Tag: Women’s college basketball

Where is the 2024 women’s basketball Final Four?

Hint: LeBron James began his NBA career there.

March is here, which means the women’s college basketball season is closing in on its finish.

The season has been a great one, full thrills and highlights, and one that grew the sport’s audience in leaps and bounds. We’ve seen upsets, like Portland breaking Gonzaga’s long win streak and Maryland’s win over Ohio State. We’ve witnessed excellence in team building as Dawn Staley’s South Carolina Gamecocks completed a second-straight undefeated regular season (which ended with some fireworks in the SEC Tournament). And we’ve seen individual greatness in Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, the owner of the NCAA’s all-time scoring record.

As March Madness gets underway, you might be wondering, where does this season end for the women? Where’s the Final Four?

The answer is Cleveland, Ohio.

IT’S BRACKET MADNESS: Enter USA TODAY’s NCAA tournament bracket contest for a chance at $1 million prize.

Rocket Mortgage Field House — the home of the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers — will host the Final Four on April 5, and the national championship game on April 7.

ESPN will broadcast this year’s Final Four games at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Friday night. ABC will then carry the national championship at 3 p.m. on Sunday.

It’s the second time Clevland has hosted the Final Four. In 2007, Pat Summitt’s Tennessee defeated Rutgers there for the national title.

Caitlin Clark recreated an iconic Kobe Bryant photo after winning the Big Ten Championship

A longtime fan of Kobe’s, Clark was down to recreate these images when approached by a freelance photographer.

It wasn’t easy, but Iowa guard Caitlin Clark led the Hawkeyes to their third consecutive Big Ten Tournament title on Sunday by piling up 35 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds in a 94-89 overtime victory over Nebraska.

After the win, freelance photographer Bri Lewerke approached Clark with an awesome idea: recreating the iconic photos of Kobe Bryant after he won the 2001 Finals with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Clark, a longtime fan of Bryant’s – and someone who wore the exclusive Mambacita Kobe 6s while chasing the all-time scoring record – was totally down to do it.

Here’s the incredible images from Lewerke, side-by-side with the photos of Bryant captured by Jesse D. Garrabrant:

Lewerke is a fantastic photographer who has worked for Nike, SLAM Magazine, Sports Illustrated and more. Stay tuned to her social media accounts for more spectacular photos of Clark and other stars in women’s basketball.

Kamilla Cardoso’s ridiculously unlikely first 3-pointer of her career kept South Carolina’s undefeated season alive

Kamilla Cardoso does not take 3-pointers. But in the SEC Tournament, she did, and it paid off in a big way.

Kamilla Cardoso is an exceptional basketball player. The 6-foot-7 center for South Carolina was recently named SEC Defensive Player of the Year and a finalist for the Lisa Leslie Award. She is one of just six players in the country this season averaging at least 12 points, nine rebounds and 2.5 blocks per-game.

Cardoso is a big reason why South Carolina just completed its second straight undefeated season and will be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Her defense is incredible, her rebounding is outstanding, her scoring inside is great.

But Cardoso does not hit 3-pointers.

Like, ever.

In 118 collegiate games between her time at Syracuse and South Carolina, Cardoso had attempted just one 3-pointer. Just one. Ever. And she missed it.

But on Saturday in Greenville, South Carolina, in the semifinals on the SEC Tournament, Cardoso was forced to take another one.

The Gamecocks’ undefeated season was on the line. They trailed Tennessee by two points and just 1.1 seconds remained. South Carolina only had time for one shot.

Just on the other side of the halfcourt line, Raven Johnson would be throwing the pass inbounds. Tennessee sagged off her and focused on South Carolina’s shooters. And that Cardoso was drifting toward the perimeter did not seem to both the Volunteers.

Johnson – with the motion a quarterback would use to toss a football – threw the ball to Cardoso, who caught it safely, set her feet just outside the 3-point arc and fired.

The ball kissed the top of the square on the glass, hit the front of the rim and fell through the hoop.

South Carolina 74, Tennessee 71.

Cardoso’s first-ever 3-point shot – made in front of her family from Brazil – kept the Gamecocks’ undefeated streak alive and put them in the SEC Tournament final.

Elizabeth Kitley is officially out for the ACC Tournament. Will the Virginia Tech star return for March Madness?

