women's basketball
2024–25 Minnesota Golden Gophers women's basketball
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	3–0 (0–0 Big Ten)
Head coach	Dawn Plitzuweit (2nd season);
Associate head coach	Jason Jeschke
Assistant coaches	Aaron Horn; Aerial Braker; Tyler VanWinkle;
Home arena	Williams Arena
	Seasons ← 2023–24 2025–26 →

2024–25 Big Ten women's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 25 Oregon	0	–	0	–	4	–	0	1.000
No. 11 Maryland	0	–	0	–	3	–	0	1.000
Michigan State	0	–	0	–	3	–	0	1.000
Minnesota	0	–	0	–	3	–	0	1.000
No. 21 Nebraska	0	–	0	–	3	–	0	1.000
Penn State	0	–	0	–	3	–	0	1.000
Rutgers	0	–	0	–	3	–	0	1.000
No. 5 UCLA	0	–	0	–	3	–	0	1.000
No. 3 USC	0	–	0	–	3	–	0	1.000
Washington	0	–	0	–	3	–	0	1.000
No. 23 Illinois	0	–	0	–	2	–	0	1.000
Iowa	0	–	0	–	2	–	0	1.000
No. 12 Ohio State	0	–	0	–	2	–	0	1.000
Wisconsin	0	–	0	–	2	–	0	1.000
Indiana	0	–	0	–	1	–	1	.500
Michigan	0	–	0	–	1	–	1	.500
Purdue	0	–	0	–	1	–	1	.500
Northwestern	0	–	0	–	0	–	2	.000

† 2025 Big Ten tournament winner As of November 12, 2024 Rankings from AP Poll

The 2024–25 Minnesota Golden Gophers women's basketball team represents the University of Minnesota during the 2024–25 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Golden Gophers, are led by second-year head coach Dawn Plitzuweit, and play their home games at Williams Arena as members of the Big Ten Conference.

Previous season

The Golden Gophers finished the 2023–24 season 20–16, 5–13 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for eleventh place. As the No. 11 seed in the Big Ten tournament, they defeated Rutgers in the first round before losing in the second round to Michigan. They were invited to the WNIT to advanced to the championship game where they lost to Saint Louis.

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Ayianna Johnson	1	F	6'3"	Freshman	Jefferson, WI	Transferred to Colorado
Aminata Zie	11	F/C	6'1"	Senior	Paris, France	Graduated
Ajok Madol	12	G/F	6'2"	Freshman	Regina, SK	Transferred to Dayton^[1]
Janay Sanders	30	G	5'11"	GS Senior	Charlotte, NC	Graduated
McKynnlie Dalan	34	F	6'1"	Freshman	Montesano, WA	Transferred to Gonzaga^[2]

Incoming Transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Alexsia Rose	0	G	5'7"	GS Senior	Bloomfield, CT	UMass
Taylor Woodson	20	F	6'0"	Sophomore	Minnetonka, MN	Michigan
Annika Stewart	21	C	6'3"	GS Senior	Plymouth, MN	Nebraska
Jordan Brooks	34	C	6'3"	Senior	Apple Valley, CA	Cal State Bakersfield

2024 Recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight
McKenna Johnson G	Wilmot, WI	Wilmot High School	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	N/A
McKenna Johnson G	Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 93
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, 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: "2024 Player Commits". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on November 5, 2024.

Recruiting class of 2025

US college sports recruiting information for 2025 recruits
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Makena Christian G	Hartford, WI	Hartford High School	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)	N/A
Makena Christian G	Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 94
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, 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.com. Archived from the original on November 5, 2024.

