Gophers’ backcourt of Mara Braun, Amaya Battle still ‘big-time’ despite no hype

ROSEMONT, ILL. – Dawn Plitzuweit didn’t see any of her Gophers players on the preseason All-Big Ten women’s basketball team this year — and that bothered her a bit.

Representing the Gophers on Wednesday at Big Ten media day, junior guards Mara Braun and Amaya Battle weren’t picked among the 10 best players entering the 2024-25 season by coaches or media.

“I hope they take it as a challenge,” Plitzuweit said about the Gophers starting backcourt returning.

Braun, who was an all-league preseason selection last year by coaches, led the Gophers with 17 points per game last season despite missing 16 games with injury. The 6-foot Wayzata product went through a five-game stretch where she averaged 25 points last December.

Battle, who led the team in assists and steals last season, exploded for a Big Ten tournament-program record 32 points in a win vs. Rutgers. The 5-11 former Hopkins star averaged 20 points and nearly five assists during a six-game stretch in the 2024 postseason.

“Both Mara and Amaya are big-time players,” Plitzuweit said. “They have the ability to compete at the highest level within this conference. They’re two players who we’re going to rely a great deal on.”

Plitzuweit expects Braun and Battle to not just be scorers, but how they defend and show toughness will be contagious in leadership roles. Braun also thinks they can motivate each other to be better.

“After one of her big games [last season], Amaya came up to me and said, ‘I know how to help you now,’” Braun said. “When I went down, she had to step up in bigger ways. That’s just going to help us for this year when we’re together.”

The Gophers have a history of throwing freshman players into the fire when it comes to big roles.

Last season, Grace Grocholski started all 36 games and averaged 10.8 points on the way to earning All-Big Ten freshman honors.

Two years ago, Braun started 28 games and led the Gophers in scoring to earn all-league freshman honors. Battle and Mallory Heyer also started 24 and 30 games as freshmen in that 2022-23 season, respectively.

Plitzuweit added two talented freshmen this season with Minnetonka’s Tori McKinney and McKenna Johnson, a four-star guard from Wilmot, Wis. They might not be asked to be in the starting lineup, but they could be ready to contribute early.

“[Johnson] can really score and shoots it at a very high level,” Plitzuweit said. “Tori McKinney’s best days are far in her future. She plays so hard. She can impact the game. She’s a great defensive player.”

Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti addressed several topics Wednesday to open Big Ten media day, but one of the most controversial among coaches was about shrinking the Big Ten tournament field.

Expanding to 18 teams this year with the addition of Oregon, USC, UCLA and Washington resulted in the decision to limit the Big Ten tourney to the top 15 teams on the men’s and women’s side.

“I think we feel like that’s the right way to get through the week, to have the right number of games,” Petitti said. “Also remembering that you still want to make sure your top programs are successful as they advance into the NCAA Tournament and give them the best chance to be successful.”