NCAA Tournament or bust: Gophers' Mara Braun, Amaya Battle set goals high

Minnesota has high expectations heading into year three under Dawn Plitzuweit.

Oct 8, 2025; Rosemont, Illinois, USA; Minnesota’s Mara Braun speaks during Big Ten Women’s Basketball Media Days at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Talia Sprague-Imagn Images | Talia Sprague-Imagn Images

Gophers women's basketball ended last season on a high note with a Women's Basketball Invitational Tournament (WBIT) championship, but they have their sights set higher in 2025-26. Heading into year three of the Dawn Plitzuweit era, a berth in the NCAA Tournament seems like a reasonable expectation.

Former Gophers assistant coach Shimmy Gray-Miller is now an analyst for Big Ten Network, but she helped recruit players like Mara Braun and Amaya Battle to stay home and play for Minnesota. She asked Minnesota's veteran backcourt if it's 'NCAA Tournament or bust' at Big Ten Media Days earlier this week.

"Safe to say," Braun responded.

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"We want to be playing our best basketball around that time, so yeah," Battle added.

Minnesota Golden Gophers guard Amaya Battle (3) looks to pass Wednesday, April 2, 2025, during the WBIT championship game between the Minnesota Golden Gophers and the Belmont Bruins at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. | Grace Smith/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Minnesota returns its top six scorers from last season, but more importantly, Braun is fully healthy after playing only five games last season. The former Big Ten all-freshman team member's 2024-25 season ended due to injury for the second straight year.

"It was hard. Unfortunately, it's common that you go through an injury in sport. The main thing for me was relying on my teammates, the people close to me," Braun said. "Lucky for me, I was 30 minutes away from home. Going through both surgeries, I was at home with my parents, helping me through that. I am so thankful to have the culture we do and the people we do, that you can really rely on those people. I think that's really the only way through it."

The Gophers were completely snubbed off the 2025-26 preseason All-Big Ten team, and the team was not included in the top five of the preseason media or coaches' poll.

With a potential starting lineup of four fourth-year players in Braun, Battle, Sophie Hart and Mallory Heyer, plus junior Grace Grocholski, Minnesota has all the pieces to make a deep run this March. Bench players like Tori McKinney and Taylor Woodson give them one of the deepest rotations in the country.

Minnesota's women's basketball program has not played in the NCAA Tournament in the seven years since 2017-18. It is the longest drought for the program since the 1990s. The Big Ten will be the deepest conference in women's basketball once again, but the Gophers have all the makings of a team that can make some noise and get back to the big dance this March.