Minnesota looks to keep its strong start going with its first ranking in 6 years

Minnesota coach Dawn Plitzuweit turned to her college music choice for inspiration last season when the Golden Gophers made a run to the finals of the postseason WNIT.

She played ''Gaining Momentum'' by rapper MC Hammer as a way to motivate her young squad. Playing extra games in the WNIT last year helped her team get more experience in competitive settings.

''I made them listen to MC Hammer and '90s music,'' Plitzuweit said in a phone interview Monday. ''It was an extra opportunity to compete and with a lot of games on the road because we couldn't host because of scheduling conflicts. That helped us get ready for this year.''

The move paid off, with the team riding the momentum from the title game to the best start in school history, earning 16 wins in the first 17 games.

Minnesota secured its first ranking since 2019 on Monday, entering the AP Top 25 at No. 24. Next up for the Golden Gophers is a trip to face No. 8 Maryland on Tuesday night.

''The first step is to learn how to compete,'' she said. ''We got to get that point. To compete at a high level, every possession what does it look like? Doing the little things well over and over and over. That's really challenging to do.''

Despite winning, Minnesota has had to face adversity with injuries. Taylor Woodson is out after suffering a season-ending knee injury last month. Leading scorer Mara Braun broke a bone in her right foot, the same one that she injured last January. She's out indefinitely.

Then there were three

There are three unbeaten teams left in Division I women's basketball after Georgia Tech and Maryland suffered their first losses of the season last week. No. 1 UCLA, No. 5 LSU and No. 9 Ohio State are the last three left. The Bruins are 16-0, matching the best start in school history. LSU is 19-0, the second-best start ever for the Tigers, four wins short of matching the 2022-23 squad. At 17-0, the Buckeyes are off to their best start ever.

Record comeback

Pitt pulled off a historic win, rallying from 32 down to beat SMU last week to tie the biggest comeback in Division I history. Now the Panthers have consecutive games against ranked opponents, visiting No. 21 N.C. State and hosting 14th-ranked North Carolina.

NET ratings

The NCAA's weekly NET rankings — one of the tools the selection committee uses to determine the NCAA Tournament bracket — has South Carolina at No. 1 and Texas second.

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