University of Minnesota Athletics
Staff Directory
Dawn Plitzuweit
- Title:
- Head Coach
The 2026-27 season will mark the fourth year for Dawn Plitzuweit at the helm of the Golden Gophers women’s basketball program. Plitzuweit was named the 13th head coach in Minnesota women’s basketball history on March 18, 2023.
Plitzuweit (PLITTS-zoo-white) holds a career coaching record of 434-177 (.710) across 19 seasons as a head coach, including a 317-138 (.695) mark at the Division I level. She has recorded 18 winning seasons, two 30-win campaigns and 12 20-win seasons. Over her 19 seasons as a head coach, she has reached the postseason 17 times.
Plitzuweit continued to elevate the University of Minnesota women’s basketball program during the 2025-26 season, guiding the Golden Gophers to their best season in over 20 years with a run to the Sweet 16, where they fell to eventual national champion, UCLA.
Minnesota reached the 20-win mark for the third consecutive season, making Plitzuweit just the second coach in program history to achieve three straight 20-win seasons, joining Pam Borton (2002-05).
The Gophers were especially impressive in Big Ten play, finishing the 2025-26 conference season with a 13-5 record. The 13 league victories matched a program high, previously accomplished during the 1982-83 and 1984-85 seasons. Minnesota’s strong conference performance earned the team the No. 4 seed and a double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament, marking its highest finish since the 2017-18 season. Notably, Plitzuweit’s 26 Big Ten wins through her first three seasons rank third in program history.
Throughout the year, Minnesota proved it could compete with the nation’s best. The Gophers secured four wins over AP Top 25 opponents, including two victories over top-10 teams, marking the program’s first season with multiple top-10 wins since 2003-04. Highlights included defeating No. 16 Ole Miss in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to advance to the Sweet 16, a win over No. 21 USC and victories over No. 10 Iowa at Carver-Hawkeye Arena and No. 10 Ohio State at The Barn. The win over Iowa marked the program’s first top-10 road victory since 2003. The team’s four ranked wins were its most since the 2017-18 season.
Plitzuweit and her staff saw four Minnesota standouts earn All-Big Ten recognition. Grocholski was named an All-Big Ten Second Team honoree by both the league’s coaches and media, while Battle was named to the All-Big Ten Third Team by both the league's coaches and media. McKinney was placed on the Second Team by the coaches, while the media put her on the Third Team. Braun was tabbed as an Honorable Mention honoree by the coaches. It marked the most individual honors Minnesota has received since 2020, when four Gophers were selected (Taiye Bello, Jasmine Powell, Gadiva Hubbard, Sara Scalia).
Additionally, Battle and McKinney were named to the league's All-Defensive Team, marking the first time Minnesota has had two on the team in program history. Sophie Hart was selected as Minnesota's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honoree.
The regular-season success paid off, as Minnesota finished with a No. 18 ranking in the AP Poll, a No. 19 ranking in the USA TODAY/WBCA Coaches Poll, and a No. 9 NET ranking, the third highest in the Big Ten. Minnesota earned the opportunity to host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament as a No. 4 seed, its highest seed since 2005 when Minnesota was a No. 3 seed. It marked the program’s 11th NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2018, its first time hosting since 2005 and just the fourth time doing so in program history.
Minnesota defeated Green Bay in the first round, outscoring the Phoenix 30-9 in the fourth quarter to secure a 75-58 win. In the second round against Ole Miss, Amaya Battle’s baseline jumper with 0.8 seconds remaining sealed a 65-63 come-from-behind victory to send the Gophers to the Sweet Sixteen. Minnesota had trailed 54-46 entering the fourth quarter.
Minnesota ranked fifth in attendance among the 16 host sites for the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament. The Gophers’ average of 10,559 ranked ahead of 11 sites, including UConn, Texas, UCLA and Oklahoma.
Minnesota went 25-11 in Plitzuweit’s second year, highlighted by winning the 2025 WBIT (Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament) Championship. The Gophers recorded their first 25 win season since 2004-05 (26-8, 12-4 B1G) and back-to-back 20 win seasons since 2017-18 and 2018-19. Plitzuweit also coached two Gophers to All-Big Ten Honorable Mention accolades in Amaya Battle and Grace Grocholski.
