Top senior in girls basketball splashes back onto the scene

Benilde-St. Margaret's guard Olivia Olson, among the state's most prominent girls basketball recruits, returned dramatically from a hand injury Thursday, scoring 30 points in the Red Knights' 82-70 victory over Jordan and surpassing 2,000 points for her career.

Olson had not played since breaking a bone in her left hand Nov. 25 in the season opener against Providence Academy. She scored 18 points that game, won 83-65 by Providence Academy, then sat out seven games.

Benilde-St. Margaret's is 4-5, but those losses all came against teams ranked in their class' top 10. The Red Knights are ranked third in Class 3A by Minnesota Basketball News.

Olson, 15th nationally and first among Minnesotans in the ESPN HoopGurlz ranking of Class of 2024 recruits, has signed to play for Michigan. She committed to the Wolverines in September 2022, becoming the first player from ESPN's 2024 top 40 to choose a college program. That was 13 months before she was eligible to sign a letter of intent. She signed in November 2023.

A 6-1 point guard, Olson led Benilde-St. Margaret's to Class 3A state championship last season, averaging 25.6 points, 12.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game. She averaged 22.8 points per game as a sophomore and 23 points per game as a freshman. She made the Star Tribune's All-Metro first team the past two seasons.

She's also a state champion in soccer; she played goalie when Benilde-St. Margaret's won the Class 2A title in November.