Green Bay women get huge ovation from fans before March Madness game
The UWGB women are on the way to Williams Arena for their opening-round NCAA Tournament game against Minnesota. Fans at the team’s hotel sent them off in style.
- The UWGB women’s basketball team has signed transfer guard Elisa Mevius.
- Mevius recently won an Olympic gold medal with Germany in 3×3 basketball at the 2024 Paris Games.
- She previously played for Siena and the University of Oregon, where her time was impacted by injuries.
- UWGB coach Kayla Karius has a connection to Mevius through a coach she played for in Germany.
The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay women’s basketball team has landed several impact players out of the NCAA transfer portal in recent years.
The list now includes an Olympic gold medalist.
UWGB has signed guard Elisa Mevius, who spent the past two seasons at the University of Oregon after playing her first two years at Siena.
The 5-foot-10 Mevius represented Germany in 3×3 basketball at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, helping her team beat Spain 17-16 in the gold medal game.
It was the nation’s first gold medal in basketball, and it captured it in comeback fashion with fellow German and former Dallas Mavericks great Dirk Nowitzki in attendance.
Mevius played a key part in the victory, with teammate Marie Reichert and Mevius hitting consecutive baskets to tie the score at 15 in the final minutes before Sonja Greinacher hit the game-winning shot with 30 seconds remaining.
Elisa Mevius has battled injuries the past two seasons
Mevius’ time with Oregon was impacted by two season-ending injuries.
She was expected to play a key role for the Ducks in 2025-26 but sustained a torn anterior cruciate ligament in a knee against Montana in November, ending her campaign after just two games.
Mevius was off to a big start in that short time, averaging 12.5 points, 3 assists and 2.5 steals.
That injury was even more frustrating after how her first season with the Ducks ended.
She broke a hand and missed the stretch run of 2024-25, finally getting shut down after playing with the injury for weeks.
Mevius started 19 of 28 games that season, averaging 6.6 points, 3 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 1.6 steals.
She was playing well despite the injury, scoring double digits in three of her final four games including a season-high 19 points in a win at Minnesota.
Mevius was one of Siena’s best players during her first two collegiate seasons.
She started 61 of 62 games, averaging 10.3 points, 4 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.2 steals as a freshman.
Mevius led the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in assists (5.1 apg) and steals (4.5 spg) as a sophomore while averaging 12 points and 6.8 rebounds.
UWGB fills big need with Mevius
It appears UWGB again has found a key veteran to play the point guard position, one who can be a significant factor on both sides of the floor.
It’s important to be a presence on offense, but a Phoenix player won’t get many minutes if she doesn’t play defense.
That won’t be a problem with Mevius.
The Phoenix looked like it might have a hole at the point when former standout Bailey Butler graduated in 2025, but UWGB coach Kayla Karius and her staff signed Kamy Peppler out of the portal for her final year and now have done it again with Mevius.
Of course, there were obvious connections to Peppler and UWGB.
She spent her first three seasons at fellow Horizon League member UW-Milwaukee and was a star in high school at Hortonville.
How did UWGB even get on Mevius’ radar?
Karius played in Germany during parts of her pro career after graduating from UWGB in 2011.
Her coach in Germany was Rene Spandauw, who is very familiar with Mevius.
Spandauw is the one who clued Oregon coach Kelly Graves in on Mevius when she entered the transfer portal after her time at Siena.
Graves had no idea who Mevius was, but he trusted Spandauw’s recommendation.
It also perhaps kept the Phoenix from getting her after Karius was hired at UWGB in April 2024.
“She is somebody we connected with two years ago when she was leaving Siena and in the transfer portal,” Karius said. “I had just gotten to Green Bay, and so we had several conversations. As soon as Big Ten teams came into play, she decided she was going to go that route and ended up spending two years at Oregon.
“[Mevius] was looking for a different situation for her fifth year and remembered that we had those conversations. Our connection with our German coach really solidified it. She was here on a visit and loved everything she saw.”
UWGB doesn’t have as many roster spots to fill this season as last, but its two additions so far should help the Phoenix again be the favorite in the Horizon.
Along with Mevius, it signed former UWM forward Jorey Buwalda, who was a third-team all-conference pick this season.
Mevius had everything the Phoenix was looking for in the portal.
“She has experience,” Karius said. “She has played, not only here in the States, but also the international level. It’s not every day you get to say that a gold medalist is coming to play for your team. She has competed at a really high level.
“For us, we need a point guard on the floor that can facilitate and stay steady when things get up and down. For her to play at the point guard spot, she is an excellent facilitator, but probably even better than that, she is a great defender. She was the defensive player of the year when she played in the MAAC at Siena. I just think that’s going to continue for her here.”
