Kansas City-area natives in the 2024 NCAA Women’s Tournament
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City always has ballers in the NCAA Women’s Tournament and 2024 has some pretty notable ones.
Kansas and Kansas State women are both in the tournament with K-State hosting the first two rounds in Manhattan. Both teams are led by some Kansas City area talent.
Here are some other Kansas City-area natives who have found their way to the Big Dance with their teams.
Wrestling fans, athletes pin Downtown Kanas City for NCAA Championships
Payton Verhulst and Beatrice Culliton, Oklahoma
The Sooners have two Kansas City natives who were rivals growing up in Verhulst who went to Bishop Miege and Culliton who attended St. Thomas Aquinas in high school. Both helped continue the dynasties of those programs with several state championships.
Verhulst was an ACC All-Freshman guard in 2021-22 at Louisville and transferred to Norman after playing in eight games of the 2022-23 season.
This season, the junior guard started in 30 of 31 games and played her way to Big 12 Newcomer of the Year averaging 13 points, six rebounds, and four assists while shooting 40.5% from the field and 36% from three.
After making the Big 12 All-Freshman team last season, Culliton started in two games recording 95 points and 115 rebounds, and shot 54.1% from the field in 13 minutes a game.
The Sooners are a 5-seed that faces Florida Gulf Coast on Saturday at 3 p.m. The winner faces the winner of 4-seed Indiana and 13-seed Fairfield in Bloomington with a trip to the Albany 1 Regional on the line.
Mariyah Noel, Ole Miss, freshman
The Bonner Springs alum has seen some action this season as she waits her turn behind a talented Rebels team.
The talented freshman guard has only played in 17 games this year collecting 25 points and 18 rebounds while shooting 43.5% from the field and hitting two of her five three-pointer attempts.
7-seed Ole Miss plays 10-seed Marquette on Saturday at 3:45 p.m. The winner plays the winner of 2-seed Notre Dame and 15-seed Kent State with a trip to the Albany 1 Regional on the line.
Abby Ogle, Kent State, graduate
The Baldwin High alum led the Bulldogs to their third title in program history in 2018 by leading them to a 4A Division II state championship while also being named the division’s Player of the Year averaging 17.4 points and 6.4 steals per game.
Ogle has seen minimal playing time since she began her college career at Hutchinson Community College.
After two years with the Blue Dragons and leading them to the 2020 NJCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championships, Ogle transferred to West Virginia where she only played in six games in 2021-22 due to injury.
The 5’8 guard has spent the past three seasons in Ohio and is seeing the most college playing time she’s had as a defensive role player this season.
Kansas guard Kevin McCullar out for NCAA Tournament
Ogle has made one start but played in 29 games recording 72 points, 72 rebounds, and 43 steals while shooting 38% from the field.
Eylia Love, Louisville, senior
The KCK native and Olathe North alum transferred to be a Cardinal in January 2023 after spending her first two full seasons at Georgia Tech. She started almost all of her sophomore season and averaged 10.5 points per game where the Yellow Jackets lost to Kansas in the first round of the 2022 tournament.
Love was a steady part of Louisville’s rotation to start the season but has seen the floor sparingly since February and has not started this season.
In 31 games this season, the 6’1 guard has collected 119 points, 83 rebounds, and 30 steals while shooting 45.4% from the field and hitting four of her 11 threes in 16.5 minutes a game.
6-seed Louisville faces 11-seed Middle Tennessee on Friday at 12:30 p.m. with the winner facing the winner of 3-seed LSU and 14-seed Rice in Baton Rouge with a trip to the Albany 2 Regional on the line.
Kennedy Townsend, Creighton, sophomore
Creighton often has Kansas City natives on their roster.
The Park Hill alum has seen her playing team increase as a Bluejay going from eight minutes a game as a freshman to 16.7 minutes a game as a sophomore.
As a steady member of the rotation, Townsend has collected 121 points, 71 rebounds, and 29 assists while shooting 40% from the field and 40.3% from three.
7-seed Creighton faces 10-seed UNLV on Saturday at 6 p.m. The winner faces the winner of 2-seed UCLA and 15-seed California Baptist with that winner heading to the Albany 2 Regional.
