Here are the Minnesota women competing in March Madness
STILLWATER, Minn. — Nearly 40 Minnesota women are dancing this March in the NCAA tournament.
Half of them are products of the same youth club in the Twin Cities. Gerard Coury has been developing young basketball players in the North Tartan AAU program for 20 seasons now.
In that time he's watched dozens of dreams turn into a reality. This year, 21 players across 11 teams from North Tartan are competing in the women's NCAA tournament.
MORE: Which NCAA women's basketball teams are in March Madness 2024? See the full list by conference.
"Here in Minnesota there's a lot of talent," Coury said. "For us it's kind of like you're proud parents, watching your kids go off and realize their dreams because what they're doing on a national stage will stick with them for the rest of their lives."
Coaching is Coury's passion. He's also a teacher at Stillwater High School, where two alumni are now top players to watch this tournament.
Liza Karlen and Sara Scalia used to play for the Ponies together. Now Karlen is with No. 10 seed Marquette, and Scalia plays with No. 4 seed Indiana.
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"About a month ago I went and watched her and surprised her on her senior night at the University of Indiana, and there are little kids wearing Scalia jerseys," Coury recalled.
These players are now competing in a tournament that's getting more attention than it ever has.
The get-in price for the women's championship game is currently $390, which is twice as expensive than the $192 price for the men's championship game, according to Forbes.
"Now the conversation is changing because there's some dynamic players across the country," Coury said.
As a father of four little girls, Coury is most excited to see his own kids look up to the young women he helped train.
'It's important for these young females to have female role models, and now our kids are becoming those role models, and that's what's special," he said.
List of Minnesota women in March Madness
(via Prep Girls Hoops)
South Dakota State
- Tori Nelson – Two Rivers
- Paige Meyer – Albany
- Ellie Colbeck – Fergus Falls
- Madison Mathiowetz – Sleepy Eye St. Mary's
- Kallie Theisen – Wayzata
Drake University
- Anna Miller – Rochester Mayo
- Taylor McAulay – Centennial
- Shannon Fornshell – Wayzata
- Emily Christenson – East Ridge
Creighton University
- Lauren Jensen – Lakeville North
- Molly Mogensen – Farmington
- Mallory Brake – Hastings
- Kiani Lockett – Minnetonka
UW-Green Bay
- Jenna Guyer – Centennial
- Sophie Lahti – Pine City
- Maren Westin – Becker
University of Nebraska
- Annika Stewart – Wayzata
- Kendall Coley – St. Louis Park
- Callin Hake – Chanhassen
University of Utah
- Jenna Johnson – Wayzata
- Gianna Kneepkens – Duluth Marshall
Marquette University
- Liza Karlen – Stillwater
- Frannie Hottinger – Cretin-Derham Hall
University of Indiana
- Sara Scalia – Stillwater
- Lilly Meister – Rochester John Marshall
Other schools with one player each
- Alyssa Ustby – North Carolina (Rochester Lourdes)
- Ayoka Lee – Kansas State (Byron)
- Ella Hopkins – Gonzaga (Rochester Lourdes)
- Kennedy Sanders – Colorado (Chaska)
- Kierra Wheeler – Norfolk State (Cooper 2021)
- Nyamer Diew – Iowa State ( Worthington)
- Nunu Agara – Stanford (Hopkins)
- Nneka Obiazor – Nevada Las Vegas (Eden Prairie)
- Paige Bueckers – UConn (Hopkins)
- Paige Kindseth – Presbyterian College (Farmington)
- Taylor Woodson – Michigan (Hopkins)
- Tessa Johnson – South Carolina (St. Michael-Albertville)
- Vanessa Saidu – Texas A&M (Cooper)
