Gophers women’s basketball enters Big Ten tournament needing one or two more victories to pad NCAA résumé

Riding the NCAA tournament bubble, with a rematch with Washington looming in the first round of the Big Ten women’s basketball tournament, Gophers coach Dawn Plitzuweit used part of her Monday meeting with reporters to make a case for her team deserving a bid.

“I think this team has earned an opportunity to play in the postseason,” she said.

According to most bracketologists, the Gophers are on the cusp of a bid. The Gophers enter the tournament in Indianapolis on Wednesday with the 13th seed in the deep, 18-team Big Ten. ESPN has, for much of the season, indicated that 13 of those 18 teams could get an NCAA bid.

The Gophers are 0-7 vs. ranked teams this season and don’t have a Quad 1 win. But six of those seven games were on the road, and the Gophers have been competitive in many of them, including forcing overtime in a 87-84 loss at then-No. 9 Ohio State on Feb. 13.

Thirteen Big Ten teams are ranked in the top 43 in the NCAA’s NET rankings, and the Gophers are ninth on that list, at 36th. This despite playing the conference schedule without two key players out — leading scorer Mara Braun and top reserve Taylor Woodson — because of injuries.

Plitzuweit pointed to the Gophers improving from five Big Ten victories last season to eight this season in a conference that, with the addition of USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington, has become much better.

“Do I think our kids deserve a chance? I absolutely do,” Plitzuweit said. “This is unprecedented. I think the Big Ten is the deepest conference in the history of NCAA women’s basketball. It’s never been like this before.

The Gophers are 2-4 in Quad 2 games. Their best two wins of the season came at home, 68-61 against Illinois on Jan. 5 and 66-56 over Indiana on Feb. 9.

But, having lost two in a row and four of five to end the regular season, they could really use another victory or two to pad their résumé.

And it won’t be easy against a Washington team that rallied from 12 down in the second quarter to beat the Gophers 72-62 at Williams Arena last Wednesday.

Washington (18-12, 9-9) is one of the most efficient offensive teams in the nation. The Huskies are second in the Big Ten and ninth nationally in shooting percentage (47.9) and first in the conference and No. 8 in the nation in three-point shooting (37.5).

After starting the Big Ten schedule 5-9, the Huskies have won four in a row by an average of 14.2 points, shooting 55.2% overall and 45.7% on threes in victories over Rutgers, Nebraska, the Gophers and Oregon.

“Their guards are really savvy, in terms of setting you up and using ball screens,” Plitzuweit said. “… It’s a good opportunity for us to go back on film, evaluate, and be in better spots this time around.”

Battling an illness, center Sophie Hart scored only five points while playing about 33 minutes the past two games. She’s back healthy. And the Gophers, who struggled with some of Washington’s ball-screen action, could play better.

Plitzuweit said recent Gophers practices have been very good, and she can see the team improving. But, she said, that doesn’t always translate immediately to games. “We are going to get this figured out,” she said.

The sooner the better. A victory Wednesday would seem crucial. It would put the Gophers into a game with Michigan — which beat the Gophers 70-65 on Jan. 22 — on Thursday.

“This is a chance for us to take what we’ve learned and move it forward,” Plitzuweit said.

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