Two women's basketball standouts from Minnesota help lift Utah to the NCAA tournament

Their early success is not necessarily what they expected. But talk to Gianna Kneepkens and Jenna Johnson — two freshmen from Minnesota who lead the Utah Utes in scoring — and you don't get the idea it's a surprise, either.

Kneepkens and Johnson are two of many Minnesotans who will be in action across the nation in all four regions as the NCAA women's basketball tournament hits full swing this weekend. The Utes are a seventh seed in the Spokane Regional, facing 10th-seeded Arkansas on Friday.

Paige Bueckers (Hopkins) with Connecticut, Monika Czinano (Watertown) with Iowa, Sam Haiby (Moorhead) with Nebraska, Ayoka Lee (Byron) with Kansas State — to name a few. Minnesotans are everywhere.

A year ago Kneepkens was finishing off a career at Duluth Marshall in which she scored 3,704 points, including a 67-point game in the state tournament. Johnson was playing with future Gophers guard Mara Braun at Wayzata.

Now the two of them are the core of a Utah team making its first NCAA appearance since 2011, the first since the Utes joined the Pac-12 Conference.

A 5-11 guard, Kneepkens was named All-Pac 12 and the conference's freshman of the year. She leads the Utes in scoring at 12.0 points per game. Johnson, a 6-2 forward, was part of the conference all-freshman team and is second on the team in scoring (11.9).

It's been a fun season. "And it's still happening," Kneepkens said. "Being able to come here, not knowing exactly what to expect. Learning from the coaches, getting to experience the travel and playing some of the best teams in the country? It's been fun."

The Utes (20-11 overall) were 8-7 in the Pac-12, their first winning record in the conference since joining it in the fall of 2011. They have won 10 of their past 14 games. They finished sixth in the conference during the regular season, but then beat California, Washington State and Oregon — the past two NCAA tournament teams themselves — before falling to No. 1 seed Stanford 73-48 in the conference tournament championship.

"As a team we really haven't talked about it, haven't really set goals," Johnson said when asked how far Utah can go. "We just want to play together, play Utah basketball, play how we've been playing all year. We believe in ourselves."

The Utes were preseason picks to finish 10th in the Pac-12. They were coming off a five-win season in 2020-21.

Twenty wins later, the players' confidence is high. "The big thing is, when we're playing together, we're a really good team," Kneepkens said. "You never know who will go off. Anyone can get 20 or more points in a game. That makes it hard for the defense. I think we can all make a run in this tournament."

Utah finished first in the Pac-12 in scoring (76.0) and assists (15.3) per game and was second in three-point and field-goal percentage.

That both have contributed so quickly and at such a high level is a testament to their school and AAU programs — Minnesota Fury for Kneepkens, North Tartan for Johnson. They never played together before going to Utah, but had competed against each other in AAU.

"I've noticed kids coming out of Minnesota are very skilled," Johnson said. "That makes the adjustment to college smoother."

In the Spokane regional, the Utes would likely get second-seeded Texas should they get past Arkansas. That would be a tough test. Texas has won 11 consecutive games, including a 67-58 victory over Baylor in the Big 12 tournament championship game.

But neither Kneepkens nor Johnson are looking that far ahead. Johnson said the Utes are playing their best basketball of the season. The key is to keep that going.

"I can tell, on the court, we're working better together now," Johnson said.