Roster

2024–25 Minnesota Golden Gophers women's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	0	Alexsia Rose	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)	GS	UMass	Bloomfield, CT
G	3	Amaya Battle	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	Jr	Hopkins	Hopkins, MN
G	5	Maggie Czinano	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Sr	Watertown-Mayer	Watertown, MN
G	7	McKenna Johnson	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	Fr	Wilmot Union	Wilmot, WI
G	10	Mara Braun	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Jr	Wayzata	Wayzata, MN
G	14	Tori McKinney	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	Fr	Minnetonka	Minnetonka, MN
G	15	Brynn Senden	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)	So	Wayzata	Wayzata, MN
F	20	Taylor Woodson	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	So	Michigan	Minnetonka, MN
F/C	21	Annika Stewart	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	GS	Nebraska	Plymouth, MN
G	22	Kennedy Klick	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	RS Fr	Maple Grove	Brooklyn Park, MN
F	24	Mallory Heyer	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	Jr	Chaska	Chaska, MN
G/F	25	Grace Grocholski	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	So	Kettle Moraine	North Prairie, WI
C	34	Jordan Brooks	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	Sr	Cal State Bakersfield	Apple Valley, CA
F	41	Niamya Holloway	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	RS So	Eden Prairie	Eden Prairie, MN
C	52	Sophie Hart	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	Sr	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	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 4, 2024* 7:00 p.m., B1G+	Central Connecticut	W 89–48	1–0	18 – Stewart	7 – Battle	5 – Tied	Williams Arena (2,647) Minneapolis, MN
November 8, 2024* 7:00 p.m., B1G+	Vermont	W 74–52	2–0	21 – Tied	7 – Heyer	4 – Battle	Williams Arena (3,192) Minneapolis, MN
November 12, 2024* 7:00 p.m., B1G+	UMass Lowell	W 82–37	3–0	13 – Johnson	10 – Heyer	3 – Braun	Williams Arena (2,616) Minneapolis, MN
November 16, 2024* 2:00 p.m.	vs. Oregon State Briann January Classic						Desert Financial Arena Tempe, AZ
November 17, 2024* 1:00 p.m.	vs. SMU Briann January Classic						Desert Financial Arena Tempe, AZ
November 20, 2024* 7:00 p.m., B1G+	Eastern Illinois						Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
November 24, 2024* 2:00 p.m., B1G+	Montana						Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
November 29, 2024* 1:15 p.m.	vs. Houston Big Easy Classic Bayou Tournament						Alario Center Westwego, LA
November 30, 2024* 11:00 a.m.	vs. Louisiana Big Easy Classic Bayou Tournament						Alario Center Westwego, LA
December 3, 2024* 7:00 p.m., B1G+	North Florida						Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
December 8, 2024 1:00 p.m., BTN	at Nebraska						Pinnacle Bank Arena Lincoln, NE
December 11, 2024* 7:00 p.m., B1G+	Jackson State						Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
December 20, 2024* 2:00 p.m., B1G+	Prairie View A&M						Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
December 28, 2024 3:00 p.m., BTN	Penn State						Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
December 31, 2024 2:00 p.m., B1G+	at Wisconsin						Kohl Center Madison, WI
January 5, 2025 2:00 p.m., B1G+	Illinois						Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
January 8, 2025 7:00 p.m., B1G+	Rutgers						Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
January 14, 2025 6:00 p.m., BTN	at Maryland						Xfinity Center College Park, MD
January 19, 2025 2:00 p.m., B1G+	at Northwestern						Welsh–Ryan Arena Evanston, IL
January 22, 2025 7:00 p.m., B1G+	Michigan						Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
January 26, 2025 7:00 p.m., B1G+	Wisconsin						Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
January 30, 2025 9:00 p.m., Peacock	at USC						Galen Center Los Angeles, CA
February 2, 2025 2:00 p.m., BTN	at UCLA						Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
February 6, 2025 7:00 p.m., BTN	Iowa						Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
February 9, 2025 2:00 p.m., B1G+	Indiana						Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
February 13, 2025 6:30 p.m., Peacock	at Ohio State						Value City Arena Columbus, OH
February 16, 2025 2:00 p.m., B1G+	Oregon						Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
February 19, 2025 6:00 p.m., B1G+	at Purdue						Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN
February 26, 2025 7:00 p.m., B1G+	Washington						Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
March 1, 2025 1:00 p.m., B1G+	at Michigan State						Breslin Center East Lasning, MI
Big Ten Women's Tournament
March 5–9, 2025 TBA	vs. TBA						Gainbridge Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Source:^[3]

Rankings

Ranking movements
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Final
AP																				Not released
Coaches

References

^ "Ajok Madol will continue her college career at Dayton". USbasket.com. May 28, 2024. Retrieved November 5, 2024.
^ Lee, Greg (May 16, 2024). "Gonzaga women pick up Minnesota transfer forward McKynnlie Dalan". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved November 5, 2024.
^ "2024–25 Women's Basketball Schedule". gophersports.com. Gopher Sports. Retrieved 5 November 2024.

[1] "Ajok Madol will continue her college career at Dayton". USbasket.com. May 28, 2024. Retrieved November 5, 2024.

[2] Lee, Greg (May 16, 2024). "Gonzaga women pick up Minnesota transfer forward McKynnlie Dalan". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved November 5, 2024.

[3] "2024–25 Women's Basketball Schedule". gophersports.com. Gopher Sports. Retrieved 5 November 2024.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e 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
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics