Bobcats

PASAY CITY, PHILIPPINES &ndash; Meralco Bolts&rsquo; guard duo Chris Banchero and Chris Newsome feel confident about their team&rsquo;s chances of going deep and winning it all in the 2024-2025 East Asia Super League (EASL) season.
Both Banchero and Newsome were key figures in Meralco&rsquo;s first win of the tournament against the Macau Black Bears. Newsome was the team&rsquo;s leading scorer with 18 points while Banchero was relentless in attacking the Black Bears&rsquo; paint, scoring 14 points, as the Bolts took the win 97-85.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re definitely in it [EASL] to win it,&rdquo; Banchero said post-game. Last year we [Meralco] underperformed but we&rsquo;ve got a much better team now &ndash; we got DJ [Kennedy], Ange [Kouame], and AD [Allen Durham]. We&rsquo;ve got a really good team and we&rsquo;ve got a good chance to play some really good basketball.&rdquo;
Meralco just finished with a measly 1-4 record in EASL&rsquo;s last season. Now, the league added a new rule of allowing 2 imports plus a naturalized player, hence the addition of the naturalized Filipino Kouame. The Bolts certainly feel good now with the level of basketball they are playing and they&rsquo;re hoping to take it all the way. However, Newsome says the team is still wary of what&rsquo;s more to come and the expectations that come along with it.
&ldquo;We wanna just take it one game at a time and get as many wins as we can,&rdquo; Newsome said. The goal is to get to the semifinals, and once you get to the semis you can focus on the Finals &ndash; but of course, you gotta rack it up one win at a time.&rdquo;
Meralco is in Group B of the EASL along with the aforementioned Macau, Japan&rsquo;s Ryukyu Golden Kings, Korea&rsquo;s Busan KCC Egis, and Taiwan&rsquo;s New Taipei Kings. Only the top two teams of each group move onto the Final Four round, with a crossover semifinal format set place against Group A&rsquo;s top two finishers.
&ldquo;We tied our win total from last season and we have five more games to try to get wins and try to get into the [top two] of our group, and that&rsquo;s the goal &ndash; just to get to the semifinals. It&rsquo;s gonna take more than one win, it&rsquo;s gonna take more than two wins &ndash; but all we can control is take it one game at a time,&rdquo; Newsome added.
Banchero affirmed Newsome&rsquo;s statements but also added Meralco has to play better than they did as they go up the champions and runner-up of each East Asian country, a staple of international hoops in the region.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m excited. I know we need to play better than we did so it&rsquo;s good to get that first win under our belt and take it onto the next &ndash; to try and get a win in Okinawa [against the Ryukyu Golden Kings,&rdquo; Banchero stated.
Watch the full interview here:
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(<a href="https://twitter.com/EASLofficial?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@EASLofficial</a>) Meralco Bolts&rsquo; guard Chris Banchero shares the team&rsquo;s expectations on this brand new EASL season: We&rsquo;re a much better team now &mdash; I&rsquo;m excited. We&rsquo;ve got a real good chance to play some really good basketball. <a href="https://t.co/G7tJKkKZFu">pic.twitter.com/G7tJKkKZFu</a>
&mdash; Mon Anthony Valmoria (@MorvalNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/MorvalNBA/status/1842138442119164380?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 4, 2024</a></blockquote>

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Teammate Chris Newsome echoed the same insights: &ldquo;We just wanna take it one game at a time. We have 5 more games and that&rsquo;s the goal &mdash; to try and get to the semis [of the <a href="https://twitter.com/EASLofficial?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@EASLofficial</a>]. // <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@basketbllnews</a> <a href="https://t.co/PqTWZvV56C">pic.twitter.com/PqTWZvV56C</a>
&mdash; Mon Anthony Valmoria (@MorvalNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/MorvalNBA/status/1842138551666003993?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 4, 2024</a></blockquote>

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Meralco Bolts’ guard duo Chris Banchero and Chris Newsome feel confident about their team’s chances of going deep and winning it all.

EASL: Chris Banchero, Chris Newsome says Meralco’s in EASL to ‘win it all’

Napheesa Collier played the best game of her playoff career as she and the Minnesota Lynx closed out the Phoenix Mercury in Game 2, 101-88, Wednesday night in the 2024 WNBA Playoffs.&nbsp;
Collier had 42 big points with 5 rebounds and 4 assists, shooting 70 percent from the field in a historic performance. After scoring 38 in Game 1, Collier made 80 points in a two-stretch &ndash; the most in WNBA history. She also tied the most-playoff points ever, a record she shares with Breanna Stewart.
Collier had ample support from the rest of her team as four other players &ndash; the starters &ndash; scored in double digits for the Lynx as they advanced to the WNBA semifinals.
Phoenix&rsquo;s loss was a heartbreaker for the team, but most especially for Diana Taurasi, who&rsquo;s nearing the end of an illustrious career. After compiling through a resume worthy of GOAT status, Taurasi declined to answer when asked postgame if the league had seen the last of her. She netted 10 points for the Mercury while center Brittney Griner led the way for the Mercury with 24 points.
Facing the Lynx are the Connecticut Sun, who will be making their sixth straight semis trip after outclassing the Indiana Fever and super rookie Caitlin Clark.&nbsp;
The Sun won in Game 2, 87-81, courtesy of another big game from their star Alyssa Thomas. After playing all 40 minutes, Thomas poured in 19 points, 13 assists, and 5 rebounds to carry her team to the victory. Thomas also got a lot of help from across the board, including Marina Mabrey&rsquo;s 17 markers and DeWanna Bonner&rsquo;s 15 points.
Despite the loss, super rookie Caitlin Clark showed out for the Fever with 25 points, 9 assists, and 6 rebounds, as she became the first rookie in WNBA history to post 25+ PTS, 5+ REB, and 5+ AST, per ESPN. Clark has been phenomenal this season and with the way she is playing, Indiana is going to be a force to be reckoned with for years to come.

Napheesa Collier played the best game of her playoff career as she and the Lynx closed out the Phoenix Mercury in Game 2, 101-88.

WNBA Playoffs 2024 Day 3 recap: Napheesa Collier scorches Mercury to end their season

Amidst all the hype surrounding her rookie year in the WNBA, Caitlin Clark will not be a part of the USA Women&rsquo;s Basketball National Team set to compete at the Olympics in Paris.
In a report by The Athletic&rsquo;s Shams Charania, the women set to be part of the 12 to go to Paris are the following:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">A&rsquo;Ja Wilson</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Breanna Stewart</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Diana Taurasi</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Brittney Griner</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Kahleah Copper</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Sabrina Ionescu</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Kelsey Plum</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Chelsea Gray</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Jackie Young</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Jewell Loyd</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Napheesa Collier</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Alyssa Thomas</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
REPORT: Caitlin Clark expected to be left off Olympics women&rsquo;s basketball roster, per <a href="https://twitter.com/TheAthletic?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheAthletic</a> 🚨 The main roster indicates a preference for veterans: &bull; A&rsquo;ja Wilson &bull; Breanna Stewart &bull; Diana Taurasi &bull; Brittney Griner &bull; Alyssa Thomas &bull; Napheesa Collier &bull; Jewell Loyd&hellip; <a href="https://t.co/DgbRn3roUC">pic.twitter.com/DgbRn3roUC</a>
&mdash; BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews/status/1799372767013535820?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 8, 2024</a>
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Clark&rsquo;s omission is noticeable yet understandable, with Team USA opting for more experience, overall team composition, and the chemistry of established WNBA stars in building the team.
The hotshot rookie who has taken the WNBA by storm will have to wait and watch before getting her turn with the national team in years to come. Clark is coming off a historic <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/college-sports/">NCAA</a> career at Iowa, where she became the Division I all-time leading scorer and won two National Player of the Year awards. On Friday, she hit seven 3-pointers and matched her WNBA career-high with 30 points in a win over the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/wnba/team/mystics/">Washington Mystics</a>.
It is by no means of discrediting Clark and what she would be able to provide at the table, but more so in the tenure of these players playing for the national team. The 12 names have been training over the past few months together and it&rsquo;s only wise to keep them intact and not mess around with the dynamics surrounding the squad.

Amidst all the hype surrounding her rookie year in the WNBA, Caitlin Clark will not be a part of the Team USA Women’s Basketball - yet.

Team USA Women’s Basketball roster to Paris Olympics revealed, Clark left off

After a dominant college career, Caitlin Clark is set to bring her act to the pro scene.
As expected, the Indiana Fever picked Clark as its no.1 overall selection in the 2024 WNBA Draft on Monday night at Brooklyn Academy of Music in Brooklyn, New York.
Arguably the best women&rsquo;s college basketball player of all time, Clark will now head to the WNBA to the Fever to team up with last year&rsquo;s first overall selection Aliyah Boston. Clark and Boston will make up one of the league&rsquo;s most exciting young duos as they try to lead Indiana back to the playoffs.
Stanford University standout and 2021 WNCAA champion Cameron Brink went second overall to the Los Angeles Sparks while recently crowned 2024 WNCAA champion Kamila Cardoso from the University of South Carolina was taken by the Chicago Sky as the third overall pick.
Check out the complete recap of the draft below:
Round 1
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Indiana Fever: Caitlin Clark, G, Iowa</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Los Angeles Sparks: Cameron Brink, F, Stanford&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Chicago Sky (via Phoenix Mercury): Kamilla Cardoso, C, South Carolina</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Los Angels Sparks (via Seattle Storm): Rickea Jackson, F, Tennessee</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Dallas Wings (via Chicago Sky): Jacy Sheldon, G, Ohio State</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Washington Mystics: Aaliyah Edwards, F, UConn</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Chicago Sky (via Minnesota Lynx): Angel Reese, F, LSU</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Minnesota Lynx (via Atlanta Dream): Alissa Pili, F, Utah</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Dallas Wings: Carla Leite, G, France</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Connecticut Sun: Le&iuml;la Lacan, G, France</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">New York Liberty: Marquesha Davis, G, Ole Miss</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Atlanta Dream (via Las Vegas Aces): Nyadiew Puoch, F, Australia</li>
</ol>
Round 2
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Chicago Sky (via Phoenix Mercury): Brynna Maxwell, G, Gonzaga</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Seattle Storm: Nika M&uuml;hl, G, UConn</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Indiana Fever: Celeste Taylor, G, Ohio State</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Las Vegas Aces (via Los Angeles Sparks): Dyaisha Fair, G, Syracuse</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">New York Liberty (via Chicago Sky): Esmery Martinez, F, Arizona</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Las Vegas Aces (via Washington Mystics): Kate Martin, G, Iowa</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Connecticut Sun (via Minnesota Lynx): Taiyanna Jackson, C, Kansas</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Atlanta Dream: Isobel Borlase, G, Australia&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Washington Mystics (via Dallas Wings): Kaylynne Truong, G, Gonzaga&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Connecticut Sun: Helena Pueyo, G, Arizona&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">New York Liberty: Jessika Carter, C, Mississippi State</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Las Vegas Aces: Elizabeth Kitley, C, Virginia Tech</li>
</ol>
Round 3
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Phoenix Mercury: Charisma Osborne, G, UCLA</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Seattle Storm: Mackenzie Holmes, F, Indiana</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Indiana Fever: Leilani Correa, G, Florida</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Los Angeles Sparks: Mackenzie Forbes, F, USC</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Phoenix Mercury (via Chicago Sky): Jaz Shelley, G, Nebraska&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Washington Mystics: Nastja Claessens, G, Belgium</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Minnesota Lynx: Kiki Jefferson, G, Louisville&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Atlanta Dream: Matilde Villa, G, Italy</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Dallas Wings: Ashley Owusu, G, Penn State</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Connecticut Sun: Abbey Hsu, G, Columbia&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">New York Liberty: Kaitlyn Davis, F, USC</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Las Vegas Aces: Angel Jackson, C, Jackson State</li>
</ol>

After a dominant college career, Caitlin Clark is set to bring her act to the pro scene.

2024 WNBA Draft Recap: Caitlin Clark goes No.1 to the Indiana Fever

On Friday night in Cleveland, Caitlin Clark and Iowa defeated Paige Bueckers 71-69 to advance to the national title game against undefeated South Carolina &ndash; but not without some late-game drama.
With Iowa just leading by one 70-69 with 9 seconds left, UConn had possession for the final shot in the game. Out of the timeout, the Huskies tried to run a split action for Bueckers with Aaliyah Edwards screening and Nika Muhl passing the ball. As the screen was set with Bueckers veering back towards Muhl to receive the pass and get ready to shoot, Hawkeyes guard Gabbie Marshall fought over the screen by Edwards which ended up with the play getting called for an offensive foul for setting an illegal screen with just around 3 seconds left in the game.
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OFFENSIVE FOUL OR NOT? 🤔<a href="https://t.co/rxB7d3Lydk">pic.twitter.com/rxB7d3Lydk</a>
&mdash; BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews/status/1776457695568216295?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 6, 2024</a></blockquote>
It was a questionable foul call, to say the least &ndash; sparking a debate each with contrasting sides to tell.
It set the internet ablaze and everyone was talking about it. Notable NBA and WNBA stars each chimed in on X with their thoughts on the questionable call, citing how the players should decide the outcome of the game with their plays whether it be good or bad rather than laying it up for the referees to decide.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
NAAAAAHHHHHH!!! I ain&rsquo;t rolling with that call.
&mdash; LeBron James (@KingJames) <a href="https://twitter.com/KingJames/status/1776451983047856248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 6, 2024</a></blockquote>

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
To call that on a game deciding play is so wrong WOW
&mdash; Kelsey Plum (@Kelseyplum10) <a href="https://twitter.com/Kelseyplum10/status/1776452745492414682?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 6, 2024</a></blockquote>

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SportsCenter host Scott Van Pelt and ESPN Women&rsquo;s Basketball analyst Andraya Carter didn&rsquo;t agree with the call either.
&ldquo;I hated the call. You&rsquo;ve got to give Gabbie Marshall credit for trying to fight over the screen. That&rsquo;s what drew the refs&rsquo; attention in,&rdquo; Carter said on SportsCenter after the game. &ldquo;But to me, now that final play it&rsquo;s not about Iowa&rsquo;s defense. It&rsquo;s about the call the referee made. There was a slight lean, maybe Aaliyah Edwards&rsquo; elbow was slightly out. But to be honest the calls were even for both sides. There were missed calls for Iowa. There were missed contacts for UConn. To make that call at the very end of the game &ndash; to me, it took away the opportunity for players to make plays. &hellip; To be honest, that call sucked.&rdquo;
WNBA legends Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird, who had their ESPN segment &lsquo;The Bird and Taurasi Show&rsquo; grace the Final Four, also shared their thoughts in real-time with UConn legend Breanna Stewart while commentating and watching the game live.
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3 uconn huskies react to the 'offensive foul' <a href="https://t.co/wFWCbVYTMG">pic.twitter.com/wFWCbVYTMG</a>
&mdash; jaiden (@steph_turkey) <a href="https://twitter.com/steph_turkey/status/1776454140962697606?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 6, 2024</a></blockquote>

