Minnesota coach Dawn Plitzuweit turned to her college music choice for inspiration last season when the Golden Gophers made a run to the finals of the postseason WNIT.
She played ''Gaining Momentum'' by rapper MC Hammer as a way to motivate her young squad. Playing extra games in the WNIT last year helped her team get more experience in competitive settings.
''I made them listen to MC Hammer and '90s music,'' Plitzuweit said in a phone interview Monday. ''It was an extra opportunity to compete and with a lot of games on the road because we couldn't host because of scheduling conflicts. That helped us get ready for this year.''
The move paid off, with the team riding the momentum from the title game to the best start in school history, earning 16 wins in the first 17 games.
Minnesota secured its first ranking since 2019 on Monday, entering the AP Top 25 at No. 24. Next up for the Golden Gophers is a trip to face No. 8 Maryland on Tuesday night.
''The first step is to learn how to compete,'' she said. ''We got to get that point. To compete at a high level, every possession what does it look like? Doing the little things well over and over and over. That's really challenging to do.''
Despite winning, Minnesota has had to face adversity with injuries. Taylor Woodson is out after suffering a season-ending knee injury last month. Leading scorer Mara Braun broke a bone in her right foot, the same one that she injured last January. She's out indefinitely.
Then there were three