Elizabeth Kitley is out for the ACC Tournament. Will the All-American center play in the NCAA tournament?

The question on everyone’s minds this week as the Atlantic Coast Conference women’s basketball tournament got underway in Greensboro, North Carolina was about Elizabeth Kitley.

Would the three-time ACC Player of the Year suit up for the top-seeded Virginia Tech Hokies after injuring her left leg?

Fans got an answer on Friday. Kitley – the only player in the country this season averaging at least 22 points and 11 rebounds per game – did not dress for Virginia Tech’s win over Miami in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals, and Hokies’ coach Kenny Brooks said afterwards that she would not play at all in Greensboro:

“First and foremost, her health and safety is everything that we’re worried about, and no basketball game or games or anything is going to supersede that. So, we’re going to make sure. We’re taking it slow. Rehab is going well. She’s diligently rehabbing. We made the decision – she will not play this tournament, regardless of how far we go. No offense, but we really feel like we want to focus and really make that run that we did last year. So, another week is going to be able to do some wonders, not only from a physical standpoint but from an emotional standpoint. She will not play this tournament, the rest of the tournament, and then we will reevaluate when the time is right next week and see where we go.”

Based on what Brooks said, this much is clear: The Hokies have high aspirations of making a deep run in the NCAA tournament after appearing the Final Four for the first time ever last season. And he’s at least hopeful that – with what will be about two-and-half weeks of rest and rehab – that Kitley will be able to play for the Hokies when they get to the Big Dance.

What is still unclear is what kind of injury Kitley suffered and how severe it is.

Kitley – recently named an All-American by the Athletic, and a finalist for the Lisa Leslie Award – suffered the injury during the third quarter of Virginia Tech’s loss at rival Virginia last Sunday. Kitley’s left leg seemed to buckle after she landed upon scoring on a transition layup. She was helped off the court and did not return to the game.

In her absence on Friday in the ACC Tournament, freshman forward Clara Strack played 27 minutes at center and finished with 10 points and five rebounds. Senior forward Olivia Summiel led the Hokies in rebounding with eight. Georgia Amoore – a star in her own right – powered Virginia Tech to a 55-47 victory with 27 points.

“We knew without the presence of Liz on the floor to lock down and get as many boards as we could,” Summiel told For The Win. “I definitely felt like I needed to bring that today… I think we really had to band together as a team and (Kitley’s injury) has brought us even closer. We might not have our franchise player out there, but you know, we’re going to do it for her and make things work.”

Will Virginia Tech’s Elizabeth Kitley play in the women’s ACC Tournament?

Elizabeth Kitley is on track to win her third straight ACC Player of the Year award. But will she play in Greensboro?

Virginia Tech’s Elizabeth Kitley has continued to prove this season that she is one of the best players in all of women’s college basketball.

The fifth-year, 6-foot-6 center is the two-time reigning ACC Player of the Year and could win her third this week, joining the likes of former ACC greats Alana Beard and Alyssa Thomas as the only players to win the conference’s highest individual honor three times. Kitley is armed with a lethal turnaround jumper, a knack for rebounding, an instinct for shot-blocking and a smooth shot. She’s the only player in the country averaging at least 22 points and 11 rebounds per game this season.

Kitley helped Virginia Tech win its first-ever ACC Tournament title last season, guided it to its first ever Final Four appearance last spring, and led the Hokies to their first-ever regular season ACC title this year.

Simply put: with Kitley at center, the Hokies have gone places and achieved things they never have before. ESPN’s College GameDay on Feb. 25 for the Hokies’ sold-out game against North Carolina, making Cassell Coliseum the first ACC venue the women’s basketball version of the show has visited.

But it’s unclear if Kitley is going to play this week in Greensboro, N.C., at the ACC Tournament, where the Hokies are the No. 1 seed.

Amidst the then-ranked No. 5 Hokies being upset by rival Virginia on Sunday in Charlottesville, Kitley went down midway through the third quarter with what looked to be an apparent non-contact injury to her left leg. She returned to the bench after being helped off the floor, but not to the game.

Afterwards, Virginia Tech coach Kenny Brooks didn’t have much of an update on her:

“I don’t know Kitley’s status. To be honest with you, that’s where my mind is… It’s not a concussion. I’m not going to be able to give you guys anything, out of respect for her… We’re praying for her. My mind is there.”

