Minnesota is in a robust spot. The No. 4 Gophers are down 9 factors to No. 13 Green Bay within the first spherical of the NCAA Tournament.
They hadn’t been to March Madness since 2018. Not solely that, but additionally the Gophers earned a host spot. They ought to win. But the strain is mounting.
Luckily for them, the Gophers have one thing Green Bay doesn’t: Blanket Lady.
During a timeout with 6:01 left within the third quarter, the Blanket Lady begins her ritual. She raises the blanket, embellished with a Minnesota emblem, and she runs, waving the maroon and gold material as she goes, up the sideline and down the baseline. As she runs, the gang cheers, louder and louder till she returns to her seat.
“I was saying in the locker room after the game, that’s probably the loudest it’s been, I think, the whole time I have ever been here,” senior Amaya Battle stated. “It was a ton of fun. It was nice to have them rally around us.”
The timeout ends, however the power hangs within the air. Minnesota responded with a 30-8 run, securing a comeback victory and a spot within the Round of 32 for the primary time in eight years.
“I feel like we just won the NCAA Tournament,” the Blanket Lady says the following day.
You know who get this sport rotated? BLANKET LADY.
She obtained this crowd on their toes when the #Gophers wanted her most! pic.twitter.com/X6NzmSv85q
— GopherHole.com (@GopherHole) March 20, 2026
You can forgive the exaggerated pleasure. She’s higher recognized in The Barn by her Blanket Lady persona, however she’s actually 81-year-old Elvera “Peps” Neuman. She’s a superfan who has been hyping up Minnesota supporters at dwelling video games since 2004. And she’s liked basketball lengthy earlier than the game liked girls again.
Neuman grew up on a farm in Eden Valley, Minn., with a basket connected to the aspect of her household’s barn. It was put there for her 4 older brothers, however Neuman took to the game. She practiced taking pictures each time she might, even when she was milking the cows.
“The milkers were supposed to be on the cows for like, three minutes,” she stated. “Well, I thought I could go out there to shoot for three minutes. But sometimes it got to be five or 10 minutes. It probably wasn’t easy on the cows, but we got more milk.”
Neuman’s ardour couldn’t be contained to her household farm. She wished to play for her highschool, however within the early Sixties, there have been no groups for women round her, and the boys wouldn’t let her play with them.
“Not to brag,” Neuman stated with a snort, “but I was better than most of the boys anyway.”
In an effort to remain near the sport, Neuman joined the pep membership, supporting the identical boys who refused to play along with her. Then, a dialog along with her English trainer modified the whole lot. She informed Neuman a workforce of girls have been coming to Paynesville, a city simply 14 miles down the highway, to problem among the native coaches.
Neuman went to the sport and was in awe of the Harlem Chicks, a workforce of Black gamers. As quickly as she obtained dwelling, Neuman wrote a letter to the workforce’s promoter. She wished to play for the Chicks. Segregation prevented that, so as a substitute, Neuman joined the Texas Cowgirls barnstorming workforce. From there, her basketball profession took off — not less than as a lot because it might for a girl at the moment.
Neuman performed basketball till she was 44, and even based her personal barnstorming workforce, known as the Arkansas Gems. Each season, Neuman performed in round 140 video games, touring from city to city, typically driving 400 miles in at some point. It was a grind, but it surely was all Neuman knew. And it was the one manner she might play basketball.
“I loved it,” she stated. “I absolutely loved it.”
Elvera “Peps” Neuman began her personal barnstorming workforce when gender guidelines and segregation stored her from becoming a member of groups. (Courtesy of Elvera Neuman)
Every time Neuman walked on the courtroom, she placed on a present, as soon as scoring 108 factors in a sport. That type of vivaciousness doesn’t simply go away, not even at 81 years previous. Neuman nonetheless brings it to the courtroom, solely now, she’s on the sidelines.
“I get more attention from being the Blanket Lady than I ever did from playing basketball,” Neuman stated. “That might upset some people, to not get the attention, or the money, but I’m just the opposite. I’m pulling for these girls at 200 percent.”
The Blanket Lady custom began by accident in 2006. Neuman serves as a caregiver for her good friend and former basketball teammate, Vicky Nelson. Because Nelson is in a wheelchair, the duo sits courtside in an accessible seating part. The blanket was a present from two different Minnesota followers who seen that Nelson all the time draped her jacket over her knees in an effort to maintain heat throughout video games.
Overcome by the kindness of the gesture, Neuman held up the blanket to the gang, and when she did, everybody cheered. Ever the showman, Neuman took the cheers and ran with it — actually — up the sideline. The Blanket Lady was born.
Elvera “Peps” Neuman brings the identical power she delivered to the basketball courtroom as a participant to her Minnesota courtside seats. (Courtesy of Elvera Neuman)
Neuman and Nelson haven’t missed a Gophers dwelling sport since 2004, when All-America level guard Lindsay Whalen was a senior. They definitely received’t miss Minnesota’s March Madness second-round sport Sunday towards Ole Miss.
If the power dwindles, Neuman can be prepared.
She paved the way in which for the present Gophers throughout her barnstorming days, and she’s nonetheless doing the whole lot she can to assist them succeed.
“I’ll be there,” she stated. “I’ll be there with the blanket and my Gophers gear. I love this team.”
