The Gophers will play Washington Wednesday afternoon
The Big Ten women’s basketball regular season came to a close this weekend, and with that the bracket for the 2025 Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament was released Sunday evening. The Minnesota Golden Gophers are the #13 seed in the tournament and will face #12 Washington Huskies at 2:30 PM on Wednesday.
Minnesota had several setbacks in their final games of the regular season. They lost their regular season finale at #23 Michigan State 73-58. Minnesota struggled down the stretch as they were outscored 27-13 in the final quarter taking a one point deficit to the final tally of fifteen. The Wednesday before the Gophers lost to their BTT opponent Washington in their home finale 72-62. The Huskies shot 58% from the field in the game including a stunning 68% in the second half. Minnesota did not have an answer for the Washington ball movement.
The two losses have taken the Gophers from comfortably in the NCAA Tournament field to squarely on the bubble. Before the loss to the Spartans the Gophers were one of ESPN’s last four teams in the field. The Gophers may need to defeat the Huskies —who leapfrogged them in the NCAA bracket after their win last week to feel ok about their spot in the field of 68. Depending on how upsets rock the field, the Gophers may need to defeat #5 seed Michigan in the quarterfinals on Thursday as well.
If the Gophers to miss the NCAA field they should be a lock for the WBIT which is in it’s second year as the backup tournament behind the NCAA Tournament. But it would feel like a miss for the Gophers who were projected to be in the NCAA field for a majority of the season.
Minnesota can take their placement into their own hands starting this week. The Gophers and Huskies will open the Big Ten Tournament at 2:30 on Wednesday on Peacock. The other two Wednesday opening round games include #15 Rutgers against #10 Nebraska, and #14 Wisconsin against #11 Iowa.
If Minnesota defeats the Huskies, they would take on #5 seeded Michigan at 5:30 PM Thursday on Big Ten Network. The full Big Ten bracket is below:
