Blue Devils Advance to Final Four

Menomonie’s Mary Berg Playing a Vital Role in Stout’s Success

MENOMONIE – The UW-Stout women’s basketball team advanced to the NCAA Division III Women’s Final Four for the first time in the school’s history with two wins last weekend in Scranton, Pa. The Blue Devils’ Mary Berg, a freshman from Menomonie, has not just been along for the ride, but has played a pivotal role for the Blue Devils off the bench throughout the season and during the NCAA tournament.

Berg, a 5-11, guard, was the one of the first off the bench for UW-Stout all season. The Blue Devils (23-7) hosted the first two rounds of the playoff, March 7-8. Berg drilled three 3-pointers to finish with nine points in the Blue Devils’ 87-57 first round romp over Ripon College. Berg added two points and an assist in Stout’s second round 75-69 win over seventh-ranked Whitman College.

In Stout’s 62-56 win in the Sweet Sixteen over UW-Whitewater, March 14, in Scranton, Pa., Berg hit a key 3-pointer to give Stout a seven point lead with six minutes remaining, finishing with five points and two assists. The next night, in an 81-77 Elite Eight win over the University of Scranton, Berg helped to put an end to the Royals 32-game home winning streak with a pair of rebounds and some tough-nosed defense.

Since coming up short in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) tournament, falling to Whitewater, 69-63, in Johnson Fieldhouse in the semi-final game, the Blue Devils have been on a tear. Stout would go through the tournament, ending the seasons for four teams that had a combined 103-12 record before meeting the Blue Devils. Ripon, the Midwest Conference champion, was 23-4 and was the only team Stout played that was not ranked in the March 2 D3hoops.com national poll. Whitman College (27-1) was ranked sixth, Whitewater (24-6) was ranked 16th and Scranton (29-1) was ranked third. The Blue Devils entered the tournament ranked 22nd in the D3hoops.com poll.

The Blue Devils will face their biggest and most lofty team of the season in the opener of the Final Four, when they meet No. 1-ranked and defending national champion New York University (29-0) Thursday, March 20 at 4 pm (CT) in Salem, Va. Ticket information and streaming information can be found at the Blue Devils Athletics site: UW-Stout Blue Devil Athletics or at: the Women’s Basketball Division III Championship site | Streaming at ESPN+ ($)

The Blue Devils are a senior-laden team, with seven seniors on the roster, and Stout gets a balanced attack. As most teams and media has noticed, Stout does not have superior height, with no players listed over 5-foot, 11-inches, allowing Stout to start four guards and a forward.

Stout is led by 2024 All-American guard Reagan Sorensen (Centuria), who is averaging 17.9 points and 6.3 rebounds, both team highs. Sorensen, who missed five games early in the season due to injury, has been held under 10 points only three times this season out of 25 games played. Sorensen has been particularly lethal during the NCAA run, averaging 24.5 points over the four games. Sorensen is 13 points short of the school scoring record of 1738 points held by Julia Hirssig from 2006-10.

Anna Mutch (Apple Valley, Minn) is a very vocal 5-8 guard, averaging 13.6 points and 4.4 rebounds. Amanda Giesen (New Prague, Minn) is a 5-11 forward, averaging 12.1 points and 4.1 rebounds. If the Blue Devils need a 3-point shot, Lexi Wagner (Galesville) can be called upon. The 5-10 guard has dropped an astonishing 69-of-149 treys, shooting at a .463 clip from beyond the arc. Wagner set a single game school record in January with nine 3-pointers against UW-Eau Claire. While senior point guard Sam Schaefer (DeForest) is not a scoring machine, she is a playmaker. Averaging 3.9 points per contest, Schaefer is dishing off 3.4 assists. Schaeffer, Giesen and Mutch are all 3-point threats. Senior 5-9 guard Ellisa Lodermeier (Goodhue, Minn) averages 2.2 points per game. Senior 5-10 guard Allison Lechter (Windom, Minn) is a 3-point threat who averages 3.0 points per game. Junior 5-9 forward Rosella Wille (Cannon Falls, Minn) is averaging 4.0 points and 3.6 rebounds.

Mary Berg, a freshman guard from Menomonie, has played in all 30 of UW-Stout’s games this season. Photo: Jeremy Cwan, UW-Stout

Berg,  Mutch, Wille and Schaefer are the only players to see action in all 30 games. Berg is averaging 20.4 minutes played, most of any bench player. She started one game early in the season when Sorensen, Giesen and Wagner were out due to injury. Berg is second on the team behind Wagner in 3-pointers made with 31 and is averaging 4.9 points. Berg scored a season-high 14 points against UW-Stevens Point in January, a game she dropped in four 3-pointers, and six times this season has scored in double figures.

The Blue Devils are coached by Hannah Iverson, who is in her seventh season with the Blue Devils. Iverson played her high school ball at Eau Claire North and played collegiately at UW-Green Bay. Iverson is assisted by Kyleigh Fanning, a former Blue Devil standout, and Brooke Olson.

Layne Pitt is the retired UW-Stout sports information director and also worked more than a decade at The Dunn County News.

The story Blue Devils Advance to Final Four by Layne Pitt is licensed under a CC BY SA 4.0 International license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/