They were the core of Lindsay Whalen’s Top 25 recruiting class in 2021. Four years later, they are the core of what Dawn Plitzuweit hopes to make the Gophers’ first NCAA tournament since 2018.

It didn’t happen the way they anticipated, with Whalen out after their freshman season and season-ending injuries for Niamaya Holloway and Mara Braun. But they’re all still here, with all their initial goals still within reach. The class wanted to win, help attract more in-state recruits to the Gophers and re-ignite the passion for the program that peaked in the mid-2000s, when sellout crowds at Williams Arena watched Whalen and Janel McCarville led Minnesota to the Final Four.

Now Amaya Battle, Braun, Holloway and Mallory Heyer are back together for one last shot, and their odds look good.

“I thi

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