COLUMN: Women’s hoops deserves more recognition
Much has been said about the March Madness tournament. There have been countless stories and endless hours spent talking and speculating about this year’s tourney. Much of the talk around here has been about how far Pacific and Nevada were able to get.
Despite the overwhelming information on the tourney – everyone has something to say – it is difficult to find almost any information about the women’s NCAA tournament.
There have been the occasional press releases about how the top teams in the women’s tournament are doing, but does anyone know that the Aggie’s Big West Conference rival UC Santa Barbara was in the tournament this year? Not to mention that they got to the Sweet Sixteen.
I don’t want to say that men’s basketball is overrated and gets too much press time. I love watching it and reading about it as much as the next person, but I do think that women’s basketball could use a little more recognition.
Any team that makes it from the Big West Conference, men’s or women’s, should be lauded. It wouldn’t be fair to not talk about the Gaucho women when we talk about the Pacific Tigers and their brief stint in the men’s tournament.
The UCSB women had a good showing, and a slightly longer one than Pacific, in the tournament.
In the first round the Gauchos faced Colorado. They dominated the entire game and ended it with a 76-49 victory over the Buffaloes. Santa Barbara’s Mia Fisher had 20 points to lead all players. With the victory, the Gauchos advanced to the next round for a rare appearance.
UCSB had come close to reaching the Sweet Sixteen twice before, but fell short both times. This year, led by 20 points from 6-foot-8 senior Lindsay Taylor, they had a 56-52 upset over third-seeded Houston and went on to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time.
There they faced Connecticut, winners of three of the last four national championships. UConn was able to hold UCSB back 63-55.
Santa Barbara’s April McDivitt had 20 points and kept UConn on its guard until the final minutes of the game. During the first half the Gauchos even led a couple of times.
During the regular season the Gauchos defeated the Aggies both times they faced them. Both games are painful memories as the Ags lost 86-51 in the first game on Jan. 8 in the Spectrum, and then fell again a month later 88-54 in California.
I am not going to stand on a soapbox and tell everybody how wonderful women’s basketball is and that they don’t get the recognition they deserve. But I do think that women’s basketball has some talented athletes and they could use a little more recognition and applause for their efforts on the court.
Hopefully next season the women’s basketball teams will have a little more press time.
Andrea Edmunds is a sophomore majoring in English. Comments can be sent to aedmunds@cc.usu.edu.