By Kate Roth

When I turned on SportsCenter this week and saw one of the headlines talking about women’s college basketball I had to check my calendar to make sure it was still November and not March. The only time Women’s basketball seems to get any media attention is during March Madness and particularly the Final Four. That changed this week when the media had no choice but to cover the story of the mighty UConn Huskies falling to the Stanford Cardinal.

The top ranked Huskies were coming off a perfect season from last year and riding a 48 game winning streak and seemed to be in total control to run the table again this season, that is until they stepped on the court and met the tough Stanford team who played as if they were there to prove a point that this year will be different.

The news of this loss came as very shocking to me as I’m sure it did for many others too. I was fully expecting UConn to go into the tournament undefeated, maybe not win the whole thing again, but definitely be one of the final four teams left. In all honesty I think that is what most sports fans, myself included, have come to expect from women’s college basketball. That is why I think the news of this loss came so shocking to us and deserved the media attention it got.

It is great to see the sport of Women’s Basketball finally get some early attention, but I am afraid of the consequences that may come from this early UConn loss.

As I said before, the only time we see women’s basketball in the media is during March Madness. Last year even more so on the just the UConn team as they went about the quest to finish off a perfect season. Women’s college basketball does not seem to be the number one choice for fans to watch unless they have the opportunity to see history be made like they did last season with Huskies.

The Huskies early loss could play a critical role in the media coverage the sport will receive throughout the rest of the season. I would like to see it spark the interest of more reporters and fans so now they can stop putting all their focus on just one team and see the talented players that many of the other teams in the NCAA have. Who knows, this could also be a great opportunity for another team like Stanford or Notre Dame to run the table and make history of their own.

All in all it is great to see this sport finally getting some early attention it deserves and I hope to see the media build off this early attention and continue coverage through the rest of the season and on into the tournament. This is the perfect time for the other teams in the NCAA to step up and show the fans that there is more to women’s college basketball than just the UConn Huskies.