In Plitzuweit's first season, the Gophers won 20 games, finishing with an overall record of 20-16. The squad reached the WNIT Championship game and finished as the runner-up. In 2023-24, Plitzuweit coached a pair of All-Big Ten Honorable Mention guards in Mara Braun and Amaya Battle while also helping Grace Grocholski to a unanimous Big Ten All-Freshman Team selection.
Statistically, Plitzuweit’s teams have long been defined by elite defensive play and ball security. In seven of the past eight seasons, her squads have ranked in the top 20 nationally in turnover margin, including the 2024-25 campaign at Minnesota with a margin of 4.5, which was the No. 1 mark in the Big Ten and ninth-best margin in the country. Her South Dakota teams also consistently ranked in the top 20 nationally in scoring margin and turnover margin, outscoring opponents by an average of 18.5 points per game and maintaining a +6.2 turnover margin from 2018-22.
Plitzuweit joined the Maroon and Gold after serving as the head coach at West Virginia University for the 2022-23 season, where she led the Mountaineers to a 19-12 record, a fifth-place finish in the Big 12, and an NCAA Tournament berth.
Before her season in Morgantown, Plitzuweit served as the head coach at South Dakota from 2016-22, asserting the Coyotes as the premier mid-major program in the country. During her six seasons in Vermillion, South Dakota, she amassed a 158-36 record, including an 83-10 mark in the Summit League. She finished her tenure with the highest winning percentage in USD history and ranked second in total wins, eclipsing the 20-win mark in five of her six seasons and tallying at least 28 wins in four campaigns.
A three-time Summit League Coach of the Year, Plitzuweit led USD to three regular-season championships, three conference tournament championships, four NCAA Tournament appearances, and a historic berth in the 2022 NCAA Sweet 16. During that memorable 2022 run, the No. 10-seed Coyotes defeated No. 7 Ole Miss (75-61) before stunning No. 2 Baylor (61-47) on their home court in Waco, Texas, leading from start to finish to snap the Bears' streak of 12 consecutive Sweet 16 appearances. USD concluded the campaign with a narrow 52-49 loss to No. 3 Michigan in the Sweet 16.
Plitzuweit was the fastest coach in Summit League history to reach 100 wins, doing so in just 124 games, and still holds the Summit League records for overall winning percentage (.814) and conference winning percentage (.892). Under her guidance, USD made its first-ever appearances in the national polls, ranking as high as No. 17 in the AP Poll and No. 11 in the Coaches Poll during a dominant 2019-20 campaign, the No. 11 spot representing the highest national ranking earned by any team in Summit League history. That year, her squad went 30-2, outscoring league opponents by an average of 32 points per game to become the first and only program to go undefeated in the Summit League regular season and win the conference tournament championship. Her USD teams also set Summit League records for the most consecutive wins (20 in 2017-18), most consecutive league wins (24 from 2019-21), most consecutive home league wins (31), highest single-season winning percentage (.938 in 2019-20), and fewest losses (2 in 2019-20). USD received votes or was ranked in the AP Top 25 in 45 weeks during her final four years.
Throughout her tenure at USD, Plitzuweit coached 37 all-conference selections, including 10 All-Summit League honorees in 2022 alone. Her players collected two Summit League Player of the Year awards (Ciara Duffy in 2020 and Chloe Lamb in 2022), two Freshmen/Newcomers of the Year, and five Defensive Players of the Year.
Prior to South Dakota, Plitzuweit was the head coach at Northern Kentucky (2012-16), where she amassed a 71-54 record and reached the WBI in all four seasons while successfully guiding the program through its transition to NCAA Division I. She began her head coaching career at Grand Valley State (2002-07), compiling a 117-39 (.750) record, including a 66-22 mark in the GLIAC. Her tenure was highlighted by a 33-3 season in 2005-06, when she led the Lakers to the NCAA Division II National Championship for the first time in program history and was named the NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year.
Before South Dakota and West Virginia Plitzuweit also was the head coach at Northern Kentucky (2012-16) and Grand Valley State (2002-07). She also was an associate head coach at Michigan (2007-12), Green Bay (1998-02), Wisconsin (1997-98) and her alma mater Michigan Tech (1995-97).
