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2024 Women’s March Madness Preview

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By: Lily Smith

Lily Smith is a first-year undergraduate at BGSU from Oregon, Ohio. She is majoring in Sport Management with a Marketing minor. 

March 11, 2024

OVERVIEW

The NCAA only started calling the women’s tournament “March Madness” in 2022. However, this year has further proved that March is really full of Madness when it comes to women’s basketball. There has been such growth in the sport, and coverage of it, rightfully so. Here is an overview of four of the top teams on the AP Top 25 list. 

SOUTH CAROLINA

Caption: Kamilla Cardoso prepares for free throw.

South Carolina’s record increases to 32-0 after this past weekend’s SEC Tournament win over LSU. This win places them in the coveted spot of top overall seed. The Gamecocks are led by senior center Kamilla Cardoso who averages 14 points per game, and 9.5 rebounds. There isn’t much to hear about one single player, but more of a team effort play-style works best for the Gamecocks. Head coach Dawn Staley leads a tough team that’s looking for a third National Championship win under her coaching. 

STANFORD

Caption: Cameron Brink with Stanford in 2022

Stanford takes the #1 spot in the Pac-12 placing them at 4th in the AP Top 25. Junior forward Kiki Iriafen leads the team in scoring averaging 18.6 points per game. Senior forward, Cameron Brink leads in rebounds, with about 12 per game. With these two powerhouses, the Cardinal are looking for a long tournament run. Long time head coach Tara VanDerveer is in her 35th season with the Cardinal, and is looking for her 4th National Championship with the team. 

IOWA

Caption: Caitlin Clark will move on to WNBA

Iowa has had a ton of attention this season due to the success of Hawkeye superstar, Caitlin Clark. She leads the team in points, rebounds, assists, and steals. Clark recently declared for the WNBA draft after this season.  The Hawkeyes are 29-4 overall, and ranked 2nd in the AP Top 25. Iowa just won the Big Ten championship taking down Nebraska. Many people are looking forward to seeing Clark and her Hawkeyes shine during March Madness. 

USC

Juju Watkins averages 27 points per game

The Trojans are reaching new heights, achieving the best ranking in 38 years. USC is 3rd in the Top 25, and took down Stanford for the Pac-12 title. With a record of 26-5, the Trojans are led in scoring by freshman guard, Juju Watkins averaging 27 points per game. Rayah Marshall is leading the Trojans in rebounds with 10.5 per game. Watkins and Marshall make for a hard-to- beat team especially in later tournament play. Fresh off of a Pac-12 title win “So-Cal” is hungry for a Final Four Spot. 

EVEN MORE TO WATCH

These top four are projected to do well, obviously, but there are always upsets and shockers within March Madness. I believe that makes it all the more fun to follow. With Selection Sunday coming up this weekend on March 17th, the true stories of the road to the 2024 Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament are soon to come out. 

Some more teams to look out for Mississippi State, projected to be the last team into the tournament. The last byes of the tournament are most likely to go to Michigan, Miami, Auburn and Marquette. These last couple teams are always teams to look out for. There is almost always a team that comes from what seems like out of nowhere and continues to stun everyone. 

UConn Falling Brings Early Attention to Women’s Basketball

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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.

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