Tag: women’s basketball

Florida women’s basketball releases full TV schedule

The Florida Gators women’s basketball program released the full television slate for the 2023-24 season.

The basketball season inches closer and closer, and that also means it’s time to gear up for the Florida women’s program. The team announced its full television schedule and it doesn’t look like there will be any primetime matchups for the Gators.

Nine Florida women’s basketball games will be broadcast over the SEC Network, including a marquee bout on Feb. 4 with the LSU Tigers. The Gators’ first conference matchup with the South Carolina Gamecocks will be televised on the SEC Network on Jan. 4.

Here’s the full television schedule for the Florida Gators, all airing on the SEC Network.

  • Jan. 4 –  South Carolina (home) – 7 p.m. EDT
  • Jan. 11 – Tennessee (away) – 7 p.m. EDT
  • Jan. 22 – Miss State (home) – 7 p.m. EDT
  • Jan.  25 – Ole Miss (away) – 7 p.m. EDT
  • Jan. 28 – Texas A&M (home) – 1 p.m. EDT
  • Feb. 4 – LSU (away) – 2 p.m. EDT
  • Feb. 18 – Kentucky (away) – 12 p.m. EDT
  • Feb. 25 – Georgia (away) – 1 p.m. EDT
  • March 3 – Auburn (away) – 12 p.m.

The Gators tip off the season on Nov. 1 with an exhibition tilt against Florida Southern College and its first official game will be against the North Florida Ospreys on Nov. 6.

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Florida women’s basketball releases 2023-24 SEC schedule

Florida Gators women’s basketball will travel to LSU to take on the national champions and the South Carolina Gamecocks look to take down Florida at home.

The Florida Gators women’s basketball season is approaching, and the team released the upcoming SEC schedule.

Florida opens the conference slate at home on Jan. 4 in a battle with South Carolina. The Gamecocks headline the schedule after their appearance in last year’s Final Four. The team will be eager to hit the ground running and redeem the four-point loss to championship runner-up, the Iowa Hawkeyes.

The Gators will host the Auburn Tigers on March 3 for the conference finale.

Three second-round teams from last year’s March Madness will pay a visit to the O’Dome. Georgia comes knocking on Jan. 14, Mississippi State on Jan. 22, and then Ole Miss on Feb. 15.

The Orange and Blue will ride the bus up to Oxford, Mississippi, to challenge the Rebels on Jan. 25.

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Another mark on the calendar is Feb. 4, when the Gators travel to Baton Rouge, Lousiana to take on the 2023 national champion Lousiana State.

The UF women’s basketball season officially tips off with the SEC/ACC challenge against Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Georgia. The postseason begins with the SEC Tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina.

Season tickets start at $60, while the courtside seats go for $250 per ticket.

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NCAA creates more ‘postseason opportunity for women’s basketball’

There will now be 100 postseason NCAA-funded opportunities available for Division I women’s basketball teams.

On Monday the NCAA announced the creation of the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament. The postseason tournament will consist of 32 teams and will begin in 2024. The tournament is owned and funded by the NCAA.

Later this summer, “the NCAA will identify a selection committee, comprising women’s basketball stakeholders and NCAA members, to administer the WBIT.”

“Women’s basketball is at an all-time high with records being set for the national championship and Final Four viewership, and the tournament was the most viewed since 2009,” said Jamie Boggs, chair of the Division I Women’s Basketball Oversight Committee. “This tournament will create an additional NCAA-funded postseason opportunity for women’s basketball, and it comes at a time when we are seeing tremendous growth in popularity for women’s basketball.”

This event will not replace the WNIT or the March Madness NCAA tournament but rather be supported and funded by the NCAA as an equivalent to the men’s NIT tournament. There will now be 100 postseason NCAA-funded opportunities available for Division I women’s basketball teams. The tournament’s format, including the selection process, bracketing principles, and host sites will be released at a later time.

Lady Gators’ ACC/SEC Challenge opponent, date set

The Florida women’s basketball team will face the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the inaugural edition of the ACC/SEC Challenge.

The Florida women’s basketball team will face the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the inaugural edition of the ACC/SEC Challenge, which will be played on Wednesday, Nov. 29, at 5 p.m. EST. This will be the second time the two programs face off on the parquet in the history of the two schools.

