April 4, 2025 • 48 mins
Ahead of this weekend’s Final Four in Tampa, Florida, Big Citrus gathers to discuss their predictions for the semifinals, the noticeable difference in the media coverage of this year’s tourney, and why they’re leaving impartiality at the door when it comes to Paige Bueckers’ title hopes. Plus, the sisterhood of the traveling net.
- Watch the Final Four! The full schedule can be found here
- If you’re in Tampa, come to Sarah’s live show with Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi, sponsored by Capital One. It’s this Saturday at 2pm in Tourney Town!
- Read the great story Jordan Robinson wrote on the relationship between Dawn Staley and Carolyn Peck here
- Leave us a voicemail at 872-204-5070 or send us a note at goodgame@wondermedianetwork.com
- Follow Sarah on social! Bluesky: @sarahspain.com Instagram: @Spain2323
- Follow producer Misha Jones! Bluesky: @mishthejrnalist.bsky.social Instagram: @mishthejrnalist
- Follow producer Alex Azzi! Bluesky: @byalexazzi.bsky.social
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're in Tampa,
Florida with our nails painted Husky blue, gamecock garnet, UCLA gold,
and longhorns burnt orange.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
In preparation for the Final four games tonight. Does it
look crazy? Yes? But do I feel good about it? Also?
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Yes, It's Friday, April fourth, Happy Friday Slices. On today's show,
We're all about the hoops, no need to know, no news,
just Big Citrus getting you excited and prepped for the
final four games with our favorite storylines, what each team
needs to do to secure a dub, and of course we'll.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Make some sure to go wrong predictions.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Gotta take a quick break first that it's Page versus
Bets and Booker versus kits. Big Citrus previews the biggest
weekend of the college hoops season. Next welcome back Slices.
Like I said, I am in Tampa for a fun
weekend at the Final Four, including a live show with
(00:58):
Diana Tarassi and Sue Byrd thanks to Capital One. That'll
be on Saturday at Tourneytown at two pm if anyone
is at the Final Four, and you'll also get to
hear that episode on Monday if you don't catch it live. Now,
we got to get you ready for all the action
this weekend with a little big Citrus gab fest, including
some predictions for the national semifinals and the title game
on Sunday. And of course we'll wrap the whole weekend
(01:19):
of parties and events and shows and games and all
that good stuff when we're back next week after the
games are done. But now let's set the stage. Friday's
Semifinals seven pm Eastern. We've got number one Texas versus
Number one South Carolina on ESPN. Then at nine pm Eastern,
Number two Yukon versus Number one Ucla, also on ESPN.
(01:41):
Both those games are at Amelie Arena in Tampa, Florida.
I want to bring in Alex and Meish to chat
about these matchups and just in general chat about the
culmination of one of the best women's college hoops seasons ever.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
First, how we got here.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
I can think back to when the three of us
were prepping for how we were going to I covered
this season, talk about this season, what we were most
excited about, the parody the Superstars misch. Has it lived
up to our very high expectations?
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Absolutely? One thousand percent. You cannot be mad about the
season that we have witnessed. I think that makes me
especially happy because after last season, with all the drama
of the final four in the tournament and all the
hype around Kaylin Clark and Angel Reese, we know about
all that. A lot of folks were like, is it
gonna hit the same without them around? And I think
(02:29):
the answer is absolutely resoundingly yes.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
What about you, Alex, Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
I think back to just five years ago and I
would get so mad reading news coverage in March because
I always would call it my internal red pen. I
would be like men's, men's, men's, you know, like just
so much ignorance around the women's tournament.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
And I finally finally.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
Feel like it has broken through and there is an
expectation that news outlets are covering it, and so I
think I've just been trying to embrace that. And I
have to tell y'all funny story. So Tuesday evening, I
had to run a couple of errands and Sarah, I
was kind of bumped because it meant I was going
to miss you on around the horn. So for slices
(03:13):
that aren't aware, you have to go back and watch,
oh watch.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Sarah was the horn, predicting the.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Costume as Woody Page, a seventy five year old man.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
It's Woody Page. Am I on the show today? Check
the schedule? I'm on the show? Why do I? Is that?
Speaker 1 (03:30):
So? My poor husband has seen me dressed as any
number of men all the time. It's like, how come
you never dress like a hot woman? I'm like, sorry, babe,
not my wheelhouse.
Speaker 4 (03:40):
So I walk in, though I have to run some errands,
and so I walk into our local general store and
I kid you not, this place has everything, but it's
also the size of a shoe box. And I walk
in and I hear just like over the lad speaker,
like Olivia Miles enters the transfer portal and I'm like,
women's sports, what where? And I'm like, is this one
of I heart updates? And then I'm like, Sarah's usually
(04:02):
a little bit more even keel in her iHeart updates.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
This sounds like an.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
Angry Woody Page And sure enough, and so granted it
was you, so like it's not that big of a coincidence,
but just that spirit is like that's March madness for
me now, and I love it.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
Yeah, the idea that you could walk into a store
and have a national show on ESPN be talking about
Olivia Miles and all that stuff and have it be.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
It turns out it was me. Again.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Every time you keep hearing things in your stores or
in places that you don't expect them, it is me.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
But that's also nice.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
I'm really establishing myself as the voice in your head
at all times, even when you're not working.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
What a delight for you, Alex.