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&ldquo;Oh my god,&rdquo; expressed a visibly disappointed Taurasi. &ldquo;Wow, what an unfortunate time to call an offensive foul. Just know how to ruin the game &ndash; oh my god that&rsquo;s terrible. It didn&rsquo;t even get her open &ndash; that&rsquo;s a tough play. We always talk about letting the players decide the game, especially in a benign call like that. It&rsquo;s just tough to end the game like that.&rdquo;
Legendary coach Geno Auriemma could not hide his disappointment as well in the post-game conference, saying UConn maybe should just get better at not setting illegal screens. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s probably an illegal screen call you could make on every single possession, and I just know there were three or four called on us &ndash; and I don&rsquo;t think any were called on them.&rdquo;
Clark and Final Four hero Hannah Stuelke &ndash; who played perhaps the best game of her life by scoring 23 points &ndash; thought their teammate Marshall did a good job of fighting over the screen, praising how she has been one of the nation&rsquo;s best defenders.
&ldquo;Gabbie is great in those situations. She always comes up with big plays, a block, or whatever,&rdquo; Stuelke said. &ldquo;You always see it time and time again, [Marshall] does not get enough credit for what she does,&rdquo; Clark added. &ldquo;She guards one of the best players in the country and it challenges her quite a bit. Paige had a great game but I thought Gabbie just played great defense on her. Even when Paige made some tough baskets, Gabbie just responded and kept going up there and guarded her.&rdquo;
Despite the tough loss, Bueckers took the high road and remained a positive attitude after what transpired late in the game.
"Players play and players decide the game. Everybody can make a big deal out of one single play but one single play doesn&rsquo;t win or lose a basketball game," Bueckers admitted. "... You can look at one play and say oh that killed us or that hurt us. We should have done a better job, I should have done a better job making sure didn&rsquo;t leave the game up to that."

Iowa defeated UConn 71-69 to advance to the national title game against undefeated South Carolina, but not without late-game drama.

Women's Final Four: Late phantom call mars Iowa-UConn ending

Soon, the world will know about the East Asia Super League.
The rapidly growing league across East Asia is set to have its biggest event yet: the EASL Final Four happening March 8-10 in Cebu, Philippines.
Dubbed the "Champions League" of East Asian basketball, the EASL combines the best clubs from the top leagues in East Asia with elite production value. The teams in the Final Four are Korea&rsquo;s Seoul SK Knights and Anyang Jung Kwan Jang Red Boosters, Taiwan&rsquo;s New Taipei Kings, and Japan&rsquo;s Chiba Jets. The Red Boosters come in as the defending champions following their win over their Korean neighbors, SK Knights, in last year&rsquo;s inaugural championship in Japan.&nbsp;
EASL&rsquo;s vision is to become one of the world&rsquo;s top professional basketball leagues. At the same time, EASL aims to elevate the sport of basketball across the East Asia region.&nbsp;
But what makes the league different is the style of play and the brand of basketball each team employs. While leagues like the NBA lean on athleticism, teams in the EASL use a lot of running and transition as well as relying on spacing.
&ldquo;Our play style is fast, and pretty open court. We use dynamic guards a lot and rely on spacing,&rdquo; New Taipei Kings&rsquo; Joseph Lin told BasketballNews in the opening press conference of the league&rsquo;s Final Four tournament. 
The 6-foot-1 Lin, the brother of former NBA player and champion Jeremy Lin, will attempt to bring the title to Taiwan as they go up against the Chiba Jets in the semifinals.
Anyang Jung Kwan Jang Red Boosters&rsquo; Filipino import Rhenz Abando echoed the younger Lin&rsquo;s sentiments as he came home to play in front of Filipino fans in Cebu: &ldquo;[Our play style] is also the same with Taipei, we are also fast and have a lot of ball movement and spacing.&rdquo;
Going up against Abando and the Red Boosters are the SK Knights in a rematch of last year&rsquo;s finals matchup. Star player Oh Jae Hyun reflects the opinions of the basketball played in the EASL.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Our team&rsquo;s main strength is fast-paced basketball, which requires rebounding and pressing the defense so we can force turnovers and push it on the other side,&rdquo; Hyun added.
Aside from Lin, a number former NBA players have played in the EASL including <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/east-asia-super-league-inside-a-basketball-startup-with-a-unique-vision">Lance Stephenson (Liaoning Flying Leopards), Shabazz Muhammad (Shenzhen Leopards), KJ McDaniels (TNT KaTropa), Jared Sullinger (Shenzhen Aviators), Jameel Warney (Seoul SK Knights) and Domantas Motiejunas (Shandong Golden Stars).</a> Austin Daye, a 2014 NBA champion with the San Antonio Spurs, is a teammate to Lin on New Taipei.
With the league&rsquo;s Final Four event aiming to have massive success in the Philippines, EASL CEO Henry Kerins is optimistic that the EASL will grow even more and increase the number of teams soon.
&ldquo;Our ambition is to expand from eight teams to 16 teams and that will include new geographies and new clubs,&rdquo; Kerins shared. &ldquo;Obviously, there&rsquo;s a huge amount of development and expansion for us to do and that&rsquo;s where the top basketball talent is right now &ndash; Asia.&rdquo;
Kerins further noted that this is only the start for EASL as it looks to increase its global market and viewership in the coming months and years.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Our focus right now is developing and expanding that and deepening both our penetration on the media partnerships. This is the beginning, and in 2025 you&rsquo;re going to see a much more mature and aggressive strategy for expanding that," Kerins said. "We will be expanding our presence and that will lead to more clubs participating &ndash; so hold for that in terms of our announcements but that&rsquo;s our vision and plan going forward.&rdquo;

Soon, the world will know about the East Asia Super League, which is about to hold its Final Four in the Philippines.

East Asia Super League set to have its biggest event yet in Cebu

After a terrific regular season, the 2023 WNBA Playoffs <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/2023-wnba-playoffs-guide-how-to-watch-schedule-more" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tip off tonight</a>. This was a huge year for the WNBA, as the league just had its most-watched regular season in 21 years.
Viewership across its national television partners &ndash; ABC, CBS, ESPN and ESPN2 &ndash; was up 21% over the 2022 season. The league also set new highs in terms of its digital platforms, social-media engagement and sports betting. Here are some highlights from the 2023 campaign:
&bull; Across ABC, ESPN and CBS, viewership was up 8% over last season and averaged 505,000 viewers. The WNBA on ABC averaged 627,000 viewers, making it the most-viewed regular season on ABC in 11 years.
&bull; The 2023 regular season reached over 36 million total unique viewers across all national networks, the highest since 2008 and up 27% from 2022.
&bull; Across all WNBA social-media handles, the league generated a record 373 million video views this season, up 96%&nbsp;from the 2022 season. The 20 million total actions/engagements and 1.1 million hours watched increased by 65% and 42%, respectively, from last season.
&bull; The 2023 WNBA All-Star Game on ABC was the most-watched WNBA All-Star Game in 16 years, averaging 850,000 viewers with a peak of 955,000 viewers.
&bull; The 2023 WNBA Draft averaged 572,000 viewers on ESPN, up 42% over last year; it was the most-watched WNBA Draft since 2004.
&bull; The league introduced WNBA Friday Night Spotlight with new broadcast partner ION, where regular-season games were consumed for a total of 14 million hours.
&bull; The WNBA's attendance was up 16% compared to last year. The average attendance of 6,615 fans per game was the highest since 2018. The WNBA had its highest total attendance in 13 years (1,587,488).
&bull; The 2022 WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces saw the highest increase in average attendance (more than 66% year-over-year), averaging a league-high 9,551 fans per game. The Aces also hosted the highest-attended game this season, drawing a crowd of 17,406 against the Phoenix Mercury on September 10 on the final day of the regular season.&nbsp;
&bull; Mercury All-Star Brittney Griner&rsquo;s first home game in her return to the WNBA, against the Chicago Sky on May 21, drew 14,040 fans, third-highest for a WNBA game this season.
&bull; The first WNBA Canada Game, which saw the Sky defeat the Minnesota Lynx 82-74 in a preseason contest, was played before a sold-out crowd of approximately 20,000 fans at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on May 13.
&bull; The WNBA's relaunched app with exclusive series, behind-the-scenes content and in-depth coverage saw downloads up nearly 400%. The league&rsquo;s out-of-market live game package experienced 10% growth in subscribers this season.
&bull; The season-opening game featuring the New York Liberty at the Washington Mystics on May 13 had the highest viewership in WNBA League Pass history, up 107% from the previous record-setting game on the platform. Content consumption was up across digital channels with League Pass total views for the season up 257%, and the WNBA website had a 21% increase in average time spent per visit during the regular season.
&bull; On FanDuel Sportsbook, the number of bets on the WNBA more than doubled from last season. Individual bets on the marketplace increased by more than 163% year-over-year, and the WNBA handle was up more than 100%.
&bull; The WNBA launched the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wnba.com/wnbabet" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.wnba.com/wnbabet&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1694711805864000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0izkcuac1XQ66ItGtl_fXv">WNBABet</a>&nbsp;tab, featuring content from many of the league&rsquo;s partners, including FanDuel, ESPN, The Action Network, Rotowire and the American Gaming Association.
&bull; The 2023 WNBA Commissioner&rsquo;s Cup Championship Game attracted the largest audience for a WNBA game ever for Prime Video, nearly doubling the viewership of last year&rsquo;s Commissioner&rsquo;s Cup Championship Game. The in-season competition saw the teams competing for a prize pool of more than $500,000. As part of the total prize pool, Coinbase provided a cryptocurrency bonus of $120,000 for players in the Championship Game.
&bull; The 2023 WNBA season was dedicated to women&rsquo;s health advocacy, with a focus on Black, Brown and LGBTQ+ communities. Throughout the season, teams, players and the league highlighted four key pillars of women&rsquo;s health: maternal health, mental health, reproductive health and cancer awareness and education. Through the 2023 WNBA Commissioner&rsquo;s Cup, each WNBA team chose a local women&rsquo;s health organization to play for, with $200,000 donated to both local and national non-profit organizations committed to raising awareness about these important women&rsquo;s health equity issues.
Why were fans so engaged this season? On the court, there were quite a few unprecedented things that happened this season:
&bull; The Seattle Storm&rsquo;s Jewell Loyd set a WNBA single-season record with 939 points.
&bull; The New York Liberty&rsquo;s Breanna Stewart had a WNBA-record six games of at least 40 points. In total, WNBA players produced a record 13 40-point games, 10 more than the prior record of three.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&bull; The Connecticut Sun&rsquo;s Alyssa Thomas posted a record six triple-doubles and broke the single-season record for total assists (316).
&bull; WNBA players recorded a record 13 triple-doubles, six more than in 2022 (seven) and four more than in the league&rsquo;s first 25 regular seasons combined (nine).
&bull; The Phoenix Mercury&rsquo;s Diana Taurasi became the first player in WNBA history to score 10,000 career points.
&bull; The Las Vegas Aces&rsquo; A&rsquo;ja Wilson became the fastest player in WNBA history to reach 3,500 points, 1,500 rebounds and 300 blocks.
&bull; New York&rsquo;s Sabrina Ionescu set records for three-pointers made in the regular season (128) and points scored in a single round of the WNBA Three-Point Contest (37).
It's a great time to be a fan of the WNBA, and this postseason seems to be one of the most highly anticipated WNBA Playoffs of all-time.

The WNBA just had its most-watched regular season in 21 years, and viewership was up 21% over the 2022 season.

WNBA has most-watched regular season in 21 years, up 21% over 2022

If there is any singular number that has defined basketball in 2023, it might be 9.9 million &mdash; the viewership of Sunday's NCAA Tournament championship game between LSU and Iowa.
The figure isn't just the largest ever for a women's college game; it also flew past other audiences for some of American sports' marquee events.
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The NCAA Women's National Championship's 9.9 million viewers are more than: ▪️ Any Women's CBB game ever ▪️ Any MLS game ever ▪️ Any Stanley Cup game since 1973 ▪️ The 2023 Orange Bowl ▪️ The 2023 Sugar Bowl ▪️ 2023 Thursday Night Football ▪️ The 2021 NBA Finals ▪️ The 2020&hellip; <a href="https://t.co/X6MGXYkflQ">pic.twitter.com/X6MGXYkflQ</a>
&mdash; Front Office Sports (@FOS) <a href="https://twitter.com/FOS/status/1643051889846525953?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 4, 2023</a></blockquote>

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To say the game has "arrived" is disrespectful to the illustrious history of women in basketball. But Sunday was a stage unlike any other, and those who watched on TV or <a href="https://www.nola.com/sports/lsu/womens_basketball/ticket-prices-for-lsu-iowa-national-championship-jump/article_8f541656-d0d6-11ed-83a2-7fb0a63f33b8.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">paid hundreds to attend</a> were awestruck by the outpouring of deserved fan support.
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I&rsquo;m completely blown away. The direction our game is going and the excitement surrounding it- I personally have never been more proud to be a part of it. ❤️ <a href="https://t.co/WjNZii3Vg1">pic.twitter.com/WjNZii3Vg1</a>
&mdash; Rachel Galligan (@RachGall) <a href="https://twitter.com/RachGall/status/1642976923193331713?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 3, 2023</a></blockquote>