The last and only time the Gators and Yellow Jackets faced off was back in 1986 on a neutral court in Birmingham, Alabama, for a regular-season tangle that Tech came out on top of, 82-72.

During the 2022-23 campaign, the Lady Gators were victorious in three of their four matchups with the ACC, dropping their game against the Florida State Seminoles while outlasting the Miami Hurricanes during the regular season before defeating both the Wake Forest Demon Deacons and Clemson Tigers in WNIT competition.

The ACC/SEC Challenge will take place from Nov. 29-30 and feature games across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ACC Network and SEC Network. Full coverage details, including platform designations and commentator information, will be announced later this fall.

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Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase expands to six teams

Dates and times announced for the 2023 Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase.

Six teams battle it out on Sunday, December 10th at the Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase. The event is in its 10th season and is just one of the Hall of Fame’s series of collegiate events.

The six teams selected to compete are Florida State, UCLA, South Carolina, Utah, UConn, and North Carolina.

“We’re excited to be part of a great lineup of games in the Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase,” South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said. “This long-running event is always done at a high level, and I love the experience of our team playing in a WNBA arena.”

All six teams were in the 2022 NCAA Tournament, so the competition will be fierce.

“We are thrilled to expand the showcase to six teams this year, which includes a number of women’s college basketball’s elite programs,” said John L. Doleva, President and CEO of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. “We look forward to welcoming these teams and their fans at one of the most exciting tournaments of the year.”

The game will take place at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut which is the home to the Connecticut Sun of the WNBA.

“We look forward to welcoming these six storied programs to Mohegan Sun Arena to take part in the Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase,” said Jen Rizzotti, President of the Connecticut Sun. “We’re honored to be able to offer world-class facilities to some of the best college women’s basketball programs in the country and are thrilled that they will be able to play in front of some of the most passionate basketball fans you’ll encounter anywhere. Mark this date on your calendar because this is a competition you won’t want to miss.”

Sunday, December 10, 2023

Florida State vs. UCLA – 12:00 PM EST

South Carolina vs. Utah – 2:30 PM EST

UConn vs. North Carolina – 5:00 PM EST

Colorado’s Jaylyn Sherrod has ‘unfinished business’

Which starter is coming back for Colorado women’s hoops?

The University of Colorado went deep in the 2023 NCAA women’s March Madness tournament. For the first time in 20 years, the Buffs moved on to the Sweet 16 with a 61-53 overtime win against Duke.

The push into overtime was due in large part to Jaylyn Sherrod who recently announced she would use her fifth year of eligibility to play for Colorado. This means that a large portion of Colorado’s roster is still intact, something other programs including South Carolina cannot boast. While South Carolina’s Dawn Staley can always put together an exceptional roster, it is infinitely easier when all the pieces are already there and meshed together.

Colorado has that in their current roster. Sherrod, Quay Miller, Frida Formann, and Aaronette Vonleh accounted for 68.7% of CU’s scoring last season and they are all returning. That’s major.

While programs like LSU, the 2023 national champions, are working with a few key pieces and adding exceptional transfers, it’s not the same as keeping four of your five starters.

“Personally I just feel like we have a lot we can accomplish and I think with the core of the team we have coming back and we’re adding good pieces, ‘why not run the table and see how far we can get?’ We have a lot of unfinished business here and it doesn’t feel like it’s the end for me,” Sherrod told CBS News Colorado.

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Is LSU women’s basketball creating a super team?

LSU head coach Kim Mulkey isn’t done there, because one of the nation’s top players in the transfer portal is visiting campus soon.

This year was the first time in school history that LSU won a National Championship in basketball, men or women.

LSU walked away with the national championship defeating Iowa 102-85. LSU’s roster was already stacked with Angel Reese, Flau’jae Johnson, and Alexis Morris. However, Morris entered the WNBA draft and will play professionally this WNBA season, but the Tigers quickly found another exceptional player as an addition to the roster.

Louisville transfer guard Hailey Van Lith announced on Thursday she was heading to LSU. Van Lith led the Cardinals to an Elite Eight appearance in 2023. Not only is LSU picking up Van Lith, but they also have the nation’s top-ranked recruiting class. LSU head coach Kim Mulkey isn’t done there, because another one of the nation’s top players in the transfer portal is visiting campus soon.