Speaker 4 (04:43):
It's honestly pretty sad given how much I hear your
voice that I don't immediately put it together.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
That's what I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Yeah, I mean I was also attempting to do a
woody page, but I honestly just sounded mostly like a
really bad Bernie Sanders impression the whole time. That's funny
that you say that, though, because first of all, I
internal redpen.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
I mean that should be like my nickname for life.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
I literally just think walking around like that could be
done better, or like that's there shouldn't be.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
An apostrophe there, Like I just do that all the time.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
But I have been doing that of late too, and
I've been especially noticing in the positive direction where I
see a headline say men's or I see a story
say men's when it used to always just say NCAA
basketball tournament, and then it would say women's if it
was talking women's.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
But now it's saying men's too, So I do love that.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
And I think as far as the expectations for this year,
one thing I will say, and I'll have to say
this carefully because I don't want to get away from
talking about intersectional issues in women's sports. I think that's important,
it matters, and I care about it. And also I
was really delighted that this season was about basketball and
it felt almost like Caitlin and Angel crawled so that
(05:53):
these players could walk without having to face the garbage
every single second. And I don't know if that's because
Pagebackers is a very unique kind of white women's basketball.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Player because of her background.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
I don't know if that's because now we have this
superstar cadra of women that are black, white, all races
right as opposed to last year when they tried to
make it one versus the other, when it's like Paige
and Juju, you know, there's multiple stars to talk about
where it doesn't feel like it's all centered on one person,
and then everyone is that person's rival or someone to
compare them to. I've certainly heard people comparing Paige to Caitlin.
(06:30):
I've certainly heard people saying Juju hasn't had the draw
of Caitlin last year, but it just hasn't felt as
fraut this year, and I hope that that just means
it going forward, we could keep it this way.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
But that's been nice.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Yeah, I totally get where you're coming from with that,
and I think I understand what you're saying about Caitlin
and Angel crawling so that these folks could run. And
even during the WNBA season, I didn't hear as much. Still,
besides the typical folks who've been around women's basketball forever,
I didn't hear enough about what they were doing on
the court. And I think the thing that's spectacular about
(07:02):
this season is not only are we talking more about
what's happening on the court, but like we're talking about
with this question, it's living up to expectations. Juju, until
she got hurt, was doing miraculous things. Page has had
an excellen season. Hannah Hidalgo Olivia, all of these players
have all individually lived up to the hype as well,
and that's you know what I mean, That only lends
(07:23):
itself to us having real basketball analytical conversations. So as
a hoop nerd, I'm right there with.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
You, and it proves the point we've been saying with
this show since the very beginning, which is you just
have to give people enough information to be able to
have better conversations, and then they care more and then
they watch games on and on it goes. Before it
was literally like if Caitlin Clark opened a little door
for a lot of people to start watching. They didn't
have any context to talk about Madison Booker in Texas.
(07:50):
They didn't really understand what Hannah and Juju had done
as freshman. It was a lot of just oh, women
are playing basketball. Wow, it's physical.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
They're mean to each other like the dumbest shit.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
And now it's like, Okay, I built on a year
of learning about some of the teams and names, and
now I can actually talk about the basketball.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Not me personally, but the people were.
Speaker 4 (08:11):
Talking about I think also credit to Juju's team. You know,
she's just a sophomore, but she has so much going
on around her. Right with this docu series and all
of these other kind of business endeavors that she is
involved with, and so I think she has almost she
has created ahead of time before she became a huge,
(08:31):
huge name, a narrative around her and some of the
infrastructure that for too long in the space, the players
were only reaching that point and getting that kind of
media infrastructure around them, And so I think she's helped
set the narrative to in terms of who she is
as a player and a person.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
And shout out to some brands who saw it when
she was still in high school, because they're part of
the reason that they were able, you know, to start
to put that together. She started get invested in as
a future star, and it allowed her to create that infrastructure.
But you're totally right, it's when she reaches her moment
people already like, oh, I kind of knew this was
coming or know a little bit about her. The excitement
for this weekend is I just have to say, like
(09:12):
I mentioned this right at the beginning of when the
show started, but I just want to repeat it, like
I spent thirteen years basically almost always in men's sports
spaces and then around espnW and my efforts to work
in the women's sports space. I would get these little
reprieves a couple weeks every year where I would drop
in to women's sports events, women's conferences. I would be
in my meetings with all my w people, and I
(09:32):
would just have this like feeling of like these are
my people, right, And then I would go back into
the men's sports spaces, and sometimes they were very fun
and very cool, and there were awesome people there, and
a lot of times they had a lot of bro
energy and it was swimming upstream to try to get
them to talk about women's sports and to care about
the things that I wanted to care about. And so
now it's been like two years or so of really
being just stripped down to the stuff I care about
(09:55):
and wanting to work in the women's space, and events
like the Final Four, like this one are like like
the pinnacle of the joy of being in this space.
My texts are just full of all the people coming
to Tampa. What's this event? Like my friends that are
running events, like, oh, this is my vision. So it's
gonna be a rooftop and we're gonna get to make
friendship bracelets and then we're gonna have like basketballs and
(10:16):
we're gonna and it's like all this feminine times masculine energy,
all this sharing of all the things we care about
it once instead of feeling like bifurcated and separated. It's
not like a men's event where it's like and then
here's a little thing for women over here that has
like sparkles and bullshit. It's like, here's your whole person.
For me, at least, my whole person is like talk shit,
(10:37):
drink a beer, make a friendship bracelet, and talk about
Taylor Swift. Like it's like all the things at once,
And so many people that go to these events are
like that too, so for me, like it's just another
reminder of the beauty of the space of women's sports.
