Kentuckians in women’s NCAA Tournament include Berger, Boley and more
The state of Kentucky will be represented by several former high school stars in the women’s NCAA Tournament in 2021.
And if one player in particular stands out, it has to be onetime Sacred Heart standout Grace Berger, who has three triple-doubles to her credit this season.
The first — 17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists — came against Eastern Kentucky on Nov. 25 and was the first triple-double in program history. The other two both came at Penn State’s expense — 15 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds on Jan. 7; and 17 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists on Feb. 10.
“That is pretty special,” Hoosiers Coach Teri Moren said after the third triple-double effort. “We knew over there on the sideline that she needed two assists to get it, so we were trying like crazy to put her in a situation where she could feed (teammate Mackenzie Holmes) and we pulled it off. Happy that we could make that happen for a kid that works her rear end off and is a high-level player.”
A high-level player, indeed. She has been named First Team All-Big Ten in back-to-back seasons.
This season, the 6-foot junior guard is Indiana’s second-leading scorer (15.3 points per game) and rebounder (6.3) while also averaging a team-best 4.8 assists. She has scored in double figures in 19 of 23 games.
Another Bluegrass star
Erin Boley, Oregon: The 6-2 senior forward and 2016 Miss Kentucky Basketball winner from Elizabethtown is the second-leading scorer (10.3 per game) as part of a balanced Ducks attack. She also averages 4.8 rebounds while shooting 38.5 percent from three-point range and 81.8 percent from the free-throw line. Boley played her first collegiate season at Notre Dame. She needs to score 20 points to reach 1,000 in her career at Oregon. She also scored 239 in her lone season with the Irish.
Key contributors
Whitney Hay, Belmont: The 6-0 freshman guard from Elizabethtown averages 6.2 points and 2.9 rebounds per game while shooting 45.1 percent from three-point range. She had five points, two rebounds and two assists in the Bruins’ OVC Tournament championship game win against top-seeded UT Martin.
Blair Green, Kentucky: The 6-0 junior guard out of Harlan County started the first 18 games of the season for the Cats. She averages 5.9 points and 1.7 rebounds while shooting 33.3 percent from long range and 83.3 percent from the free-throw line. She’s capable of scoring in bunches, including back-to-back games of 22 and 18 points in mid-February.
Cam Browning, Belmont: A 6-2 sophomore forward from Male, Browning averages 4.7 points and 2.4 rebounds. She contributed four points, two rebounds and two steals in Belmont’s OVC title game victory against UT Martin.
Destyne Jackson, Wright State: The 5-7 freshman guard from Frederick Douglass averages 4.4 points and 2.3 rebounds in 25.1 minutes per game for the Horizon League Tournament champions. She had seven points, three rebounds and two assists in 25 minutes in the team’s victory over IUPUI in the conference championship game.
Maddie Scherr, Oregon: A 5-11 freshman guard from Ryle, the 2020 Kentucky Miss Basketball winner averages 13.8 minutes off the bench and contributes 2.6 points and 1.8 rebounds per game.
Mykasa Robinson, Louisville: The 5-7 junior guard who starred at Ashland Blazer has started 13 of the Cardinals’ 26 games. She averages 2.2 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 20.0 minutes.
Terrific transfers
Ciera Johnson, Texas A&M: The 6-4 senior center, who started out at Louisville, is the Aggies’ fourth-leading scorer (10.1 per game) and second-leading rebounder (7.2). She was named the SEC’s 2021 Scholar Athlete of the Year for women’s basketball. Johnson, a Duncanville, Texas, native, played one season for the Cardinals (2016-17) before leaving for A&M.
Janika Griffith-Wallace, VCU: A 5-9 junior guard who transferred from Murray State, she averages 7.1 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. She scored 10 points and grabbed four rebounds in the Rams’ Atlantic 10 Tournament victory against Massachusetts. Originally from Brampton, Ontario, Griffith-Wallace averaged 11.7 points and 3.8 rebounds for the Racers in 2018-19.
More Ky. connections
Taziah Jenks, West Virginia: The 6-1 freshman guard from Mercy has played in five games with all seven of her points coming in a nine-minute appearance against Baylor on March 8. She was 3-for-4 in that game and grabbed two rebounds.
Emma King, Kentucky: The 5-10 sophomore guard from Lincoln County has played in four games, including two starts. She had five rebounds and five assists in those appearances.
Jaelynn Penn, Indiana: The 5-10 senior guard who starred at Butler in high school was averaging 9.5 points and 4.9 rebounds through 11 games when she decided to opt out of the remainder of the season in February. Penn, who has had to deal with plantar fasciitis in both feet and had been sidelined part of this season with a sprained ankle, has scored 1,274 career points for the Hoosiers. She was named Second Team All-Big Ten as a sophomore and earned an honorable mention as a junior.
Cierra Scott, Mercer: The 5-9 junior guard forward out of Sacred Heart has played in one game this season. She averaged 0.9 points in 17 games as a sophomore.
Erin Toller, Kentucky: A 5-7 freshman guard who starred at Sacred Heart, she has averaged 2.2 points in five games.
Malea Williams, Louisville: The 6-4 freshman forward from Scott County has scored seven points and grabbed five rebounds in six games.
