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Director of Athletics Mark Coyle announced today that women's basketball head coach Dawn Plitzuweit has agreed to a contract extension that will keep her in Maroon and Gold through the 2031 season. Plitzuweit enters her third season as head coach of the Minnesota women's basketball program in 2025-26, following a standout campaign that saw the Gophers win the WBIT (Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament) Championship, their first postseason title since 2012.Minnesota is 45-27 overall under Plitzuweit, and she has led the Gophers to back-to-back postseason championship-game berths for the first time in program history (2024 WNIT, 2025 WBIT). "I want to extend my sincerest appreciation to Mark Coyle, Joi Thomas, and President Cunningham for their unwavering commitment to both myself and the University of Minnesota women's basketball program," said Plitzuweit. "Our program is continuing to progress, which is the direct result of the dedicated work of our exceptional staff and special student-athletes. I'm incredibly humbled to be able to guide this program in the years to come. It's my hope that every individual who has contributed to our journey – whether a player, staff member, athletic department colleague, faculty member, university leader, regent, alum, season ticket holder, or fan – recognizes how valuable you are to our program and its continued success. We will build this together!"In the 2023-24 season - Plituweit's first with the Gophers - Minnesota went 20-16 overall and played for the WNIT Championship. Her squad included seven returning players from the 2022-23 team that went 11-19. In addition, Plitzuweit coached a pair of All-Big Ten Honorable Mention guards in Mara Braun and Amaya Battle while also helping Grace Grocholski to a unanimous Big Ten All-Freshman Team selection.Year two saw continued growth under Plitzuweit and her staff. The squad notched a 25-11 record, marking the first 25 win season since 2004-05 and back-to-back 20-win seasons since 2017-18 and 2018-19. Minnesota also saw its first AP National ranking since 2019, when the Gophers entered the polls at No. 24 on Jan. 13, 2025. Plitzuweit also coached two Gophers to All-Big Ten Honorable Mention accolades in Battle and Grocholski. The 2024-25 season was highlighted by winning five-straight postseason games, four on the road, to claim the 2025 WBIT crown. Freshman Tori McKinney was named WBIT Tournament MVP and also made the WBIT All-Tournament team alongside Battle. "Dawn has done a tremendous job leading our women's basketball program," said Coyle. "She is a terrific coach and recruiter, and she cares deeply about student-athlete development. We have high expectations for our team, and we look forward to Dawn guiding the program for years to come."Plitzuweit's leadership continued in the classroom, seeing 10 Gophers earn Academic All-Big Ten honors last season. Annika Stewart, Grocholski and Battle were named to the CSC (College Sports Communicators) Academic All-District Team and Battle was recognized as an Academic All-American (the first Gopher since 2021 to earn the honor). Plitzuweit was named the 13th women's basketball coach in Minnesota's history on March 18, 2023.

Courtesy of: gophersports.com

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