And I think it's gonna be just the best weekend
of all my favorite people and people who buy into
all this stuff just like being so excited.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
That's what it's That's what it was always supposed to be,
which is the crazy part, right, it was always supposed
to be this. I remember going to a Final four
I want to say it was twenty fourteen, twenty fifteen
when it was in Nashville, and I went with my
parents and it was just amazing on its own right,
But that compared to what we experienced at WNBA All Star,
(11:21):
which is what I'm comparing. You know, hopefully the final
four feels that same way. It's a totally different level,
Like you're saying, it's a totally different level, and they're.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Catering to us, right, they're catering to us.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
It's not yeah, we care about you, but we're also
trying to get all these brands and no, they're here, No,
everybody's here, and we're just here to have a good time.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Yeah, it's what it's supposed to be.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
The investment has changed, the parties, the activations, the people,
the size of the event, the halftime entertainment, Like all.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
That really is gonna be performing? Are you kidding? Man?
Speaker 1 (11:54):
Yeah, it's just it's gonna be a ton of fun.
And it's it's the value it has earned, it deserves,
and the value that it needs for other people to
believe it's something that people who aren't on board yet,
you have to show them that something matters and that
you care about and you've invested it if you expect
them to invest in We talk about this all the
time with like why aren't women watching women's sports?
Speaker 2 (12:15):
You know why aren't you?
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Because when we have the opportunity to go to a
men's game that you've put a bunch of money and
has a ton of entertainment and everybody's there and everyone's
talking about it, we're this thing over here that doesn't
have a lot of money and not that many people
know about or care about. We're going to pick this
one unless you know we're our die hard and until
you start to give us the value that we know
that it deserves, it's going to be harder to pull
people over there. And we're seeing that change out, which
(12:38):
is just freaking awesome. Okay, let's break down these semi
final games because.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
I don't even know.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
I'm like so excited and so nervous and so confused
at the same time. Because you could not get me
to put a significant sum of money on either of
these games, I have a feeling, I feel like I
have a pick, But none of these games are going
to be a blowout. In my opinion, these are going
to be real time. Let's start with Texas versus South Carolina.
Texas for me, wins if they can make it their
(13:12):
tempo and their style of play. It's what they've been
able to do throughout the tournament. Low scoring games, defensive
minded games where you kind of get into lulled into
submission into playing their style. And then they have such
effective offensive players, particularly Madison Booker. I mean we saw
with Kylo Oldacre in the last game, the ability to
(13:32):
pull off some stuff as bigs that you might not expect,
and then their defense just slowing you down, getting you
in the muck and keeping you from doing what you
want to do. For me, that's the key for Texas
South Carolina. It's not as strong as the team as
they've had in recent years. It doesn't stand out to
you as like big and scary like Don Staley's teams
often have of late. But part of their issue and
(13:55):
what makes them scary is that they have multiple people
who can be too and if they're all on, you're fucked.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
Yeah, right, South Carolina to me feels like a team
of adults, you know, like real No, I don't really
feel like kids, Like they feel like people that know
how to handle the pressure and trust each other. And
you looked at on Staley and I think that's the
reason why, right this is their fifth straight final four appearance.
I think I almost want to make a joke like
is South Carolina bad for women's basketball?
Speaker 2 (14:20):
Maybe?
Speaker 4 (14:22):
But it was so Bundy, Like Sanaia Fagan was asked
after the Elite a like, hey, fourth Final four in
four years, like is this what you expected when you
signed on? And she was like yep, yeah, it's like
a great answer. I love it, you know, And and
Don has said that, like she has literally said, this
is not one of my better teams. She knows that
they have a lot of weaknesses, but I think it's
(14:42):
that kind of experience and that trust under pressure, like
they're not a team that gets flummixed easily.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
Yeah, and that's shown right the last few games they've
played have not been blow up. They have had to
go down to the wire with Duke and then go
like it hasn't just been a for them.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
I agree.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
It makes it really hard to call uh Sarah because
you just don't know where it's gonna come from. And
that also begs the question like what if it doesn't
come who is gonna step.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Up and be that go to person?
Speaker 3 (15:12):
So for me, that's the one thing that scares me
about South Carolina in that game. But if they can
get like ten from three different people and crash the
boards like they do, play the defense that we're used
to seeing them play.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
I think they can walk away with this one. But
for Texas, if they.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
Want to get this job done, Rory Harmon is gonna
do what Rory Harmon did against against TCU, right, She's
gonna have to step up, especially if they end up
in an offensive law because South Carolina does play that defense.
Rory Harmon, the point guard, is gonna have to go
get those paint points, pull up jumpers, all that good stuff.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
I also think this has.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
To be the Madison Booker twenty five plus game. I
really do, because South Carolina's guards, they're relentless defensively, They're
gonna get what they want in the post with Chloe Kids,
Joyce Edwards, all those folks down low. But if Texas
and Vic Shafer want to walk away with this, they
have to play their normal Texas defense, hard nose pressure.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
But Maddie has to go off.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
She has to take over and away, and she's so
hard to guard because she plays a forward, but she
can be a guard. I can't do any when Matt
when Harmon was out, she essentially ran the point. So
you've got Bree Hall and Raven Johnson probably gonna be
tasked with guarding her.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
Tessa Johnson off the bench will take some of that
as well.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
And I like two of those three matchups for Maddie.
