Basketball is basketball.
Reaching the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament should always be achievement. And yet, exiting in the national semifinals or final, just on the precipice of a national championship, also will never not be disappointing. That’s especially true for No.1 seeds that, with conference champion trophies and honors for indivdual players and coaches already in […]
Congratulations to the UCLA Bruins, the 2026 NCAA women’s basketball national champions. UCLA ran away from South Carolina on Sunday afternoon in Phoenix, sealing a near-perfect 37-1 season that featured a perfect run to the Big Ten regular-season championship and a first-ever Big Ten Tournament title with a 79-51 victory. The title is the program’s […]
The South Carolina Gamecocks will play for their fourth NCAA national championship under head coach Dawn Staley, having just upset the No. 1-overall seed UConn Huskies in the Final Four. And while the Gamecocks look a little different this season than they have in years past, there’s no question that Staley has once again assembled […]
No. 1-seed UCLA has now advanced further than last year, when they reached their first-ever Final Four. They are playing No. 1-seed South Carolina in the national championship game on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC and ESPN. UCLA was disrespected by not being given the No. 1-overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, and […]
It’s seems UConn head coach Geno Auriemma’s Final Four tantrum unleashed a wave of chaos across women’s college basketball that crested on Saturday. Two head coaches who lead their teams to expectations-exceeding seasons are out. A coach who had just accepted an assistant coaching position at a high-profile program is instead set for a mid-major […]
The Portland Fire selected Bridget Carleton with the No. 1 pick in the 2026 WNBA Expansion Draft. A member of the Minnesota Lynx since 2019, the Canadian sharpshooter will be a founding player for the rebirth of the Fire. Canada’s first WNBA team, the Toronto Tempo, selected Julie Allemand with the second pick in the […]
Every Final Four is historic, but South Carolina ensured that 2026 would be one that none of us will forget. They defeated unbeaten and No. 1-overall seed UConn 62-48, with the Gamecocks advancing to the national championship game as they ended the Huskies’ perfect season and 54-game winning streak. In the second Final Four game, […]
The stage is set for the Final Four, and the script couldn’t have been written better. On one side, we have South Carolina facing the undefeated defending champions in UConn. On the other side, it’s UCLA, in only their second Final Four appearance, facing a Texas team they lost to earlier this season. Not only […]
On Thursday, UConn sophomore Sarah Strong, unsurprisingly, swept National Player of the Year honors, winning the Naismith Trophy and Wade Trophy while also being named the AP Player of the Year. Asked if winning the Naismith was a “dream come true,” Strong suggested, “A dream come true? I wouldn’t say that, but I mean, it’s […]
The portal is portaling. The end-of-season player movement that is the new norm in women’s college basketball still doesn’t feel normal. But it’s time to adjust expectations. Players are rightfully empowered to more actively influence the course of their college careers. And, an adjustment of expectations shouldn’t come with any imposing of expectations. As Lauren […]
After last season’s national championship game, when South Carolina was run off the floor by UConn, it still was easy to suggest the Gamecocks would be back. In 2025, South Carolina made their fifth-straight Final Four, only a year removed from winning it all in 2024. It is expected that the Gamecocks will be March […]
For the second-consecutive year, the Texas Longhorns are headed to the Final Four—a statement that, for such a legendary program, needs some historical context. During the early days of the women’s NCAA Tournament, Texas was one of basketball’s dominant forces, led by Hall of Fame head coach Jody Conradt. In their first eight years of […]
It took 359 days for No. 1-seed UCLA to get back to the Final Four after their blowout loss against eventual national champion UConn last season, but they have arrived in Arizona and are ready to lift their first national title. First, they have Texas standing in their way and South Carolina or UConn then […]
Four-hundred and twenty-one days since their last loss, UConn has made a fourth-consecutive Final Four. They’re two games away from their first perfect season since 2015-16, a feat they haven’t accomplished since re-joining the Big East six years ago. No team has finished within double digits of the Huskies since Michigan in November. While all […]
In under two weeks, we’ll find out if Awa Fam will be part of Project D. The 19-year-old 6-foot-6 prospect who plays for Valenica Basket and the Spanish national team is the projected No. 1 pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft by our Eric Nemchock, setting up the possibility of a future partnership with Paige […]
Stew York and the Sabtue of Liberty are staying put. Two of the pillars of the New York Liberty’s 2024 WNBA championship-winning team intend not to exercise their upcoming unrestricted free agency and instead simply re-sign with the Liberty. Stewart shared her news on her podcast with NBA player Myles Turner, “Game Recognize Game with […]
On Friday afternoon, the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo will, finally, have players. WNBA Expansion Draft 2026 is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET (ESPN). Ahead of the first significant event on the WNBA’s compressed offseason calendar, Josh Felton took a stab at predicting which five players each team would protect. Now, Cat Ariail and Zack […]
McDonald’s is the perfect sponsor for the nation’s primer high school all-star game. The game excites with plenty of tasty morsels, but there’s also a lot of empty calories. The 2026 McDonald’s All American game provided plenty of both. Players sometimes too-eagerly called their own number. At other moments, many tried to force ambitious passes. […]
Emma Giacchetti has been putting the basketball world on notice for a while now thanks to her play for Magnolia La Molisana Campobasso, currently the third-place team in Serie A1, the top women’s pro basketball league in Italy, and the Italian national team. The 5-foot-10 19-year-old is versatile, capable of playing point guard, shooting guard […]
Yes, with an all-No. 1 seed Final Four on deck for Friday, there’s plenty to be excited for the right now in women’s college basketball. And yet, it’s also not too soon to be dreaming about what’s next, as Tuesday night (7 p.m. ET, ESPN) 24 players who hope to be preparing for the 2027 […]
Great basketball was on display in both Elite Eights games on Monday night. The problem was that it resulted in two one-sided affairs. No. 1-seed Texas obliterated No. 2-seed Michigan 77-41, and No. 1-seed South Carolina cruised to a 78-52 victory over No. 3-seed TCU. With the other two No. 1 seeds, UCLA and UConn, […]
Two more spots in the Final Four are available for the taking. No. 1-seeds Texas and South Carolina believe they belong to them. And why shouldn’t they? The Longhorns are looking for a third-straight trip to the Final Four; for the Gamecocks, one more win would put them in the Final Four for the sixth-straight […]
For so long, the WNBA, and women’s basketball period, was underfunded, underappreciated and underestimated. Ebbs and flows of modest success came and went as those in the game continuously scrapped and clawed their way up the ladder. In the last few years, women’s basketball has seen an explosion in popularity that those who lived before […]
Historically, Notre Dame has given UConn more trouble than any other program. That also might prove true in this NCAA Tournament. Unfortunately for the Irish, giving the Huskies trouble meant remaining in striking distance for three and a half quarters. Then, the rims that head coach Geno Auriemma had criticized eventually relented, with a late […]
Welcome to the first day of the 2026 Elite Eight! We’ve got No. 6-seed Notre Dame facing No. 1-overall seed UConn in Fort Worth on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on ABC. Then, No. 3-seed Duke will meet No. 1-seed UCLA in Sacramento at 3 p.m. ET, also on ABC. The Huskies and Bruins are […]