Saying the 2025-26 season exceeded expectations for the Gophers women’s basketball team would be an understatement.
After finishing 12th in the Big Ten Conference the year prior, the Gophers were expected to be a borderline NCAA Tournament team, especially after winning the WNIT Championship at the conclusion of 2024-25. However, the Gophers blew those beliefs out of the water.
They would cruise through their nonconference schedule, finishing 11-4 before a 13-5 run in conference play, much improved from the 8-10 the year prior. The collective 24-9 record would result in the Gophers finding themselves ranked 18th in the country and having the 9th-best net ranking.
The Gophers would make the NCAA Tournament as a four-seed in the Sacramento division and hosted the first two rounds of the tournament, both of which they would win to advance to their first sweet sixteen since 2004-05. Unfortunately, their 2025-26 season would end in Sacramento as the UCLA Bruins would dismantle the Gophers en route to their first National Championship in program history.
Successful Season, Bright Future
For Minnesota, the season as a whole was a success. The Gophers had shown that their program could punch above their weight class and compete with anyone in the country. And when they play games matter, fans would be behind them all the way, shown by the estimated 10,500-plus that attended both NCAA Tournament games at Williams Arena. The season, for lack of better words, should be considered just the beginning.
The Gophers eagerly announced that three of their five starters will be returning in 2026-27. They included Mara Braun, who will be entering her redshirt senior season after starting all 33 games for the Gophers, which is the most games she’s played in a season in Minnesota. Although it took her sometime to round back into form after missing the lion’s share of the two previous seasons due to breaking her foot twice towards the end of the year, she was starting to look like every bit of the Wayzetta star that garnered the rank of the 28th-best player in the country back in 2022. Throughout the 2025-26 season, Braun averaged 11.7 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists. What jumped off the page though is that she finished ninth in the Big Ten in minutes played and 16th in defensive win shares to go along with her 1.7 steals per game. Theoretically, with a full offseason of health, Braun should continue her upward trajectory next season with the Gophers.
Soon-to-be senior Grace Grocholski also started all 33 games for the Gophers and is planning to return next season after averaging 12.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists. Grocholski shot a career best 42.2% from beyond the arc this past season and her intense on-ball defense garnered attention from the WNBA as she began making appearances in mock drafts for the 2027 season. She would finish 18th in the Big Ten in plus/minus, and the former top 100 recruit and Wisconsin native earned Al-Big Ten Second Team honors at the conclusion of the season.
Tori McKinney rounds out the returning starters as the sophomore committed to the Gophers in coming back for her junior season. Realistically, McKinney might have been the biggest surprise of the Gophers season, making the leap from a freshman who had issues staying on the court in foul trouble to a lockdown defender integral to the Gophers. In addition, she would lead the Gophers in scoring at 12.7 points along with 3.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists. The all-around play would result in her making the All-Big Ten Second Team with Grocholski and All-Big Gen First Team on defense while leading the team with 2.0 steals per game.
The Gophers bench also returned a large majority of their players. Bryn Sendon and Taylor Woodson will return for their senior seasons, Kennedy Klick will be back for her redshirt junior season, and Zoey Bershers and Mckena Christian are back as sophomores.
While the returning bench is a bit of an unknown with Woodson missing all of the 2025-26 season due to a season ending knee injury, she was anticipated to crack the rotation this year. And as long as her recovery goes well, it is likely she will get a crack at the forward minutes that outgoing players left open. Sendon, Klick, and Bershers played just 179 minutes between the three of them this season, mostly at the end of wins for the Gophers. There will be spots available for the players to get minutes, however, the team’s depth may also not allow for them to see much of a growth in their role in the upcoming season.
That leaves Christianson as the only bench player returning who played a role last year. The freshman appeared in 29 games and averaged 3.6 points, 1.0 rebounds and 0.4 assists. The Wisconsin guard was ranked 56th in the country just a year ago coming out of high school and could be an easy fit next to Braun in the starting rotation. Especially due to her impressive debut scoring 23 points off the bench against North Dakota.
Who’s Coming and Leaving
In addition to the bench, the Gophers also secured the 19th-best recruiting class,according to ESPNW. Minnesota secured the 40th ranked prospect and Ms. Wisconsin basketball winner Natalie Kussow, the 58th ranked and Minnesota native Tori Oehrlein, along with four-star Ms. Nebraska basketball winner Kylee Paben and three-star center Adit Kuol. The incoming freshman class is expected to make an impact on a fairly veteran Gophers roster and also battle for playing time.
With the players returning and arriving, we should also mention the players that are leaving the program in the great spot they are in. Starters Amaya Battle and Sophie Hart will both graduate, along with key role contributors in Brylee Glenn and Fe Tonga. Nia Holloway is transferring out, likely for more playing time in a new team and Tracey Bershers will also be moving on.
This, in theory, opens up two spots on the starting rotation and two bench rotations spots. With a strong recruiting class and pool of returning players, the openings could be addressed in house, but as coach Dawn Plitzuweit has shown, she does have a knack for bringing in transfer students like Glenn and Tonga who are able to contribute.
The Gophers will have three of those spots open, and with seemingly a third of the NCAA playing musical chairs with the transfer portal, having open starting spots and a strong core roster could be appealing for transfers looking to win a national championship and play for a program with prestige.
This is where the Gophers fall after a defeat to UCLA in the NCAA Tournament. They are a program that will be saying goodbye to several players that were impactful on their run that surged past expectations. Yet though it is always tough to see fan favorites and players move on, the Gophers have retained a majority of their starting lineup and bench that made this year’s run possible, and have put themselves in prime position to snag a top-tier transfer portal athlete before the beginning of next season.
The Gophers did something improbable with their Sweet 16 run, they opened a Pandora’s box of possibilities, and it is very hard to see them sliding backwards as we now shift to 2026-27.