Hall is the best matchup for her to me, I think,
so those other two she got to eat.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
I will say, though, yeah, because you mentioned Bree Haul
in that SEC tournament game, she held her to zero
points until late in the second quarter, like she did
not look like herself. Maddie, I think, to your point,
needs to be super aggressive off the top, and it's
kind of like what we've seen with Page, Like every
once in a while she goes all right, I guess
it's on me now, and then she just scores like
(16:56):
eleven y points in a row.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
Like Madison Booker.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Has to decide that that's who she is and that's
the position she's in this game. She'll get help from others,
they'll find theirs, but she needs to approach it with this.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Is my game. I gotta go big. I want to talk.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
Vibes in this one. I mean, first of all, Don
Staley is a queen. I mean, find someone with something
bad to say about her not only as a leader,
as a coach, as a person in this business, in
this industry that is changing things for everyone that follows her,
but also just like vibes, just everything about her makes
you understand why players want to win for her. Vick
(17:31):
Schaeffer is a completely different dude, and yet there is
something so special and sweet and sincere about him. Some
of the quotes that he had after that last win,
we're so moving, he said, I'm not these players' lives,
but their mine, like these.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Players are my life.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
And the way he talked about what it means to
him for them to get so close so many years
in a row, and then to make it to see
Harmon come back from a major in and fight, to
see Maddy Booker, who he's known since before she was
even a college player, be more and even better than
what was expected of her.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
I don't know. There's like a really.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
Special bond between Vic Schaeffer and his players that's been
really sweet to watch.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
Yeah, And if you were to ask me to pick
a favorite based on the vibes I'm getting from them,
I couldn't. I couldn't because I what a thousand percent
be behind both of these stories ending the right way.
So yeah, it's it's hard to choose based on that.
But like you're saying, two people who when you look
at all time the greats in this game coaching, they're
(18:39):
top ten, top fifteen, right maybe even top five depending
on who you ask.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
And we're really lucky right.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
Now to be able to see not just them, but
also Corey Close, Guino Oriama do what they do best
right now.
Speaker 4 (18:51):
Yeah, whenever I think about what makes a good coach,
I think about the role that honesty plays into it,
and the idea that critical honesty can be respectful, it
can be a gift, it can be an act of love,
you know. I interviewed Malaysia full Wiley back in November
of twenty twenty three. It was right after she had
(19:11):
made her collegiate debut kind of set everything on fire
in that game in Paris, and I asked her about,
you know, playing for this coach literally from her hometown.
She grew up in Columbia, and she was just so
honest about how Don Staley was open with her of
you need to improve your practice habits. What you are
doing is not enough right now. But it was clear
(19:31):
that Malaysia just had such respect and reverence and knew
that that criticism was coming from a place of wanting
her to do her best. And I think so often
when we have conversations about coaches right, and coaches will
express right, like the NIL.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Era has changed things.
Speaker 4 (19:46):
This generation of players need to be coddled more. And
yet also there are coaches who are able to both
be harsh and critical and also simultaneously show respect for
their players. And to me, that's kind of what Don
Stalely represents.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
Completely agree, and that's so important with this younger generation,
like we're hearing it more and more. How do they
take criticism, how do they learn through adversity?
Speaker 2 (20:08):
How do they not just give up?
Speaker 1 (20:10):
And so much of that is the deft touch of
a coach who can make them want to do.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
Right by them.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
It's less about like I don't want them to be
angry with me. It's more about I don't want them
to be disappointed in me. I just want to live
up to their expectations for me. A couple more things
about this before we move on. I do think it's
worth noting that Texas lasts in the country in three
point rate and when they played South Carolina In March,
they went one of eight from Beyond the Arc, and
I think South Carolina is really going to try to
(20:37):
keep them honest there and pack the paint, make things
tough for Madison Booker and the bigs and say try
to beat us with the three. So if they can
get off early from Beyond the Arc, that will potentially
force South Carolina to play I'm honest out there, and
it will give them more space for their expert players
inside to work. But if they start out and they struggle,
(20:57):
it's going to make it a lot easier for South
Carolina to play the game that they want. The other
thing I will say too, is you've got a team
in South Carolina that I think has had more ups
and downs in this tournament because they haven't really.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Been fully on like they've won.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
But this hasn't been a team beating the breaks off
people where it just feels like they're in sync. So
is it their due kind of situation, like, oh, we're
going to see them click into place, or has what
we've seen so far been indicative of what we're going
to keep seeing that they're just not quite ready to
put it all together at once. If they do put
it all together once, it's going to be a problem.
And you've got a Texas team that maybe hasn't faced
(21:36):
enough adversity yet.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
TCU gave them a fight, but when they've been.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
Able to put it their best players on the court
and do work, it's been their style of play their game.
So if they get behind a chunk, can they fight
their way back? Especially with their style, this is a
team that keeps it low scoring, keeps it defensive. Will
they be able to push the pace, change the tempo
and get enough points to catch up if they get behind.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
That's a tough one, right, And not to make it
about William and Mary, but I think that first game
in the first round against William and Mary exposed some
things because they stayed with them for like the whole
half and it was exactly what you're saying.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
They weren't hitting from three.
Speaker 3 (22:19):
We've seen it multiple times throughout the duration of this tournament,
so it's a valid question. I do think Kylo Oldacre
could be an X factor, right because the last game
she played against TCU, she only had nine points, but
that was five more than Adona Prince had. She played
good defense on the interior, she showed a lot more emotion, right.