Brooks spoke to reporters again on Monday afternoon during a Zoom call with all ACC coaches, but he didn’t have many more details to offer about Kitley’s status, saying:

“We don’t know anything yet. Just waiting and praying for good results… We’re going to get everyone’s best shot regardless of who’s on the floor… If that is the case [that Kitley is out] it has to be next person up, because the games will still go on… My mind is in a lot of different places right now. It’s not in the normal mode that you would be as if you were preparing.”

Unfortunately for fans of the ACC, it could be the second consecutive season that the conference tournament’s No. 1 seed will be without its best player. Last year, it was Notre Dame guard Olivia Miles that went down in the regular season finale with a knee injury. Miles hasn’t played for Notre Dame since.

Fairfield made a clever resume to apply for a spot in the women’s AP Top 25 Poll, and it worked

A team like Fairfield, equipped with a player like Meghan Andersen, is one that can bust brackets in March.

I’ve been voting for Fairfield on my Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball ballot for the past eight weeks. And there’s been several reasons why.

The Stags are 26-1 this season, which is the second-best record in all of Division I women’s college basketball, behind only undefeated South Carolina. Fairfield is also the 16th best shooting team in the country, knocking down 46.8% of their shots from the floor. Their defense is good too, as the Stags allow just 0.69 points per play, which is sixth-best in the nation.

While my fellow voters were slow to hop on the bandwagon driven by freshman forward Meghan Andersen and second-year head coach Carly Thibault-DuDonis, the Stags took it upon themselves to inform the general public about the best team in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

On Sunday, Fairfield – with an old-fashioned resume and a bit of wit– applied for a spot in the AP and USA Today Coaches polls.

And it worked.

When the latest AP Top 25 Poll debuted at noon on Monday, the Stags – who have won 24 games in a row – held the final spot in the top 25 with 60 voting points. Fairfield is the first team from the MAAC to be ranked in the AP Poll since Marist appeared more than a decade ago.

Thibault-DuDonis was elated to see her program in the national spotlight:

“This is a momentous occasion for our program. I came to Fairfield knowing it was a special place with the infrastructure, the support from the top and incredible people that was set up to be in the national conversation every season, so this is a huge step in that happening. We are grateful that our consistency has been rewarded by the voters and we’re going to keep working hard so that today isn’t a crescendo, but rather a launching point to even bigger accomplishments.”

While Fairfield has a program-record 26 wins – and has a handful of impressive wins over the likes of Rutgers and St. John’s – it will still need to win the MAAC Tournament for a spot in the NCAA tournament. Should the Stags get a coveted spot in the 68-team field, they shouldn’t be taken lightly.

A team equipped with a player like Andersen is one that can bust brackets in March. She’s one of just two players in the country averaging at least 16 points and 5.5 rebounds per game while shooting 50% from the floor, 38% from 3-point land and 85% from the charity stripe.

South Carolina’s Kamilla Cardoso has emotional reunion with her family thanks to Dawn Staley’s classy gesture

A leader for the undefeated Gamecocks, Cardoso has made a lot of sacrifices to become a star in college basketball.

Kamilla Cardoso has blossomed into one of the best players in women’s college basketball this season and a legit WNBA prospect.

The 6-foot-7 Brazilian took over for Aliyah Boston as the starting center for the South Carolina Gamecocks this year and has helped lead them to an undefeated season so far, which will likely net Dawn Staley’s team the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament this month. Cardoso averages 14 points, 9.8 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game, and is fourth nationally in defensive rating according to HerHoopStats.

But Cardoso’s journey to basketball stardom hasn’t been easy. When she was in middle school, she left her native country of Brazil — and her family — to enroll in a prep school in Chattanooga, where she could hone her skills on the court and be seen by college scouts. She fought homesickness and a language barrier, but landed a scholarship to Syracuse where she was named ACC Freshman of the Year after averaging 13.1 points and 8.1 rebounds per game in the 2020-21 season. Cardoso then transferred to South Carolina, where she played a key role as a reserve on the Gamecocks’ national title team in 2022.

Sunday will be senior day for Cardoso as it’s South Carolina’s final home game of the regular season. Typically for these sorts of games, seniors are honored before the contest and escorted by family members.

