# Omaha Female Athletes Give Back After Professional Success Overseas  
**Published:** 2026-05-21T10:00:00.000Z  
**Source:** [Flatwater Free Press](https://flatwaterfreepress.org/legacy-of-omaha-athletes-who-come-back-to-give-back-lives-on/)  
**AI-generated:** yes (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001)  
**Canonical:** https://lincolne.news/article/omaha-female-athletes-give-back-after-professional-success-overseas

Even while carving out professional basketball careers overseas, Omaha women are finding time to return home and mentor the next generation of athletes, continuing a legacy of giving back that extends back decades.

[According to the Flatwater Free Press](https://flatwaterfreepress.org/legacy-of-omaha-athletes-who-come-back-to-give-back-lives-on/), Dariauna "Stretch" Lewis, a former Omaha North High standout, regularly returns to her alma mater to work with current players despite juggling professional basketball commitments across Puerto Rico, Sweden, France, Israel, China and Iran. Similarly, Quinesha "Q" Lockett, who graduated from Benson High in 2019 and became one of the University of Toledo's all-time leading scorers, has maintained ties to the community while competing professionally in Germany and England.

"Even when I don't feel like getting up, don't feel like coming to the gym, I realize I was in their place, and I want to come pour into them every chance I get," Lewis said.

Their efforts arrive at an unprecedented moment for women's basketball. [The 2026 WNBA season opened with the Wings-Fever game averaging 2.49 million viewers on ABC](https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2026/05/wnba-ratings-fever-wings-opening-weekend-viewership-abc-ion-usa/), reflecting the league's historic growth trajectory. [The 2026 WNBA Draft averaged 1.5 million viewers, up 20% from the previous year](https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2026/04/wnba-draft-viewership-20-percent-increase/).

Both athletes received WNBA tryouts before pursuing overseas opportunities, but they followed a roadmap established by Maurtice Ivy, a decorated high school and college player from Omaha. [Ivy was the first player in Nebraska women's basketball history to surpass the 2,000-point barrier and led the Huskers to their first conference title in 1988](https://huskers.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/player/maurtice-ivy). Limited by the absence of professional leagues at the time of her graduation, Ivy instead turned to coaching and founded Ivy League Youth Sports Academy, becoming a mentor to both Lewis and Lockett during their high school years.

North High coach Michaela Dailey, who was also mentored by Ivy, credits the impact of having guidance from a Black woman in a leadership role. "These girls are inspired by her," Dailey said of Lewis. "They love her."

[This past season, Omaha North reached the Class A state championship game for the first time since 2000](https://www.nsaahome.org/2026-nsaa-girls-basketball-state-championships-recap/), falling to Lincoln North Star. The Vikings' return to prominence represents the kind of legacy building both Lewis and Lockett are working to sustain.

[Ivy, who is currently pursuing her doctorate in educational leadership](https://24.1/), continues to emphasize the importance of young people's energy and growth. "I recognized a long time ago that life is bigger than Maurtice Ivy, and I want to make sure I have impact," she said.

## Sources

- [Flatwater Free Press](https://flatwaterfreepress.org/legacy-of-omaha-athletes-who-come-back-to-give-back-lives-on/)
- [Sports Media Watch WNBA opening weekend ratings](https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2026/05/wnba-ratings-fever-wings-opening-weekend-viewership-abc-ion-usa/)
- [Sports Media Watch 2026 WNBA Draft viewership report](https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2026/04/wnba-draft-viewership-20-percent-increase/)
- [University of Nebraska athletics profile of Maurtice Ivy](https://huskers.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/player/maurtice-ivy)
- [NSAA 2026 Girls Basketball State Championships recap](https://www.nsaahome.org/2026-nsaa-girls-basketball-state-championships-recap/)

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This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) based on source material from Flatwater Free Press, enriched with 3 web searches. The original source is available at https://flatwaterfreepress.org/legacy-of-omaha-athletes-who-come-back-to-give-back-lives-on/.