Gophers women close nonconference play with 96-57 rout of Prairie View A&M

Here is Amaya Battle’s current top-three list of favorite players ever: Tori McKinney, Mara Braun and Annika Stewart.

In a week, the Gophers women’s basketball team — which wrapped up its nonconference schedule with a 96-57 victory over Prairie View A&M on Friday afternoon at Williams Arena — will dive back into Big Ten play against Penn State.

They will do it without Braun, their high-scoring guard who is out with a foot injury. And without Taylor Woodson, a top reserve who was lost for the season with a knee injury. But they will do it with McKinney, a freshman exceeding expectations, and Stewart, a graduate transfer from Nebraska who is scoring at a career-high level.

Both are reasons for cautious optimism.

“I just want to continue to grow my game,” said Stewart, a former Wayzata star who came home for her final college season. “I’m just having fun with it. Just trying to soak it all up.”

Stewart, part of an interesting center combination with Sophie Hart, scored 20 points on 7-for-9 shooting, hitting four of six three-pointers. She has led or tied for the lead in scoring for Minnesota (12-1) in five of 13 games.

McKinney, who stepped in as a starter after Braun was hurt, set career highs in scoring (17) and steals (five). She made six of 11 shots, showing poise that belies her youth. She also showed speed that at times belies belief, such as when she raced the length of the court in about three seconds for a buzzer-beating layup at the end of the third quarter.

Hence their lofty status in Battle’s list of favorites.

But they were not alone Friday. Battle scored 14 points, had eight rebounds, six assists and zero turnovers. The starting point guard had five or more assists for the seventh time. It was also her 11th game with two or fewer turnovers.

Mallory Heyer (15 points on 6-for-7 shooting) scored in double figures for the third straight game. Eleven Gophers scored; Minnesota got 32 points off the bench and had a 19-2 edge in points off turnovers and a 23-2 edge on second-chance points. Minnesota tied a season high with 24 assists Friday and just three turnovers.

Prairie View (2-6) got 12 points from Nyam Thornton.

While going 12-0 in nonconference play, the Gophers won by an average of nearly 30 points. A one-sided loss at Nebraska in the conference opener served notice of how hard it’s going to be back in the Big Ten after the holiday break. But Stewart’s steady play and McKinney’s perhaps surprising play will be key.

Stewart and Hart give Gophers coach Dawn Plitzuweit an outside-inside combination at center that Friday produced 29 points on 11-for-17 shooting.

“They complement each other really well,” Plitzuweit said. “They challenge each other at a high level.”

A career 5.2-point scorer at Nebraska, Stewart is averaging 11.7 with the Gophers.

And then McKinney. She has scored in double figures in seven of eight starts, shooting 51.6% in that time, 45% on three-pointers.

The 6-1 off guard from Minnetonka is also leading the Gophers' on-ball defense. As someone who jumped into the deep end as a freshman herself, Battle knows how hard that is.

“She’s just a machine,” Battle said. “We had a question the other day: Who [on the team] would win the Hunger Games? And we were like, ‘Tori would win the Hunger Games.’ That just speaks to who she is as a player. She’s just going to survive out there. She’s gonna thrive.”