Gophers women's basketball plays Wisconsin-River Falls in exhibition

In most practical ways, Sunday's exhibition with Division III Wisconsin-River Falls at Williams Arena means very little for the Gophers women's basketball team.

So why has that game kept Amaya Battle awake nights?

"I think about it all the time, actually," Battle said after practice last week. Battle, from Hopkins, is part of a four-player, all-Minnesota recruiting class that also includes Mallory Heyer, Mara Braun and Nia Holloway.

"Actually, if I got to bed and think about it, I can't get to sleep. It will keep me up. It's so surreal. My last name is going to be on a Gophers jersey. When they do that Minnesota chant, they're going to be chanting for our team. It's so exciting. I can't wait."

Actually, it won't exactly be a brand-new uniform Gophers players don prior to Sunday's 2 p.m. game. The team has ordered and is expecting to get a restyled jersey for the upcoming season — which begins against Western Illinois on Nov. 7 — but those new uniforms have been held up by supply chain issues.

But you get the idea. For Braun, Battle and Heyer, it will be the first time. Holloway, recovering from knee surgery, will have to watch from the bench. But on a team with 11 new players and just three holdovers, there will be a number of players wearing the jersey with their name on the back for the first time, listening to the Williams Arena cheers.

"I'm super excited for the game," Heyer said. "I've been thinking about playing for the Gophers for a long time. The fact that I'll put on the jersey for the first time, I'm super excited. It's such an honor to represent the state of Minnesota."

For coach Lindsay Whalen, the biggest thing is getting the team used to the game-day routine: get up early, go through shootaround, watch film, eat as a team. What works and what doesn't.

"We get to run through a game at home," Whalen said. "To do everything over at Williams, I know a lot of our team is excited about their first time there. So yeah, it's obviously a very exciting time. We practiced a lot, so it will be nice to go play against somebody else."

The game comes in the wake of news that backup post player Aminata Zie was lost for the season with a leg injury. She had successful surgery Thursday.

The Gophers didn't have a lot of depth in the post to start with. That situation got worse when Holloway was lost for the year with a knee injury. Zie's injury just exacerbated the problem.

"Obviously you hate it for these guys that are out for the year," Whalen said. "It's really unfortunate. We have to step up. We've had to move people around to different positions, things like that. It's just an unfortunate part of the game."

Sophomore Rose Micheaux is the starting center. Behind her is Destinee Oberg, a Minnesota native who transferred to the Gophers from Arkansas.

After that, minutes in the post would likely fall on Heyer. She's been playing like a stretch four for the Gophers so far, doing much of her work on the perimeter in a high-low game with the post. But she might have to slide inside — especially on the defensive end — should circumstances require.

For now, though, the biggest emotion is excitement.

"This will be the first time all of us have really played together [in a game]," Battle said.

Said Heyer: "It will be an opportunity to get some of the nerves out. I'm super excited. But I'm also kind of anxious. It's just an opportunity to build our team chemistry."