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A poorly-officiated contest (Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic had <a href="https://theathletic.com/4377949/2023/04/03/womens-basketball-officials-clark-reese/?source=emp_shared_article" target="_blank" rel="noopener">some important thoughts on this</a>) and the trash-talking discourse that followed are problematic, but they won't taper our excitement for the trajectory of women's basketball. An influx of new, casual, uninformed fans are swarming into the sport, and we're ready for them because we've learned two important lessons in the last week.
One: This generation's stars are glimmering in the spotlight.
Two: The sport's core of diligent media members and passionate fans won't take any B.S.
Angel Reese surpassed a million Instagram followers after winning the national title, a result of her superstar season and her "Bayou Barbie" persona. But her name also dominated headlines because of her John Cena and ring-me gestures towards Caitlin Clark in the closing minutes of LSU's win, earning critical labels like "classless" and others that hinted at more serious racist undertones.
Reese didn't hold back in her initial response.
"I don&rsquo;t fit in the box that y&rsquo;all want me to be in. I'm too hood, I'm too ghetto, y'all told me that all year. When other people do it, y'all don't say nothing. This was for the people that look like me," Reese <a href="https://twitter.com/sportingnews/status/1642671282767507456" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
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This is different from Reese "not caring" about the critics. She does care and is aware of her own aura, which she says has been criticized since high school. Reese cares that her image as a powerful, talented, confident Black woman resonates with younger girls who can relate to her, and that for so long, that combination of traits has been met with hate.
That Reese continues to quote tweet and subtweet, and take additional interviews on ESPN days after the game, shows she's not backing down from who she wants to be.
Clark is similarly aware of her standing as a figurehead for the sport. On Tuesday, she went on ESPN's Outside the Lines and basically ended the trash-talking discussion.&nbsp;
"I don't think Angel should be criticized at all," Clark <a href="https://twitter.com/espn/status/1643311621861949441" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. "No matter which way it goes, she should never be criticized for what she did. I'm always one that competes, and she competed. I think everyone knew there was gonna be a little trash talk the entire tournament; it's not just me and Angel."
Just as important was her full response on the importance of showing passion as an athlete:
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"Men have always had trash talk. ... You should be able to play with that emotion. ... That's how every girl should continue to play." Caitlin Clark discussed if women are held to a different standard than men on <a href="https://twitter.com/OTLonESPN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@OTLonESPN</a>. <a href="https://t.co/JY7MWlOuVq">pic.twitter.com/JY7MWlOuVq</a>
&mdash; ESPN (@espn) <a href="https://twitter.com/espn/status/1643309736572616704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 4, 2023</a></blockquote>

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Clark is arguably the biggest trending name in basketball right now and a truly generational talent who helped drive this year's record-shattering ratings. For her to jump on ESPN two days after a heartbreaking loss and be explicit with her opinions shows that she recognizes the gravity of her voice.
The Iowa sharpshooter rightfully captured the country's attention for her NCAA Tournament heroics. According to one Google search analysis from World Sports Network, Clark's name saw a 476% search increase in the last week of March Madness.
New fans were quick to label her a "best-ever" of some sort. The social media response: Familiarize yourselves with the college careers of Cheryl Miller, Sheryl Swoopes, Diana Taurasi, Breanna Stewart, Brittney Griner, Maya Moore, Kelsey Plum or Sabrina Ionescu.&nbsp;
And when some <a href="https://twitter.com/KeithOlbermann/status/1642649593140637706" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pretty loud voices</a>&nbsp;took aim at Reese on Sunday, the community quickly let them know it was unacceptable.
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As women's basketball has continued to rise, deserved passionate media coverage has reached the foreground.&nbsp;The Next Hoops, Winsidr,&nbsp;and Just Women's Sports&nbsp;are three of my personal go-to's, but these smaller (yet growing) independent outlets have helped legitimize and drive quality coverage. ESPN's television coverage is spectacular and&nbsp;The Athletic&nbsp;is another outlet with high-level storytelling. Arielle Chambers delivers phenomenal energy for HighlightHER, Mark Schindler does an amazing job at WNBA.com, and while I'm biased, our own Nekias Duncan's WNBA coverage is top-tier (<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/south-carolina-dared-caitlin-clark-to-beat-them-and-she-did-" target="_blank" rel="noopener">as was his Clark film dive!</a>).
We collectively know more about media and narrative than ever in our history. It allows these writers to make sure the sport is covered fairly and accurately at the college and pro levels, holding new, influential fans accountable.&nbsp;
The players and coaches have stories to share, personalities to gravitate towards and electric talent to entertain with. The WNBA still has so much growth potential; it logged a 20% increase in regular-season viewership on ESPN last year, and this spring's March Madness momentum can be a springboard for another leap. And with NIL-driven branding soaring at the college level, more players and teams can place themselves in front of new audiences.
Sunday felt like the quantitative peak for women's basketball in the national conversation &mdash; what's exciting is that there's so much mountain still left to climb.

Nearly 10 million people watched the national championship game, signaling that women's basketball is ready for a popularity explosion.

Women's basketball is well-equipped to shape its own narrative

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) &mdash; South Carolina is keenly aware that everyone remaining in the women&rsquo;s NCAA Tournament field is coming after the undefeated Gamecocks &mdash; and hard.
That conviction has been boosted after two of the top four seeds in Indiana and Stanford were ousted &mdash; something that hasn&rsquo;t happened since 1998. If they didn&rsquo;t before, each of the Sweet 16 teams believe they can knock out the defending national champions, no matter how dominant the Gamecocks have been.
It makes for good theater &mdash; which is good for the sport.
Rebecca Lobo, the former UConn star turned ESPN analyst, calls South Carolina&rsquo;s dominance combined with Sweet 16 parity &ldquo;an interesting dichotomy.&rdquo;
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s like parallel paths, you have this overwhelming favorite to win it all, yet you have UConn losing to Marquette or Stanford losing in the second round,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s an interesting time for women&rsquo;s basketball.&rdquo;
South Carolina with its 40 straight victories isn&rsquo;t concerned about history, ratings or if the Gamecocks&rsquo; drive for a second straight championship is good for the game.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re just about basketball,&rdquo; coach Dawn Staley says with admiration. &ldquo;We really are.&rdquo;
Women&rsquo;s basketball is thriving even with the Gamecocks&rsquo; dominance in the midst of rarely seen tournament chaos. South Carolina&rsquo;s four-team pod in Greenville, South Carolina, is all chalk. The top-seeded Gamecocks (34-0) play No. 4 seeded UCLA on Saturday with No. 2 seed Maryland taking on third-seeded Notre Dame.
South Carolina has three-time All-American Aliyah Boston, high-scoring Zia Cooke and a bench full of players who could start for most NCAA Tournament teams. That&rsquo;s helped the Gamecocks show a relentless push toward a third straight Final Four.
If they run the table, South Carolina would be the 10th undefeated Division I women&rsquo;s champion. The men have had just one in D-I: Indiana in 1976.
Analyst Debbie Antonelli believes women&rsquo;s basketball fans love the new faces and schools still alive in this tournament. She isn&rsquo;t sure how fans would react if the Gamecocks&rsquo; seemingly inevitable championship run gets derailed short of the national title game.
&ldquo;As someone who cares about ratings, I&rsquo;d be curious,&rdquo; Antonelli said.
South Carolina is trying to join an exclusive club. The nine undefeated champions hail from just four schools: Texas, UConn, Tennessee and Baylor:
&mdash; UConn, which has gone undefeated an unprecedented six times. In 1995, the Huskies went 35-0 with Lobo leading the way. UConn went 39-0 in 2002, 2009 and 2010 with a slew of All-Americans, including Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi and Swin Cash. UConn followed those title runs by going 40-0 in 2014 and 38-0 in 2016.
&mdash; Texas was the first perfect champion, going 34-0 in 1986.
&mdash; Tennessee finished 39-0 in 1998 with the three &ldquo;Meeks&rdquo; in Chamique Holdsclaw, Tamika Catchings and Semeka Randall.
&mdash; Baylor and Brittney Griner went 40-0 in 2012.
Coaches and players say there are no shortcuts for going undefeated.
Lobo, Jennifer Rizzotti and Kara Wolters anchored the 1995 UConn team. There had only been one team prior to the Huskies as undefeated champions, so Lobo and her teammates never discussed that possibility.
&ldquo;It was fun winning, it was fun not losing, but I can honestly tell you the undefeated portion was not something we thought about,&rdquo; she said in a phone interview with The Associated Press.
Kellie Harper agrees. She was part of Pat Summitt&rsquo;s Tennessee team that was the first to go 39-0.
Harper said coaches don&rsquo;t enter seasons telling their players, &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s be perfect this year.&rdquo; However, as the point guard on that 1997-98 team, having star players can be a difference-maker.
&ldquo;Going down the stretch with three All-Americans, that made my job a lot easier,&rdquo; Harper, now coaching her alma mater, said before adding, &ldquo;but it gave me a lot of confidence that we can do anything.&rdquo;
Staley&rsquo;s not sure all undefeated seasons are created equal. She recalls other perfect runs celebrated more than her team&rsquo;s current streak.
&ldquo;My player, Aliyah Boston is not the one that&rsquo;s being talked about on men&rsquo;s games, OK? She&rsquo;s not,&rdquo; Staley said.
Iowa&rsquo;s Caitlin Clark has taken some of the national attention away from the perfect Gamecocks with her barrage of long-range jumpers and triple-doubles.
The Gamecocks have overcome several challenges this season.
They trailed by 10 through three quarters at Stanford last November before pulling out a 76-71 win in overtime. UConn held an 11-point first-half lead in February before South Carolina rallied for an 81-77 victory.
The Gamecocks advanced to their 10th Sweet 16 in 11 tournaments with a 76-45 win over feisty South Florida, which trailed by just 33-29 at the half. There was also an 64-57 overtime win at Ole Miss, which knocked off Stanford.
Yes, there is pressure to stay perfect.
&ldquo;But it&rsquo;s also a lot of fun,&rdquo; sophomore reserve Bree Hall said.
South Carolina&rsquo;s experienced roster &mdash; including Boston, Cooke and fellow senior Brea Beal &mdash; knows what it takes to win. They&rsquo;ve started since their freshman year in 2020, when their first title run was canceled by COVID-19. South Carolina was No. 1 in the rankings at 31-1 and on a 26-game win streak.
The Gamecocks will need that experience as the pressure ratchets up.
In 1995, UConn&rsquo;s two closest contests was a 67-63 win over Virginia in the Elite Eight and in the championship win, 70-64, over Tennessee.
Both UConn and Tennessee, that pesky Ole Miss squad and the rest of the Sweet 16 field would welcome a shot at South Carolina &mdash; which is nothing new for the Gamecocks.
___
AP Sports Writer Teresa Walker in Knoxville, Tennessee, contributed to this report.

South Carolina is keenly aware that everyone remaining in the women’s NCAA Tournament field is coming after them.

March Madness Mix: Dominant Gamecocks amid Sweet 16 parity

STANFORD, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Madison Scott hit a pair of free throws with 23 seconds left that gave Mississippi the lead for good, Angel Baker scored 13 points, and the Rebels delivered on their declaration to get defensive, stunning top-seeded Stanford 54-49 on Sunday night to reach the NCAA Tournament&rsquo;s Sweet 16 for the first time in 16 years.
Behind the entire game, Stanford called timeout with 28 seconds left then Hannah Jump turned the ball over and Scott converted. Haley Jones lost the ball out of bounds on the Cardinal&rsquo;s last possession with a chance to tie then again in the waning moments.
Marquesha Davis hit a pair of free throws with 15.4 seconds to play as Ole Miss overcame not making a field goal over the final 5:47, going 0 for 8.
These upstart Rebels (25-8) advance to the Seattle Regional semifinal next weekend, while Tara VanDerveer&rsquo;s Stanford team (29-6) is eliminated far earlier than this group envisioned &mdash; the season ending on the Cardinal&rsquo;s home floor.
GREENVILLE 1 REGION
No. 1 SOUTH CAROLINA 76, No. 8 SOUTH FLORIDA 45
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) &mdash; Zia Cooke scored 21 points and Aliyah Boston had her 81st career double double as South Carolina shook off a slow start to power past South Florida.
The Gamecocks improved to 34-0 with their 40th straight win overall and moved four victories away from a second straight national title. They&rsquo;ll head to Greenville, where they won the Southeastern Conference Tournament two weeks ago, to play for a spot in the Final Four.
Boston, the program career record holder for double doubles, finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds, coming out of her final game at home to a huge ovation.
South Florida (27-7) entered looking for a program-record 28th win this season and its first berth in the Sweet 16, but after a feisty start, couldn&rsquo;t hang with the Gamecocks.
No. 2 MARYLAND 77, No. 7 ARIZONA 64
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) &mdash; Diamond Miller scored 13 of her 24 points in the third quarter to help Maryland to a victory over Arizona.
The Terrapins (27-6) advance to the Sweet 16 for a third straight year and the 11th time under coach Brenda Frese. Maryland trailed by a point after two quarters but ran past the Wildcats (22-10) in the second half.
Shyanne Sellers scored 15 points and Faith Masonius gave the Terps a lift with 12.
Frese was coaching against her alma mater. She played at Arizona and graduated in 1993.
Cate Reese led Arizona with 19 points.
No. 3 NOTRE DAME 53, No. 11 MISSISSIPPI STATE 48
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Lauren Ebo had 10 points, 18 rebounds and four blocks to help Notre Dame beat Mississippi State.
Maddy Westbeld added nine points and 15 rebounds for the Irish, who blew an eight-point lead in the fourth quarter before making the plays down the stretch for the win.
Mississippi State scored eight straight points to open the fourth quarter and tie the game at 41. Ebo scored the first Irish basket of the final period on an offensive putback with 4:38 remaining.
The Irish regained the lead for good on a pair of KK Bransford free throws with 3:49 left in the game, which gave Notre Dame a 45-43 advantage. The Irish held onto the lead the rest of the way.
GREENVILLE 2 REGION
No. 2 UTAH 63, No. 10 PRINCETON 56
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) &mdash; Alissa Pili had 28 points and 10 rebounds to lead Utah to a win over Princeton.
Jenna Johnson added 15 points for the Utes, who made only one 3-pointer but still advanced to their first Sweet 16 since 2006.
Kaitlyn Chen scored 19 points, Grace Stone had 16 and Ellie Mitchell finished with 18 rebounds, including 10 on the offensive end, for Princeton (24-6).
Down the stretch, the game turned into an old-fashioned rockfight. The teams combined to miss 15 consecutive field goal attempts at one point, but Utah (27-4) got to the free throw line to advance and face No. 3 seed LSU.
No. 3 LSU 66, No. 6 MICHIGAN 42
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) &mdash; Angel Reese dismantled Michigan on both ends of the court with 25 points, 24 rebounds, six blocks and three steals to help LSU beat the Wolverines.
Reese, a 6-foot-3 All-America forward, did most of her damage with gauze wedged under her upper lip after a shot to her mouth drew blood in the opening minutes of the game.
Alexis Morris scored 11 and LaDazhia Williams had 10 points and 10 rebounds for LSU (30-2), which never trailed and held Michigan (23-10) to its lowest point total of the season.
SEATTLE 3 REGION
No. 1 VIRGINIA TECH 72, No. 9 SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 60
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) &mdash; Georgia Amoore scored 21 points and Virginia Tech held off South Dakota State.
Elizabeth Kitley added 14 points and 14 rebounds for the Hokies (29-4), who won their 13th consecutive game, to advance to the Sweet 16 for just the second time in program history. They will play the winner of Monday&rsquo;s matchup between No. 12 seed Toledo and No. 4 seed Tennessee.
Virginia Tech also set a school record with its 29th win, breaking the mark of 28 set by the 1998-99 squad &mdash; the only other team in school history to advance to the Sweet 16.
Myah Selland led South Dakota State (29-6) with 17 points and nine rebounds.
SEATTLE 4 REGION
No. 2 IOWA 74, No. 10 GEORGIA 66
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) &mdash; Caitlin Clark had 22 points and 12 assists while Monika Czinano added 20 points to help Iowa beat Georgia.
The Hawkeyes (28-6) advance to the ninth Sweet Sixteen in program history.
Gabbie Marshall added 15 points and McKenna Warnock had 14 for Iowa, which erased the memory of last season&rsquo;s second-round home loss to No. 10 seed Creighton.
Clark, a first-team Associated Press All-American, was held scoreless for 13 minutes in the first half, but scored 14 second-half points as the Hawkeyes finally shook off the 10th-seeded Lady Bulldogs (22-12). She made just 6 of 17 shots, but either scored or assisted on nearly every point by the Hawkeyes in the second half.
Georgia, a No. 10 seed, got within 68-66 on a 3-pointer from Audrey Warren with 2:17 left in the game, but the Lady Bulldogs would not score again, committing three straight turnovers and missing a layup.
Diamond Battles led Georgia with 21 points. Brittney Smith and Javyn Nicholson each had 12 points.

