After a quick start, Gophers women have a challenging weekend

In three games to open their season, the Gophers women’s basketball team has faced three mid-major teams at home, won all three nonconference games by an average of 36 points and has given coach Dawn Plitzuweit ample opportunity to look at a roster with six new players and experiment with rotations.

Now, a step up.

The 3-0 Gophers will play in the Briann January Classic in Tempe, Ariz., this weekend. The tournament, hosted by Arizona State, will have the Gophers facing their first team from a power conference (Southern Methodist) and an Oregon State team that reached the NCAA’s Elite Eight last spring.

“It’s a great opportunity,” Plitzuweit said. “This is the time of year you play against two totally different styles on back-to-back days, and you’ve never seen them before.”

To be fair, it’s a step up, but not a huge one.

Oregon State’s roster was decimated by transfers after the Pac-12 Conference broke up, sending them to the West Coast Conference. Southern Methodist, meanwhile, is a member of the powerful ACC but was picked in the preseason poll to finish in the second division.

But it’s two games vs. bigger schools away from home, each providing a different challenge.

Oregon State has a big lineup that includes two players 6-foot-5 or taller. SMU has a smaller, quicker lineup. But both teams rebound the ball very well and force a team to guard them on the perimeter.

For a Gophers team continuing to build toward the start of the Big Ten Conference schedule, it is another step.

“What we’ve learned so far is, we have the ability to defend in different ways than we did last year,” Plitzuweit said. “We have the ability to finish plays at a high level; we can get offensive, defensive rebounds, take charges. Do those kinds of things finishing plays. Obviously, we’re deeper than we were last year. What we have to do is figure out, how do we get it all connected? Because we haven’t really done that, all the way through, in all four quarters, yet.”

The depth has improved, with the bench providing 50 points in two of the three games, though part of that was the opportunity provided by one-sided games.

Plitzuweit has played a number of players. The entire roster played, and 11 players scored in Minnesota’s victory over UMass Lowell Tuesday.

But Plitzuweit will likely have to settle on a tighter rotation and who will be a part of it. Graduate transfer center Annika Stewart and sophomore transfer Taylor Woodson have come off the bench to score in double figures in two of the three games. They are locks to get good minutes. After that, there are still questions. Can freshman Tori McKinney play at a pace that allows her to stay in control? Backup point guard Alexsia Rose is still working into the mix.

Even starters Grace Grocholski and Mallory Heyer are trying to get themselves into the offensive flow. Grocholski, who led the team with 79 made threes as a freshman last season, has hit just two of 10 through three games. Heyer, who nearly averaged a double-double has been less active on the offensive end, through she did get 10 rebounds in 18½ minutes against Lowell.

Plizuweit said she hasn’t settled on her rotation yet.

“It’s still kind of something we’re trying to figure out,” she said. “And the teams we play this weekend with some of that too.”

Saturday and Sunday in Tempe, Ariz.

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Saturday vs. Oregon State, 2 p.m.: The Gophers take a step up in competition, but not as big a one as one might expect. Oregon State made it to the Elite Eight last season, but the demise of the Pac-12 hit the Beavers hard, with eight players leaving the team via the transfer portal, including leaders Raegan Beers (to Oklahoma) and Talia von Oelhoffen (Southern California). Oregon State, a preseason pick to finish fourth in the West Coast Conference (the Beavers’ new home), is 1-1, including a season-opening loss at Colorado State. The Beavers are led by the big backcourt of 6-7 Sela Heide (17.0 points, 8.5 rebounds) and 6-5 Kelsey Rees (16.0, 12.0).

Sunday vs. Southern Methodist, 1 p.m.: This will be the Gophers’ first game against a Power Four conference team. The Mustangs are a member of the ACC and were pre-season picks to finish in the lower half of the conference. SMU is 2-1, with victories over Western Michigan and North Carolina A&T. The Mustangs are led by junior guard Nya Robertson (22.0 points per game) and senior forward Chantae Embry (13.3 points, 7.7 rebounds).