Plitzuweit's coaching honors include the prestigious 2021-22 Kay Yow Award, presented annually to the Division I women’s head college basketball coach who embodies a winning spirit while displaying great character, on and off the court. She was named the Summit League Coach of the Year for three consecutive seasons (2018, 2019, 2020) and was a semifinalist for the 2020 Werner Ladder Naismith Coach of the Year.
A 1995 graduate of Michigan Tech, Plitzuweit earned back-to-back GLIAC Player of the Year awards, four all-conference honors and three all-defensive team nods. She led the Huskies to a 99-22 record and four trips to the NCAA Division II Tournament. She was a Division II Bulletin All-America Second Team selection and a two-time Kodak All-America honorable mention pick (1994, 1995). She earned WBCA All-Academic accolades in 1994 and 1995 and was named Michigan’s NCAA Woman of the Year in 1995.
Plitzuweit (PLITTS-zoo-white) holds a career coaching record of 434-177 (.710) across 19 seasons as a head coach, including a 317-138 (.695) mark at the Division I level. She has recorded 18 winning seasons, two 30-win campaigns and 12 20-win seasons. Over her 19 seasons as a head coach, she has reached the postseason 17 times.
Plitzuweit continued to elevate the University of Minnesota women’s basketball program during the 2025-26 season, guiding the Golden Gophers to their best season in over 20 years with a run to the Sweet 16, where they fell to eventual national champion, UCLA.
Minnesota reached the 20-win mark for the third consecutive season, making Plitzuweit just the second coach in program history to achieve three straight 20-win seasons, joining Pam Borton (2002-05).
The Gophers were especially impressive in Big Ten play, finishing the 2025-26 conference season with a 13-5 record. The 13 league victories matched a program high, previously accomplished during the 1982-83 and 1984-85 seasons. Minnesota’s strong conference performance earned the team the No. 4 seed and a double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament, marking its highest finish since the 2017-18 season. Notably, Plitzuweit’s 26 Big Ten wins through her first three seasons rank third in program history.
Throughout the year, Minnesota proved it could compete with the nation’s best. The Gophers secured four wins over AP Top 25 opponents, including two victories over top-10 teams, marking the program’s first season with multiple top-10 wins since 2003-04. Highlights included defeating No. 16 Ole Miss in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to advance to the Sweet 16, a win over No. 21 USC and victories over No. 10 Iowa at Carver-Hawkeye Arena and No. 10 Ohio State at The Barn. The win over Iowa marked the program’s first top-10 road victory since 2003. The team’s four ranked wins were its most since the 2017-18 season.
Plitzuweit and her staff saw four Minnesota standouts earn All-Big Ten recognition. Grocholski was named an All-Big Ten Second Team honoree by both the league’s coaches and media, while Battle was named to the All-Big Ten Third Team by both the league's coaches and media. McKinney was placed on the Second Team by the coaches, while the media put her on the Third Team. Braun was tabbed as an Honorable Mention honoree by the coaches. It marked the most individual honors Minnesota has received since 2020, when four Gophers were selected (Taiye Bello, Jasmine Powell, Gadiva Hubbard, Sara Scalia).
Additionally, Battle and McKinney were named to the league's All-Defensive Team, marking the first time Minnesota has had two on the team in program history. Sophie Hart was selected as Minnesota's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honoree.
The regular-season success paid off, as Minnesota finished with a No. 18 ranking in the AP Poll, a No. 19 ranking in the USA TODAY/WBCA Coaches Poll, and a No. 9 NET ranking, the third highest in the Big Ten. Minnesota earned the opportunity to host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament as a No. 4 seed, its highest seed since 2005 when Minnesota was a No. 3 seed. It marked the program’s 11th NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2018, its first time hosting since 2005 and just the fourth time doing so in program history.
Minnesota defeated Green Bay in the first round, outscoring the Phoenix 30-9 in the fourth quarter to secure a 75-58 win. In the second round against Ole Miss, Amaya Battle’s baseline jumper with 0.8 seconds remaining sealed a 65-63 come-from-behind victory to send the Gophers to the Sweet Sixteen. Minnesota had trailed 54-46 entering the fourth quarter.
