Gophers women's basketball team ranked No. 23 in Associated Press preseason poll

The Gophers women's basketball is ranked No. 23 in the Associated Press preseason poll released Wednesday.

"Our expectations are always high," said second-year coach Lindsay Whalen in her weekly news conference. "That's the way we want it."

The Gophers finished 21-11 last year, 9-9 in the conference.

Oregon was No. 1 in the AP preseason for the first time in program history after reaching the NCAA Final Four last season — and with guard Sabrina Ionescu back. The Ducks were followed by Baylor, Stanford, Maryland and Connecticut in the top five.

The Gophers and Maryland are two of five Big Ten teams in the preseason poll — Michigan State (17), Indiana (24) and Michigan (25) are the others.

"It's a credit to how we finished last year," Whalen said. "We're in the Top 25. We'll find out if that's true or not. But hey, it is what it is. We can't control it. All we can control is practice and getting better. Hopefully, we'll use that as a little extra motivation."

The Gophers open their season against Missouri State on Tuesday at Williams Arena.

• Gophers soccer midfielder Katie Duong was named Big Ten freshman of the week after she scored her first career goal in a 1-0 victory over Northwestern on Thursday.

• Junior Grace Zumwinkle of the Gophers was named WCHA forward of the week. She scored two goals in each game last weekend in a series split with Ohio State.

• Max McHugh and Tevyn Waddell of the Gophers were named the Big Ten men's and women's swimmers of the week and Gavin Olson the men's freshman of the week for their success in a dual meet against Iowa. McHugh won the 100 and 200 breaststrokes, Waddell won three events — the 100 backstroke, the 200 individual medley and the 500 freestyle — and Olson won 100 and 200 backstrokes.

• Minnesota State Mankato senior linebacker Alex Goettl was named one of 12 finalists for the 2019 William V. Campbell Trophy, the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame announced. The award recognizes an individual as the best football scholar-athlete in the nation.