Gophers women extend season, accept bid to play in WNIT

The Gophers are 14-17 this season and will make their sixth WNIT appearance.

March 14, 2022 at 1:39AM
Gophers forward Laura Bagwell Katalinich (12) celebrated with guard Gadiva Hubbard (13) during the team’s win over Northwestern on Feb. 11. (Alex Kormann, Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The University of Minnesota women's basketball season is not over yet.

On Sunday, the Gophers accepted a bid to play in the Women's National Invitational Tournament. The Gophers, making their sixth appearance in the tournament, are part of the WNIT's 64-team field.

The tournament's bracket — and the Gophers' first-round opponent and location — will be posted by noon Monday. First-round games start between Wednesday and Friday.

The Gophers are 5-5 all-time in the WNIT.

The Gophers were 7-11 in Big Ten Conference regular season play and 14-17 overall. But the Gophers won three games against top-70 NET teams, had a difficult schedule and had one win vs. a team (American) in this year's NCAA tournament. In all, the Gophers played 10 teams and 12 games against 2022 NCAA tournament teams.

The Gophers are led by Sara Scalia. The junior guard has scored in double figures in 21 consecutive games. The WNIT bid also extends the career of five senior or graduate students: Laura Bagwell-Katalinich, Deja Winters, Kayla Mershon, Bailey Helgren and Gadiva Hubbard.

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Kent Youngblood

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Kent Youngblood has covered sports for the Star Tribune for more than 20 years.

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