5 Key Takeaways From Minnesota's March Madness Win Over Green Bay

The final score doesn't show how much Green Bay tested the Gophers on Friday night, but they're advancing to the Round of 32 with a 75-58 win over the Phoenix. Here are five key takeaways from the game.

Amaya Battle's March Madness debut

In the modern era of college sports, players like Battle are continuing to become a thing of the past. After a standout career at Hopkins High School, she opted to stay home and play for Minnesota, and she stayed all four years, despite a coaching change. She earned an opportunity to play in March Madness at Williams Arena, and she flourished. She had a game-high 21 points on 9 of 18 shooting from the field, and she was the best player on the floor all night.

Amaya Battle tonight against Green Bay

21 points
FGs: 9-18
3P: 3-5
8 rebounds
3 assists

What a March Madness debut. 🔥

pic.twitter.com/IGbQAl90V9
— Tony Liebert (@TonyLiebert) March 20, 2026

Slow first-half

Minnesota looked like it felt the moment of its first NCAA Tournament game since 2017-18. Green Bay looked like the more loose team, and the Gophers were completely out of sync. They shot 10 more field goals than Green Bay in the first half, but shot 33.3% as a team compared to 46.2% for the Phoenix. The Gophers trailed 29-26 heading into the locker room. They couldn't string together any consistent success until a fourth-quarter avalanche of 30-9. The first three quarters could've just been some March Madness nerves.

Home atmopshere

The Gophers will have one more home game on Sunday against Ole Miss, but they're now 14-3 at Williams Arena this season. Head coach Dawn Plitzuweit has built a serious home environment for her team in just three seasons, and that was evident on Friday with the best atmosphere at Williams Arena in quite some time. It was the loudest atmosphere in the arena for any men's or women's game in recent history.

Pretty impressive atmosphere during player introductions before tonight’s Minnesota-Green Bay NCAA Tournament game. pic.twitter.com/B9pq12arjE
— Tony Liebert (@TonyLiebert) March 20, 2026

Rotation

The Gophers' slow start caused Dawn Plitzuweit to go deep into her bench and play 10 players in the first half. The most interesting substitutions were true freshman Zoey Bershers, who played just 23 minutes all season before Friday night, and Niamaya Holloway, who has played just two minutes since Feb. 15. It was odd to see Minnesota go so deep into the bench this late in the season.

Reason to be concerned?

My biggest takeaway from this game was that Green Bay might've been a little underseeded. They tested themselves against Power Conference competition in the nonconference, and it showed. Friday obviously wasn't great for the Gophers, but a mixture of March Madness nerves and a tough mid-major opponent made it a tough situation for any team.