Staley made sure – apparently with the help of South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn – that Cardoso would be able to walk on Sunday alongside her mom and her sister.

The Gamecocks filmed Cardoso’s emotional reunion with her family and posted it to social media on Saturday. Grab your tissues.

With Clark and Bueckers making announcements, attention turns to Stanford star Cameron Brink

Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers announced their plans for the future, so the women’s college basketball world turns their attention to Stanford’s Cameron Brink.

The star power in women’s college basketball is at an all-time high.

Not only is Caitlin Clark breaking records and dominating headlines, but Angel Reese, Paige Bueckers and Cameron Brink are making women’s hoops appointment television. The future is clearly bright with USC’s JuJu Watkins and Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo breaking records in their first collegiate campaigns.

And while Clark announced she is leaving to pursue the WNBA, Bueckers is giving it another shot at UConn, teaming with Azzi Fudd for what they hope will be a fully healthy season and a push for a national title.

That leaves Brink, a superstar forward from Stanford, as the biggest star yet to make a decision on her future.

“So, I’m sure all of you are wondering, as far as my decision goes to stay next year or enter the draft, I’m still undecided,” Brink told fans Sunday during a postgame celebration after Stanford defeated Arizona State to clinch Pac-12 regular-season title.

The 6-foot, 4-inch forward is averaging 17.9 points and 11.8 rebounds on the year, including a dominant 25 point, 23 rebound performance against Oregon State on Thursday.

Should she declare, most expect her to go No. 2 in the WNBA draft behind Clark, but with name, image and likeness licensing opportunities aplenty in women’s basketball — and far more eyeballs watching the college game than the pros — Brink’s decision is not an easy one.

For now, Brink and the Cardinal turn their attention to finishing the regular season strongly, earning a top two seed in the NCAA Tournament and making a push to bring a national title to Palo Alto.

Winners (Gonzaga) and losers (Iowa) of the NCAA women’s basketball committee’s latest top-16 reveal

South Carolina is still No. 1 and the field is still loaded with Pac-12 teams at the top.

Bracketology season is upon us as February comes to a close. It’s almost March Madness, y’all.

On Thursday, the selection committee for the Division I women’s NCAA tournament revealed their top 16 seeds for the second and final time this season, giving fans a snapshot of where teams stand heading into the final games of the regular season and conference tournaments.

Some things have changed since the last reveal two weeks ago, and some things remained the same. Undefeated South Carolina is still the undisputed No. 1 seed, and the top-heavy Pac-12 still has the most teams projected to host with five teams in the top 16.

Here’s the full seed list from the committee as of Feb. 29:

  1. South Carolina
  2. Ohio State
  3. Stanford
  4. UCLA
  5. Virginia Tech
  6. Texas
  7. Iowa
  8. USC
  9. LSU
  10. UConn
  11. N.C. State
  12. Oregon State
  13. Colorado
  14. Indiana
  15. Gonzaga
  16. Oklahoma

Let’s take a closer look at the winners and losers with just 17 days to go until Selection Sunday.

Tracking the notable women’s basketball players returning in 2024-25, including UConn’s Paige Bueckers

Because of the NCAA’s COVID-era ruling, players from the 2020-21 class have an extra year of eligibility.

As the 2023-24 women’s college basketball season winds down, we’re going to get announcements – perhaps on senior nights, or in the forms of social media graphics – of seniors announcing whether they will use their extra year of eligibility.

Because of the NCAA’s rule during the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020-21 season did not count towards a player’s eligibility clock. So, anyone who played that season has had the chance to play an extra season of college basketball. This has created an overflowing transfer portal, older teams, and to some degree, increased parity in the sport of women’s basketball.

The 2020-21 freshman class was a star-studded one, and the final class that will benefit from this rule. UConn’s Paige Bueckers has already announced her return, while decisions loom for other superstar players like Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, LSU’s Angel Reese, Stanford’s Cameron Brink and North Carolina’s Deja Kelly. Don’t be surprised if some of these players decide not to enter the WNBA Draft. We saw several of the game’s top players return to school last season.

With this list, we’ll keep track of all the players who have publicly declared that they will return to women’s college basketball for another season in the 2024-25 campaign:

Updated: March 2