A recap of Sunday's slate of women's March Madness includes the Rebels upsetting the top-seeded Cardinal.

Ole Miss stuns Stanford, reaches first Sweet 16 in 16 years

On Wednesday, the WNBA and ESPN announced that 25 national broadcasts will occur during the regular season across ABC, ESPN and ESPN2. The star-studded New York Liberty lead all teams with nine national broadcasts, with the reigning champion Las Vegas Aces not far behind with seven.&nbsp;
The two super teams will face off Aug. 6 on ABC.&nbsp;
You can read the full release below:
NEW YORK, March 8, 2023&nbsp;&ndash; The WNBA and ESPN today announced that the league&rsquo;s 27th&nbsp;regular season, set to tip off on Friday, May 19, will be highlighted by 25&nbsp;national broadcasts during the regular season across ABC, ESPN and ESPN2.
During the upcoming season, the WNBA will collaborate with ESPN to present up to 52 possible games beginning with the WNBA Regular Season presented by Google and extending through the WNBA Playoffs presented by Google, which will feature up to 27 games, including the WNBA Finals presented by YouTube TV. In addition,&nbsp;history will be made on Saturday, July 15 when the 2023 AT&amp;T WNBA All-Star Game in Las Vegas airs for the first time in primetime on ABC (8:30 p.m. ET).
Added coverage will be provided by&nbsp;WNBA Countdown presented by Google&nbsp;&ndash; ESPN&rsquo;s pregame show introduced during the 2022 WNBA postseason &ndash; which will now be available throughout the regular season with at least 10 editions immediately preceding game broadcasts.
The complete television and streaming schedule, including games on CBS Television Network, Paramount+, CBS Sports Network, NBA TV, Meta Horizon Worlds, and Twitter will be announced at a later date.
&ldquo;As we get set to tip off our 27th&nbsp;season, ESPN is once again stepping up as an incredibly engaged broadcast partner for the WNBA,&rdquo; said WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert. &ldquo;We are grateful that ESPN will provide significant opportunities to tell the stories of the incredible players across the league in 2023. From tip-off weekend through the highly anticipated postseason, ESPN and Google will continue to serve our growing fan base and deliver a robust national platform for WNBA players with game broadcasts and new, regular-season pregame shows.&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&ldquo;As ESPN enters its 27th season with the WNBA, we continue to elevate our coverage of this exceptional league with premier broadcast windows, expanded studio programming and best-in-class storytelling,&rdquo; said Matt Kenny, vice president of programming and acquisitions, ESPN. &ldquo;Our ongoing collaboration with the WNBA resulted in unprecedented growth and success last year and we have a marquee schedule that will once again showcase the league&rsquo;s best players and teams across ESPN platforms.&rdquo;
The ABC/ESPN/ESPN2 broadcast schedule gets underway on Friday, May 19, as part of&nbsp;WNBA Tip-Off presented by CarMax&nbsp;when Brittney Griner, an eight-time WNBA All-Star selection and two-time Kia WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, and Diana Taurasi, the WNBA&rsquo;s career scoring leader and a three-time league champion now entering her 19th&nbsp;season, lead the Phoenix Mercury against the Los Angeles Sparks. The Sparks&rsquo;&nbsp;revamped roster includes&nbsp;2016 WNBA MVP Nneka Ogwumike and veteran acquisitions&nbsp;Azur&aacute;&nbsp;Stevens and Jasmine Thomas. That game will air on ESPN and stream on ESPN+ at 8 p.m. PT (11 p.m. ET), marking the first time a WNBA game will be available on the ESPN streaming service.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been refreshing to see women&rsquo;s sports getting more of the attention it deserves over the past year and a half,&rdquo; said Kate Johnson, Director of Global Sports &amp; Entertainment Marketing Partnerships, Content and Media at Google. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re passionate about elevating coverage of women athletes and as we enter our third year as a WNBA Changemaker, continuing to work side by side with the WNBA and EPSN to air more nationally televised games is something we&rsquo;re extremely proud of. We&rsquo;ll continue to challenge ourselves and others to raise the bar for representing women&rsquo;s sports equitably.
WNBA Tip-Off Presented by CarMax&nbsp;also includes a star-studded ABC doubleheader on Saturday, May 20. Action tips off when the Atlanta Dream, led by newly acquired Allisha Gray and reigning Kia WNBA Rookie of the Year Rhyne Howard, visit Gray&rsquo;s former team, the Dallas Wings, with newly acquired WNBA All-Stars Diamond DeShields and Natasha Howard alongside Arike Ogunbowale, one of the league&rsquo;s top scorers in each of the past four seasons (1 p.m. ET).
In the second game of the doubleheader, the Seattle Storm and four-time WNBA All-Star and two-time champion Jewell Loyd host&nbsp;the defending WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces (3 p.m. ET). The Aces&rsquo; roster includes 2022 award winners Chelsea Gray (WNBA Finals MVP and Commissioner&rsquo;s Cup Championship Game MVP), Kelsey Plum (All-WNBA First Team and All-Star Game MVP), A&rsquo;ja Wilson (Kia WNBA MVP and Kia WNBA Defensive Player of the Year) and Jackie Young (Kia WNBA Most Improved Player), along with free agent acquisition Candace Parker, a two-time MVP and two-time league champion.
&mdash;
The opening weekend of WNBA Tip-Off Presented by CarMax concludes on Sunday, May 21, when Griner, Taurasi and the Mercury host 2021 WNBA Finals MVP Kahleah Copper and the Chicago Sky in a rematch of the 2021 WNBA Finals on ESPN and ESPN+ at 4 p.m. ET.
The New York Liberty, which added 2021 Kia WNBA MVP Jonquel Jones, 2018 MVP Breanna Stewart and six-time league assists leader Courtney Vandersloot to a roster that already included 2022 All-WNBA selection and 2020 No. 1 overall draft pick, Sabrina Ionescu, will play nine games across&nbsp;ESPN platforms. The 2022 champion Aces&nbsp;will appear seven times. The two teams, which feature a combined eight 2022 WNBA All-Stars, will meet four times in the regular season and go head-to-head on ABC on Sunday, Aug. 6 from New York (3 p.m. ET).
Additional Highlights of the ABC/ESPN/ESPN2 Broadcast Schedule:
<ul style="font-weight: 400;">
<li>Six teams will each be showcased four times, including the Connecticut Sun, led by 2022 WNBA All-Star Brionna Jones and fellow All-Star Alyssa Thomas, who posted a WNBA-record four triple-doubles across the 2022 regular season and postseason. Dallas, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Seattle, and Washington will also appear four times each. </li>
<li>In addition to the opening weekend broadcasts featuring Griner and Taurasi, coverage of the Mercury is set for Tuesday, July 25, when Phoenix visits Rhyne Howard and the Dream (ESPN, 7 p.m. ET) and on Sunday, Sept. 10 &ndash; the final day of the regular season &ndash; when Phoenix travels to Las Vegas to face the All-Star quintet of Gray, Parker, Plum, Wilson and Young (ESPN2, 3 p.m. ET). </li>
<li>Stewart, who starred with Seattle for six seasons from 2016-22, will face her former team in a pair of national telecasts &ndash; first when the Liberty visits the Storm on Tuesday, May 30 (ESPN2, 9 p.m. ET), and on Saturday, July 8, when the Storm travels to New York (ESPN, 1:30 p.m. ET). </li>
<li>New York&rsquo;s Courtney Vandersloot, who helped Chicago to two appearances in the WNBA Finals presented by YouTube TV, including a WNBA championship in 2021, will square off against her former team when the Liberty visits the Sky on Sunday, Sept. 3 (ESPN2, 3 p.m. ET). </li>
<li>ABC will air star-studded doubleheaders across two weekends in June beginning on Sunday, June 11, when the Liberty host the Wings (1 p.m. ET) and the Storm host two-time MVP Elena Delle Donne, two-time WNBA All-Star Ariel Atkins and the Washington Mystics (3 p.m. ET). On Sunday, June 25, New York hosts Washington (1 p.m. ET) and the Sparks welcome the Wings (3 p.m. ET) to Los Angeles. </li>
<li>Connecticut and Las Vegas, which met in the 2022 WNBA Finals presented by YouTube TV, will play on Saturday, July 1 (ABC, 3 p.m. ET). </li>
<li>In advance of the 2023 AT&amp;T WNBA All-Star Game on July 15, the WNBA&rsquo;s Skills Challenge and the Starry Three-Point Contest will air on ESPN on Friday, July 14 at 4 p.m. ET. </li>
<li>All games across ESPN platforms during the regular season and postseason will stream live on the ESPN App.</li>
</ul>
The 2023 regular season will include a record-high 40 games per team, providing fans with more opportunities to see the best players in the world compete at the highest level. The third year of the Commissioner&rsquo;s Cup presented by Coinbase also brings added excitement and intrigue to the first half of the season for players, teams and fans.&nbsp;
Following the conclusion of the 2023 regular season on Sunday, Sept. 10, ESPN will once again collaborate with the WNBA to broadcast all playoff games. Wall-to-wall coverage of the WNBA Playoffs presented by Google and the WNBA Finals presented by YouTube TV will feature up to 27 nationally televised playoff games across ESPN platforms.&nbsp;
With the tip-off of the WNBA season set for May 19, ESPN Fantasy Women's Basketball is back and now open for the season. Fans can&nbsp;<a href="https://fantasy.espn.com/womens-basketball/welcome?addata=digital_gameopen_wnba" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://fantasy.espn.com/womens-basketball/welcome?addata%3Ddigital_gameopen_wnba&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1678467569267000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0q8LjBe7Mah1dS2mGg4w9c">lock in their spot</a>&nbsp;for free today and get ready to dominate with their favorite WNBA stars in May.&nbsp;Go to&nbsp;<a href="http://espn.com/fantasywomensbasketball" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://espn.com/fantasywomensbasketball&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1678467569267000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0TaJVvZNTg1SCNS6_knO07">espn.com/fantasywomensbasketball</a>&nbsp;or download the ESPN Fantasy App to get started.

The star-studded Liberty will have nine national appearances, with the reigning champion Aces not far behind with seven.

WNBA, ESPN announce 2023 national broadcast schedule

LAS VEGAS (AP) &mdash; The Pac-12 Conference is having likely its best women&rsquo;s basketball season, which has a chance to get even stronger.
As the conference tournament gets underway Wednesday with four first-round games, the Pac-12 could place at least eight teams in the NCAA Tournament. The Pac-12 sent seven teams in 2017, a conference high.
&ldquo;I think from top to bottom we&rsquo;re as strong as we&rsquo;ve ever been,&rdquo; said Rhonda Lundin Bennett, Pac-12 associate commissioner for women&rsquo;s basketball and sports management.
Lundin Bennett was chairwoman of the NCAA Division I women&rsquo;s basketball committee in 2018 and 2019. She also served on the committee from 2014-21, except for 2020, when COVID-19 wiped out NCAA Tournament.
She said the circumstances change year to year in how fields are put together, but there are general principles that remain the same such as strength of schedule and how well teams are playing late.
Many Pac-12 teams have been playing well throughout the season, and the conference has five in the AP Top 25, including No. 3 Utah and No. 6 Sanford.
Eight teams are in the top 40 of the NET rankings, one of the factors the committee uses to determine at-large spots for the tournament.
&ldquo;I think we definitely have at least eight very quality programs, and possibly nine, that deserve consideration,&rdquo; Lundin Bennett sad. &ldquo;It just depends on how they finish out and what other teams do. But I think we&rsquo;ve got a really, really strong season and top to bottom are one of the best leagues, if not the best league in the country.&rdquo;
Utah&rsquo;s Lynne Roberts, named Tuesday as the conference&rsquo;s coach of the year, said the depth of competition should help the Pac-12 teams that make the NCAA Tournament.
&ldquo;Every weekend you&rsquo;re playing somebody that&rsquo;s top 25, somebody that&rsquo;s coached by an elite coach, and it really does prepare you,&rdquo; Roberts said.
A NO. 2 GOING FOR A NO. 1
Utah (25-3) enters the conference tournament as the No. 2 seed, even though the Utes are ranked ahead of No. 1 seed Stanford (27-4).
Both teams went 15-3 in league play and split their two meetings, but the Cardinal had a better record against third-seeded and 20th-ranked Colorado (22-7, 13-5).
The Utes built on last season&rsquo;s achievements. They made the conference championship and then appeared in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011.
&ldquo;That was a great confidence boost, and there&rsquo;s really no better way to get confidence than from success,&rdquo; Roberts said. &ldquo;It propelled us into the offseason. I do think it was a springboard of genuine confidence like: &lsquo;OK, we can we can do this. Let&rsquo;s just get better.&rsquo;&rdquo;
STANFORD GETS TESTED
Stanford captured at least a share of its third consecutive Pac-12 regular-season title, but it was tight down the stretch.
The Cardinal not only lost 84-78 to Utah on Saturday, it recently went to double overtime to beat Colorado, edged No. 19 UCLA by five points and defeated Southern California by three.
&ldquo;This has been a tough road for us at the end of the season,&rdquo; Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said after the loss to Utah. &ldquo;Our team battled (the Utes). We were right there. It could&rsquo;ve gone either way, and hopefully this will make us very hungry coming into the Pac-12 Tournament.&rdquo;
BUFFS ON THE RISE
Colorado reached 20 victories last season for the first time in nine years, and now the Buffaloes have their best seeding since entering the Pac-12 in 2011. They are expected tp make their second NCAA Tournament in a row for first time since appearing four straight years (2001-04).
ODDS AND ENDS
Utah junior forward Alissa Pili was named Pac-12 player of the year after leading the conference with 20.6 points a game and shooting 59.9% on field goals. Only she and Indiana&rsquo;s Mackenzie Holmes have put up those kinds numbers nationally this season. Pili has scored in double figures in all but one game. ... No. 21 Arizona has won at least 10 conference games for the fourth consecutive season. ... USC went 11-7 in Pac-12 play, the first time it has reached double figures since 2014.