DePaul transfer Aneesah Morrow is heading to Baton Rogue and to Dawn Staley’s South Carolina program. If LSU lands Morrow, then that is yet another reason why they will be the team to watch next season.

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South Carolina-Notre Dame to tip off next season across the pond

See which European city will host South Carolina and Notre Dame this Fall.

South Carolina and Notre Dame announced on Wednesday, they will make history on Nov. 6, 2023, when the two start their 2023-24 NCAA basketball season in Paris. It will be the first time an NCAA regular-season basketball game has been played on Parisian soil.

The Gamecocks are coached by Dawn Staley, four-time Olympic Gold Medalist and three-time Naismith Coach of the Year.

“We did not hesitate to accept the invitation,” said Staley. “Playing Notre Dame in Paris is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for our student-athletes, and I’m thankful for the support of our administration and our donors.”

The Fighting Irish are coached by Niele Ivey, the 2023 ACC Coach of the Year and one of the greatest point guards in Notre Dame history.

“It’s always been my mission to break barriers and provide opportunities for my players to have life-changing experiences,” said Ivey. “Women’s basketball is on the rise, and having this exposure will help to grow the game on an international level.”

The players and staff will be able to see the City of Lights through specially curated events. The match-up was created by Complete Sports Management, founded by Lea Miller-Tooley, “who has created experiences for college teams by taking them all over the world for more than a decade.”

“We are honored to partner with two of the most respected and dominant teams in women’s college basketball,” said Miller-Tooley, “while showcasing one of the most iconic cities in the world.  This historic game will set a new standard.”

Venues and ticket packages will be announced at a later date.

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Over half a million viewers tuned into 2023 WNBA draft

Women’s basketball at the collegiate and professional levels is garnering more respect from broadcasting companies and thus, being given the platform it always needed.

The 2023 WNBA draft was a star-studded event in which South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston was the No. 1 pick by the Indiana Fever. From the orange carpet to unforgettable fashion moments, there was a great deal to see.

The draft was televised on ESPN and watched by more than 500,000 people. It was the most viewed draft since 2004 as viewership was up 42% year-over-year. In addition to the broadcast of the draft, there was a “WNBA Draft Preview Show” on April 8 hosted LaChina Robinson with analyst Rebecca Lobo.

Women’s basketball at the collegiate and professional levels is garnering more respect from broadcasting companies and thus, being given the platform it always needed. With this additional investment, the viewership is steadily increasing which in turn means higher revenues and more fans.

For instance, we need only look to women’s March Madness to see the result of increased media coverage. The championship game was televised on ABC and garnered an average of 9.9 million viewers, peaking at 12.6 million. It was the most-viewed NCAA women’s college basketball game on record across all networks.

It was the most-viewed college event ever on ESPN+ across all sports, men’s or women’s. The viewership was up 103% and shows women’s basketball has been undervalued and under-resourced. This was the second year the NCAA allowed the women’s tournament to use the lucrative March Madness marks and logos.

It seems the old adage “if you build it, they will come” is the perfect way to describe this women’s basketball renaissance.

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How to Watch: Florida women’s basketball vs Bowling Green Falcons in WNIT

Here’s how to follow Monday night’s women’s basketball action as the WNIT continues into the quarterfinals.

Florida women’s basketball travels to take on the Bowling Green Falcons on Monday, March 27, inside Stroh Center in Bowling Green, Ohio, in the Super 16 round of the 2023 Women’s National Invitation Tournament, and if you’re wondering how you can watch the action live, you’ve come to the right place.

The Gators (19-14, 5-11 SEC) opened up the tournament with a thrilling 66-63 win over the Wofford Terriers on Thursday to kick things off before knocking out the Wake Forest Demon Deacons on the road last Monday, 80-63. Then on Thursday, UF punched its ticket to the next round with a win over the Clemson Tigers, 73-63.

The Falcons (30-6, 14-4 MAC) earned their date with the Orange and Blue with an 87-80 win over the Liberty Flames, a 69-51 win over Green Bay Phoenixes and a 73-60 win over the Memphis Tigers.

Florida and Bowling Green have only met once before in program history, with the Gators leading the series thanks to a lone 69-67 win in the first round of the 1993 NCAA Tournament.