Women’s basketball: Gophers add high-scoring guard Leah Harmon

Fresh of a Sweet 16 appearance in this spring’s NCAA tournament, the Gophers seem to have found a new primary point guard.

Leah Harmon, who averaged 15.6 points and 2.2 assists for Central Florida as a sophomore before suffering a season-ending injury, has committed to Minnesota through the transfer portal, according to basketball site On3.com.

A 5-foot-6 guard from Patterson, N.J., she was the Knights’ leading scorer but played in only 20 of the team’s 30 games because of an undisclosed injury. She scored a career-high 38 points against Kansas on Jan. 4.

Harmon also shot 38 percent from 3-point range last season. She began her college career at Miami (Fla.), playing 23 games off the bench and average 2.2 ppg., and has two years of eligibility remaining.

The Gophers, who finished last season 22-9 overall, and fourth in the Big Ten with a 13-5 conference mark, have two scholarships available.

Deep in guards with Harmon joining starters Mara Braun, Grace Grocholski and Tori McKinney — plus highly prized prospects Tori Oehrlein and Natalie Kussow — Dawn Plitzuweit is hoping to add some scoring punch inside. The Gophers’ top centers, Sophie Hart and Finau Tonga, were graduate players last season and have exhausted their eligibility.

Between them, Hart (6-5) and Tonga (6-2) were adding roughly 15 points and 10 rebounds a game.

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