Jada Williams, Arizona, freshman
Williams started her high school career at Blue Springs before she and her family moved to California so Williams could take advantage of name, image, and likeness deals while in high school.
Williams is believed to be the first female high school baseball player in America to sign an NIL deal. Despite ending her high school career playing at La Jolla Country Day, she still lists KCMO as her hometown.
The Pac-12 All-freshman guard started in 26 of 31 games and averaged nine points and 2.3 assists per game while shooting 36.1% from the field and 27.1% from three.
11-seed Arizona is in the First Four against Auburn on Thursday at 6 p.m. with the winner facing 6-seed Syracuse on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
Glenn Twins and Serena Sundell, Kansas State, juniors
Brylee and Jaelyn Glenn and Serena Sundell have been staples in the K-State lineup since they stepped on campus. They also have played together in the AAU program KC Run GMC so all of them making the trek to Manhattan was no surprise.
The trio also represented KSU at the 2022 Red Bull USA Basketball 3v3 Nationals.
Sundell, a Maryville alum and native, earned All-Big 12 First Team honors this season after receiving honorable mention her first two seasons including a spot on the Big 12 All-Freshman Team. Sundell started every game this season averaging 12 points, 5.4 assists and four rebounds a game while shooting 53.6% from the field and 37% from three.
Brylee also earned Big 12 All-Freshman Team honors but has played the least amount of minutes this season while still averaging 20 minutes a game. While her minutes have decreased, her numbers are the most efficient they have ever been as she shoots 43.8% from the field and 32.9% from three while averaging 6.5 points per game and being a strong presence on defense.
Jaelyn may not have the same awards as Brylee and Sundell but she is already in the K-State record books as fifth in school history for 2.01 career steals per game. She also has started every game shooting 40% from the field and 32.3% from three while collecting 7.2 points per game, 4.4 rebounds per game, and 64 steals.
The 4-seed Wildcats host 13-seed Portland in Manhattan with the winner facing the winner of 5-seed Colorado and 12-seed Drake with the winner going to the Albany 2 Regional.
Paige Allen and Alecia Westbrook, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Two of the best players for the Islanders are Kansas City natives who led them to their first tournament trip in program history.
Allen left Oak Park as one of the best players in school and North Kansas City School District history surpassing 2,000 career points.
She followed that up by going to TAMUCC and being an All-Conference player in the Southland Conference on the defensive team her sophomore year and her senior year this season. The 5’8 guard averaged 10.2 points (career high), and five rebounds this season with 58 steals while shooting 41.6% from the field and 27.1% from three.
Allen’s little brother, Corbin, is a 6’5 junior guard at Oak Park and is receiving Divison I offers.
Westbrook will leave TAMUCC as one of the best players, possibly the best, in program history. The Park Hill South alum was the Southland Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year last year (her second DPOY) while garnering First Team honors this season for the third straight year along with her second time being on the All-Defensive Team.
The fifth-year senior averaged 11.4 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists a game while shooting 51.6% from the field as a 6’1 forward.
The 16-seed Islanders have a tough task ahead of them in 1-seed USC who they face on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Winner faces the winner of 8-seed Kansas and 9-seed Michigan to go to the Portland 3 Regional.
S’Mya Nichols and Ryan Cobbins, Kansas
Shawnee Mission West alum Nichols took the Big 12 by storm as a freshman earning a spot on the conference First Team and All-Freshman Team. The former five-star prospect averaged 15.2 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists a game while shooting 46.8% from the field and 40.8% from three. She also collected 43 steals.
Piper alum Cobbins spent her first three seasons at North Dakota State before transferring to Alabama where she spent last season contributing to their NCAA Tournament team.
The 6-foot guard/forward doesn’t light up the stat sheet (3.5 ppg, 4.1 RPG, 35.7% FG, 18 steals) but is a crucial defensive presence off the bench of the Jayhawks.
A win against Michigan could see Nichols go toe-to-toe with dynamic USC freshman JuJu Watkins who has already proved herself as one of the best players in the country.
