Gophers snap 34-game losing streak against ranked teams, beat No. 21 USC

Minnesota picked up its first marquee win of the season on Sunday afternoon at the Barn.

Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach Dawn Plitzuweit cheers on her team during the second half of the NCAA women's basketball game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Value City Arena in Columbus on Feb. 13, 2025. Ohio State won 87-84 in overtime. | Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It wasn't their cleanest performance of the season, but the Gophers finally broke through with a ranked win, taking down No. 21 USC 63-62 on Sunday afternoon at the Barn.

Grace Grocholski

Grocholski came into Sunday's game leading Minnesota with 13.1 points per game, and she put together one of her best performances. In a game where Mara Braun, Amaya Battle and Tori McKinney were all under 10 points, Grocholski stepped up with 25 points on 10 of 20 shooting from the field with eight rebounds. She has undoubtedly been the Gophers' most consistent offensive players this season.

Grace Grocholski in today’s upset win over No. 21 USC

25 points
FGs: 10-20
3P: 5-10
8 rebounds

She has taken another step with her offensive game this season. 🔥🔥

pic.twitter.com/FWgqNkLNWM

— Tony Liebert (@TonyLiebert) January 11, 2026

Losing streak against ranked opponents ends at 34

You have to go all the way back to Nov. 19, 2019, to find Minnesota's last win over a team ranked in the Associated Press (AP) top 25 poll. It beat No. 19 Arizona State 2,244 days ago. Sunday's win over No. 21 USC snaps a 35-game losing streak against ranked opponents.

Dawn Plitzuweit has objectively done a good job rebuilding the Gophers program with 20 and then 25 wins in her first two years with the program, but tonight was her first win against a ranked opponent. She's now 1-14 against teams ranked in the AP Top 25 since arriving in the Twin Cities.

Subscribe: Sign up to receive the free Gophers On SI newsletter

The Gophers are looking to get back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017-18, and today's win was a huge step in the right direction. The Trojans were without fourth-leading-scorer Kennedy Smith, but it's still a win that will look great on Minnesota's resume in March.

Backcourt inconsistencies

A big reason why Minnesota had big expectations coming into this season was the return of both Amaya Battle and Mara Braun, who are in their fourth year of college. Battle has started 112 college basketball games, and Braun has started 71. They're one of the most veteran backcourts in the sport, but they're not playing like it.

Battle was averaging a career-low 7.9 points and 3.8 assists, but a career-high 7.5 rebounds per game. She was shooting a career-low 30.8% from the field entering Sunday's game, but she was averaging a career-low 1.6 turnovers per game. She finished with only four points, five rebounds, four assists and four turnovers against USC.

Braun is coming off back-to-back season-ending injuries, but she's also struggling with consistency this season. She came into the USC matchup, averaging a career-low 11.0 points per game. Minnesota has been waiting for her offensive explosion, and it did not happen on Sunday, with only six points, but 10 rebounds and two assists. Minnesota will need more consistency if it wants to make serious noise this March.