15-1 Gophers gear up for Rutgers and possible freshmen showdown

So far coach Dawn Plitzuweit’s Gophers women’s basketball team has done pretty much what it has needed to do.

The Gophers are 15-1 overall, 10-0 at home, in the top 30 in the NCAA’s NET rankings and holding a projected spot — and a bye from the play-in round — in ESPN’s most recent 68-team tournament field projection.

At 3-1 the Gophers started the week in fifth place in the Big Ten Conference.

Their only loss — by 19 at Nebraska Nov. 25 — came against a Huskers team ranked at the time, that has yet to lose at home. It came after the Gophers fell behind by 16 after the first quarter.

Since then the Gophers have started games better while winning three straight conference games. That includes a thrashing of Penn State at home, a victory at Wisconsin — their first victory vs. the Badgers in two years — and a comeback win against Illinois Sunday.

All good.

And if the combined record of those three teams is 2-10 in conference play? That’s who was on the schedule, and those are the games teams have to win.

“I think we’re learning,” Plitzuweit said. “We’re improving in areas we weren’t as good at. Now, can we sustain that? We have to. We don’t have a choice.”

Plitzuweit likes how the team has improved at boxing out. After the slow start at Nebraska, she likes the urgency with which her team has since opened games.

But there are things to work on. Scoring consistently is atop that list. “Our offense has been able to get the ball where we want to get it,” Plitzuweit said. “Now we have to put it in the basket at a higher clip.”

That will be important Wednesday night at Williams Arena.

The Gophers will host Rutgers, which is 8-7 overall, 0-4 in the Big Ten. The game should feature two of the Big Ten’s best freshmen in Minnesota’s Tori McKinney and Rutgers’ Kiyomi McMiller.

Should.

McMiller is second in the nation and first in the Big Ten in freshman scoring (19.9) while McKinney (10.3) is fifth in the conference.

In her last three games McKinney has set a career high in points (25 vs. Penn State), assists (six vs. Wisconsin) and led the Gophers comeback by scoring all 11 of her points in the fourth quarter against Illinois.

McMiller? She has been the subject of wild speculation since she was benched for Rutgers’ loss to USC over the weekend by Rutgers coach Coquese Washington. Even as a freshman, McMiller already has a Michael Jordan brand deal and a nickname (“The Product”). McMiller took to social media to announce she would not play against USC, saying it was Washington’s decision.

Let the speculation begin. Washington said the situation would be dealt with internally. At least one report said the benching was due to an altercation McMiller had with a teammate.

McMiller will likely play Wednesday, but no definitive announcement on her status had been made as of Tuesday evening.

“What we told our players was what typically happens in these situations is that whatever this is — and we’re not going to speculate — it unites a team," Plitzuweit said. “It gives them an edge, pushes them to play with an intense level. The challenge for us is not only to meet that, but exceed it.”

The Big Ten has named a freshman of the week eight times. McKinney won it this week, McMiller the two times before that.

The 5-8 McMiller has scored in double figures in 12 games, scoring 20 or more eight times. She is known both for her long threes and her ability to get to the rim.

The 6-1 McKinney has shot nearly 48% overall, 36.8% on threes and has made 44 of 48 free throws (91.7%). McKinney is also the team’s primary on-ball defender, which adds even more to the matchup.

After this game, the schedule appears to get a little tougher. The Gophers play at Maryland next week, at Northwestern, then return home to play Michigan.

A checkup Tuesday showed Mara Braun’s surgically-repaired foot has healed to the point where she no longer has to wear the protective boot. But any decision on when or whether she will return to action this season is a ways off.

7 p.m., Wednesday at Williams Arena

TV, radio: B1G+, 96.7-FM

The Gophers (15-1, 3-1 Big Ten) are looking for their first four-game conference winning streak since winning six straight in January and February of 2019. The Gophers have lost three straight regular-season games vs. Rutgers (8-7, 0-4), but did emerge with a win in the Big Ten Conference tournament. All five Gophers starters and top reserve Annika Stewart average between 7.4 and 11.6 points. Rutgers stars Kiyomi McMiller (19.9) and Destiny Adams (17.5) average better than 37 points per game between them.