As the conference tournament gets underway Wednesday with four first-round games, the Pac-12 could place at least eight teams.

Pac-12 women hope to send record number of teams to NCAAs

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) &mdash; This was Haley Jones&rsquo; take on playing a career-high 50 minutes at elevation: &ldquo;It was fun,&rdquo; the Stanford senior guard said.
Easy to see why.
Jones scored 13 of her 23 points over the two overtime periods and the third-ranked Cardinal held off No. 21 Colorado 73-62 on Thursday night.
Jones also had 11 rebounds and seven assists for the Cardinal (27-3, 15-2 Pac-12), who remain on top of the conference standings with one game left on their regular season schedule. Stanford was picked to win the Pac-12 in the preseason poll.
Lauren Betts, who grew up in Colorado, sent the game into double overtime by hitting one of two free throws with 3.8 seconds remaining. She finished with 14 points.
Jones took control in overtime No. 2, helping the Cardinal outscore Colorado by a 13-2 margin. It was the first double OT game for Stanford since 2017.
&ldquo;Feels great. A &lsquo;W&rsquo; is a &lsquo;W&rsquo; in my opinion, even though we have lots of things to work on,&rdquo; Jones said. &ldquo;We learned a lot, but it also proves that we&rsquo;re very gritty and a tough team.&rdquo;
Jaylyn Sherrod led Colorado (21-7, 12-5) with 19 points, including the game-tying basket with just under 30 seconds remaining in regulation. She briefly left the game in the fourth after appearing to turn her ankle. The Buffaloes, who trailed by as many as eight in the fourth, were missing their third-leading scorer, Frida Formann, due to an illness.&nbsp;
&ldquo;What anyone who watched this game saw on full display wasn&rsquo;t a bunch of superstars. It was a team that&rsquo;s tough, and gritty, and fights and scraps for every single possession. That&rsquo;s who we are,&rdquo; said Colorado coach JR Payne, whose team shot 28.8% from the floor. &ldquo;It really hurts to lose a game like this to Stanford, but incredibly proud of how we played.&rdquo;
The usually sure-shooting Cardinal missed their opening 15 shots and trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half. They entered on short rest after beating UCLA on Monday.
The games between the Buffaloes and Cardinal are typically back-and-forth. Entering Thursday, six of the last last 10 were decided by single digits, including two that went into overtime. This was another thriller.
&ldquo;We kind of made it exciting for TV,&rdquo; Cardinal coach Tara VanDerveer said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s a tournament team. Colorado has had a great season. ... We can both get better because of a game like this.&rdquo;
Cameron Brink fouled out in overtime after scoring eight points. Her string of reaching double figures ended at 21 straight games.
Stanford didn&rsquo;t score its first basket of the game until Brooke Demetre hit a 3-pointer with 12 seconds remaining in the opening quarter. But Colorado could only open up a 13-5 advantage.
Missed opportunity?
&ldquo;They&rsquo;re really hard to score against because they&rsquo;re so big at every position,&rdquo; Payne said. &ldquo;So that makes it challenging.&rdquo;
BIG PICTURE
Stanford: Since losing to No. 1 South Carolina in OT on Nov. 20, the Cardinal have now won 10 straight over ranked teams.
Colorado: The Buffaloes remain on three wins over ranked teams this season. The last time they knocked off four in the same season was 2001-02.
THIS &amp; THAT
Colorado center Quay Miller 17 points. ... Stanford outrebounded Colorado by a 53-42 margin. ... Stanford guard Hannah Jump had 14.
HALL OF HONOR
Longtime Colorado women&rsquo;s basketball coach and administrator Ceal Barry will be inducted into the Pac-12 Hall of Honor. The 2023 class marks the first all-female class to be enshrined in the league&rsquo;s Hall of Honor. It&rsquo;s in recognition of the 50th anniversary of Title IX.
UP NEXT
Stanford: Close out the regular season Saturday at No. 8 Utah.
Colorado: Host California on Saturday.

Haley Jones scored 13 of her 23 points over the two overtime periods and the third-ranked Cardinal held off No. 21 Colorado.

Haley Jones leads No. 3 Stanford by No. 21 Colorado in 2 OTs

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) &mdash; Zia Cooke scored five of her 24 points in overtime to help No. 1 South Carolina remain unbeaten with a 64-57 victory over Mississippi on Sunday.
The defending national champion Gamecocks (27-0, 14-0 Southeastern Conference) got one of their biggest scares of the season before winning their 33rd straight game. The Rebels (20-7, 9-5) never trailed by more than six points in regulation and flirted with their first win over a No. 1 team in 46 years.
Cooke had six rebounds and four assists to help off-set a 7-of-18 shooting performance. Aliyah Boston added 13 points and 11 rebounds on 4-of-14 shooting and didn&rsquo;t score in the first quarter.
The deep Gamecocks didn&rsquo;t get their usual supply of scoring help for the two stars, though Kamilla Cardoso had eight points and 11 boards.
Angel Baker led Ole Miss with 17 points.
No. 2 INDIANA 83, PURDUE 60
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Mackenzie Holmes scored 20 points, Grace Berger added 14 points and 10 assists and Indiana beat Purdue to clinch a share of its first Big Ten regular-season title in 40 years.
The Hoosiers (26-1, 16-1 Big Ten) won their 14th straight, matching the second-longest winning streak in school history, before cutting down the nets in front of the program&rsquo;s first home sellout. Indiana has broken the single-game attendance mark four times this season, this time celebrating its 18th straight home win in front of 17,222.
Lasha Petree led Purdue with 23 points and Abbey Elliss added 12. The Boilermakers (17-8, 8-7). have lost nine straight in this rivalry.
No. 4 UTAH 74, ARIZONA STATE 69
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) &mdash; Gianna Kneepkens scored 22 points and Jenna Johnson added 15 to push Utah to a Pac-12 victory over stubborn Arizona State.
The Utes (23-3, 13-3), who had a seven-game winning streak stopped at No. 18 Arizona on Friday, struggled to put away Arizona State without post player Alissa Pili.
Pili, the Pac-12&rsquo;s leading scorer at 20.7 points per game, did not play after suffering an apparent right ankle sprain the final minutes of the loss at Arizona. Her ankle was re-taped on the bench after the first quarter but she never entered the game.
Sydney Erikstrup had 15 points, Treasure Hunt had 13 and Kayla Mokwuah had 11 for the Sun Devils (7-18, 0-16), who lost their 16th straight game despite leading most of the way.
No. 5 LSU 90, FLORIDA 79
GAINSVILLE, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Angel Reese had her ninth first-half double-double, Jasmine Carson had a career-high five 3-pointers before the break, and LSU raced past Florida.
Reese finished with 25 points and 16 rebounds for her 25th double-double of the season, two shy of Sylvia Fowles&rsquo; LSU single-season record. She also had five assists, three blocks and two steals.
Carson also scored 25 points, a career-high, as the graduate transfer from West Virginia went 7 of 14 behind the arc, helping the Tigers (25-1, 13-1 Southeastern Conference) to a season-best 11 3s on 20 attempts. The last time LSU had a player hit seven 3-pointers was in 1997.
KK Deans, a West Virginia transfer, matched her career high with 30 points, for the Gators (14-13, 3-11), who have lost five straight.
No. 9 DUKE 56, VIRGINIA 52
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) &mdash; Elizabeth Balogun scored 12 points, Taya Corosdale had 10 and Duke survived a stern test from Virginia.
The Blue Devils (22-4, 13-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) led only 47-45 with just over eight minutes left, but Celeste Taylor hit a 3-pointer from right in front of the Duke bench to make it a five-point game, starting a 7-2 run that gave them some breathing room and they held on.
Taylor Valladay led Virginia (15-12, 4-12) with 19 points and McKenna Dale had 10. The Cavaliers had split their last six meetings with the Blue Devils after ending a 26-game losing streak in the series, but still lost for the 30th time in the last 33 meetings.
No. 10 NOTRE DAME 83, PITTSBURGH 43
PITTSBURGH (AP) &mdash; Maddy Westbeld and Sonia Citron scored 13 points each and Notre Dame used a huge first-quarter push to race by Pittsburgh.
The Fighting Irish (22-4, 13-3 ACC) went on an 18-3 burst over the final 6:47 of the opening frame to build a 16-point lead that the Panthers (10-17, 3-13) never really threatened.
Ten days after avoiding an upset at home against Pitt and three days after Olivia Miles hit a game-winning jumper at the buzzer to top Louisville, the Fighting Irish made sure no such heroics were necessary this time around.
No. 11 VIRGINIA TECH 75, N.C. STATE 62
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) &mdash; Roommates Elizabeth Kitley and Georgia Amoore both had double-doubles and Virginia Tech won its fifth straight, defeating North Carolina State.
Kitley had 24 points and 10 rebounds for her 50th career double-double and had six blocks. Amoore had 15 points and 11 assists, which tied her career high.
Virginia Tech (22-4, 12-4 ACC) has won six straight, the previous three against ranked teams, starting with a 73-61 win over the Wolfpack. That marked the Hokies&rsquo; first-ever win in Raleigh and now they have their first-ever sweep of NC State.
Aziaha James scored 20 points in her first start for the Wolfpack (18-9, 8-8), who are out of the poll for the first time in 96 weeks dating to February of 2018.
No. 15 OKLAHOMA 86, KANSAS 80
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) &mdash; Madi Williams scored 23 points, Liz Scott had a double-double, and Oklahoma held off Kansas.
A free throw by Zakiyah Franklin drew Kansas within 82-80 with 3:12 remaining. Neither team would score another field goal as Kansas missed its last nine shots and Oklahoma&rsquo;s last field goal came with 5:12 remaining.
Williams made two free throws with 37 seconds left and Ana Llanusa added two more with nine seconds left to wrap up Oklahoma&rsquo;s sixth consecutive victory.
Scott had 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Sooners (22-4, 12-3 Big 12).
The Jayhawks got 73 of their 80 points from the trio of Franklin, Holly Kersgieter and Taiyanna Jackson. Franklin led with a career-high 30 points, Kersgieter added 24 and Jackson 19 for Kansas (16-9, 6-8). Jackson added 13 rebounds.
No. 17 TEXAS 74, WEST VIRGINIA 48
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) &mdash; Shaylee Gonzales had 18 points, Rori Harmon scored 16 and Khadija Faye added a double-double to power Texas to a romp over West Virginia.
Gonzales made half of her six 3-pointers and all seven of her free throws for the Longhorns (21-7, 12-3 Big 12 Conference). Harmon sank 10 of 12 fouls shots and added six rebounds and six assists. Faye finished with 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting and 11 rebounds.
Ja&rsquo;Haiya Quinerly had 16 points before fouling out to pace the Mountaineers (16-9, 7-7). Madisen Smith hit three 3-pointers and scored 12. Jayla Hemingway pitched in with nine points and seven rebounds.
No. 18 ARIZONA 61, No. 21 COLORADO 42
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) &mdash; Shaina Pellington scored 19 points with five assists and Arizona smothered Colorado, ending the Buffaloes&rsquo; five-game winning streak.
The Wildcats (21-6, 11-5 Pac 12 Conference) held the Buffaloes to their lowest total of the season and their worst shooting game, 28.3% overall (15 of 53), 1 of 12 from 3-point range (8.3%).
Esmery Martinez had 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting and seven rebounds for the Wildcats, who were coming off a 10-point win over No. 4 Utah and have won five of six.
Tameiya Sadler led the Buffaloes with 12 points and Quay Miller added 10 with 10 rebounds.
No. 19 NORTH CAROLINA 71, WAKE FOREST 58
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Deja Kelly had 24 points, five rebounds and six assists to lead North Carolina to a victory over Wake Forest.
Destiny Adams added 11 points off the bench and Kennedy Todd-Williams scored 10 for the Tar Heels (19-8, 10-6 ACC).
North Carolina went up by 20 midway through the fourth quarter and cruised from there, making just two field goals and three free throws over the final 6 1/2 minutes.
Wake Forest (14-13, 5-11) shot 3 for 14 in the third quarter and was outscored 16-6. The shooting slump came after the Demon Deacons shot 50% in the first half and trailed just 40-36 at halftime.
No. 24 FLORIDA STATE 80, GEORGIA TECH 66
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Ta&rsquo;Niya Latson scored 31 points on 10-of-16 shooting and 9-of-10 free throws, leading Florida State to a victory over Georgia Tech.
Latson scored 24 points through three quarters and the Seminoles took a 63-57 lead into the fourth. Latson, a freshman averaging 21.8 points per game, had gone nine games without reaching 20 points.
Georgia Tech got within four points early in the fourth quarter, but the Seminoles responded with an 8-0 run that gave them a 73-61 lead with 4:11 remaining. Florida State added 3-pointers from Latson and Erin Howard to close out the victory. The Yellow Jackets made one of their last 12 shots from the field.
Sara Bejedi scored 14 points and O&rsquo;Mariah Gordon added 10 off the bench for Florida State (22-7, 11-5 ACC).
Cameron Swartz scored 17 points, Kara Dunn 16, and Kayla Blackshear 10 for Georgia Tech (13-13, 4-11).
CALIFORNIA 81, No. 25 USC 78, OT
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Jayda Curry scored 27 points and Michelle Onyiah had six points in overtime as California upended USC.
The Trojans (19-8, 9-7 Pac-12), back in the rankings for the first time since 2016, had their chances to win this one after falling to No. 3 Stanford 50-47 on Friday.
From the final four minutes of regulation until Destiny Littleton hit a 3-pointer with 1:08 to go in overtime, USC missed eight straight shots. After Littleton tied the game at 78 and Leilani McIntosh put the Golden Bears (13-14, 4-12) on top with two free throws with 44 seconds to go, the Trojans came up empty on their next possession despite two offensive rebounds.
Onyiah made 1 of 2 from the line with eight seconds to go and Littleton&rsquo;s late 3 was off the mark.

