The Gophers were left out of this week’s AP Top 25 poll, but they looked like a ranked team during Thursday night’s 84-67 win over Nebraska at Williams Arena. Here’s what we learned.
Mara Braun is back
The Gophers’ expectations for 2025-26 increased dramatically when a healthy Braun announced her return. It hasn’t been a quick journey back to the form she had before back-to-back season-ending injuries, but she might be back. She entered Thursday’s game averaging 14.3 points over her last four games, and she continued to build momentum against Nebraska. She finished with 15 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists on 5 of 11 shooting from the field.
Mara Braun has averaged 14.3 PPG over her last 4 games before tonight. She already has 9 points against Nebraska.
She is getting back to her previous form at the perfect time as this Gophers’ team gears up for a March run.
— Tony Liebert (@TonyLiebert) February 13, 2026
Overcoming sloppy third quarter
The Gophers led by 19 points at halftime, but a 14-0 run from Nebraska midway through the third quarter cut the lead all the way down to eight. They average the fewest turnovers in the country at just 10.1 per game, but they had seven in the third quarter alone. Great teams need to be able to overcome adversity, and Minnesota did just that on Thursday night.
Grace Grocholski’s bounceback
Grocholski has averaged 13.2 points per game this season, but she had an unforgettable 0 of 10 shooting performance in Sunday’s win over Rutgers. She responded with 12 points on 5 of 6 shooting from the field on Thursday against Nebraska. It’s a good sign to see that her last game was just more of an anomaly than a trend.
Defined roles
The Gophers had two hits to their rotation when projected starter Mallory Heyer shockingly entered the transfer portal days before the season, and reserve forward Taylor Woodson suffered a season-ending injury. The top eight players in their rotation have defined roles, and they’re operating at an extremely high level. All five starters were in double figures. They look like a tough team for anyone to match up with in a single-elimination tournament.
Resume building win
The Gophers were shockingly left out of this week’s AP Top 25 poll, despite being 10th in the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings. Their NET ranking is not going anywhere after blowing out Nebraska by 17 points at home, which was 25th in the NET before Thursday. It wouldn’t be too surprising if their ranking even increased, as tonight’s win is technically a Quad 1 win for the Gophers. Those rankings are subject to change, and they likely will after tonight. But it’s undoubtedly a resume-building result for Minnesota.
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