The Rise of Women's Basketball
Just under a month ago, the country surrounded their TV’s as they enamored the display of fast paced, high scoring competitive play on both the men’s and women’s side of the NCAA March Madness Tournament. However, for what feels like the first time ever for whatever the reason may be, it was the women’s tournament that seemed to draw the most attention.
I found myself watching the entire game between LSU and Iowa for the women’s national championship and only bits and pieces of the men’s national championship. That’s not to say that is unusual for me as I typically don’t watch basketball at all, however the stakes and drama between players from LSU and Iowa felt high.
There were so many story lines that came out of the women’s tournament this year. New records were set in many different categories from the games themselves to the broadcasting of the games. According to The New York Times, the championship game between LSU and Iowa broke the ratings record for the women’s tournament. The game averaged 9.9 million viewers and set a total of 12.6 million views which according to ESPN was double the viewership of last years championship. ESPN also stated that it was the most watched sporting event on their streaming platform, ESPN+. What was different this time around? What made this game so captivating to viewers?
Narratives do so much for sports as people enjoy drama. When they sit down to watch a game, they enjoy the drama of the back and forth score and even more the drama between players and storylines that the media creates around the organizations. This drama can be drummed up in the media, but ultimately it starts with the players.
Both LSU and Iowa had generational talent as well as iconic players participating in this game. Iowa's Caitlin Clark was seen as one of the tournaments best players if not THE best through out the duration of the tournament and her setting the scoring record of 191 points during the tournament only boosted this sentiment. This mixed with the confidence and strong play of players on the LSU squad like Angel Reese made for so many narratives heading into the game. The banter and trash talk was backed up by both players abilities on the court.
In our latest podcast episode, we spoke with two players from the CWU Women’s Basketball team, shooting guard Malia Smith and forward Ashely Schow. When I asked them why thy felt this years championship and tournament was so polarizing compared to years past, the first names out of their mouths were Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark.
When talking about the attitude displayed on the court by both Reese and Clark throughout the tournament, Smith said it’s backed up by their play.
“It just comes with competing, if you want to play and compete, that’s the fun part of it,” Smith said. “One thing they have in common is that they are competitors.”
When it was all said and done LSU held the title and Reese had a moment that many disliked. She waived her hand in front of her face as a taunting gesture towards clark, the “stargirl”of the tournament. Many found that it to be in poor taste and a bad lack of character and sportsmanship on Reese’s side, but in the end that’s what happens in sports.
LSU won, but in the end women’s basketball as a whole won along with them. This year’s tournament showed that women’s basketball and the athletes playing in the NCAA are talented and worthy of watching. Following this years tournament, women’s basketball is on the rise and will continue to grow and build off of the success of its star athletes.