This year’s March Madness has been more than just a spectator event for several former Stillwater girls basketball players.
Two of those players are still competing and 2021 SAHS graduate Gionna Carr is on the doorstep of an NCAA Division II national championship after Texas Woman’s University cruised into the finals with a 68-52 victory over Ferris State in the semifinals on Wednesday, March 27 in St. Joseph, Mo.
The Pioneers (34-3) will face Minnesota State University, Mankato (31-5) in the title game on Friday, March 29, a contest that will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network at 7 p.m.
Texas Woman’s University, the No. 2 seed, arrived in the Final Four after victories over Colorado School of Mines (81-72), Adams State (74-63) and UT Tyler (66-51).
Carr, a 5-foot-9 junior guard, has made one start and played in 36 of 37 games for the Pioneers this season. She is averaging 3.6 points and 2.1 rebounds while playing more than 12 minutes per game.
A swarming defender while helping lead the Ponies to state tournament appearances in 2020 and 2021, Carr started her collegiate career at Tennessee State University, where she appeared in 14 games before transferring to Panola College, where she started 30 of 31 games for the Fillies.
This has been a historic season already for the Pioneers, who set a school record for victories in a season while advancing to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in the program’s history.
The Mankato team that TWU will be facing in the finals previously knocked out one of Carr’s former teammates Mary Fultz and the Missouri Western State University squad that was seeded second in the Central Regional.
Fultz, a 6-1 forward, started 23 games for the Griffons and averaged 5.0 points and 2.7 rebounds per game with 17 steals and 5 blocked shots. The Griffons (25-6) were stopped by the seventh-seeded Mavericks 78-58 on March 15.
Fultz made 30 of 31 free throws (96.8) percent this season and averaged more than 5 points and nearly 3 rebounds in 112 games during her four-year career at Missouri Western.
Two more Ponies were involved in this year’s NCAA Division I Tournament.
Sara Scalia has been one of the top performers for Indiana the past two seasons and the Hoosiers advanced to the Sweet Sixteen for the third time in four seasons. Indiana (26-5) is scheduled to face undefeated and top-seeded South Carolina (34-0) on Friday, March 29. Game time is 4 p.m., and will be broadcast on ESPN. The winner will face either Notre Dame (28-6) or Oregon State (26-7) on March 31 for the spot in the Final Four.
The Hoosiers, who tied Iowa for second place in the Big Ten regular season standings behind Ohio State, opened with a 89-56 victory over Fairfield and followed with a 75-68 win over fifth-seeded Oklahoma in the second round.
Scalia scored 27 points against Fairfield, which was the most points scored by an Indiana player in an NCAA Tournament game — breaking a record that stood for 41 years — until teammate Mackenzie Holmes topped that with 29 points in the victory over Oklahoma just two days later.
The 5-10 guard is averaging 16.4 points per game while shooting 43 percent from three-point range and 89.7 percent from the free-throw line (87-97). In addition to earning All-Big Ten First Team honors, Scalia has been named a region finalist for WBCA NCAA Division I Coaches’ All-America recognition.
Another of Stillwater’s four current Division I players, Liza Karlen helped lead Marquette into the NCAA Tournament. The Golden Eagles (23-9) were stopped by Ole Miss 67-55 in the opening round on March 23.
Karlen pulled down a season-high 14 rebounds in the loss to the Rebels (24-8) but finished the season with 240 field goals, which is the third highest total in program history. The 6-2 forward started all 32 games and led the team in scoring (17.7 ppg) and rebounding (7.9). Karlen also finished with a team-high 37 blocked shots. She made 82.2 percent of her free throws (60-73) and connected on 35.7 percent of three-point attempts (25-70), finishing the season with 10 double-doubles.
Amber Scalia, a 2022 SAHS graduate, enjoyed a breakout sophomore season at the University of St. Thomas, which finished 7-9 in the Summit League and 15-16 overall in just its third season as a Division I program.
After scoring 4.5 points per game as a freshman, Amber broke the DI program record for single-season points averaging 16.8 points. She shot 84.2 on free throws and 34.9 on three-pointers and was named All-Summit League Honorable Mention.
She also finished with 86 rebounds and ranked second on the team in assists (85) and steals (33).
Former Stillwater players Lizzie Holder, Lexi Karlen and Katie Hardtke are also playing basketball in college.
Holder played two games for the University of Colorado as a freshman before transferring to the Naval Academy, where she started two games and played in 24 overall for the Midshipmen (9-9 Patriot League, 14-17). The 6-1 forward averaged 1.6 points and 2.0 rebounds per game.
Lexi Karlen, a 2023 SAHS graduate, recently concluded her freshman season at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. The 6-0 forward, who finished No. 2 on Stillwater’s all-time rebounding list, played in nine games for the Bulldogs and scored six points and grabbed nine rebounds. The Bulldogs finished 14-8 in the NSIS and 19-10 overall, losing to the University of Mary 83-75 in the semifinals of the conference tournament on March 4.
Hardtke is a member of the Luther College women’s basketball team that finished 6-10 in the American Rivers Conference and 11-15 overall.
Contact Stuart Groskreutz at stuart.groskreutz@apgecm.com
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