I think at this time of the year, it's not
just about what the x's and o's are. It's also
(22:42):
about momentum. It's also about getting that energy, and I
think she gave them a lot of that. So if
she can get going, even if it's for another five
to nine or ten points, I think that would be
huge as well.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
I think your point about Kyla Oldacre also worth noting.
When you have a big like that that you maybe
want to sag off of. There was a big play
in that last game against where they were sagging. They
didn't even step up to guard her at the top
of the paint.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
She drilled it. Yep. Another play later she makes.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
Almost like the equivalent of a football pick six, a
big man touchdown, right, Like, you don't expect her to
steal it and go the length of the court and finish.
When she makes plays like that, your defense changes. It
doesn't matter if it's just one or two buckets. You
step up on her. Now you don't sag back, and
that leaves more space for Madison Booker and others to work.
So it will be big for them to get a
couple of those players in early. Okay, So these two
(23:29):
teams have met three times this season before the game
Cocks lead the series two games to one. They won
the SEC Tournament championship just three weeks ago.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
Pretty handily nineteen yep.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
So I'll start with my prediction, and like I said,
I do not think that either of these games will
be blowouts. I think South Carolina wins this one. I
wouldn't be surprised if Texas one. I could see the
path to do it. But I think Don Staley her
experience in these games exactly, the amount of players that
(24:02):
she can go to if one is not getting it done,
and the ways that Texas will have to try to
defend each of those players who have a different skill
set to bring, is the difference in this one.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
Agreed.
Speaker 3 (24:13):
I think not just Don's experience, but also the experience
of the players on the floor. Right, this is a
South Carolina scene that's got kids who have been in
situations like excuse me, I say kids, because we're still
calling them Don's daycare over.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
Here, okay, right, but Alex is calling them grown and sexy.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
All right now?
Speaker 1 (24:33):
Oh no, okay, she's not actually calling them that. I
just love when people say that they want their theme
for something to be adult, and then there was no Okay,
grown and sexy.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
I go, what, No, that's so much worse. But yeah,
I think that, uh, that's going to be the difference.
The experience of the players on the floor. Texas has
some experienced players who've been in the tournament but not
to a final four. Remember, this is their first final
four in program history since two oh three. It's a
long time and matters to play on this stage before
(25:02):
you have another chance to try to go get a
national championship.
Speaker 1 (25:05):
All right, that's two for South Carolina. Two cocks. What
do you got, Alex?
Speaker 2 (25:08):
Make it three cocks?
Speaker 4 (25:09):
Baby.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
I cannot stay you both.
Speaker 4 (25:14):
I cannot either of you.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
All Right, you have to drink now, yeah, we do
all we all have to drink because we said Cox.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
I'm say Jack, thank you for bringing that up, Alex.
I need to remember that and make sure I have
a non alcoholic beverage near me when I interview Sue
and DT because we're back again with another weekend that
has another.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
Weekend full of cocks.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
And we all know from Sue and Diana's live show
that they have a drinking game that they play during
their live sidecast, and when every time they say cos
Diana and Sue have to take a drink, and I
might be I might be hammered on Saturday Afternoon's all
I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
If I don't bring a big glass of water, we.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
Have to take a quick break stick around. Okay, let's
talk this second game, nine pm Easter. We got number
two Yukon versus number one UCLA. This I'm worried about
literally surviving one say, for a number of reasons. Number one,
(26:15):
because I'm just a huge Pagebackers fan.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
She has been through so much in her career.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
To be here, to be healthy, to be performing at
the level she is is already a frickin' gift. I
just want her to get all the way through the
tournament healthy and keep playing her best basketball and have
this a moment to shine.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
You know, we talked about this.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
She was Player of the Year as a freshman and
has had a number of high points since, but it
just hasn't been the path that you wish for a
player as talented as her. So this season and this
tournament has just been a really, really big blessing. On
the other hand, I love coach Corey close, and I
just love this program. And I think because of the
(26:56):
men's side and John Wooden, it's always been this like,
oh yeah, Ucla, there are always in the mix. They're
a basketball powerhouse, and on the women's side that hasn't
been the case.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
But it feels like it should be.
Speaker 1 (27:05):
It just has always felt like, let's catch UCLA up
on the women's side to what we expect of them,
and so making their first ever final for Corey close
like leading this team in a way and getting people
to see it as a new destination in the women's game. Oh,
it's just like pulling at my heartstrings. I think this
matchup it's.
Speaker 3 (27:23):
Definitely given me the feels I think entertainment value wise.
And when I say entertainment value, I really mean offense
because I love seeing the ball with theft.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
A lot of other people love defense. Hey I am
who I am?
Speaker 3 (27:33):
Okay in terms of that, this is going to be
the more fun matchup for me personally, So I like
it because of that, But also I'm right there with you.
It feels like with UCLA's program specifically, I've been waiting
for their women's team to get on that same level
as you know, the men had been on and then Yukon.
Like you said, it's not just Page, I feel like
having a renaissance.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
It's that entire program.
Speaker 3 (27:54):
Not that they've necessarily been bad recently for Yukon standards,
but you know, they haven't one chip since twenty sixteen,
and something out there. We'll get to prediction to a second,
but something out there is giving me husky very much.
Speaker 4 (28:07):
Yeah, I think even circling back on what we were
saying before, Oh, circling back. I hate the office in
the podcast, but what we were saying a few minutes
ago about quotes, relationships and Gino for sure, Sarah, when
he came on this show and was talking to you,
and he called when he called Page delusional, and you
could tell that was just the most respectful delusional anyone
(28:30):
has ever been called. But in his press conference after
the Elite eight, he was just talking with so much
admiration about her and talking not only about who she
is as a player in you know, his long Yukon history,
but about the amount of scrutiny that she has been under.