A recap of a busy Sunday in top-25 women's action includes a thriller between the Gamecocks and Rebels that had to go to overtime.

Top-ranked South Carolina edges Ole Miss in OT

Kyrie Irving, who was just named an All-Star starter for the Eastern Conference, shocked the NBA world this week when he reportedly asked for a trade. He informed the Nets that he prefers to be traded ahead of the Feb. 9 deadline or he will plan to leave via free agency in July, causing Brooklyn to lose him for nothing.&nbsp;
This trade demand was reportedly prompted by the fact that the two sides were unable to agree to the terms of a contract extension.&nbsp;
The Nets reportedly offered an extension to Irving; however, it included unprecedented &ldquo;guarantee stipulations&rdquo; tied to the team winning an NBA championship, according to <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisBHaynes/status/1621650393083281408" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report</a>. This appeared to offend Irving and his camp, thus resulting in the trade demand.&nbsp;
This trade demand has been met with much criticism throughout the entire NBA world.&nbsp;
While discussing Irving&rsquo;s trade request with Malika Andrews on NBA Today, Stephen A. Smith <a href="https://www.si.com/nba/2023/02/04/kyrie-irving-trade-request-stephen-a-smith-comments" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called</a> Kyrie &ldquo;idiotic&rdquo; and added that &ldquo;he cannot be trusted; he just reminded the basketball world of that.&rdquo;
Kendrick Perkins <a href="https://www.si.com/nba/2023/02/03/kyrie-irving-kendrick-perkins-comments-nets" target="_blank" rel="noopener">went on a tirade</a> on ESPN when asked about the situation.
&ldquo;This is Kyrie Irving, a guy that you cannot trust,&rdquo; Perkins said. &ldquo;Didn&rsquo;t Kyrie Irving just say that Kevin Durant was his best friend? Right? So where is the loyalty? Right? If that&rsquo;s your best friend, I don&rsquo;t want that. Give me an enemy. For the simple fact that when you look at how Kevin Durant has been riding for Kyrie Irving since they arrived in Brooklyn&hellip; standing behind him through whatever his beliefs were, whatever he was doing, riding with him over James Harden.&rdquo;
I caught up with Caleb from <a href="https://twitter.com/BrooklynNetcast" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brooklyn Netcast</a>, a site dedicated to covering the Nets, to discuss this situation, how the Nets handled this, the media backlash toward Kyrie and much more.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Etan Thomas: I appreciate your content. I was one of the former players who retweeted your tweets after this story broke. You all do a great job of covering the Nets. To your knowledge, can you explain what exactly led to this trade request from Kyrie irving?&nbsp;
Brooklyn Netcast: I think it&rsquo;s more of a leverage move than anything. Mostly what led up to it were disagreements in the contract extension and certain details not being agreed upon as well as guaranteed money being a big issue in this whole thing. Chris Haynes reported yesterday about how there was a championship stipulation &mdash; like if you win a championship, then you receive X amount of dollars &mdash; and that&rsquo;s really where the disagreements and feeling of disrespect came. I definitely don&rsquo;t think there is a shared respect overall between Joe Tsai and Kyrie Irving and [there are] ethical disagreements, which is another huge issue that is being glossed over, as a point of contention between the two.&nbsp;
Etan: A few months ago, Joe Tsai and Kyrie Irving had the sit down and Tsai came out publicly and said, &ldquo;No, Kyrie is not anti-semetic, he&rsquo;s not a horrible person, etc.&rdquo; But do you think there was still friction between the two behind closed doors and that statement was mostly for show?
Brooklyn Netcast: There is definitely quite a bit of friction behind the scenes. I would say that it&rsquo;s a bit for show. I do believe that Joe Tsai and Adam Silver were both 100% correct when they said that Kyrie was not anti-semitic, but there is definitely a lot of friction that still exists between the two as far as values, who they are as people and, of course, the contract.&nbsp;
Etan: It was reported that the Nets wanted Irving&rsquo;s contract to be tied to winning a championship, and I don&rsquo;t know if I&rsquo;ve ever really heard a stipulation like that before in an NBA contract. So, he will only get X amount of money if they win a championship? To my knowledge, that&rsquo;s really unprecedented.
Brooklyn Netcast: I haven&rsquo;t seen any specifics, but just seen reports that this was a point of contention for Kyrie and his team. There are leaks coming from both sides and it&rsquo;s hard to see the exact details of what exactly was disagreed upon because there are so many different leaks and takes. But it is clear that it does center around guaranteed money and that a championship would bring a substantial amount of money into the picture, and that&rsquo;s not something that Kyrie or his representatives feel is fair because a championship is a team achievement. Hypothetically, Kyrie could average 40, 5 and 5, but if they lose in the playoffs, then he wouldn&rsquo;t receive whatever amount of his contract? I don&rsquo;t see how any player would agree to something like that.&nbsp;
Etan: One of the tweets that I retweeted from Brooklyn Netcast, and again you all have done a great job in covering this, was: &ldquo;The annoying part too is the media is just gonna paint Kyrie Irving as the bad guy here while Marks and Tsai don&rsquo;t get trashed at all.&rdquo; And that&rsquo;s exactly what happened.
Brooklyn Netcast: It&rsquo;s important to note that Kyrie has had some things happen off the court in the past; you can go into the whole documentary thing and missing time throughout the years, so there is already a lot stacked against him and who he is. I think it&rsquo;s abundantly clear right now that Kyrie Irving is a very good person, and a charitable and giving human being, but for some reason the media as a whole consistently ridicules and demonizes Kyrie. But they don&rsquo;t even loosely examine or question the character of someone like Joe Tsai. They would rather attack Kyrie&rsquo;s character, but that shows the bias of many in the media.&nbsp;
And the media only tells one side of the story. They focused on, &ldquo;Oh, Kyrie requested a trade,&rdquo; or, &ldquo;Kyrie wants out,&rdquo; or, &ldquo;Kyrie is abandoning KD,&rdquo; or, &ldquo;He said he would never leave his friend,&rdquo; and they frame it as if it&rsquo;s all Kyrie&rsquo;s fault. But they won&rsquo;t go into the details of the insulting championship stipulation the Nets put in the contract.&nbsp;
Etan: Stephen A. Smith jumped out and his response to Kyrie requesting a trade was that he is &ldquo;idiotic&rdquo; and &ldquo;cannot be trusted&rdquo; and that he &ldquo;reminded the entire basketball world of that.&rdquo; I responded:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
No Stephen A Smith smh It&rsquo;s simple, if you feel you&rsquo;re not being paid what you&rsquo;re worth at your current place of employment or you&rsquo;re being disrespected, it&rsquo;s time to move on. Just like when you voiced that ESPN wasn&rsquo;t compensating you properly. It&rsquo;s not &ldquo;idiotic&rdquo; just business <a href="https://t.co/k08L7SL8hr">pic.twitter.com/k08L7SL8hr</a>
&mdash; Etan Thomas (@etanthomas36) <a href="https://twitter.com/etanthomas36/status/1621889146368266241?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2023</a></blockquote>

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And that&rsquo;s how I look at this situation. It&rsquo;s just business. It&rsquo;s not Kyrie being a &ldquo;diva,&rdquo; which many have called him, or him being &ldquo;idiotic.&rdquo; They didn&rsquo;t want to give him the number that he felt he had earned as an All-Star, and they added stipulations that he wasn&rsquo;t happy with such as the championship stipulation &mdash; which, again, I don&rsquo;t recall ever being done in the NBA &mdash; so he wanted to look for other options. But the media, people like Stephen A. Smith for example, immediately went to bashing Kyrie before they even knew the details.
Brooklyn Netcast: I agree with everything you just said. I wasn&rsquo;t surprised to hear Stephen A. Smith and Kendrick Perkins and so many others in the media jump to bash Kyrie. I know Stephen A. says that he is a fan of Kyrie&rsquo;s, but there has been a consistent bashing of Kyrie that he does and it seems almost personal and definitely unprofessional. This summer, Kendrick Perkins said he would not bash Kyrie as long as he was in the media, and he went back on his word is less than a few months. Dave Portnoy, who is a member of the media, <a href="https://twitter.com/stoolpresidente/status/1621585952752672768" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a>: &ldquo;You can make a legit argument Kyrie is the worst pro athlete who ever lived and top 100 worst human.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Etan: Lou Williams responded, &ldquo;Nah, we don&rsquo;t agree with you,&rdquo; and I retweeted that.
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Na. We don&rsquo;t agree with you. <a href="https://t.co/WyfQ17ODst">https://t.co/WyfQ17ODst</a>
&mdash; Lou Williams (@TeamLou23) <a href="https://twitter.com/TeamLou23/status/1621620298532495363?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 3, 2023</a></blockquote>

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Brooklyn Netcast: Right! I saw that, and I&rsquo;m glad Lou Williams did that. That was really a disgusting tweet. Requesting a trade because of a contract dispute makes you the worst human being to ever walk the planet? And the amount of people who agreed with his asinine statement is just crazy. But yeah, that shows how Kyrie has been consistently painted as this horrible person by the media, and that&rsquo;s just irresponsible.&nbsp;
Etan: What are you hearing about the Brooklyn Nets and how they view Kyrie? I&rsquo;m sure some of the fans are split &mdash; some love Kyrie and some hate Kyrie, some are swayed by the media and some see through how the media portrays him &mdash; but what are you hearing from the team as far as their reaction to this? And I ask because I noticed that after the recent suspension, it seemed as though the team supported him &mdash; or at least didn&rsquo;t publicly bash him. I saw people in the media trying to almost coerce the players into ridiculing him. I saw them try to get Nic Claxton to say they were better off without Kyrie, and they tried to get KD to express frustration with Kyrie. It was like they went down the list, but none of them took the bait. Where do you think they are with Kyrie and if he were to come back &mdash; say they don&rsquo;t trade him &mdash;would they welcome him back with open arms?&nbsp;
Brooklyn Netcast: That&rsquo;s tough to say. I feel like it would vary from player to player. I&rsquo;m sure they understand the business aspect of this all and they don&rsquo;t look at this as a personal abandonment of the team or anything like that. I do think they are all well aware that their chances of being successful greatly diminish if Kyrie is not on the floor. But at the same time, from what I&rsquo;m hearing, or at least what they are expressing publicly, is that they understand that this is a business. But they know at the same time, they need him to be successful.&nbsp;
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Etan: I want you to expound on the media coverage of Kyrie. And of course not all media are covering him the same way, but I will say that there are quite a few in the media who are really taking turns bashing him. Do you feel that it&rsquo;s a little bit unfair or unwarranted or unprofessional? (Besides Stephen A. Smith; in his case, it definitely does appear to be just that). How would you describe the majority of the media&rsquo;s coverage of Irving?
Brooklyn Netcast: I think that a lot of it is personal and a lot of it is a collection of how they feel about past events, and that taints how they examine this current event. They aren&rsquo;t separating the two. For example, when James Harden asked for a trade, he didn&rsquo;t get bashed as heavily, and his was more of a giving up on the team. He had gained weight, was playing very bad basketball at the time and reportedly never wanted to be in Brooklyn in the first place as his first choice. Kyrie&rsquo;s request was definitely covered differently, and he has a valid financial reason to want out, in my opinion at least. And there have been other players who were just disgruntled or just unhappy with the system or not [getting] enough shots or playing time who asked for a trade, and they weren&rsquo;t bashed anywhere near as much as Kyrie. But like I said, a lot of that has to do with past situations that many people are lumping in with this situation, and one has nothing to do with the other. I&rsquo;m hoping the media, later on after he has retired, will look back and say, &ldquo;You know what, this was unfair treatment of a player and we viewed him incorrectly.&rdquo;
Etan: Yeah&hellip; I would say don&rsquo;t hold your breath on Stephen A. Smith or Charles Barkley ever coming to that realization.&rdquo;
Brooklyn Netcast: Oh, well not those two (laughing).
Etan: Oh ok (laughing), you just mean the media as a whole.
Brooklyn Netcast: Yeah, just collectively. But no, those two are probably not going to come to any realization.
Etan: I couldn&rsquo;t agree more. There is nothing wrong with having a professional critique of an athlete. I have no problem with that. But often, Stephen A. Smith&rsquo;s comments about Kyrie Irving are nothing more than personal attacks and attempts to disparage his character. He lobbies for him not to be signed to a long-term deal and puts notions out there that he can&rsquo;t be trusted. It comes across as a personal vendetta instead of a professional critique. And although my friend David Aldridge didn&rsquo;t agree with me when I debated him and Marc Spears about the impact of what the media says, it&rsquo;s been confirmed to be true.
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What the media says does affect the business side for players when it&rsquo;s time for teams, GMs, presidents, etc. to sign them &mdash; whether those notions are accurate or not. It&rsquo;s not about &ldquo;hurting a player&rsquo;s feelings.&rdquo; It&rsquo;s about having a direct impact on their professional career. I actually <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/former-nba-gm-confirms-false-narratives-hurt-kwame-brown-others" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interviewed a former NBA GM, Pete Babcock</a>, who confirmed that false narratives put out by the media and Stephen A. Smith, in particular, did in fact hurt Kwame Brown financially. He discussed how NBA executives were, in fact, influenced by those narratives.&nbsp;
But thanks again for your content and covering this in a way that is different than many others in the media. This was a good discussion.
Brooklyn Netcast: Thanks for having me.

Etan Thomas examines how the media has covered Kyrie Irving's trade request from the Brooklyn Nets.

