(GREEN BAY ATHLETICS) – The Green Bay women’s basketball team is playing in its 21st NCAA March Madness Tournament, and its third consecutive trip to the Big Dance! The No. 13-seeded Phoenix will be taking on the No. 4-seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers at 5 p.m. CST on Friday, March 20, at Williams Arena in Minneapolis. The first-round game will be aired nationally on ESPNU.
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
(13) Green Bay Phoenix (25-8, 17-3 HL) vs (4) Minnesota Golden Gophers (22-8, 13-5 B1G)
Friday, March 20, 2026
5:00 PM
ABOUT THE GOLDEN GOPHERS
The No. 4 seed Golden Gophers have a 22-8 record and a 13-5 record in a stacked Big Ten conference under third-year head coach and native of West Bend, Wisconsin, Dawn Plitzuweit. Every player in the Minnesota starting five averages double-digit scoring, led by sophomore guard Tori McKinney’s 13.1 points per game. She also leads Minnesota with 2.0 steals per game. Close behind her is North Prairie, Wisconsin native Grace Grocholski, who puts up 12.7 points and 5.0 boards per game in a team-high 33.4 minutes for the Gophers. Junior Mara Braun averages 11.5 points per game while leading the Gophers with 20 blocks this season. Rounding out the starting five is a pair of seniors, Minnesota’s tallest player, 6-foot-5 Sophie Hart, who averages 10.9 points per game, and is shooting 55.2% from the floor. Hart’s 6.6 rebounds per game trail only her fellow senior Amaya Battle, who leads the Golden Gophers at 7.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game, while adding 10.9 points per game.
The Golden Gophers are top-40 in the country in scoring offense and defense, scoring 74.9 points per game while allowing 57.9 to their opponents. Their 17.0 scoring margin is the 18th-best mark in the country. Minnesota takes care of the ball at an elite level. Committing just 10.9 turnovers per game, the fourth-fewest in the country. The team also ranks fourth in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio, at 1.51.
ABOUT THE MATCHUP
Green Bay is 6-9 against the Golden Gophers in the all-time series dating back to 1991. The two teams have played each other in the NCAA Tournament once before, on March 16, 2018, in which the Golden Gophers overcame a 13-point deficit in the second half to win 89-77 in Eugene, Ore. GB is also 0-2 against Minnesota in the WNIT, falling in 2014 and 2022. In their last ten meetings, the Phoenix and Gophers are each 5-5 against one another. This will be the first time the Phoenix will play in the NCAA Tournament in the state of Minnesota, and the fifth time playing in the Midwest.
Comments