Minnesota ranked fifth in attendance among the 16 host sites for the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament. The Gophers’ average of 10,559 ranked ahead of 11 sites, including UConn, Texas, UCLA and Oklahoma.
Minnesota went 25-11 in Plitzuweit’s second year, highlighted by winning the 2025 WBIT (Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament) Championship. The Gophers recorded their first 25 win season since 2004-05 (26-8, 12-4 B1G) and back-to-back 20 win seasons since 2017-18 and 2018-19. Plitzuweit also coached two Gophers to All-Big Ten Honorable Mention accolades in Amaya Battle and Grace Grocholski.
In Plitzuweit's first season, the Gophers won 20 games, finishing with an overall record of 20-16. The squad reached the WNIT Championship game and finished as the runner-up. In 2023-24, Plitzuweit coached a pair of All-Big Ten Honorable Mention guards in Mara Braun and Amaya Battle while also helping Grace Grocholski to a unanimous Big Ten All-Freshman Team selection.
Statistically, Plitzuweit’s teams have long been defined by elite defensive play and ball security. In seven of the past eight seasons, her squads have ranked in the top 20 nationally in turnover margin, including the 2024-25 campaign at Minnesota with a margin of 4.5, which was the No. 1 mark in the Big Ten and ninth-best margin in the country. Her South Dakota teams also consistently ranked in the top 20 nationally in scoring margin and turnover margin, outscoring opponents by an average of 18.5 points per game and maintaining a +6.2 turnover margin from 2018-22.
Plitzuweit joined the Maroon and Gold after serving as the head coach at West Virginia University for the 2022-23 season, where she led the Mountaineers to a 19-12 record, a fifth-place finish in the Big 12, and an NCAA Tournament berth.
Before her season in Morgantown, Plitzuweit served as the head coach at South Dakota from 2016-22, asserting the Coyotes as the premier mid-major program in the country. During her six seasons in Vermillion, South Dakota, she amassed a 158-36 record, including an 83-10 mark in the Summit League. She finished her tenure with the highest winning percentage in USD history and ranked second in total wins, eclipsing the 20-win mark in five of her six seasons and tallying at least 28 wins in four campaigns.
A three-time Summit League Coach of the Year, Plitzuweit led USD to three regular-season championships, three conference tournament championships, four NCAA Tournament appearances, and a historic berth in the 2022 NCAA Sweet 16. During that memorable 2022 run, the No. 10-seed Coyotes defeated No. 7 Ole Miss (75-61) before stunning No. 2 Baylor (61-47) on their home court in Waco, Texas, leading from start to finish to snap the Bears' streak of 12 consecutive Sweet 16 appearances. USD concluded the campaign with a narrow 52-49 loss to No. 3 Michigan in the Sweet 16.
Plitzuweit was the fastest coach in Summit League history to reach 100 wins, doing so in just 124 games, and still holds the Summit League records for overall winning percentage (.814) and conference winning percentage (.892). Under her guidance, USD made its first-ever appearances in the national polls, ranking as high as No. 17 in the AP Poll and No. 11 in the Coaches Poll during a dominant 2019-20 campaign, the No. 11 spot representing the highest national ranking earned by any team in Summit League history. That year, her squad went 30-2, outscoring league opponents by an average of 32 points per game to become the first and only program to go undefeated in the Summit League regular season and win the conference tournament championship. Her USD teams also set Summit League records for the most consecutive wins (20 in 2017-18), most consecutive league wins (24 from 2019-21), most consecutive home league wins (31), highest single-season winning percentage (.938 in 2019-20), and fewest losses (2 in 2019-20). USD received votes or was ranked in the AP Top 25 in 45 weeks during her final four years.
Throughout her tenure at USD, Plitzuweit coached 37 all-conference selections, including 10 All-Summit League honorees in 2022 alone. Her players collected two Summit League Player of the Year awards (Ciara Duffy in 2020 and Chloe Lamb in 2022), two Freshmen/Newcomers of the Year, and five Defensive Players of the Year.
