University of Minnesota Athletics
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
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/ Women's Basketball
Plitzuweit Era Begins Wednesday Night against LIU
11/7/2023 9:01:00 AM | Women's Basketball
MINNEAPOLIS - The Dawn Plitzuweit era is set to begin for the Minnesota Golden Gophers (0-0, 0-0 B1G) as the LIU Sharks (0-1, 0-0 NEC) come to Williams Arena on Wednesday, Nov. 8. The game can be watched on B1G+ with Kyra Schwanx and Hunter Bertram and can be heard on KFAN+ with Justin Gaard and Lynnette Sjoquist on the call.
GAME INFORMATION
Stream: B1G+
Tip Time: 7:01 P.M.
Radio: KFAN+ 96.7 FM and the iHeartRadio app (Justin Gaard and Lynnette Sjoquist)
Sirius: Sirius App or Channel 372
Promotion: The first 3,000 fans will receive a FREE commemorative Gopher Women's Basketball rally towel in honor of head coach Dawn Plitzuweit's first season.
ABOUT THE LIU GAME
BY THE NUMBERS
10 - Of Minnesota's 14 student-athletes, 10 of them were multi-sport athletes at the high school level.
12 - Mara Braun has hit at least one three in 12 straight games dating back to last season.
1 - The Golden Gophers are tied for the youngest team in the Big Ten with Wisconsin with 10 underclassmen.
7.1 - Mallory Heyer was the No. 1 rebounding freshman in the conference last season at 7.1 per game. Overall Heyer finished eighth in rebounding average in the conference.
2024 - The Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn., will host both the men's and women's Big Ten Tournament in March of 2024.
Next the Gophers continue the start of the 2023-24 season by hosting Chicago State (0-0) on November 12, at 1 p.m. at Williams Arena. That game will serve as the Gophers Military Appreciation Night.
Fans interested in buying season tickets for Gopher women's basketball this season can find more information at https://z.umn.edu/24sznTix or by calling the Minnesota Ticket Sales Office by phone at 1-800-U-GOPHER or by email at gophersports@umn.edu.
For more information on the Gophers, continue to check back with GopherSports.com. Keep up with the University of Minnesota women's basketball on Twitter (X.com), Instagram (@GopherWBB) and on Facebook, so you do not miss any content during the 2023-24 season.
GAME INFORMATION
Stream: B1G+
Tip Time: 7:01 P.M.
Radio: KFAN+ 96.7 FM and the iHeartRadio app (Justin Gaard and Lynnette Sjoquist)
Sirius: Sirius App or Channel 372
Promotion: The first 3,000 fans will receive a FREE commemorative Gopher Women's Basketball rally towel in honor of head coach Dawn Plitzuweit's first season.
ABOUT THE LIU GAME
- Minnesota's season-opening matchup with LIU is the first between the two programs. The last, and only, time the Gophers took on a team from the Northeast Conference was in 2005 against Saint Francis (Pa.) in the NCAA Tournament.
- Long Island University is coming off a 81-44 loss to St. John's (NY), which was played on November, 6, at Carnesecca Arena in Queens, N.Y. Ashley Austin led the team with 14 points in 30 minutes.
- The Sharks return each of their top two scorers from a season ago with senior Ashley Austin leading the way at 12.5 points per contest and a 43.1 percent clip from the floor. Fellow senior Emaia O'Brien also returns with an average of 9.1 points per game in just 20 appearances along with 12 starts.
- Last season LIU was a top 25 team in the country in three-point percentage defense, holding their opponents to 27.3 percent from beyond the arc, which was second in the Northeast Conference behind Fairleigh Dickinson (22.1 percent) who led the nation. The Sharks were also 38th in the country in bench points per game at 23.4 per game, which led the Northeast Conference (NEC).
- Plitzuweit was hired to be the 13th head coach in Minnesota women's basketball history on March 18, 2023 (235 days prior to the Nov. 8, season opener). Coach Plitzuweit comes to Minnesota from West Virginia, a team that she led to the NCAA Tournament last season. The Michigan Tech graduate has qualified for the NCAA Tournament for five straight seasons going back to her time at South Dakota. Plitzuweit brings in a resume to Dinkytown that includes three Summit League Coach of the Year honors, three regular season championships, three conference tournament championships, four NCAA Tournament appearances and a berth in the 2022 NCAA Sweet 16 during her tenure at USD. During her coaching career, she also has totaled 15 winning seasons and nine 20-win seasons, including two 30-win campaigns. She also led Grand Valley State University, a Division II institution, to a National Championship in 2006.
- The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association announced on Oct. 18, that Minnesota's Mara Braun was named as one of 20 candidates for the Cheryl Miller Award for the nation's top small forward. The preseason watch list was determined by a national committee of top college basketball personnel. In late January, the watch list of 20 players for the 2024 Cheryl Miller Award will be narrowed to 10. Additionally, the Big Ten Conference announced on Oct. 4, that Braun had been selected to the 2023-24 Preseason All-Big Ten Team, as voted by the league's coaches. Braun is one of just two sophomores to be honored by the conference's coaches, joining Cotie McMahon of Ohio State.
- Minnesota is 35-15 in season opening contests all-time and are 27-5 at home in season openers. In those 32 games at home the Gophers have averaged 81.6 points per game and have won on average by a score of 21.1 points. In last season's season opener, Mara Braun led the way with 21 points, seven boards, and four steals in 30 minutes of action.
- Minnesota's 2023-24 roster is composed of seven freshmen and three sophomores along with two juniors, one senior and one graduate student. Despite the youth on the team, the Gophers still return 55.9 percent of their scoring from last year's team.
- Sophomore guard Amaya Battle returns after a stat-stuffing rookie campaign. Battle crushed a 45-year-old single-season record for assists in a single season by a freshman (Joan Kowalsky, 1977-78). Battle finished with 133 assists, besting Kowalsky by 27. Battle also notched the first points-assists double double in nearly three full years with 10-10 against Wisconsin (2/11).
BY THE NUMBERS
10 - Of Minnesota's 14 student-athletes, 10 of them were multi-sport athletes at the high school level.
12 - Mara Braun has hit at least one three in 12 straight games dating back to last season.
1 - The Golden Gophers are tied for the youngest team in the Big Ten with Wisconsin with 10 underclassmen.
7.1 - Mallory Heyer was the No. 1 rebounding freshman in the conference last season at 7.1 per game. Overall Heyer finished eighth in rebounding average in the conference.
2024 - The Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn., will host both the men's and women's Big Ten Tournament in March of 2024.
Next the Gophers continue the start of the 2023-24 season by hosting Chicago State (0-0) on November 12, at 1 p.m. at Williams Arena. That game will serve as the Gophers Military Appreciation Night.
Fans interested in buying season tickets for Gopher women's basketball this season can find more information at https://z.umn.edu/24sznTix or by calling the Minnesota Ticket Sales Office by phone at 1-800-U-GOPHER or by email at gophersports@umn.edu.
For more information on the Gophers, continue to check back with GopherSports.com. Keep up with the University of Minnesota women's basketball on Twitter (X.com), Instagram (@GopherWBB) and on Facebook, so you do not miss any content during the 2023-24 season.
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