And I think that's something too, where these players are
under so much for pressure, there's so many more eyes
(28:52):
on them mm hmm.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
I want to talk about what these teams need to
do to win, and I'm going to start with UCLA
because for me, it is a simple, simple thing. Lauren
Betts period. That is what I have said all tournament long.
Find me someone that can go up against Lauren Betts,
and you can't, I'm sorry. She's six foot seven, She's
averaging twenty points a game on nearly sixty five percent
(29:16):
shooting from the field. She has amazing footwork, her passing
out of a double team is perfect. She is mobile,
she is consistent, she is tough, and she is an
impossible matchup for every team in the country. And I
(29:37):
think that that's it. Obviously, you need Kiki Rice to
have a better game than she did in the last one.
You need Keiki Rice to step up, and need the
rest of that team to be able to keep Yukon's
defense honest right, you can't let them send everybody at
Betts and have nobody else that goes off, because then
they'll be able to focus everything on the big problem
in the middle. If you could just get a couple
(29:58):
of your players to show up up in a way
that makes Yukon have to keep the floor spread on
defense and be respectful of inside outside. You've got a
really good shot to fear your CLA. I have trouble
seeing anyone beat them, if I'm being honest. The bracket
that I never actually filed but I did fill out
had UCLA winning. I'm not saying that's my prediction now,
(30:20):
But what do you think me? I mean, I think
UCLA's game plan, that's it. It's pretty simple.
Speaker 3 (30:25):
I think that's a big old chunk of it for sure.
I also agree Kekey Rice has to have a game.
She had eight assists in the last game, so that
was kind of overlooked. She only had eight points, So
continue to keep running the offense and keeping things connected
the way coach Close wants to, but also getting that
scoring column. The other player for me that when she
transferred to UCLA, I was expecting maybe some more numbers
(30:50):
out of her.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
Not that she hasn't had a good season. Janiah Barker.
Speaker 3 (30:54):
She came off the bench for UCLA against LSU had
six to rebounds, so you know, decent contribution. But she's
the kind of player who gets you fifteen and ten
h straight like that, and against Yu Kon, I think
she's got an opportunity here because a lot of their
attention and focus, as you said, is gonna be on
(31:16):
Lauren Betts. So if she can get off, she can
score some points, get some rebounds, make some shake for UCLA.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
I think that gives them a good shot.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
Yeah, And I think Gardner and Hawka is what we
talked about last after last game. Their ability to hit,
especially if you drop into a double team on Bets
and she kicks it out and they're waiting outside and
can hit that that changes everything. Hawkas in particular in
that last game against usc was a huge piece of
their success. To your point about Kiki Rice and her passing,
(31:44):
they shoot sixty nine percent, I want to say on
shots off of Kiki Rice assists, so she is setting
them up and she's putting them in good position. I
think that's third in the tournament for players with at
least twenty assists. So she's that Like to your point
about assists being not just being about the box score
of looking at her scoring, She's getting her teammates in
(32:04):
position to succeeds.
Speaker 3 (32:05):
She's also from the she and Kendall. We didn't talk
about this in the Vibe section, but put that down
as UCLA vibes as well, both of them out of
the dc DMV area.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
Yes, yes, okay.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
On Yukon's side, give it to Page and tell her
that it's on her to get it done.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
Listen there.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
I mean, Sarah Strong was huge in the last game,
and she is going to be a very tough matchup,
even for someone like Lauren Betts, who's got mobility and size.
I think Sarah Strong plays like a guard who's a
big so she will hopefully in this game be able
to still show off some really good skills inside even
with Betts lurking there looking for the block. Sarah Strong
(32:48):
both both sides of the floor, and I think Sarah
and al Alfie are going to have a big load
on their hands trying to probably double team and get
Bett's way, take some fouls, but not get into foul trouble.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
That'll be a big issue.
Speaker 1 (32:59):
I think you see it will try to send Bets
in and try to get the Bigs in foul trouble
on Yukon. But as great as Sarah Strong is, as
great as Asy Fudd can be, and you saw Page
kind of put her arms around her after that game
and say you good.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
You good, were all right, and she said you save
in all your shots.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
For the fun so funny, I said, no, Page, as
I said as Woody Paige yesterday, she could put play
dead for three quarters and they were fine.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
As an old man way of talking.
Speaker 1 (33:28):
But also the beauty of Gino's belief in her to
come out of a time out with that elevator play
two picks up top. She squeezes through and drains it
and it gets her back in her game. Like that's
coaching right there, and that's trust, and that's a relationship
of knowing what she can do if you believe. So
if easy Fudd is hot earlier and doesn't just have
(33:48):
a couple successful shots down the stretch, doesn't start oh
for eleven, which is I think what she was against USC,
that'll help too. But like I said, for me, the
difference is what Gino said in that sideline in her
with Holly Row, I tell Page all the time, stop
looking for other people, start looking for yourself, be a killer,
get after it. And that's the game where she ended
up having forty, and the second half she just goes
(34:09):
all right, I guess I'll start trying now and then
just destroys everything in her path. That's the game plan
for me.
Speaker 3 (34:15):
Yeah, I think again, another huge chunk of it. It's
gotta be page time. Asy is where my big red
circle is. Even if she doesn't hit the shots right.