After trade demand, media bash Kyrie Irving but silent on management

STANFORD, Calif. (AP) &mdash; When freshman point guard Talana Lepolo went down in the first quarter with an ankle injury, Stanford had to adjust in a hurry against a top conference opponent.
Indya Nivar, another reliable freshman, took over running the offense and the Cardinal&rsquo;s veteran post players did the rest.
Cameron Brink had 25 points, 14 rebounds and three blocked shots, Haley Jones added 25 points, 12 boards and a pair of blocks, and No. 4 Stanford bounced back from a loss at USC by beating eighth-ranked Utah 74-62 on Friday night.
&ldquo;Every disappointment is a blessing,&rdquo; Hall of Fame coach Tara VanDerveer said of seeing Nivar steady the team.
Hannah Jump made her first five shots and scored 13 points. Nivar had four points and three assists in 27 minutes.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s always hard seeing a teammate go down,&rdquo; Nivar said. &ldquo;For me this whole season (it&rsquo;s) just staying ready.&rdquo;
Stanford (18-2, 6-1 Pac-12) earned its 18th straight home win against conference opponents. The Cardinal dropped two spots in this week&rsquo;s AP Top 25 poll after a 55-46 loss at USC on Sunday that snapped a 12-game winning streak, a 39-game unbeaten run against conference foes and a 51-game winning stretch facing unranked teams.
&ldquo;I think our team had something to prove to ourselves and what better opportunity than against a team like Utah,&rdquo; VanDerveer said. &ldquo;We have a lot of teams in the Pac-12 that are tournament teams and they&rsquo;re a tournament team.&rdquo;
Alissa Pili scored 25 points and Gianna Kneepkens had 19 for Utah (15-2, 5-2), which had previously lost at Colorado on Jan. 6. Utah shot 3 for 13 from deep in the first half to fall behind 41-32.
Former 49ers quarterback Alex Smith, the No. 1 draft pick in 2005 out of Utah, was at Maples Pavilion cheering on the Utes.
The Utes have never beaten a top-five opponent and had been scoring 86.8 points per game &mdash; among the best in the nation &mdash; but managed just 10 in the second quarter and 12 over the final 10 minutes.
Stanford hasn&rsquo;t allowed more than 77 points in a game since the end of the 2019-20 season, with its only other loss so far this season a 76-71 overtime defeat to No. 1 South Carolina on Nov. 20.
&ldquo;Until people knock off Stanford they&rsquo;re still at the top and we&rsquo;re all chasing them,&rdquo; Utah coach Lynne Roberts said.
The Utes jumped ahead 10-2 and 12-5 before Stanford&rsquo;s 7-0 run over a 1:15 spurt.
Stanford&rsquo;s players wore No. 3 emblems on their &ldquo;Human Athlete&rdquo; warmup shirts in support of Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, who is recovering after he went into cardiac arrest on the field in a game at Cincinnati on Jan. 2.
&ldquo;It was something that was really special to our team that I think is important just to cross all athletes worldwide just to show that somebody like Damar Hamlin at this instant it&rsquo;s more than playing your sport &mdash; it&rsquo;s your health, it&rsquo;s your mental well-being, it&rsquo;s everything,&rdquo; Jones said.
LEPOLO HURT
Lepolo fell midway through the first quarter and was able to walk off the court on her own but didn&rsquo;t play again. She returned to the bench late in the period without a shoe on her left foot and a big ice bag on the ankle, then was in a walking boot after halftime.
BIG PICTURE
Utah: The Utes moved up two spots in this week&rsquo;s poll to match the highest ranking in program history and their 10 straight weeks in the poll are their most ever. Utah had been 2-0 against ranked opponents, the team&rsquo;s first time beating multiple ranked teams in the same season since 2005-06. ... The Utes have scored 64 or fewer points in all but two meetings with Stanford since 2007. ... They shot 5 of 26 on 3s.
Stanford: Junior G Agnes Emma-Nnopu moved into the starting lineup in place of Kiki Iriafen. ... Brink reached 66 blocks for the season and she has swatted at least one shot in every game. She had 88 as a freshman and 91 last season. ... Stanford leads the all-time series vs. Utah 31-1 including the last eight in the series all by double digits. The Cardinal have scored at least 68 points in every matchup since 2016. ... Stanford is 11-1 at home.
UP NEXT
Utah: At California on Sunday night.
Stanford: Hosts Colorado on Sunday to continue a four-game homestand.

Cameron Brink had 25 points, 14 rebounds and three blocked shots, and  Haley Jones added 25 points, 12 boards and a pair of blocks.

Brink, Jones lead No. 4 Stanford women past No. 8 Utah 74-62

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) &mdash; UConn star Azzi Fudd was battling for rebounding position in the first half Sunday when she banged knees with Georgetown&rsquo;s Ariel Jenkins. Fudd left the game and did not return.
It was just her second game back after missing eight games with an injury to the same right knee. It also came a week after injuries forced the fifth-ranked Huskies to postpone a game with DePaul because it did not have enough healthy players available &mdash; a step that became sadly familiar during the height of the pandemic but is rarely seen otherwise.
A few days later, Arizona State was forced to forfeit games against Utah and Colorado because the Sun Devils had too many injured players.
Programs such as Vanderbilt also have lost multiple starters to the injury report. Low roster numbers because of health issues led Lewis and Clark Community College in Illinois to cancel the remainder of its season just this week.
With injuries mounting in women&rsquo;s programs, experts note there are number of factors in play, including the specialization of sports at a younger age, and longer recovery times contributing to those thin benches. Certain knee injuries are more common in female athletes then men.
Whatever the reasons, the search for solutions is always on.
At UConn, just two players have been available for every game. Coaches have burned sage in the locker room, brought holy water to practice and had Native American dancers perform healing rituals.
Former national player of the year Paige Bueckers, who missed most of 2021-22 with a knee injury, and freshman Ice Brady both suffered serious knee injuries in the preseason. Two other players are sidelined with concussions. Other players have missed time with foot and hand injuries.
&ldquo;What kind of exercises do you do in the weight room to make sure you don&rsquo;t get a concussion?&rdquo; coach Geno Auriemma said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s nothing, you know. What do you do to make sure that your teammate doesn&rsquo;t push a kid into you, a teammate knocks you on on the ground and you hit your head or where you catch your thumb and a kid shirt and break your thumb in the first first game of the year? So some of these are just weird.&rdquo;
Some injuries, sports medicine experts say, may be linked to the way elite athletes are preparing for college.
Nicole Alexander, the head trainer for the WNBA&rsquo;s Connecticut Sun and a former trainer at Notre Dame and North Carolina, said kids are specializing in one sport earlier and playing that sport year-round.
&ldquo;So, they&rsquo;re not getting a chance to rest their bodies,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re putting the same amount of mileage on the same body parts, over and over again. So, now you get these kids who are in college, but their bodies are such that it&rsquo;s almost like they&rsquo;ve been playing professional ball for 10 years because that&rsquo;s all they&rsquo;ve been doing.
Fudd missed two months last year with a foot injury. She also suffered ACL and MCL tears while in high school.
UCLA coach Cori Close has another theory. She said she thinks the apparent rise in injuries, especially knee injuries, can be linked to the pandemic.
&ldquo;I definitely think because of COVID &mdash; the interruptions of prehab and training and periodization and off times and prevention work,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I talked to Geno about this at UConn and several other coaches. And we think it&rsquo;s a dramatic effect for how the training regimens were interrupted from COVID.&rdquo;
Dr. Andrew Cosgarea, an orthopedic surgeon and sports injury specialist at John&rsquo;s Hopkins, said there is no data yet suggesting there are more injuries this year than in previous seasons. He said schools have been doing a lot of work teaching kids how to prevent ACL and other injuries by changing, for example, the way they cut, jump and land.
Cosgarea and other experts said one factor in the lack of available players is that athletes are sitting out longer because it leads to better outcomes when they return.
Dr. Anthony Alessi, UConn&rsquo;s team neurologist, declined to talk about specific players he&rsquo;s treated, but said the time it takes to return varies with each individual, but on average is now between 10 days and two weeks.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s multi-factorial,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But, what we&rsquo;ve found is that by making the investment in time, by gradually bringing them back to their full capacity based on their symptoms, you&rsquo;ll get them at full strength to the end of the season.&rdquo;
At top-ranked South Carolina, coach Dawn Staley said she&rsquo;s not going to overrule the recommendation of her trainer just to get a player back sooner.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s not going to tell me when to put the 2-3 (zone) out there or when to do a triangle and two. I don&rsquo;t interfere in his business so that our players are ready to rock and roll. I&rsquo;m going to listen,&rdquo; she said.
Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said coaches have to take some of the responsibility for not having enough healthy players to put a full team on the court.
&ldquo;Women&rsquo;s basketball has 15 scholarships,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s a challenge sometimes but it&rsquo;s your responsibility as coaches to have a full roster. It&rsquo;s challenging when you have a new coach and the (transfer) portal and people leave and stuff but part of it also is keeping people healthy. That&rsquo;s a big part of the job.&rdquo;
Auriemma said coaches have already cut back on the length, number and intensity of practices on the advice of medical staff, sometimes to the detriment of play. He said he is learning to be more patient when it comes to injuries.
UConn guard Nika M&uuml;hl, who missed time last year with a concussion, said that&rsquo;s the hardest part for everyone involved.
&ldquo;We see everybody playing every day you just want to get out there already but you have to go through the protocol,&rdquo; she said.
___
AP Sports Writers Peter Iacobelli and Joe Reedy contributed to this story.

With injuries mounting in women’s programs, experts note there are number of factors in play.

‘Just weird’: Azzi Fudd among rash of injuries hitting women’s hoops

Gear up for fireworks, folks.
The fun period of the WNBA offseason is on the horizon. As of yesterday, teams are now allowed to offer qualifying offers and core designations to their own restricted and unrestricted free agents respectively. That period ends on Jan. 20, with (outside) free agents and teams being able to negotiate deals on Jan. 21.
With superstars like Breanna Stewart, Candace Parker and Nneka Ogwumike headlining the market &mdash; and with rumors already swirling about Stewart eyeing the Big Apple &mdash; this is one of most anticipated free-agency periods in recent memory.
Below the star tier, it's worth keeping an eye on what's happening with the Dallas Wings.
Midway through <a href="https://twitter.com/Khristina/status/1548019576142585857" target="_blank" rel="noopener">last season</a>, Khristina Williams of Girls Talk Sports (<a href="https://twitter.com/Khristina" target="_blank" rel="noopener">follow her!</a>) reported that Allisha Gray &mdash; an All-Star caliber wing for Dallas &mdash; would stick around through the trade deadline, but was expected to be moved during the offseason.
Well, the offseason is here, and, per Williams, that's looking more like an inevitability.
Here's her report from Wednesday night:&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
SOURCES: Allisha Gray is expected to be traded from Dallas. Possible destinations include Washington, Chicago, Connecticut,and Atlanta. Gray is in the last year of her contract and plans to exercise free agency when her contract is up. <a href="https://twitter.com/GrlsTlkSportsTV?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GrlsTlkSportsTV</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WNBA?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WNBA</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WNBAFreeAgency?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WNBAFreeAgency</a> <a href="https://t.co/KEp5ALIMib">https://t.co/KEp5ALIMib</a>
&mdash; Khristina Williams (@Khristina) <a href="https://twitter.com/Khristina/status/1613363135146037254?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 12, 2023</a></blockquote>

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Not only do we have a follow-up on Gray, but we also have potential destinations!&nbsp;
The Connecticut Sun are fresh off a Finals appearance (and a loss to the Las Vegas Aces), but have their own tightrope to walk with an actual All-Star. Brionna Jones, a two-time All-Star and reigning Sixth Woman of the Year, is an unrestricted free agent this offseason. And because of the Sun's salary crunch, they may not be able to retain her on the max deal she's worthy of without moving a piece (or two) of their core.
Aside from the Seattle Storm, there may not be a team in The W with more potential roster turnover than&nbsp; the Chicago Sky. After losing to the Sun in the Eastern Conference Finals, they're now faced with a daunting offseason. Parker is a free agent, as is All-Star guard Courtney Vandersloot, sharpshooter Allie Quigley and budding star big Azura Stevens.
The Washington Mystics are stacked with talent, headlined by Elena Delle Donne and a pair of two-way forces in Natasha Cloud and Ariel Atkins. Though they have pending free agents like Alysha Clark, Shatori Walker-Kimbrough and Elizabeth Williams, they don't run the risk of losing core talent like the Sun and Sky, which sets them up as an interesting landing spot for Gray.
And then, we have the Atlanta Dream, whose <a href="https://www.wnba.com/news/theyve-got-next-an-inside-look-at-the-atlanta-dream-rebuild/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">organizational overhaul</a> has set them up for long-term success. Not only do they have talent now &mdash; reigning Rookie of the Year Rhyne Howard has "star" written all over her, and versatile big Cheyenne Parker is coming off the best season of her career &mdash; they're flush with cap space.
In summation, the destination list contains three recent contenders and one team that's on the upswing and has plenty of money to spend. All four could use a shooting boost in particular.
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To that end, it's easy to see why Gray is so coveted. She was one of six players to knock down 40% of her threes while attempting at least four per game. Her ability to play-make against tilted defenses adds to her offensive value. Add in her defense &mdash; the list of players who can defend on the perimeter like or better than Gray is a short one &mdash; and you have one of the most versatile wings in the sport, smack dab in the middle of her prime.
When players like her are on the trade market, it would behoove a good team to pounce. Her contract status could complicate things a bit; she has one year left on her deal and, per Williams, she plans on testing the market next offseason. But this is the type of player you shouldn't have issue commiting to long-term.
Among the teams listed, I'd probably give the Mystics the edge here.
In light of Dallas having some questions in the frontcourt &mdash; Isabelle Harrison is an unrestricted free agent who isn't far removed from complaining about her playing time; Teaira McCowan is a restricted free agent with up-in-the-air market value due to play style &mdash; the Mystics could use Myisha Hines-Allen to headline a package. Beyond that, the Mystics have draft equity to use, including the No. 4 overall pick in this year's draft.&nbsp;
A starting five of Cloud, Atkins, Gray, Delle Donne and Rookie of the Year runner-up Shakira Austin (already a <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/how-the-washington-mystics-are-winning-with-activity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">near-elite defender</a>) would challenge the Aces for the best unit in The W.
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Among the teams not listed in Williams' report, I wonder if the New York Liberty could get into the mix. They could surely use more punch in their stable of perimeter options.
It was almost comical how much better their defense looked &mdash; roughly <a href="https://www.pbpstats.com/wowy-combos/wnba?TeamId=1611661313&amp;Season=2022&amp;SeasonType=Regular%2BSeason&amp;PlayerIds=204335" target="_blank" rel="noopener">five points per 100 possessions stingier</a> &mdash; when Betnijah Laney rejoined the rotation after recovery from meniscus surgery. She was the Liberty's only wing option that could credibly defend while also drawing the attention of defenders when operating off the ball.
Regardless of who lands her, you can put Gray's name on the list of players whose acquisition could help shape this year's title picture in The W.

Nekias Duncan digs into a buzzworthy 2023 WNBA offseason that could include Wings guard Allisha Gray being on the move.

