Gophers star Mara Braun to have foot surgery; uncertain if she’ll return this season

Gophers junior guard Mara Braun will not travel with the women’s basketball team to its tournament in New Orleans later this week. Instead, she will stay behind and have surgery on the right foot she reinjured last week.

“She’ll have the surgery and get back to working on her recovery,” Gophers coach Dawn Plitzuweit said.

Plitzuweit said a decision on whether Braun will attempt to return this season is still pending. “It’s way too early to tell,” she said.

The team’s leading scorer at 13.6 points per game, Braun originally injured her right foot landing on an opponent in the fourth quarter of the Gophers’ game at Illinois on Jan. 28. She had surgery then and was lost until the Gophers began play in the WNIT tournament. But, after two games in that tournament, she tweaked the injury and missed the final three games.

Last season, it took about two months for Braun to return. It remains to be seen how her recovery goes this time, but Braun would be eligible for a medical redshirt should she miss the remainder of the 2024-25 season.

The Gophers were 5-0 when Braun stepped wrong and reinjured the foot during the morning shootaround last Wednesday before the team’s game against Eastern Illinois. She has watched the last two games from the bench, wearing a walking boot.

Since the start of the 2023-24 season, the Gophers are 21-6 with Braun in the starting lineup, 6-10 without her. The Gophers have beaten Eastern Illinois and Montana since Braun’s latest setback. Next up, they will play Houston on Friday in New Orleans.