STrib: B1G Tournament Begins with Gophers in Tatters

[Ignatius L Hoops]

Big Ten women's basketball tournament opens Wednesday with Gophers in tatters

The Gophers were projected to make the NCAA tournament not long ago but are riding a 1-10 stretch, including Sunday's 90-34 loss at Penn State. The tournament opens at Target Center on Wednesday.

www.startribune.com

Before Iowa's Caitlin Clark takes the Target Center floor in front of a sellout crowd in the Big Ten women's basketball tournament, before Ohio State and Indiana — among others — begin fighting for NCAA tournament seeding, the Gophers will try to recapture their competitive spirit that appears to have waned down the stretch.

"That means play hard, be efficient, take care of the basketball, get good shots," said Gophers coach Dawn Plitzuweit, whose team lost by 56 points at Penn State on Sunday. "That's not something that we've done at the level we want to do."