The Gophers knew they needed the 50/50 games if they wanted a remote chance of competing in the Big 10 Conference. The Gophers trailed for most of this game by five at the half and down eight to start the fourth quarter. Both teams were cold shooting in the first half, leading to a 27-27 tie at the half. Minnesota’s best all-around player Tori McKinney went scoreless through 3 quarters but ended up scoring all eleven points in the 4th quarter including going 4-4 from the free throw line the last 2 minutes of the game.
Minnesota outscored Illinois 28-13 in the final quarter and did not allow Illinois to score a field goal in the final 4:23. It was a battle-tested game where it seemed like the Gophers five-game winning streak would come to an end, but they leaned on their starters to get in done when it counted, and the crowd at Williams Arena gave these women a nice round of applause for pulling out this victory. The Gophers have more importantly won three conference games in a row, which should give them confidence going forward.
Gophers Spread the Wealth: Balanced Offense Leads to Victory Over Illinois
The Gophers got some nice contributions from Sophomore guard Grace Grocholski. She had her best game by far this season scoring 19 points shooting 5-8 from the floor and 7-8 from the free throw line. She had 7 rebounds, and 3 steals, and nailed some critical free throws in the final minute of the game. Tori McKinney and Amaya battle didn’t shoot the ball well (31.8%) but they did do other things. Each of them had 5 rebounds, and 5 assists to go with their 11 points.
Mallory Heyer had a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds, and Annika Stewart had a consistent day off the Gophers bench scoring 11 points on 4-6 shooting. The Gophers improve to 15-1 overall and 3-1 in the Big 10. up next they play Rutgers at home on Wednesday.
Illinois was led by senior Genesis Bryant who was coming off a 32-point performance against Washington. Bryant had 20 points and 6 rebounds to lead the Illini. Adalia McKenzie scored 14 points, Jasmine brown-Hagger was in double figures with 10 points. Kendall Bostic is 10th in the nation in rebounding (10.8) per game and had 9 points to go with her 15 rebounds. Illinois drops to 11-4 overall 1-3 in the Big 10. Their next game is at home against #23-ranked Iowa on Thursday night.
Milestone Victory: Plitzuweit Earns 400th Career Win as Gophers Defeat Illinois
Dawn Plitzuweit started her career as an assistant at her Alma mater, Michigan Tech, under her collegiate coach Kevin Borseth, and would continue to coach with him at Green Bay and then Michigan.
Her first head coaching job was from 2002 -2007 where she led Division II Grand Valley State to the NCAA Div. II tournament 4 out of the five years she coached there. She compiled an impressive 117-39 record and guided Grand Valley State to a championship in her last year in 2007. After Grand Valley State she was an assistant at Michigan for five years. After Michigan, she was back as a head coach at Northern Kentucky from 2012-2016. recording a record of 71-54, and getting Northern Kentucky to the WBI tournament all four years.
In 2016 Plitzuweit would be named the Head Coach at South Dakota. During her tenure, she led the team to a 158-36 overall record, led the Coyotes to three Summit League titles, three consecutive Summit League Tournament Championships, and four straight NCAA tournament appearances including a trip to the Sweet 16 in 2022. She was selected as Summit League coach of the year 3 times in her tenure as Coyotes coach.
She coached one year at West Virginia having a 19-12 record and making it into the NCAA before losing in the first round.
Plitzuweit signed a six-year contract in 2023 to coach the Gophers. In her first year, she went 20-16, making it to the NIT finals before losing to Saint Louis. Big things are happening in Minnesota and I think the Gophers have finally found a coach that can get them back to the NCAA tournament, they have to navigate through a very competitive Big 10 conference.
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