She went three for fourteen in their last game, but
I think it was very important for her to take
every single shot that she took because to be a shooter,
sometimes you're gonna have lulls, but you have to be consistent.
You have to shoot yourself through it to your point.
(34:37):
She got hot at the end of that game, so
I'm hoping for her sake that it'll carry over.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
And frankly, she's due too, right.
Speaker 3 (34:45):
She also had knee injuries also was out, so that's
a redemption story and hopefully she can bring some of
that Maxia momentum with her. But the other player who
I'm gonna keep my eyes on Kaitlyn Chen. Kaitlyn Chen
against USC had Gino cheering more than I've seen him
cheer for any single player in a game ever. I mean,
he was fist pumping, He's screaming at his bench because
(35:07):
Caitlyn Chen, the Princeton transfer, former IVY League Player of
the Year, She's one of those players it's hard to
root against. She does all the little things. She's not
the fastest. We were talking about this the last time
we had a big centrist conversation. Right, she's not the
most athletic, but she's heady, she does what needs to
be done. She doesn't back down. And also something that
I think is important. Page is a great leader for
this team. But Caitlyn she stays right in the middle.
(35:29):
She's composed, and I haven't seen Gino blow up a lot,
at least not on camera, not when we were watching the.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
Game at home. But she's just a steady presence.
Speaker 3 (35:39):
And I think if she can get off UCLA's guards London, Jones, Keiky,
who we already talked about, they're gonna have to focus
on her. That again takes some people away who maybe
aren't gonna be able to double down or bring double
teams to Page, whatever the case may be, and open
up some more space for the Huskies. So she's another
player I got my eyes on. I think she plays
(35:59):
well well, she gives them a great chance.
Speaker 1 (36:01):
I think there's an argument sometimes for more kk Arnold
very different style of player than Chen, and so there
might be moments in this game where kk Arnold is
the call and that's the move because Chen is deliberate
and intentional and smart, and kk Arnold is explosive and
dramatic and fiery and very different energy. So it'll be
what Gino reads as this team needing in that moment.
(36:24):
You've got very different styles here. You've got a team
that plays through the post in UCLA but does have
some great shooters, and then you've got a team in
Yukon that spreads the floor. They've got players who are
sort of multi positional. You can sort of count Sarah
Strong as a guard at times in the way that
she can move and play on the outside. So if
you've got sort of a five guard situation out there
(36:46):
with Sarah Strong, as you're big, you're spreading the floor,
you're moving the ball throughout, You're looking for that weak
moment in the defense to attack, versus a sort of
inside outside, more traditional game from UCLA. So that'll be
a super fun to watch. I talked about vibes or storylines,
but like for me, I want Page to win it all.
I just listen. I'm not gonna be neutral. I'm not
(37:07):
gonna have journalistic integrity here.
Speaker 2 (37:09):
I'm not on the beat. This is my goddamn show.
Speaker 1 (37:12):
I can say what I want, and I want Paigebackers
to win a title before she graduates. It's normally not
that clear cut for me. As you guys know, in
women's sports, I'm always like, I.
Speaker 2 (37:20):
Want everyone to have a good time. I'm rooting for everyone.
Speaker 1 (37:22):
Nope, this time, Corey close and us toa. They got
more chances they do South Carolina, they had some, they'll
get more. Texas. Congratsivic Shaper and Matt you guys have time.
This is it for Page and I want her to
go out on top.
Speaker 3 (37:36):
Oh it's hard to argue with that. It's one of
those situations where you think about the legacy of a
player and the what if that would come with it
if they don't finish the job. And so for that reason,
I'm right there with you.
Speaker 1 (37:49):
I really want when the context is forgotten right now,
will be like, oh here's why, but like five ten
years from now, like oh, yeah, but she never won.
Speaker 2 (37:57):
You know what I mean. You could already hear, Oh
she's not one of the great she never was exactly exactly.
So for that reason, I want this for her. What's up?
Speaker 4 (38:04):
What about Kaitlyn Clark, she never won a national championship.
Speaker 3 (38:08):
I mean asked those questions.
Speaker 2 (38:11):
Depending on who you ask, it matters or it doesn't, right.
Speaker 4 (38:14):
The Brianna Stewart says it matters.
Speaker 3 (38:17):
Yeah, so I think the Hoopeds. I think the Hoopeds
think it matters for sure.
Speaker 1 (38:22):
Well listen, I also think Caitlyn Clark is a tremendous
player who did a ton for the game. But the
argument is she the greatest to ever play college basketball
is insane. The only people asking that question are people
who didn't watch college basketball. Yes, so No, Caitlyn Clark's
legacy in college and what she did is not based
(38:43):
on titles, especially because she went to Iowa and took
a program that hadn't been top notch for a while
back into contention and changed the entire landscape for women's
basketball as a player. No, she is not close to
the greatest collegiate player of all.
Speaker 3 (38:59):
And not to go too far down to this tangent,
but there's a separation between those two things, right, they
have to be separated. And I think that's where you
know a lot of folks who aren't asking that question.
Those folks forget what she did with the endorsements and
attention and all that has not Jack Squat to do
what happens.
Speaker 1 (39:15):
And you want to say most impactful, she is up there,
if not the biggest, although again you have to have
a whole ass bonfire built before the match has anything
to burn. So if you're not going to talk about
Cheryl Swoops and Maya More and Brianna Stewart and Diana
Tarassi and you know a million other players that came before,
your argument is in valid.
