Entering the 2025-26 college basketball season, it had nearly been a decade (two head coaches ago) since the Minnesota Gophers women had made the NCAA Tournament.
In 2023, following the disappointing four-year coaching tenure of Dinkytown legend Lindsey Whalen, athletic director Mark Coyle hired veteran WBB coach Dawn Plitzuweit, who had previously been at West Virginia.
Under Plitzuweit, the Golden Gopher program immediately thrived, winning 20 or more games in each of her three seasons. In 2025-26, however, Minnesota took another step forward, experiencing its first > .500 in-conference during her tenure…