They were the core of Lindsay Whalen’s Top 25 recruiting class in 2022. Four years later, they are the core of what Dawn Plitzuweit hopes to make the Gophers’ first NCAA tournament since 2018.
It didn’t happen the way they anticipated, with Whalen out after their freshman season and season-ending injuries for Niamya Holloway and Mara Braun in recent seasons. But they’re all still here, with all their initial goals still within reach. The class wanted to win, help attract more in-state recruits to the Gophers and re-ignite the passion for the program that peaked in the mid-2000s, when sellout crowds at Williams Arena watched Whalen and Janel McCarville lead Minnesota to the Final Four.
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Now Braun, Holloway, Amaya Battle and Mallory Heyer are back together for one last shot, and their odds look good.
“I think us four staying here, and then getting more Minnesota players to come here, that’s kind of what we imagined,” said Amaya Battle, a senior point guard from Hopkins said, alluding to teammates Sophie Hart (Farmington), Kennedy Klick (Brooklyn Park), Tori McKinney (Minnetonka), Brynn Senden (Wayzata) and Taylor Woodson (Hopkins), all of whom joined the program after 2021 as high school seniors or transfers.
“Coming in,” Battle continued, “I felt like I was really naive to what it took to be great in college, but through this experience, we’ve learned a lot. So, I think this will be a really good year for us.”
Ultimately, and especially for seniors Battle and Heyer, that elusive NCAA tournament berth will be the surest sign that Minnesota women’s basketball is back on track. Minnesota hasn’t been to the Big Dance since 2018.
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“We have high expectations for this group,” Braun said. “We’ve had multiple meetings where we’ve talked about how we, obviously, want to be on top of the Big Ten and go to the (NCAA) tournament — but it’s not just that.
“We want to make moves in the tournament and go as far as possible. I think we have a better idea of that with some of the success we had last year.”
The Gophers were on track for an NCAA invitation in the early New Year, starting 16-1 last season after sweeping their nonconference slate, a program first. But the team, playing without Braun after she broke her right foot for the second time in two years, blew a tire in conference, losing five of their last six Big Ten games.
The last loss was to Washington in the Big Ten tournament. The Huskies made the tournament; Minnesota didn’t. But the team regrouped and spent a week practicing not for a particular opponent, but to get better.
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“During that stretch, we really made strides,” Plitzuweit said. “We got a lot better at that point.”
An early selection for the Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament followed, and the Gophers won the whole thing, finishing their season with five straight wins, a trophy and a program-record 25 wins.
The Gophers had three different leading scorers in the WBIT, Battle, McKinney and guard Grace Grocholski, the team’s leading scorer after Braun was hurt. Heyer had two mammoth double-doubles in the semifinal and final, and Battle averaged 19 points in the tournament, with a career-high 35 in an overtime victory over Gonzaga.
Holloway had two big games off the bench, helping the Gophers weather a pair of rallies with rebounding and timely scoring.
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To those returners, the Gophers add Braun, limited to five games last season by a second foot injury that required surgery. There was a chance she could return last season, but after the second break of the same foot, the team took the cautious approach.
“It was just something we decided as the season went on,” Braun said. “I know it’s going to pay off, and I’m just happy to be healthy and back now.”
Holloway blew out her left knee during preseason practice as a freshman and missed the entire season. She and Braun are redshirt juniors. But for Battle and Heyer, this will be it. And, in any case, it will be the last time the four play together.
“They came here as a class together to leave their legacy and the University of Minnesota, and it hasn’t been without challenges and it hasn’t been without struggles,” Plitzuweit said. “But the greatest successes in anything that you want to find come after some great struggles. So, this group is doing something really, really special.”
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The opportunity for one last season together, with an NCAA tournament berth within reach, isn’t lost on any of that 2021 class.
“We’re putting all the pieces together and doing the best that we can because this (Battle’s and Heyer’s) last season,” Braun said. “And we’re going to want to make the most of it.”
