Top Gophers women's basketball player Rachel Banham had successful surgery for patellar tendonitis earlier this week, the team announced Tuesday.

Patellar tendonitis is a painful, nagging knee injury that's common in athletes.

"We collectively decided that performing the surgery during the summer was the best choice in making sure Rachel will be at 100 percent for her junior year," head coach Pam Borton said in a release.

Banham averaged 20.7 points and made First Team All-Big Ten to lead the Gophers during a disappointing 2012-13 season. Minnesota entered the year with NCAA tournament hopes, but it missed the tournament and lost in the first round of the second-tier National Invitation Tournament.

Banham and Borton enter next season with a better roster on paper and more high expectations.