Menomonie Collegians

MENOMONIE – The UW-Stout women’s basketball team went on a historic run to close out the 2024-25 season, advancing to the NCAA Division III Final Four, a first for the Blue Devil program.

From that team, the Blue Devils graduated all five starters and seven letterwinners in total. Pundits predicted the Blue Devils would be in a rebuilding season. But just one week before heading into the WIAC regular season, the Blue Devils are showing they are more than rebuilding – they are simply reloading. After nine games and before a two-game tournament Monday and Tuesday, Stout is standing tall with a 7-2 overall record and have received votes in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 poll.

Playing vital roles in that surge are two Menomonie graduates, sophomore Mary Berg and freshman Brooklynn Birt.

Berg was expected to have an impact on the Blue Devils this season after playing in all 31 games, averaging 20.1 minutes per game, Berg contributed 4.7 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.1 assists, shooting 33.1 percent from the field and 32.0 percent from beyond the arc. She scored in double figures six times, highlighted by a season-best 14 points against UW-Stevens Point on Jan. 18. A reliable perimeter threat and steady presence off the bench, Berg’s poise and shooting touch were key during Stout’s historic postseason run.

Berg has started all nine game this season at guard, increasing her time on the floor to 28.1 minutes per contest and 8.9 points per outing. Berg is leading the team in 3-pointers, knocking down 17 from beyond the arc, and has dropped in 17 of 19 free throws at a scorching .895 clip.

While Berg has been playing on the outside, Birt has been introducing herself to college teams with tough play underneath. The 5-foot, 11-inch, forward has started three of the Blue Devils games, is averaging a team-best 6.6 rebounds and is second on the team in scoring with 9.4 points per game. Birt has blocked seven shots, tied for first on the team with fellow-freshman Olivia Johnson. Birt had a collegiate-best 23 points and 12 rebounds against Maranatha Baptist in November, recording her second double-double of the season.

Prior to a tw0-day tournament at the University of Dubuque, both Berg and Birt appear prominently in WIAC standings. As a team, Stout is second in scoring at 72.9 points per game. Birt is 14th in scoring, Berg 18th. Birt is seventh in rebounds and tied for sixth in blocked shots. Berg is fifth in the WIAC in assists (2.7) and sixth in steals (1.9).

The 2025-26 Blue Devil have a balanced scoring attack with no players averaging more than 10 points per game, but seven players averaging more than 6.0 points per contest. Of the seven leading scorers, Rosella Wille, 6.8 ppg, is the only senior; three are freshmen – Abby Verhagen, who leads the team in scoring with 9.8 points, Birt and Johnson (6.6); two are sophomores – Berg and Julia Rybacki, 7.8 ppg; and one, Grace Schisel, 7.1 ppg, is a junior.

Before joining the Blue Devils, Berg was a standout at Menomonie High School, where she scored more than 1,000 career points. She was named Big Rivers Conference Player of the Year and All-Northwest Player of the Year as a senior, helping lead Menomonie to multiple conference, regional and sectional titles.

Birt, a 2025 Menomonie High School graduate, was a four-year varsity contributor and standout guard. She earned first-team all-conference and all-state honorable mention honors as a senior, following second-team recognition as a junior and honorable mention as a sophomore.

The Blue Devils will play at host University of Dubuque, Monday, Dec. 29, then will close out non-conference play by meeting Loras College Tuesday, Dec. 30. Stout opens WIAC play by traveling to UW-Platteville, Saturday, Jan. 3 with a 3 p.m. contest. Stout will be at UW-River Falls, Wednesday, Jan. 7, then will host UW-Eau Claire, Saturday, Jan.10 at 3 p.m.

At Concordia-St. Paul, Menomonie graduate Emma Mommsen continues to shine for the Golden Bears. After seeing action in 59 games over her red-shirt freshman and sophomore seasons, Mommsen has moved into a starting role for the Division II squad, starting all 12 games this season. Mommsen has doubled her minutes on the court, averging 23.9 minutes compared to around 12 minutes her first two years. The front-court Mommsen is averaging 6.0 points and 5.1 rebounds. She has 12 blocked shots and seven steals.

Mommsen scored a career-best 16 points against St. Cloud State, Dec. 3, and had a season-best nine rebounds, Nov. 21, against Maryville. She played a career-best 32 minutes against Augustana, Dec. 20, dishing off a career-best three assists, along with a college-best three blocked shots.

Mommsen appeared in 31 games during the 2024-25 season, earning NSIC All-Academic Team of Excellence honors while averaging 13.6 minutes per game. She posted 3.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 0.5 blocks per contest, highlighted by a season-high 14 points and seven rebounds against Bemidji State on Jan. 18 and an 11-point, 11-rebound double-double at Minot State on Jan. 24. As a red-shirt freshman in 2023-24, she played in 28 games, shooting 58.1 percent from the field and helping a team that led the nation in blocks per game. She redshirted during the 2022-23 season.

At Menomonie, Mommsen earned 11 varsity letters in cross country, basketball and track and field. She averaged 14.7 points and 7.7 rebounds as a senior, earning conference, regional and statewide honors.

The Bears (7-5) return to action when they travel to Winona State, Saturday, Jan. 3.

Layne Pitt retired as the longest serving sports information director at UW-Stout and also worked more than a decade at the Dunn County News.

Menomonie Collegians is a regular feature of Menomonie News Net. The column is not limited to student-athletes, but may be a former Menomonie area student in a play, forensics, music or any type of collegiate competition. If you know of a Menomonie Collegian, please email [email protected].

Menomonie Collegians by Layne Pitt is licensed under a CC BY SA 4.0 International license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

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