Gophers Take Down Ole Miss in a Thriller, Advance to First Sweet 16 in Over 20 Years

Party like it's 2005. Gophers women's basketball took down No. 5 seed Ole Miss 68-65 in an all-time classic game in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. A game-winner from Amaya Battle will go down as one of the biggest shots in program history. They will keep dancing into the Sweet 16 for the first time since the 2004-05 season.

The Gophers started slow in Friday's win over Green Bay, but that was not the case in round two. They delivered the first punch with a 17-12 lead after the first quarter, and they never really looked back. Mara Braun began to take over the game with a trio of huge threes in the first half.

Minnesota got in a bit of foul trouble with Tori McKinney, Amaya Battle and Grace Grocholski all carrying two fouls into the locker room, but they also had a 32-29 lead. Ole Miss did not go down without a fight, and they came out of the locker room as the aggressors.

The Rebels shot 11 of 15 (73.3%) from the field as a team in the third quarter, and Minnesota's elite defense had no answer. The momentum completely shifted in favor of Ole Miss. Their athleticism and physicality began to bother the Gophers, but they punched back.

Minnesota trailed by seven points with less than six minutes left, but they didn't blink. Braun had an all-time shot to tie the game with 1:17 left. Sophie Hart gave them the lead on their next possession, but Ole Miss responded to tie the game with three seconds left.

Battle delivered an all-time moment with a game-winning shot to give Minnesota a 65-63 win.

AMAYA BATTLE.

THE GOPHERS ARE GOING TO THE SWEET 16. pic.twitter.com/kZ9o7sm2fm
— Tony Liebert (@TonyLiebert) March 22, 2026

Braun led the team with 17 points on 6 of 11 shooting from the field, and Battle finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Potential opponent

The Gophers will not officially know who they'll play in the Sweet 16 until Monday night. No. 1 seed UCLA will host No. 8 Oklahoma State at 9 p.m. CT for the right to play Minnesota. The Bruins are 14.5-point betting favorites in that game, so the expectation is we will see a rematch of their Jan. 14 matchup when UCLA won by 18 points at the Barn. This game will be played in Sacramento, California, at Golden 1 Center. The date and time for the game will be announced on a later day.

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