A class by itself: 2015 girls hoops crew has huge March night, season
It had to sting University of Wisconsin officials, particularly those associated with the women’s basketball program, to watch what happened March 7.
The Badgers season likely came to an end March 2 with a loss to Michigan State in the Big Ten tournament, closing with a 9-22 record. It was only the first year under new coach Jonathan Tsipis, so there is a lot of time still to build, though UW went 7-22 last year and hasn’t had a winning season since 2010-11. Many will point to the program’s aversion to drafting recruits from inside the state’s borders, especially because the smaller UW-Green Bay has built a powerhouse (40 straight winning seasons, 15 NCAA Tournament appearances since 1998) on the backs of state talent.
There are four Wisconsin high-school players on the Badgers roster, and two will graduate this year. None of the state’s top recruits are currently committed to play for Wisconsin next year or the year after.
So when Marquette hoisted the Big East Tournament trophy March 7, with a raucous crowd at the Al McGuire Center in Milwaukee howling in approval, it was painfully evident what a missed opportunity it was that Wisconsin didn’t attract any members of the class of 2015, which is shaping up to be the greatest girls basketball class the state has ever seen.
Milwaukee Riverside’s Amani Wilborn was named the Big East Tournament Most Outstanding Player for Marquette, and teammate Natisha Hiedeman (Green Bay Southwest) was added to the all-tourney team. Hiedeman, who hit an exciting halfcourt heave at the end of the second quarter in the title game, was second on the team in scoring this year with 13.9 points per game, while Wilborn was a force off the bench, averaging close to 10 points per contest.
The biggest prize of that class for Marquette, so far, has been Allazia Blockton (Whitefish Bay Dominican), who averaged 17.2 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. She was a unanimous choice for first-team All Conference in the Big East, and she became the youngest player to score 1,000 career points at Marquette when she reached that threshold in 56 games. Blockton scored 2,143 points at Dominican, good for ninth in Wisconsin history.
Still other sophomores contribute in a big way. Erika Davenport of Michigan is third on the team in scoring, and Danielle King of Chicago is fourth. Davenport hauls in 9.3 rebounds per game, and King leads the team in assists.
The first recruiting class for coach Carolyn Kieger has helped the Golden Eagles transform from a 9-22 team in 2014-15 to 14-16 last year and 24-7 this year, with a trip scheduled for the NCAA Tournament.
It would have been a challenge for any in-state school to land Arike Ogunbowale of Divine Savior Holy Angels, a McDonald’s All-American who is now starting for one of the best college programs in the nation at Notre Dame. But the top-shelf talent and overall depth of the 2015 class is staggering. Consider these players, in addition to the aforementioned Marquette standouts:
Arike Ogunbowale, Notre Dame (DSHA). Notre Dame won the ACC championship with an 84-61 win over Duke on March 5 for a fifth straight title, and Ogunbowale led all scorers with 21 points in the victory en route to a spot on the all-tournament team. A member of the ACC All-Freshman team last year, she was second on the team in scoring this year at 15.1 points per game, accompanied by 4.3 rebounds. Perhaps the greatest girls basketball player in state history owns the state record for points in a state-tourney game when she scored 55 in 2015 against Middleton. She is sixth on the state’s all-time scoring list (2,240 points).
Megan Gustafson, Iowa (South Shore). However, the all-time scorer in Wisconsin history (3,229 points) also hails from the class of 2015, and she's the leading scorer for the Hawkeyes at 18.3 points per game. Iowa finished 17-13 this season, and Gustafson was named first-team All Conference. There was a time during her high-school career when we looked at those scoring numbers and wondered whether that spoke to the level of competition in the extreme northern part of the state. If Gustafson hadn't already answered doubts about her viability as a D1 basketball standout, she has answered them now.
Taylor Higginbotham, Western Illinois (Germantown). She’s also headed to the NCAA Tournament after Western won the Summit League title in thrilling fashion March 7, needing a last-second 3-pointer to force overtime. She was third on the team with 14.1 points per game and also finished with 5.6 rebounds and 2.7 assists per contest.
Chloe Wanink, Wofford (Cameron). She was also one of the state’s all-time best scorers, racking up 2,393 points for fourth in state history. Today, she averages 16.1 points per game for Wofford, with 2.4 assists and 5.8 rebounds for good measure. She was named second-team All Conference in the Southern Conference.
Jessica Kelliher, Lewis (Waukesha North). She’s playing NCAA Division II, but she scored 19.9 points per game with 7.6 rebounds and was named Great Lakes Valley Conference Player of the Year as just a sophomore. Kelliher scored more than 2,000 points in her career at North. Gabby Green (Milwaukee Pius) scored 4.7 points with 2.7 assists per game for Bradley last year but has transferred to Lewis, where she was eligible to play right away and saw action in 30 of 31 games, scoring 4.8 per contest.
UW-Milwaukee brought in several recruits from the class of 2015, including current players Akaylah Hayes (Milwaukee King) and Alyssa Fischer (Manitowoc Lincoln). Emma Roenneburg (Adams-Friendship) sat out this year after transferring to South Dakota.
UW-Green Bay also features class of 15 players. Madison and Mackenzie Wolf (Sheboygan North) and Frankie Wurtz (Kimberly) all regularly saw the floor this season for a Phoenix team headed back the Big Dance after winning the Horizon tournament March 7.
Mikayla Voigt, Northern Illinois (Kettle Moraine Lutheran). She scores 11.4 points per game and is fourth on the MAC in scoring for a squad that finished 19-11.
Shakeela Fowler (Milwaukee King) was a City Conference Player of the Year and averaged 11.2 points and 2.7 assists for Illinois State as a freshman, netting a spot on the Missouri Valley All-Freshman team, but she decide to transfer to Trinity Valley Community College.
Kayla Goth, Kansas State (DeForest). She’s the fourth-leading scorer for K-State (7.3 points per game).
Ellie Harmeyer, Belmont (Shoreland Lutheran). She saw the NCAA Tournament last year and sees some action for a Belmont team that just finished undefeated in the Ohio Valley Conference and is receiving top-25 votes.
Annalese Lamke, Minnesota (Gale-Ettick-Trempealeau) played in 14 games for the Gophers this season.
Jasmin Samz (Wausau West) started at St. Louis and has transferred to Ball State.
Ally May, Northern Illinois (Arrowhead). Saw action in five games for the Huskies.
Marianna Bautista, Cleveland State (Heritage Christian) saw action in 20 games for the Vikings.
Merissa Barber-Smith, Kent State (Madison LaFollette) saw action in 27 games this year with the Golden Flashes.