Gophers women’s basketball sophomore Taylor Woodson suffers season-ending knee injury

The Gophers women’s basketball team got some sad news when tests revealed sophomore guard/forward Taylor Woodson will need season-ending surgery to repair a torn ACL in her left knee.

Woodson injured her knee in the first quarter of the Gophers’ nonconference victory over Jackson State Wednesday night.

“We were all so disappointed when we learned that the injury that Taylor sustained would be a season-ending injury,” Gophers coach Dawn Plitzuweit said in a news release. “Taylor is a very strong and competitive young lady, and we know she will apply her competitive nature to her rehab, along with continuing to grow her game while she is going through the process.”

A former star at Hopkins High School who was a part of two state title teams, Woodson transferred to Minnesota from Michigan after her freshman season. A top reserve, Woodson appeared in all 12 of the Gophers’ games — the team has opened the season 11-1 — and was averaging 8.1 points and 4.4 rebounds in 17 minutes per game. She had a career-high 18 points and seven rebounds in a victory over SMU earlier this season.

This, coupled with the foot injury and subsequent surgery that has sidelined leading scorer Mara Braun, has cut into the depth Plitzuweit and her staff worked so hard to build.

Freshman Tori McKinney has stepped into the starting lineup for Braun and has played well, scoring in double figures in six of seven games as a starter.

Now the Gophers have to fill the scoring and rebounding void caused by Woodson’s injury. Senior Maggie Czinano could see extended action. She played a season-high 21-plus minutes in Wednesday’s victory, scoring five points.

Others who could see more time are freshman McKenna Johnson and sophomore Nia Holloway. Johnson scored seven points with six rebounds in 25½ minutes Wednesday and Holloway had seven points and four rebounds in 12½ minutes.