For the first time in University of Minnesota Duluth women's basketball program history, the Bulldogs are going to play in an NCAA Final Four Wednesday when they face Catawba College at 6:06 p.m. in the St. Joseph Civic Center in St. Joseph, Missouri. UMD is currently on a 13 game-winning streak that started back on Feb. 3 at Minnesota State University, Moorhead.
Date: March 22, 2023, 6:00 p.m. Wednesday, NCAA Final Four
Site: St. Joseph Civic Center St. Joseph, Missouri
UMD: 31-3
Catawba: 29-5
TV: CBS Sports Network
IT'S TOURNAMENT TIME!: UMD is in the midst of its fifth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance. The 15th NCAA Tournament trip for the Bulldogs is also full of firsts -- including the farthest UMD has ever gone in its postseason history. All-time, the Bulldogs are 12-13 in the NCAA postseason and 5-3 under eighth year head coach Mandy Pearson. UMD made its first Elite Eight appearance in program history Monday with a 61-41 win over Assumption. Wednesday continue to mark program firsts -- a first-ever NCAA Final Four berth.
OLSEN BY THE NCAA TOURNAMENT NUMBERS: Newly minted 2023 WBCA NCAA Division II Player of the Year Brooke Olson has had an 2023 NCAA Tournament to remember so far. The graduate senior, who is averaging 22.7 points a game through 34 games this season has offensively ignited in the tournament, averaging a staggering 27.8 ppg and 10.3 rebounds a game for a double-double through four games, and owns a 60.8% field goal average and a perfect 14-of-14 from the charity stripe.
Those numbers have Olson near the top of the NCAA Tournament in a multitude of categories, including scoring (second), first in free throw percentage (100.0), first in field goal attempts (74), second in blocks (8), and third in rebounds (41), all the while sitting third in doubles with two in her last four games. Olson also has 111 points so far in the NCAA postseason -- for reference, the all-time tournament point record is 149 points, set by Johannah Leedham of Farnklin Pierce in 2009.
But Olson isn't the only Bulldog with some of the best NCAA Tournament stats in the country. Ella Gilbertson owns the second most steals (10), while also laying claim to the second-best assist/turnover ratio.Two players have not missed a free throw in the NCAA postseason -- Olson and Taya Hakamaki who are all shooting 100% from the line.
CAREER NCAA TOURNAMENT NUMBERS: Brooke Olson and Maesyn Thiesen have already played in a program-record eight NCAA Tournament games, but their stats over those game is beyond impressive.
Olson has averaged 25.3 ppg in the NCAA postseason, and is just short of a double-double with 9.6 rebounds per game. Thiesen has averaged 7.5 ppg over those same eight games, and as added an average of 4.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists per NCAA Tournament outing.
UMD WINS FIRST-EVER ELITE EIGHT GAME: UMD's first-ever Elite Eight game was a good one Monday, when the Bulldogs defeated Assumption 61-41 to advance to their first-ever Final Four.
UMD's game plan took a detour when Brooke Olson picked up two fouls in the first 2:31 of action, but the Bulldogs rallied in the National Player of the Year's absence to go on a 11-2 run that pushed UMD into a 16-5 lead with 2:20 left to play in the first quarter. That run was jump-started by four-straight points from Ella Gilbertson, and ended with a 16-7 Bulldog advantage after the first 10 minutes of action.
The Greyhounds, who came into the game boasting the nation's top defense, were stifled by UMD's efforts, and scored just 14 points by half to the Bulldogs 27.
That trend continued in the second half, and by the time Olson returned, UMD held a turnover advantage of 11-1 midway through the third quarter, which helped steer the Bulldogs to a 39-26 lead after three quarters of play.
Assumption had its most offensively productive quarter in the fourth, managing 15 points, but the Bulldogs added 21 of their own to put away their first-ever NCAA Elite Eight game and claim their ticket to the NCAA Final Four – the first by a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Collegiate team in a decade.
Despite early foul trouble, Olson led all scorers with 15 points in just 16:54 of time – nearly a point per minute for the graduate senior. Olson added 10 points in the second half to push her game total to 15 and hauled in six rebounds. Gilbertson posted 12 points, and five of her six boards came on the defensive end of the court. Maesyn Thiesen led all UMD players with seven total rebounds and both sides with a game-high four assists.
But it was the Bulldogs defense that did the talking Monday, allowing program NCAA Tournament low 41 points to the Greyhounds, while forcing them into 19 turnovers that led to 22 UMD points. It also marked the second time this season UMD has held an opponent scoreless from the three-point line, all the while keeping Assumption so uncomfortable it shot just 28.3 from the field.
NOTES FROM THE ELITE EIGHT WIN: UMD is now 12-13 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and 5-3 over the tenure of Bulldog bench boss Mandy Pearson.
--With its12th NCAA triumph, UMD surpassed Augustana for the second-most tournament wins among NSIC schools in league history.
