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Twenty former Wisconsin high school standouts suit up in this year's women's March Madness

03/18/2024, 5:15pm CDT
By Colton Wilson

Just like we mentioned in the men's March Madness preview, 68 teams remain in women's basketball with the chance at winning a national championship.

Of those 68 teams, eleven roster a player from the state of Wisconsin, as 20 former standouts all have the same goal, survive and advance. Overall, 99 alumni played basketball collegiately at the women's Division 1 level this year.

Below we highlight all 20 alumni playing in March Madness.

Click here to read the Men's March Madness preview of Wisconsin high school alumni.


Lily Hansford of Appleton East

Regional 1 in Albany

8-seed North Carolina v 9-seed Michigan State
 

Lexi Donarski, Aquinas; senior transfer at North Carolina

Donarski has achieved success and collected awards at every level of her basketball career. During her time at Aquinas, she was a four-time state tournament attendee with two state titles. She is a 2,000 point scorer and also was named Ms. Basketball in Wisconsin her senior year. Donarski spent her first three years of college at Iowa State where she was named Freshman of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and First-Team All-Big 12 in her tenure while scoring over 1,200 points. This season she spent her senior year at North Carolina where she started 29 of the team's 30 games and averaged 10.9 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game.

3-seed Oregon State v 14-seed Eastern Washington
 

Lily Hansford, Appleton East; sophomore at Oregon State

Hansford is in her second year at Oregon State after helping Appleton East to a silver ball at the WIAA State Tournament in the 2021-22 season as a senior. The 6'2" wing has almost doubled her production from last year to this year, playing in 30 games for the Beavers with one start. Hansford averages five points and nearly two rebounds per game while playing 17 minutes per game for a team that went 24-7 up to this point.

2-seed Notre Dame v 15-seed Kent State
 

Eléna Maier, Waunakee; redshirt sophomore at Kent State

Maier sat out her entire freshman season at Kent State in 2021-22 due to injury. Over the past two seasons, she's played in 21 games averaging just over seven minutes per game. This year, Maier scored 22 total points for the MAC Tourney Champions and played double-digit minutes in the two final tournament games for the Golden Flashes.


Ashala Moseberry of Madison East

Regional 2 in Albany

8-seed West Virginia v 9-seed Princeton
 

Ashala Moseberry, Madison East; junior transfer at West Virginia

Moseberry was named the Big East Player of the Year during her senior year at Madison East, and chose to go the JUCO route right out of high school, playing at South Plains JUCO for the past two seasons. She transferred to West Virginia before the beginning of this season. The junior transfer did not see any action this year for the Big 12 squad that went 24-7 overall.

5-seed Colorado v 12-seed Drake
 

Courtney Becker, Aquinas; senior at Drake

Becker teamed with North Carolina's Lexi Donarski at Aquinas to win two state championships, finish runner-up once, and have a COVID shortened season during her senior campaign. She's in her fourth season at Drake and her first one as a starter. During her freshman season, Becker was named to the Missouri Valley All-Freshman Team after averaging 3.5 points and 3.7 rebounds off the bench for the Bulldogs. This year, Becker is averaging 8.6 points, 6.7 rebounds and over an assist and steal per game. Her play helped lead Drake to a 29-5 record to this point and a Missouri Valley Conference regular season and tournament championship.

2-seed UCLA v 15-seed Cal Baptist
 

Grace Schmidt, Watertown Luther Prep; sophomore at Cal Baptist

Schmidt has had a great two years at Cal Baptist after prepping at Watertown Luther Prep. Last year as a freshman, she averaged over thirteen points and five rebounds per game and was named to the Second Team All-WAC, along with being named the WAC Tournament MVP. This season, Schmidt was off to another hot start but had her season cut short in December. She underwent surgery to repair a strained patellar tendon and has not played since before Christmas.

 

Regional 3 in Portland

3-seed UConn v 14-seed Jackson State
 

KK Arnold, Germantown; freshman at UConn

Arnold is one of the more decorated players to come out of the state of Wisconsin and the first to suit up for the prestigious UConn Huskies women's basketball team. She is the state's sixth leading scorer with 2,458 total points scored while at Germantown. Arnold is also a one-time state champion, three-time WBCA First Team All-State selection, WSN Senior Point Guard Winner, McDonalds All-American, and Ms. Basketball in the State of Wisconsin. In her first year at UConn, Arnold has started 27 of 30 games for the Huskies and averaged nine points, three rebounds, three assists, and over two steals per game. She was named to the Big East All-Freshman team and was a big reason why UConn finished 29-5 and won the Big East regular season and tournament championships.


Natalie McNeal of Germantown

Regional 4 in Portland

5-seed Utah v 12-seed South Dakota State
 

Maty Wilke, Beaver Dam; redshirt sophomore at Utah

Wilke was highly touted out of Beaver Dam and for good reason, she was a two-time state champ and All-State selection for the Golden Beavers. After an injury derailed her senior year, Wilke went to Wisconsin where she redshirted her first season. As a redshirt freshman, Wilke averaged 11.8 points and 3.9 rebounds for the Badgers before ultimately transferring to Utah this past offseason. In her first season with the Utes, she has played in all 32 games, starting the last eleven. Wilke averaged 7.9 points, 2.2 rebounds and nearly two assists and steals per game.

