How coach Dawn Plitzuweit prepared the Gophers for daunting trip out west

Things are about to get a bit more difficult.

The Gophers are at the midpoint of the 18-game Big Ten Conference schedule. They are 6-3 and entered the week in a tie for fifth place in the conference. But the schedule is about to turn.

The Gophers’ six conference wins — over Illinois, Penn State, Northwestern, Rutgers and Wisconsin (twice) — came against teams below them in the standings. Entering this week’s play, Northwestern was winless in the conference while Penn State, Wisconsin and Rutgers had one win each.

That is about to change.

Minnesota will spend five days in Southern California, playing USC on Thursday and UCLA on Sunday. The No. 4 and No. 1 teams in the country, respectively, teams with legitimate national player of the year candidates in USC’s JuJu Watkins and UCLA’s Lauren Betts who, by the way, stand 1-2 among Big Ten scoring leaders.

USC is 18-1 overall, 8-0 in conference play and has won 14 straight after its lone loss of the season to Notre Dame. UCLA is 20-0, the last undefeated team in Division I.

“The level of talent, the level of athleticism, the level of ability to score, the level of coaching, all of it is unbelievable,” Gophers coach Dawn Plitzuweit said. She was talking about the Big Ten as a whole, but Minnesota’s next two opponents embody all of that.

USC and UCLA are 1-2 in the conference in scoring, scoring defense and defensive field goal percentage. Oh, and in average margin of victory, USC is plus-29.58, UCLA plus-27.4.

So how do you prepare for that kind of extended weekend?

“You teach them, what do they do?” Plitzuweit said. “What is it they do that makes them special, unique? And then what do we do to combat that?”

Easier said than done. It’s tough to simulate that during five-on-five work. So, much of that work is broken down into smaller drills. Handling ball pressure, for example. How to get through screens — in this case while trying to chase Watkins. How to go against two teams that are so tough to go against inside, especially the Bruins, whose 6-7 Betts protects the rim like few others.

“You make them aware of that, and then, from an intellectual standpoint, what is the best possible strategy? And if that doesn’t work — say we employ strategy No. 1 and we try to beat a screen this way and it doesn’t work? Well, then what are the other options? Can players make adjustments without us having to call timeouts?"

Plitzuweit has focused mainly on USC, which features Watkins (24.8 points per game) and forward Kiki Iriafen (17.8), who are first and fifth in the conference in scoring. Watkins leads the Trojans in scoring, assists (3.7) and steals (2.4). Rayah Marshall, a 6-4 center, averages 8.0 points, 9.1 rebounds and 2.2 blocks. USC opponents are scoring just 54.2 points per game and shooting 33.5%.

The Gophers last won a game against a ranked opponent on Nov. 17, 2019, when they beat 19th-ranked Arizona State. Since then Minnesota is 0-for-33 in such games. The program’s last Big Ten victory against a ranked opponent was against No. 17 Rutgers in February 2019. Minnesota’s last victory against a top-five team was an overtime win over No. 5 Ohio State in February 2016.

“You have to learn to all-out compete,” Plitzuweit said. “Playing at a high level for 40 minutes. It takes a lot. It takes being really locked in, doing little things well in many different areas. We have to figure out how to compete for 40 minutes.”

Plitzuweit is still looking for the game where multiple players are at their best at the same time.

“I believe in this group of young ladies, and I believe in how hard they work. And I believe when we come together and have one of those games, we’re going to have a lot of fun. I don’t know when that’s going to be.”

And it doesn’t get a whole lot easier when the Gophers return from California, with home games against Iowa and Indiana and a trip to Ohio State.

9 p.m. Thursday at Los Angeles, Galen Center

TV, radio: Peacock Network, 96.7-FM

The Gophers (18-3, 6-3 Big Ten) are going to need top performances from multiple players, something the team has struggled with. In recent games, a player or two have jumped to the fore, only to follow with a difficult game. Most recently, center Sophie Hart (16 points, five offensive rebounds, four assists) and Mallory Heyer (15 points, 11 rebounds, three assists) led a second-half surge against Wisconsin. The Gophers are 27-for-102 (26.5%) on threes in their last four games. The fourth-ranked Trojans (18-1, 8-0) are 4-1 against ranked teams this year, which includes a victory over then-No. 4 UConn. USC has won all eight conference games by an average of 22.5 points.