STMA alum Tessa Johnson scores career-high in national championship win for South Carolina

It’s been a heck of a two years for 2023 St. Michael-Albertville High School graduate Tessa Johnson. Johnson, whose 2023 accolades look like a CVS receipt, just polished off another incredible season with the University of South Carolina.

After going 29-3 and winning a state title with STMA in 2023, Johnson went 38-0 as a freshman with South Carolina and scored a career-high 19 points in the NCAA Women’s National Championship when SC beat Iowa 87-75.

It was the perfect way to cap a perfect season. She was flooded with support from everywhere.0

“It’s been really cool. Just the support that I have not only here but everyone at home. I found out that they had watch parties for me at the St. Michael Cinema. My brother told me that the school did something for me and just the fact like, that I have so much support around me, I’m very blessed and very appreciative of that,” said Johnson.

During the national title game, Johnson started blowing up on social media. On X, formerly Twitter, basketball legend LeBron James even name-dropped Tessa.

In 2023, Johnson was named the Minnesota Gatorade Player of the Year, Miss Basketball from the Minnesota Girls Basketball Coaches Association and the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Metro Player of the Year and was a McDonald’s All-American after averaging 24.3 points, 6.6 assists and 2.8 steals per game as a senior and leading STMA girls’ basketball to a state championship.

She was named to the All-Tournament team after averaging 25.7 points during the state tournament. She scored 27 points and had 10 rebounds in a one-point win over Hopkins in the state championship game.

There is no doubt that her state tournament run with STMA helped get her ready for the next level during the NCAA tournament.

Then during the most important game of her life, Johnson delivered for the Gamecocks during a win over Iowa in the national title game. After averaging 6.6 points per game throughout the season, Johnson scored 19 points in 24 minutes on 7-of-11 shooting and 3-of-6 from deep.

Knowing Tessa’s high expectations for herself, don’t expect this to be the last time the world will hear from her.