Minnesota found themselves in a difficult position as the No. 4 Gophers were down 9 points to No. 13 Green Bay in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Gophers hadn’t been to March Madness since 2018. Pressure was mounting in their hosted spot, but they had something Green Bay didn’t: Blanket Lady.
Blanket Lady’s Ritual Sparks Comeback
With 6:01 left in the third quarter, the Blanket Lady began her ritual during a timeout. She raised the blanket, decorated with a Minnesota emblem, and ran, waving the maroon and gold fabric, up the sideline and down the baseline. The crowd cheered louder and louder as she ran, until she returned to her seat.
Senior Amaya Battle said in the locker room after the game that it was probably the loudest it’s been the whole time she has ever been there. She added that it was a ton of fun and nice to have them rally around the team.
The timeout ended, but the energy hung in the air. Minnesota responded with a 30-8 run, securing a comeback victory and a spot in the Round of 32 for the first time in eight years.
Elvera “Peps” Neuman: More Than a Superfan
The Blanket Lady, better known as 81-year-old Elvera “Peps” Neuman, has been hyping up Minnesota supporters at home games since 2004. She has loved basketball long before the sport loved women back.
Neuman grew up on a farm in Eden Valley, Minn., with a basket attached to the side of her family’s barn. It was put there for her four older brothers, but Neuman took to the sport, practicing shooting whenever she could, even when she was milking the cows.
Neuman said that the milkers were supposed to be on the cows for about three minutes. She thought she could go out there to shoot for three minutes, but sometimes it got to be five or 10 minutes. She added that it probably wasn’t easy on the cows, but they got more milk.
Early love of the game
Neuman’s passion couldn’t be contained to her family farm. She wanted to play for her high school, but in the early 1960s, there were no teams for girls around her, and the boys wouldn’t let her play with them.
Neuman said, with a laugh, that she was better than most of the boys anyway. In an effort to stay close to the game, Neuman joined the pep club, supporting the same boys who refused to play with her. Then, a conversation with her English teacher changed everything, who told Neuman a team of women were coming to Paynesville, a town just 14 miles down the road, to challenge some of the local coaches.
Neuman went.
“I feel like we just won the NCAA Tournament,” the Blanket Lady said the next day.