--Multiple Bulldog players broke UMD's single-season game record in the win, stepping past Kelli Ritzer, Mary Zgonc, Denise Holm, Mary Hannula and Sue Peterson for their 34th game played (the old record was 33 games) Those players are Taya Hakamaki, Lexi Karge, Kaylee Nelson, Brooke Olson, Taytum Rhoades and Maesyn Thiesen.
--The Bulldogs had 28 points from their bench Monday, while the Greyhounds had just five.
NCAA CENTRAL REGIONAL ROUND UP: On the way to get to an Elite Eight its never visited, UMD had to do something it had never done -- host an NCAA Regional Tournament.
The home court was home cooking for the Bulldogs, who averaged 76.3 points per game -- five more points than UMD averaged during the rest of the season.
After knocking off eight seed Southern Nazarene 66-50 behind 32 points (15-22 shooting) and eight rebounds from Brooke Olson and an additional 10 points, four assists and four rebounds from Maeysen Thiesen, UMD got a NSIC Tournament Championship game with Minnesota State University, Mankato las Saturday.
The Bulldogs used a 20-8 scoring run in the third quarter to put the Mavericks away 86-70, helped in part by Olson's career-best 43 point effort and 14 rebound night. Four other players posted double digit scoring lines Taya Hakamaki (13 points), Thiesen (12 points), and Taytum Rhoades (12 points).
UMD saved its best for last, however, and stunned Southern Missouri with a a comeback in Romano Gym that will never be forgotten. The Bulldogs trailed by as many as 20 points in the game, includling a deficit of 11 points with just over two minutes left in the fourth quarter. But the Bulldogs went on a 16-4 scoring spree from 2:07 until the final buzzer, and a three-pointer from Ella Gilbertson with a tad over 15 seconds on the clock turned out to be the game-winner for the Bulldogs, who advanced to their first Elie Eight in program history after falling short in their one and only other attempt in 2000-01.
Olson and Gilbertson led UMD with 21 points apiece, while Olson added 13 rebounds and Gilbterson contributed five. Hakamaki, who has taken a shine to the NCAA postseason spotlight, added 14 points to go with her four assists.
NICE TO MEET YOU: UMD and Catawba will meet for the first time in either's program history Wednesday.
TURNT UP FOR THE TOURNEY: Multiple Bulldogs have dialed up their offensive production in the NCAA Tournament without the last name Olson, and maybe none greater than sixth-player off the bench is junior forward Ella Gilbertson. Gilbertson is averaging 10.8 ppg through four NCAA games (she averaged 6.8), with 10 steals and a 5.00 assist/turnover ration. Right behind Gilbertson is junior guard Taya Hakamaki, who has recorded 11.0 ppg in the tournament after putting up 6.1 per game over the course of the whole season. Hakamaki, who trails only Olson in shooting perentage from the field with 45.5, like Olson, has been perfect from the charity stripe, shooting 7-of-7.
Two other players have notably churned out more points in the postseason -- senior guard Taytum Rhoades went from a 5.5 ppg average over the season to a 8.5 ppg in the NCAA postseason, while graduate senior Maeysn Thiesen is to 8.3 after averaging 7.0 ppg over the season
POINT TAKEN: Brooke Olson hasn't just been scoring in the postseason. The graduate senior ranks third in the NCAA currently with 22.7 points per game. Olson has compiled the second most overall points in program history and enters Wednesday's contest with 2,470 career points. UMD's all-time scoring leader is Dina Kangas, who piled up 2,810 points between 1987-91, an NCAA record.
BOARD MEMBER: Brooke Olson also has 925 career rebounds -- fourth most in program history and 15 shy of the third spot currently held by Carmen Kuntz from 1983-87. No player in the las 20 years has had more career rebounds than Olson -- the last player to get over 900 was Kim Toewe from 1999-03.
WINNING WAYS: The Bulldogds have blown past their win record for a single season with 31 -- the previous record was 26. UMD is also currently on a 13 game-winning streak -- the program's longest winning streak was 17 games, set Dec. 30, 1990 through March 7, 1991 under legendary head coach Karen Stromme.
Those 31 wins have pushed head coach Mandy Pearson to the 150 win plateau (and beyond with 155). Pearson is just the second head coach in program history to reach the mark.
BROOKE (OLSON) BY THE (RECORD) BOOK: Brooke Olson has climbed towards the top of almost every statistical category over her career, starting with her 2,470 career points, the second most in program history. Olson also ranks fourth all-time in ppg (17.5), second in made field goals (991) and field goal attempts (1,896), fifth in made free throws (313), fifth in free throw percentage (80.9), fourth in career rebounds (925), sixth in blocked shots (78), and two from taking over fifth place.
Olson's not the only one in the UMD annuals anymore -- Maeysn Thiesen now ranks fifth in career assists with 436.
BEST FOR LAST: UMD averaged its most points in a game in the third quarter (19.1) over the regular season, but has averaged 22.2 points in the fourth quarter in the NCAA postseason.
