3 Key Takeaways From Minnesota's Fourth True Road Win at Penn State

The Gophers have a three-game win streak in Big Ten play for the first time this season.

Feb 2, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach Dawn Plitzuweit on the sidelines during the fourth quarter against the UCLA Bruins at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images | Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

The Gophers took care of business against Penn State on the road on Wednesday night for an 87-66 win. Here's what we learned.

4th true road win

Any Bracketologist will tell you how important it is to win away from home. After taking down Penn State in Happy Valley, Minnesota is up to four true road wins this season. With four road game left on the schedule, they're already one behind the five road wins they had last season. Penn State is far from the class of the Big Ten, but getting the job done away from home is always significant.

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Tori McKinney is elevating

McKinney was a breakout star of last year's Gophers team, averaging 10.6 points per game as a true freshman. Injuries have held her out of a few games this season, but her scoring has increased to 12.5 points per game. She has elevated her game to a new level over the last two games. She matched a career-high with 20 points in Sunday's win against Wisconsin, and she responded with a new career-high 23 points on 8 of 13 shooting from the field tonight against Penn State. Minnesota becomes even more dangerous when she's playing at this level.

McKinney with 15 points at the half👏#SkiUMah | #Gophers〽️ pic.twitter.com/oX0i4RdgM3

— Minnesota Women's Basketball (@GopherWBB) January 28, 2026

Mara Braun's efficient season-high

Now over 20 games into the season, there's a large enough sample size to know Braun is not the consistent No. 1 option on this Gophers team. That doesn't mean she still can't light up the box score when given the chance. Wednesday was her second time shooting over 50% from the field this season. She finished with a season-high 22 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists on 8 of 14 shooting from the field.

Wednesday was Braun's first 20-point game since Nov. 8, 2024, against Vermont, which was 446 days ago. It was her first against a Big Ten opponent since Jan. 3, 2024, against Maryland, which was 756 days ago. If Braun can score at the level she was before back-to-back season-ending injuries, Minnesota's ceiling would raise dramatically.