Top 3 Things You Want To See Against Minnesota on Sunday

[Gordo]

BTW Does anyone know where we can get a general rundown on MN's team?

Maybe Women's Basketball - University of Minnesota Athletics

 

[Bone Dog]

BTW Does anyone know where we can get a general rundown on MN's team?

the players to watch on MN are Amaya Battle (pg) Mara Braun (sg) and Mallory Heyer (f). Amaya played on Paige’s hs team and they are close friends. Mara played on the crosstown rival Wayzata hs and they are also friends. They had several close competitive games in those days and Mara usually matched up against Paige. You can find videos of them on YouTube.

 

[YKCornelius]

the players to watch on MN are Amaya Battle (pg) Mara Braun (sg) and Mallory Heyer (f). Amaya played on Paige’s hs team and they are close friends. Mara played on the crosstown rival Wayzata hs and they are also friends. They had several close competitive games in those days and Mara usually matched up against Paige. You can find videos of them on YouTube.

Piggy-backing on Bone Dog, new coach Dawn Plitzuweit has has brought her successful South Dakota Coyote style of basketball (along with her 2021-22 coaching staff) to the Golden Gophers.

I see an unselfish team that, although young, is centered around a group that is very familiar with each other from HS and AAU days. Four of their top seven players played against Paige in HS (Mara Braun, Sophie Hart, Mallory Heyer and Nia Holloway) and one was a teammate of Paige's (Amaya Battle - Minnesota's Miss Basketball of 2022). Braun, Heyer, and Battle were starters last year, and Maggie Czinano (younger sister of Monika Czinano who was part of the 1-2 punch with Caitlin Clark at Iowa) played considerable minutes (17+) for the Golden Gophers last season. These returnees are used to playing in front of large crowds.

Braun played for USA Basketball and can get streaky hot, especially from the perimeter. 6'5" Hart (a portal transfer from NC State) has put on some bulk from her HS days and as a result doesn't run the court particularly well, but pairs nicely with the 6'1" Heyer to bring size and toughness to their front line.

They don't play rough and physical like Maryland, and haven't shown a lot of foot speed this year. But their teamwork is impressive, and they pass the ball around a lot. Like many midwestern teams, they run a lot of high ball screens to get their guards free for perimeter shots. They also like to drive the lanes and dish out to their shooters. Defense is a work-in-progress as they are still adjusting to each other in Dawn's system. As far as young teams go, this will be a fun team to watch develop over the next two years. They clearly are at ease playing with each other.

In my opinion, they play a lot like Creighton.