Weighing sensible landing spots for Dallas Wings' Allisha Gray

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) &mdash; Aliyah Boston had 11 points and 10 rebounds for her 68th career double-double to keep No. 1 South Carolina undefeated with a 102-39 victory over Coastal Carolina on Wednesday.
Boston, who played just 13 minutes, moved four games away from matching the program&rsquo;s all-time mark for double-doubles held by Sheila Foster established four decades ago.
Freshman Ashlyn Watkins had a career high 16 points and Zia Cooke 14 as the defending national champs improved to 12-0 for a second straight season and fourth time in Dawn Staley&rsquo;s 15 years as coach.
This figured to be a challenge for the Chanticleers (5-6), who have just two players 6 feet or taller while South Carolina had 10.
NO. 3 OHIO STATE 84, NO. 16 OREGON 67
SAN DIEGO (AP) &mdash; Rebeka Mikulasikova scored 27 points, Taylor Mikesell added 25 and Ohio State remained undefeated to win the San Diego Invitational.
Ohio State (13-0) is off to its best start since 2011-2012, when the Buckeyes won their first 15 games
Oregon (10-2) was led by forward Grace VanSlooten, who scored 29 points on 7-of-9 shooting. Freshman teammate Te-Hina Paopao, who grew up in Oceanside, California, just outside San Diego, added 17.
NO. 4 INDIANA 67, BUTLER 50
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Mackenzie Holmes scored 17 of her 21 points in the first half, and Indiana completed an unbeaten nonconference schedule with a win over Butler.
Yarden Garzon added 13 points and Sydney Parrish 10 for the Hoosiers (12-0).
Rachel McLimore scored 13 and Sydney Jaynes 11 for Butler (5-7).
Indiana is nearing the program record for most successive wins to open a season: 15-0 in 1972, the first year for women&rsquo;s basketball at the school. The Hoosiers were 14-0 in 2013-14.
NO. 5 NOTRE DAME 85, WESTERN MICHIGAN 57
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Maddy Westbeld scored 10 points in four minutes and Notre Dame started the second half on a 17-0 spree en route to a big win over Western Michigan.
The Fighting Irish (10-1) led 38-30 at the half, but scored on seven of their first eight possessions during the third quarter with a trio of 3-pointers. Westbeld scored a season-high 23 points, including 15 in the third quarter, and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.
The Broncos (5-6) missed their first nine shots from the field in the period and saw their three-game winning streak snapped. Lauren Ross led Western Michigan with 15 points.
NO. 8 VIRGINIA TECH 86, HIGH POINT 66
HIGH POINT, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Elizabeth Kitley scored 25 points and dished out a career-best seven assists as Virginia Tech captured a road victory over High Point.
Kitley, the reigning ACC Player of the Year, shot a season-high 78.5% from the floor, making 11-of-14 field goals, and had seven rebounds and four blocks for the Hokies (11-1). Taylor Soule added 24 points and Kayana Traylor chipped in 22 for Virginia Tech.
Claire Wyatt led High Point (2-8) with 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting from 3-point land. Callie Scheier added 11 points and Nakyah Terrell had 10.
NO. 9 UCONN 98, SETON HALL 73
STORRS, Conn. (AP) &mdash; Aaliyah Edwards had 23 points, leading six players who scored in double figures for UConn in its rout of Seton Hall.
Caroline Ducharme and Nika Muhl each had 16 points and were a combined 8 of 11 from 3-point range. Lou Lopez Senechal had 14 points, Aubrey Griffin added 13 points and seven rebounds, and Dorka Juhasz had 10 points and 10 rebounds for UConn (9-2, 2-0 Big East).
Sidney Cooks had 18 points and Lauren Park-Lane finished with 17 for Seton Hall (9-4, 2-1), which had its seven-game winning streak snapped.
UConn coach Geno Auriemma missed his second straight game due to illness. Associate coach Chris Dailey ran the team and improved to 15-0 when filling in for Auriemma.
NO. 13 IOWA 92, DARTMOUTH 54
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) &mdash; Caitlin Clark&rsquo;s 20 points tied her for the quickest men&rsquo;s or women&rsquo;s Division I player to reach 2,000 career points since at least 1999-2000, and Iowa beat Dartmouth for its fifth straight victory.
Clark hit the career scoring mark in her 75th game, tying Elena Delle Donne for the quickest DI player to hit the mark, according to ESPN Stats &amp; Info. And Clark did it in style with her 242nd career 3-pointer.
Clark also had 10 rebounds and six assists. Teammate Monika Czinano, who entered with 1,969 career points in 98 games, also scored 20 points for Iowa (10-3).
Iowa scored 34 points in the first quarter and held Dartmouth to just five points in the second quarter.
Allie Harland led Dartmouth (2-11) with 11 points.
NO. 15 MARYLAND 88, PURDUE FORT WAYNE 51
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Shyanne Sellers scored 18 points, Diamond Miller had 17 points, six rebounds, four assists and four blocks and Maryland beat Purdue Fort Wayne in the final nonconference matchup for the Terps.
Abby Meyers added 14 points and Brinae Alexander had 13 off the bench for Maryland (10-3).
Shyanne Sellers, Miller, Meyers and Alexander were all in double figures by the end of the third quarter when Maryland led 71-35. Amellia Bromenschenkel led Purdue Fort Wayne (4-8) with 25 points and 10 rebounds.
SOUTH FLORIDA 66, NO. 17 ARKANSAS 65, OT
SAN DIEGO (AP) &mdash; Elena Tsineke scored all four of South Florida&rsquo;s points in overtime and finished with 23 points lifting the Bulls over Arkansas in the San Diego Invitational.
Maria Alvarez forced overtime against Arkansas by making three free throws with 17 seconds left to tie it at 62-all. Arkansas was trapped in the corner at the other end and wasn&rsquo;t able to get a shot off before the buzzer.
Fankam Mendjiadeu finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds for South Florida (11-4).
Erynn Barnum scored 21 points and Daniels added 20 for Arkansas (13-2).
NO. 18 ARIZONA 78, UT ARLINGTON 59
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) &mdash; Esmery Martinez scored 13 points and was part of dominating Arizona rebounding performance with nine boards in a win over UT Arlington.
Lauren Fields, Shaina Pellington, and Cate Reese scored 10 points apiece for Arizona (10-1), which won its third straight game. Maya Nnaji grabbed nine rebounds to go with six points before fouling out at the start of the fourth quarter.
Arizona outrebounded the Mavericks 47-26, including 17-7 on the offensive glass resulting in a 22-4 bulge in second-chance points.
Starr Jacobs scored 15 points, Kayla White 13 and Taleya Jones 12 for the Mavericks (6-6), who lost their first home game this season after four wins.
NEBRASKA 85, NO. 20 KANSAS 79, 3OT
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) &mdash; Jaz Shelley scored 24 points, hitting two of Nebraska&rsquo;s three 3-pointers in the third overtime, and the Cornhuskers handed Kansas its first loss of the season.
Alexis Markowski had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Cornhuskers (10-3), who are now 2-2 against ranked teams with their next two games against ranked Big Ten rivals. Sam Haiby had 12 points in just her third game after an offseason injury and Isabelle Bourne scored 10.
Zakiyah Franklin finished with a career-high 27 points in 54 minutes for Kansas (10-1). Taiyanna Jackson had 18 points and a career-high 21 rebounds, Holly Kersgieter had 12 and 11. Ioanna Chatzileonti had 10 points and Chandler Prater had 10 rebounds as Kansas had a 68-46 advantage on the boards, including 25 offensive rebounds.
NO. 22 GONAZAGA 82, MONTANA 67
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) &mdash; Brynna Maxwell scored 23 points and Kaylynne Truong added 18 and the pair combined to hit nine of Gonzaga&rsquo;s 12 3-pointers to lead the Bulldogs over Montana.
Maxwell made 8 of 12 from the field and 5 of 9 from 3-point range and Truong finished with five rebounds, seven assists and three steals.
Yvonne Ejim had 15 points and nine rebounds, Eliza Hollingsworth scored 13 points and McKayla Williams finished with 11 points, five assists and two steals for Gonzaga (12-2).
Carmen Gfeller had 22 points and eight rebounds for Montana (4-7) and Sammy Fatkin added 21 points and five steals. Libby Stump scored 14.
NO. 23 OKLAHOMA 95, FLORIDA 79
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Madi Williams had had 22 points and 11 rebounds, Taylor Robertson added 18 points on six 3-pointers, and Oklahoma defeated Florida at the Jumpman Invitational.
Robertson made 6-of-7 3-pointers and matched her own Big 12 record of 53 consecutive games with a 3-pointer. It marked the 14th time during the current streak that she has made at least five 3-pointers.
Skylar Vann had 15 points and Nevaeh Tot scored 12 for the Sooners (10-1), who have won seven in a row.
Florida&rsquo;s KK Deans made a career-high seven 3-pointers, scored 28 points and had nine assists. Ra Shaya Kyle had 16 points and 13 rebounds for her second consecutive double-double, the fifth in her career. Nina Rickards added 15 points for the Gators (11-2).
NO. 24 BAYLOR 73, LONG BEACH STATE 52
WACO, Texas (AP) &mdash; Caitlin Bickle scored 17 points, Sarah Andrews missed a triple-double by one point and Baylor pulled away for a win over Long Beach State.
Andrews had career highs of 14 assists and 12 rebounds to go with nine points on 2-of-11 shooting. Je&rsquo;Mee Asberry and Bella Fontleroy both had 11 points for the Bears (9-3).
Tori Harris scored 14 points for the Beach (5-5) and Ma&rsquo;Qhi Berry and Kianna Hamilton-Fisher had 10 each.
NO. 25 ST. JOHN&rsquo;S 80, WAGNER 51
NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Jayla Everett scored a season-high 24 points to lead St. John&rsquo;s over Wagner and its best start in program history.
St. John&rsquo;s (12-0), ranked for the first time in almost seven years, surpassed the 11-0 start of the 2004-05 team for the best in the history of the program&rsquo;s 48 years.
Kadaja Bailey added 14 points for the Red Storm, who had 11 of 12 players reach the scoring column.
Lina Loceniece scored 13 points for Wagner (5-6) and Zhaneia Thybulle had 10.

A recap of Wednesday night's women's college hoops slate includes Aliyah Boston notching another double-double for South Carolina.

Boston four double-doubles from tying Gamecocks’ all-time mark

STANFORD, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Bree Hall hit a 3-pointer with 42 seconds left in overtime, Aliyah Boston overcame early foul trouble to score 14, including the tying jumper with two seconds left in regulation, and No. 1 and defending champion South Carolina rallied past second-ranked Stanford 76-71 on Sunday in a dramatic early-season showdown.
Victaria Saxton missed both free throws with 24.3 seconds left but a jump ball moments later gave possession to the Gamecocks (4-0). Stanford got another chance with 10 seconds left after Agnes Emma-Nnopu&rsquo;s steal but Haley Jones couldn&rsquo;t get the ball inbounds before a 5-second violation.
Stanford (5-1) then blew another opportunity, receiving a technical with 3.4 seconds left after calling a timeout in the backcourt it didn&rsquo;t have.
Cameron Brink scored Stanford&rsquo;s first four points of overtime and finished with 25 points, five rebounds and four blocked shots but fouled out trying to swat a shot with three minutes remaining.
Stanford managed just seven fourth-quarter points.
Jones missed the first of two throws with 12.5 seconds remaining in the fourth after Brea Beal&rsquo;s 3-pointer with 14 seconds left and South Carolina had one more chance.
Hall of Fame Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer&rsquo;s Stanford team led most of the afternoon but couldn&rsquo;t deliver the winningest women&rsquo;s basketball coach her 1,163rd career victory.&nbsp;
VanDerveer and South Carolina coach Dawn Staley wore long-sleeve white T-shirts featuring Brittney Griner&rsquo;s name and image in support of the WNBA star who is incarcerated in Russia.
Ashten Prechtel came off the bench to block five shots and grab seven rebounds as Stanford saw its 17-game home winning streak end at Maples Pavilion, which held a standing-room-only sellout crowd of 7,233 for the nationally televised matinee.
Zia Cooke&rsquo;s layup with 7:54 to go in the fourth got the Gamecocks within 54-50, then neither team scored for nearly the next four minutes. Both missed high-percentage opportunities while facing stingy defense.
Cooke&rsquo;s next basket at 2:54 ended the field-goal drought. Averaging a team-leading 16.5 points, she scored 13 points but shot just 3 of 13.
Brink made 5 of her first 7 shots and had 12 points after the first quarter.
REMATCH
The teams met in Columbia last year in December with the same rankings. The higher-ranked team has won the last nine matchups in the series.
The Cardinal triumphed in both previous meetings on their home floor.
Stanford beat South Carolina 56-55 in the 2021 national semifinal before edging Arizona 54-53 for the program&rsquo;s first title since 1992.
In November 2010 &mdash; 12 years ago this coming week and early in Staley&rsquo;s coaching career at South Carolina &mdash; she brought VanDerveer to the visiting locker room for a pep talk with the Gamecocks after Stanford&rsquo;s 70-32 rout.
SUPPORTING GRINER
A video board message in support of Griner played before tipoff. There was a moment of silence, too, which is standard practice so far this season at Stanford&rsquo;s home games in support of Griner.
BIG PICTURE
South Carolina: The Gamecocks shot 2 of 7 from long range in the first half and managed only three assists. ... South Carolina has been one of the nation&rsquo;s top rebounding teams, and ranked third on the offensive glass coming in having grabbed 50.5% of its own missed shots. The Gamecocks were outrebounded 22-17 in the first half and 47-41 for the game but secured several second-chance opportunities in crunch time.
Stanford: The Cardinal shot 64.3% (9 of 14) in the opening 10 minutes to lead 21-11. ... No team has scored more than 77 points against the Cardinal since the end of the 2019-20 season &mdash; a span of 75 games since an 89-56 loss to Oregon in the 2020 Pac-12 tournament title game. ... Stanford committed 11 first-half turnovers, and taking care of the ball had been a key focus of VanDerveer&rsquo;s leading into the game. ... Several former Stanford stars were at the game, including the Hull twins, Lacie and Lexie, Alyssa Jerome and former guard Anna Wilson. ... Stanford&rsquo;s home winning streak was the fifth-longest active run in the country.
UP NEXT
South Carolina: At Cal Poly on Tuesday. It&rsquo;s quite a stretch for a young Cal Poly program, which also played at Stanford on Wednesday.
Stanford: Faces Florida Gulf Coast University on Friday at the Rainbow Wahine Showdown in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Bree Hall hit a three with 42 seconds left in overtime and Aliyah Boston overcame early foul trouble to score 14 points.

Cole