Gophers women’s basketball hits the road again for postseason play

No, it is not ideal.

The Gophers women’s basketball team is about to begin its second postseason journey in two seasons.

We mean this literally.

Having just missed out on the NCAA field, the Gophers are a No. 2 seed in the WBIT, a 32-team tournament run by the NCAA that began last year. It is a step up from last season, when the Gophers advanced to the final of the WNIT.

So the competition will be stiffer, but the road just as long.

“It’s challenging, certainly,” Gophers coach Dawn Plitzuweit said.

Last year Minnesota hosted the first two WNIT games, then had to finish on the road, playing at Wyoming, at Troy (Alabama) and at St. Louis in the final. Three road games in six days.

Now? Despite being one of four No. 2 seeds, the Gophers may never see Williams Arena again this spring.

Because of a conflict with the high school boys basketball state tournament, the Gophers could not host Thursday’s opener against Toledo, instead having to travel to Ohio to play the team that led the Mid-American Conference in attendance at 4,340 and has a 13-1 home record.

The boys tournament will be over by Saturday, but even with a win Thursday, the Gophers would not host a second-round game Sunday officially because the facility needs to be available for both teams the day before the game. That means a win would send the Gophers to the winner of the Missouri State/Oral Roberts game.

This despite the fact Minnesota is the only team in the WBIT field with an NCAA NET ranking in the 30s.

“I know our administration looked at other places,” Plitzuweit said. “And nothing really worked out.”

And so, on the road redux.

“That was really, really hard,” Plitzuweit said of last year’s WNIT road tour. “But I thought it really helped us this year. It helped us with getting better at doing some things and being better in adverse situations. So, I think the positive to it is we’ve done in the past and so we go back on the road now.”

Minnesota (20-11) has had more than two weeks to prepare for this run since losing to Washington in the first round of the Big Ten tournament March 5. It was the Gophers’ third straight loss and eighth in 10 games.

While waiting to find out where and when they’d play next, Plitzuweit and her team worked on a number of things. Being more efficient on the offensive end. But, perhaps more important, shoring up a defense that slipped a bit down the stretch.

“There is an awareness we have to be better one-on-one and then, off the ball, being more disruptive and helping and getting back to the next thing,” Plitzuweit said. “This has been a good stretch for us because we could really work on us and work on a lot of things rather than specific game prep.”

That changed after learning their opponent Sunday night. The Gophers prepped for Toledo (24-8), which finished winning 12 of its final 15 games. The Rockets finished third in the Mid-American but advanced to the conference tournament final.

The first three rounds of the 32-team WBIT are held at home sites, with the semifinals and finals held in Indianapolis at Butler University’s Hinkle Fieldhouse. If the Gophers were to advance to the third round and if Colorado, a No. 1 seed, were to be upset, Minnesota would be in position, presumably, to host a quarterfinal game March 27.

If the seeding holds, the Gophers’ road to Indianapolis would be a literal one.

“Playing the [WNIT] last year helped us continue to develop,” Plitzuweit said. “Hopefully this tournament does the same thing.”

WBIT, first round

6 p.m. Thursday at Savage Arena

Streaming, radio: ESPN+, 96.7-FM

The second-seeded Gophers (20-11) travel to face a Toledo team that is 24-8 in Ginny Boggess’ first season there as head coach. Minnesota has had two weeks to get back on track after a 2-8 record in its last 10 games. Sophomore Grace Grocholski has emerged as one of Minnesota’s most consistent offensive threats, averaging 21 points while shooting 50% overall and 41.7% on threes in her last four games.