Gophers women show headliner potential in victorious opener

Traffic signs near Williams Arena warned that a basketball event was scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. Monday.

This provided a reminder that the Gophers men's basketball team would open its season at Williams Arena. It ignored the women's season-opening game beginning at 5:30 p.m., and it is true that there wasn't much traffic, or much of a crowd, for that event, but that probably won't be the case for long.

Unveiling the best recruiting class in program history, the Gophers women started slowly, looking nervous. Then Amaya Battle, the heralded freshman guard from Hopkins, came off the bench.

She brought the ball upcourt, allowing Mara Braun, the freshman phenom from Wayzata, to look for her shot. Suddenly the offense had flow and the defense had teeth.

Battle would score just two points on 1-of-4 shooting in the first half, but her floor game and ball handling prompted a 36-10 run over the rest of the half, and the Gophers thumped Western Illinois 75-45.

With Battle running the point, Braun would make five of her last six shots in the half, unveiling a pure jumper and a feel for winding through the lane.

Braun was the scoring star, scoring a game-high 21 points to go with seven rebounds, two assists and four steals. How many freshmen get four steals in their debut?

Battle provided the initial spark. She would finish with six points, nine assists, eight rebounds, a steal and two blocked shots — and a game-best plus-33 rating.

"She's just a really confident player, and a really well-rounded player," Braun said of Battle. "She pushes the ball really well. She rebounds really well. She just sees the court really well, and I love playing with her."

This might have been the most auspicious night of Gophers coach Lindsay Whalen's tenure — if it wasn't the day she signed Braun, Battle and Eden Prairie star Niamya Holloway, who will miss the season with a knee injury.

Whalen, so often reserved in interviews about her teams in the past, gushed about this team's ball movement, unselfishness — and size.

Braun is listed at 6 feet and plays taller than that. Battle is listed at 5-11 but plays bigger. A few opponents bumped into her on Monday night, and bounced off.

That backcourt size may help the Gophers play smaller lineups and take advantage of their backcourt depth. They might be at their most dangerous offensively when Braun, Battle and sharpshooter Katie Borowicz play together.

Braun began the game at the point, but was even more dangerous, in this game, when playing off the ball. Battle is one of those players who never seems to be moving fast but always gets where they want to go.

"I thought her poise, her pace — six, nine and eight as a freshman, and only two turnovers?" Whalen said of Battle. "A plus-33 in the game? She just impacts the game in so many ways. She had that block, she is just able to get to windows and areas at her size and her height that is a huge advantage for her and for us. I thought she ran the team really well."

Regardless of traffic signs, the Gophers women made the bigger impression Monday night. The men — missing their Battle, as star forward Jamison Battle recovers from foot surgery — defeated Western Michigan 61-60.

The men did have their own endearingly local story. Dawson Garcia, the Prior Lake star who played at North Carolina, made his Gophers debut and led the way with 23 points and seven rebounds. He and Battle give the Gophers two rangy, talented forwards in coach Ben Johnson's second season.

Late in her first game as a Gopher, Braun took a pass, drove into the heart of the defense, drew a foul and made the shot. As she walked toward the free-throw line, Battle gave her a playful shove.

The two should have four years of sharing the ball and such celebrations.

"It's a luxury, having two point guards," Whalen said. "And having two that play together at the same time, like that."