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Women’s basketball: Precocious Gophers looking to take next step

john shipley, pioneer press
·3 min read

Mara Braun has been a revelation for the Gophers women’s basketball team this season. One of just two freshmen among the Top 20 scorers in the nation, she already has shown an ability and willingness to take control of a game late in two big victories.

But even Braun needs help sometimes, and she got it from sophomore Katie Borowicz in the final seconds of the Gophers’ 98-96 victory over Penn State last Saturday.

“She saved my butt,” Braun said Tuesday.

Braun had just made three free throws to tie the score when she was beaten off the dribble by Penn State’s Leilani Kapinus for the go-ahead basket with 2 seconds to play. But dribbling up court for a desperation shot, Borowicz was fouled with 0.5 seconds left — and the Gophers were in the bonus.

“I told her, ‘You make these and I won’t be on any highlight reel,’ ” Braun said. “But she’s clutch, I knew she was going to make those.”

Borowicz sent the game to overtime, and the Gophers eventually won 98-96 in double OT to improve to 1-0 in the Big Ten and 5-3 overall heading into Wednesday’s 7 p.m. tipoff against Kentucky (6-1) at Williams Arena.

Braun scored a team-high 26 points against the Nittany Lions and leads the team in scoring with 20.6 points a game, according to NCAA stats. Florida State’s Ta’Niya Latson (24.6) is the only freshman scoring more. Braun also scored 34 points, including a game-winning 3-pointer with 1 seconds left, against Lehigh on Nov. 13.

But she is far from Minnesota’s only clutch performer. The Gophers rank 22nd nationally in rebounding (44.8 per game) and 35th in scoring (78.4). Minnesota was able to rally against Penn State because of big plays by several players, from clutch free throws from Braun and Borowicz, to Mallory Heyer’s team-high 11 rebounds and 10 overtime points and Amaya Battle’s team-high eight assists and 19 points.

The Gophers have proven they won’t give up on a game and, so far, can compete with anyone. Now, they have to limit the growing pains that inevitably come between the flashes of brilliance. This is a team that started three freshmen and two sophomores against Penn State and thrives in transition. But sometimes, coach Lindsay Whalen said, it’s better to slow down, make a team play defense and get a good shot.

“Some of it is some on-the-job training stuff,” Whalen said, “but that’s the next big step for us.”

Flustered by an aggressive press, Minnesota had 10 first-quarter turnovers against Penn State, and in a 63-59 loss to Wake Forest on Nov. 30 turned the ball over 19 times, nine times on steals, and went 6 for 12 from the free-throw line.

“I think a lot of it is just getting used to playing with each other,” Braun said. “When we go back to the film and watch, it’s all stuff that we can control, and it’s all stuff that we’re just kind of doing to ourselves. So, just work on those things and just worry about ourselves and it will all come into place.”

A strong Kentucky team will be another challenge for the Gophers, but they’re going to make sure it’s a challenge for the Wildcats, as well.

“A lot of people think differently about us because we’re a young team,” said Rose Micheaux, a sophomore post with four double-doubles in six games. “But one thing that our team has is we have that fight in us, we have that dog in us that a lot of teams don’t have.”

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