Gianna Kneepkens has fit right in as a graduate transfer at UCLA.
The Duluth Marshall alumna is the third-leading scorer (14.3 ppg) on a highly balanced Bruins squad, which was a 2025 national semifinalist, and that is currently No. 4 in the AP Top 25 and one of only two remaining unbeaten teams in the Big 10.
Kneepkens put up 15 points, six rebounds and five assists as UCLA routed rival USC, whose star Juju Watkins is out for the season with a knee injury, on Saturday, Jan. 3. She has made at least one 3-pointer in every UCLA game this season and has scored in double figures in the last nine consecutive games.
After four seasons at Utah, which was in the Pac-12 and the Big XII, Kneepkens will finally have the chance to play a college game in her home state, as the Bruins visit Williams Arena to play Minnesota on Wednesday night (B1G+).
Despite her illustrious prep career at Marshall, Kneepkens never played at Williams specifically during her time as a Hilltopper. Marshall’s quarterfinal in the 2020 Class AA state tournament vs. New London-Spicer took place down the hall at Maturi Pavilion, and the tournament was abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic the day the Hilltoppers were supposed to play at Williams in the state semifinals.
Marshall returned to the state tournament the following year, but the University of Minnesota did not allow outsiders to use most of its facilities due to COVID-19 protocols. Despite her outrageous state-record 67-point game in the quarterfinals, Providence Academy advanced from the contest, which was played in St. Cloud and included then seventh-grader and future blue-chip recruit Maddyn Greenway, and sisters Grace and Maria Counts, who went on to play at Minnesota Duluth.
CALLS FROM HOME
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One of the few teams to keep Kneepkens relatively under wraps was North Carolina on Nov. 13. Though Mountain Iron-Buhl alum Jordan Zubich did not play in that one, the sophomore has seen spot duty in 10 contests for the Tar Heels this season and is averaging 2.8 points.
Zubich scored eight points in 12 minutes in the Nov. 3 season opener against North Carolina Central and repeated the feat later in the month against North Carolina A&T.
The Heels are ranked No. 22 nationally.
After transferring from North Dakota State, 2022 News Tribune All-Area Player of the Year Taryn Hamling (Grand Rapids) is the current leading scorer at Minot State. The redshirt sophomore has averaged 16.3 points through 15 games, with a season high of 28 in a Nov. 29 nonconference game against South Dakota Mines. No Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference team has held her under 11 in eight attempts.
Minnesota Crookston’s Anna Westby (12) dribbles into Minnesota Duluth’s Vanessa Bickford (12) in the first quarter of the game in Duluth on Dec. 3.
Jed Carlson / Duluth Media Group file photo
Anna Westby (Rock Ridge) and Rayna Klejeski (Barnum) are currently the second- and third-leading scorers for Minnesota Crookston.
Westby, a freshman, has started all 14 of her games for the Golden Eagles and is averaging 11.2 points. With 32, she has more than half her team’s season total of 51 blocks. Klejeski, a junior, is putting up 10.8 points per game and is the team’s leading rebounder with 5.7 a game.
Teammate Natalie Mikrot (Moose Lake/Willow River) has scored 21 points in nine appearances off the bench for UMC.
Tieryn Plasch (Northwestern) and Ashlynne Guenther (Duluth East) have started all 12 of Bemidji State’s games this season. Plasch, a junior, is averaging 8.7 points and has a team-leading total of 29 assists. Guenther, also a junior, is averaging 4.3 points and 2.8 rebounds.
Jessika Lofstrom (Grand Rapids) and Hali Savela (Mountain Iron-Buhl) have been a part of Jamestown’s first season in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.
Lofstrom, a 6-foot sophomore, leads the Jimmies in rebounding with 5.9 per game to go with 6.6 points. She has started all 12 games so far this season. Savela has played in all 12 and started six for Jamestown, averaging 3.3 pounds and 3.3 boards in a key reserve role.
Kloe Zentkowski (Superior) is a key reserve for Michigan Tech, where the sophomore is averaging 2.3 points and 3.4 rebounds a game in 12 appearances.
In Division III, Maggie Winesett (Duluth East) has been an automatic addition to Carleton’s lineup, starting all 12 games of her college career thus far. Winesett is averaging 6.5 points and 4.9 rebounds, and recorded a double-double (13 points, 10 boards) in just her second collegiate game, on Nov. 12 vs. North Central (Minnesota).
Elly Schmitz (Hermantown) had eligibility remaining for one more season at Bethel, where the graduate forward is leading the Royals in scoring and rebounding with 17 points and 7.8 rebounds per game.
Emma Lamppa (Rock Ridge) is already a key reserve as a freshman at Hamline, where she’s averaged nearly 15 minutes a game off the bench for the Pipers and is averaging 5.4 points.
Sophomore guard Lani Fonoti (Cloquet) has three games with double-figure outputs off the bench for Augsburg, and a season average of 7.0 points per game.
After sitting out some in the early going, Alexa Snesrud (Cloquet) has played in eight games at Concordia-Moorhead, averaging 3.6 points and 2.0 rebounds, including 11 points in 14 minutes off the bench at Minnesota Morris on Dec. 1.
Despite numerous injuries affecting her college career, Rachel Hagen (Duluth East) has made appearances in all 13 games as a junior at Wisconsin-Stevens Point, where she leads the team in steals with 26. Hagen has averaged 4.5 points and 5.0 rebounds.
Isaac Asuma has become a fixture in the starting lineup for Minnesota this season.
Minnesota Golden Gophers guard Isaac Asuma (1) celebrates his team’s win against the Iowa Hawkeyes during the second half at Williams Arena in Minneapolis on Tuesday.
Matt Krohn / IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
In addition to starting all 15 games the Gophers had played going into a Friday night encounter with Southern California at Williams Arena, the sophomore Cherry alum has averaged nearly 32 minutes a game. He’s made the most of that time, leading the Gophers in assists with more than four per contest and putting up 10.3 points a night.
The Gophers are 10-5 overall and 9-0 at Williams Arena, including upset wins over ranked Indiana and Iowa teams in the early going of the Big 10 season.
South Ridge alum Austin Josephson has started nine games for Bemidji State this season. The 6-foot-9 junior from Meadowlands averages 9.1 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. He’s second on the team in both rebounds (84) and blocks (14) so far this year. Teammate Jobe Juenemann (Duluth East) has scored eight points in two appearances for the Beavers this year.
In the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Patrick Smith (Duluth East) has seen an increase in his role this season, including six starts, for Carleton. Smith, a junior, is the team’s second-leading rebounder with 6.4 per game, and is putting up 4.1 points.
Trent Gomez (Two Harbors) has two 11-point outings during his junior season at Augsburg, en route to an average of 5.3 points per game in nine reserve appearances.
Blake Schmitz (Hermantown) has started eight of the nine games he’s played in his junior season at Bethel, with a 16-point game vs. Saint Mary’s in a narrow 85-83 on Wednesday, marking a new season best.
Jase Nelson (Northwestern), a junior guard, has started five times for Minnesota Morris in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference, averaging 3.7 points and 3.5 rebounds.