Prior to South Dakota, Plitzuweit was the head coach at Northern Kentucky (2012-16), where she amassed a 71-54 record and reached the WBI in all four seasons while successfully guiding the program through its transition to NCAA Division I. She began her head coaching career at Grand Valley State (2002-07), compiling a 117-39 (.750) record, including a 66-22 mark in the GLIAC. Her tenure was highlighted by a 33-3 season in 2005-06, when she led the Lakers to the NCAA Division II National Championship for the first time in program history and was named the NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year.
Before South Dakota and West Virginia Plitzuweit also was the head coach at Northern Kentucky (2012-16) and Grand Valley State (2002-07). She also was an associate head coach at Michigan (2007-12), Green Bay (1998-02), Wisconsin (1997-98) and her alma mater Michigan Tech (1995-97).
Plitzuweit's coaching honors include the prestigious 2021-22 Kay Yow Award, presented annually to the Division I women’s head college basketball coach who embodies a winning spirit while displaying great character, on and off the court. She was named the Summit League Coach of the Year for three consecutive seasons (2018, 2019, 2020) and was a semifinalist for the 2020 Werner Ladder Naismith Coach of the Year.
A 1995 graduate of Michigan Tech, Plitzuweit earned back-to-back GLIAC Player of the Year awards, four all-conference honors and three all-defensive team nods. She led the Huskies to a 99-22 record and four trips to the NCAA Division II Tournament. She was a Division II Bulletin All-America Second Team selection and a two-time Kodak All-America honorable mention pick (1994, 1995). She earned WBCA All-Academic accolades in 1994 and 1995 and was named Michigan’s NCAA Woman of the Year in 1995.
| Plitzuweit's Career Record | |||||||
| Year | School | Record | Conference Record | Conference Finish | Postseason | ||
| 2002-03 | Grand Valley State | 24-7 | 13-5 | 2nd | NCAA Div. II First Round | ||
| 2003-04 | Grand Valley State | 11-15 | 8-10 | T5th | |||
| 2004-05 | Grand Valley State | 28-6 | 16-2 | T1st | NCAA Div. II Quarterfinals | ||
| 2005-06 | Grand Valley State | 33-3 | 15-1 | 1st | NCAA Div. II Champions | ||
| 2006-07 | Grand Valley State | 21-8 | 14-4 | 1st | NCAA Div. II First Round | ||
| Grand Valley State Totals | 117-39 (.750) | 66-22 (.750) | |||||
| 2012-13 | Northern Kentucky | 15-13 | 12-6 | 4th | WBI First Round | ||
| 2013-14 | Northern Kentucky | 18-13 | 13-5 | 3rd | WBI Second Round | ||
| 2014-15 | Northern Kentucky | 19-14 | 8-6 | 3rd | WBI First Round | ||
| 2015-16 | Northern Kentucky | 19-14 | 9-9 | T5th | WBI First Round | ||
| Northern Kentucky Totals | 71-54 (.568) | 42-26 (.618) | |||||
| 2016-17 | South Dakota | 23-9 | 11-5 | 4th | WNIT Second Round | ||
| 2017-18 |
|
29-7 | 14-0 | 1st | WNIT Quarterfinals | ||
| 2018-19 |
|
28-6 | 14-2 | 2nd | NCAA First Round | ||
| 2019-20 |
|
30-2 | 15-0 | 1st | Cancelled | ||
| 2020-21 |
|
19-6 | 12-2 | 2nd | NCAA First Round | ||
| 2021-22 |
|
29-6 | 17-1 | 1st | NCAA Sweet 16 | ||
| South Dakota Totals | 158-36 (.814) | 83-10 (.892) | |||||
| 2022-23 | West Virginia | 19-12 | 10-8 | T4th | NCAA First Round | ||
| West Virginia Totals | 19-12 (.613) | 10-8 (.556) | |||||
| 2023-24 | Minnesota | 20-16 | 5-13 | 11th | WNIT Runner-Up | ||
| 2024-25 | Minnesota | 25-11 | 8-10 | 13th | WBIT Champion | ||
| 2025-26 | Minnesota | 24-9 | 13-5 | 4th | NCAA Sweet 16 | ||
| Minnesota Totals | 69-36 (.657) | 26-28 (.481) | |||||
| Career Totals | 434-177 (.710) | 227-94 (.707) | |||||
Friday, June 26
Friday, June 26
Monday, June 22
Monday, June 22