Mesa Byom, Melrose-Mindoro; redshirt junior at South Dakota State

Byom is in her fourth year on campus but third year of eligibility for the Jackrabbits. Before coming to South Dakota State, Byom led Melrose-Mindoro to three straight state tournaments, coming in second her sophomore and junior year before a COVID shortened one her senior year. This year, Byom has seen her role grow dramatically at South Dakota State, averaging 20.2 minutes per game with 13 starts in 32 games. She is averaging 7.7 points, 6.5 rebounds and over a block per game for the Summit League Champions that come into March Madness with a 27-5 record.

6-seed Tennessee v 11-seed UW-Green Bay
 

Natalie Andersen, Mukwonago; senior transfer at UW-Green Bay

Andersen scored over 1,200 points while playing at Mukwonago and played in three straight state tournaments, winning silver balls in two of those. Right out of college she went to IUPUI where she spent the last four seasons and accumulated 757 points. In her first year back at UW-Green Bay, Andersen averaged 5 points, 2.8 rebounds and one assist per game while playing 19 minutes per game with one start.

Bailey Butler, Black Hawk; junior at UW-Green Bay

Butler has garnered accolades since she was a freshman at Black Hawk high school. She led her team to four straight state tournaments with one championship. She scored nearly 2,000 points. She was a four-time WBCA All-State Selection and named Ms. Basketball in Wisconsin her senior season. At UW-Green Bay the accolades continued to come. As a freshman she was named the Freshman of the Year, Sixth Player of the Year and a All-Freshman Team honoree in the Horizon League. Last year and this year Butler has been named Second Team and All-Defensive Team in the Horizon League. She is averaging 7.9 points, 5.5 assists and over two rebounds and steals per game for the Horizon League Tournament Champions.

Callie Genke, Freedom; junior at UW-Green Bay

Genke is a two-time all-state selection from Freedom and in her third season with the Phoenix. Though she started 18 games last year as a sophomore, Genke has come off the bench this year but still averaged around 20 minutes per game. She is averaging 7.7 points and over a rebound and an assist per game for the Phoenix. Genke was named the Horizon League Co-Sixth Player of the Year this season.

Caelan Givens, Chippewa Falls; redshirt junior at UW-Green Bay

Givens scored over 1,500 career points at Chippewa Falls and was a two-time WBCA All-State honoree. In her fourth year at Green Bay, Givens has seen playing time in 26 games, averaging just 7.6 minutes per game. She has scored 58 points this season.

Jasmine Kondrakiewicz, Pius XI Catholic; redshirt junior at UW-Green Bay

Kondrakiewicz is in her fourth season at UW-Green Bay and experiencing her most success thus far. Starting all 33 games for the Phoenix, Kondrakewicz is averaging 8 points, 4.9 rebounds, and two assists per game. She was named a Horizon League Sportsmanship Honoree and does a little bit of everything for the Horizon League champs.

Natalie McNeal, Germantown; redshirt junior at UW-Green Bay

McNeal was a two-time first-team All-State selection while at Germantown and a 1,500 point scorer. She played her first two seasons at St. Louis before transferring to UW-Green Bay before the 2022-23 season. This year, McNeal has started all 32 games for the Phoenix, averaging 13.4 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. She was named a First Team All-Horizon League honoree after leading the Phoenix to a 27-6 record thus far.

Kendall Renard, Green Bay Preble; redshirt junior at UW-Green Bay

Renard scored over 1,200 points and hauled in over 700 rebounds in her time at Green Bay Preble and was a two-time WBCA Honorable Mention All-Selection in Division 1. She's appeared in a career high 17 games for the Phoenix this year, averaging 3.7 minutes per game.

Cassie Schiltz, Luxemburg-Casco; redshirt junior at UW-Green Bay

Schiltz scored over 1,900 points at Luxemburg-Casco and was a two-time All-State selection by the WBCA. She has started the last 93 games she has played in for Green Bay spanning the past three seasons. This year, Schiltz is averaging 10.1 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game and went over the 1,000 career points mark in her collegiate career.

Maddy Schreiber, Kimberly; junior at UW-Green Bay

Screiber took Kimberly to the state tournament as a junior and scored over 1,400 points while playing for the Papermakers. As a freshman at Green Bay, she was named to the Horizon League All-Freshman Team after tallying 7 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. Schreiber has upped her game as a junior, starting all 33 games and averaging 12 points, 4 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game for the Phoenix. She earned Second Team All-Horizon League honors and is a leader on the Phoenix squad.

Meghan Schultz, New Berlin West; freshman at UW-Green Bay

Before coming to Green Bay, Schultz was a three-time all-state selection at New Berlin West where she holds the record for most points (1,666), rebounds (861) and blocks (121) in school history. She did not see the floor this year for the Phoenix and will likely designate a redshirt season.

7-seed Iowa State v 10-seed Maryland
 

Hannah Belanger, Grafton; senior transfer at Iowa State

Before coming to Iowa State, Belanger was an all-state selection at Grafton and scored over 1,700 points. She spent her first four seasons at Division 2 Truman State where she tallied 1,882 points, 361 rebounds, and 306 assists. She was a GLVC Player of the Year and Division 2 All-American her final season at Truman State. This year with Iowa State, Belanger has started 30 of the 31 games. She averaged 9.4 points, 2.2 assists, and 1.8 rebounds for the 20-11 Cyclones. Over her college career, Belanger has scored over 2,000 points.

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