Speaker 2 (39:32):
Cheryl Miller right, the number.
Speaker 1 (39:35):
Of people that I'm seeing right now posting, I don't
know why everyone's talking about Page Becker.
Speaker 2 (39:39):
She's not as good as Caitlyn Clark or.
Speaker 1 (39:42):
I don't know why people talk about Brianna Stewart about
Oh maybe because she won four titles and player of
the tournament every single year in college.
Speaker 2 (39:49):
And listen, she's got teammates to help.
Speaker 1 (39:53):
She had a system around her at Yukon, and she
still had to win every single time and go to
four straight championships and win every single time and be
MVP every single time. And Diana Tarassi you want to
talk about, come, I can't. I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (40:07):
I'm getting the buff.
Speaker 1 (40:10):
And I'm a huge Klin Clerks fan, I'm like, what
are we what are you watching or clearly not watching?
Speaker 4 (40:17):
I mean it always comes back to the scarcity mindset
of women's sports and honestly women in general, where multiple
women aren't allowed to succeed in rice and lift each
other up.
Speaker 2 (40:28):
Only one room.
Speaker 1 (40:30):
At the table for one, as Abby Wambach says, if
there's not a seat at the table, pulling up a seat,
I'm building a new table, and that's what we are doing. Okay,
So my prediction, this is too hard. I not you
at my bracket. I picked your sailing my bracket. I
told you that before the tournament started. But from watching
(40:54):
these two teams in this tournament, Yukon looks so hard
to beat.
Speaker 2 (40:59):
But Lauren Bets is such a tough matchup.
Speaker 1 (41:03):
But I think if there's any coach that can figure
out how to scheme around Lauren Bets and get his
team to play the right defense, it's Ginito. Spit it out,
Spit it out, Okay, purely because I want to send
energy into the universe.
Speaker 2 (41:15):
I'm picking Yukon. See that wasn't so hard. It was
really hard. I'm literally gripping my chair. My hands are
white from gripping my chair.
Speaker 3 (41:24):
Oh well, this will make you feel better. I'm right
there with you. Yet again, I'm usually the contrarian, like
in my head, I'll try to build an argument against
but I really just this is what I alluded to
when we first started this portion of the conversation about
Yukon and UCLA. There's just the magic in the air
around this Connecticut team. I feel like it's undeniable. It's
(41:44):
a huge part of it. The basketball gods. I will
see when they actually hit the court, but it feels
like everything's leaning their way. And I think, again, this
is another situation where experience is important. Ucla has not
been to a Final four. Yukon has been here before
on this roster, have been there before, and frankly, when
it comes down to it, I just don't think Paige
(42:05):
is going to be denied.
Speaker 2 (42:06):
I'm Yukon.
Speaker 4 (42:07):
So given that all three of us are in agreement
and us this is how this is going to unveil.
We'll have South Carolina and Yukon in the final.
Speaker 2 (42:16):
Who's women Yukon, Yeah, Yukon. It's a husky year, all right.
Speaker 1 (42:22):
Sorry for jinxing you Page and company. The final is
on Sunday, three pm Eastern on ABC. We will be
so excited to chat all things Semis and Final next week.
But that's all you're getting from us today, just some
predictions sure to go wrong, but hopefully won't.
Speaker 2 (42:39):
We got to take a break.
Speaker 1 (42:40):
When we come back, a little Good Game Hall of Fame,
Yes and mashup, we'll be right back.
Speaker 2 (42:50):
Welcome back, slices.
Speaker 1 (42:51):
It's time for another entry into the Good Game Hall
of Fame, and it's also time for another edition of
yes and.
Speaker 2 (43:02):
Yep, both at once.
Speaker 1 (43:03):
Like two star studded teams meeting in the Final four,
these two powerhouse segments come together for an epic Good
Game haul of yes and Now. If you're a regular
watcher of women's soups or regular listener to this show,
you know the name Don Staley. She's been South Carolina's
head coach since O eight, has led him to three
national championships twenty seventeen, twenty two, and twenty four. She's
(43:23):
the only black basketball head coach with multiple national titles,
and she's a Nasmith Hall of Famer from her playing days. Now,
if you're really paying attention, you also already know about
Carolyn Peck She's a former player college and WNBA coach
turned ESPN analyst who's been calling games throughout this tournament.
Back in ninety nine, when she was at Purdue, Peck
became the first black woman to win a national championship
(43:45):
as a head coach. Now, how are these two connected? Well,
in a lot of ways, but in one beautiful way
in particular. We've known about the tie between them for years,
but we learned so many extra details in the lovely
piece Friend of the Show Jordan Robinson wrote for home
Field a couple of years go. We'll link to it
in our show notes, So here it is. Peck's first
coaching job was an assistant to the legendary Pat Summit
(44:07):
at Tennessee in nineteen ninety three. The team lost in
the championship in ninety five, and Peck moved on to
take an assistant position at Kentucky. In ninety six, Summit's
Lady Vols won the chip, and one of Peck's former
players gifted her a piece of the net. Now, if
you're not familiar, the tradition when you win a national
championship is that you get to cut down the net
on the basketball hoop and players and coaches e to
(44:29):
take a little piece of the net. So the player
gave Peck a little bit of that, and she cherished it.
She said she looked at it every day and even
tied it to the shoes she wore while coaching. Then,
in twenty fifteen, when Don Staley's game Cocks put together
their first thirty win season, Peck gave Staley a piece
of the net that she cut down after her ninety
nine championship win with Purdue, complete with a note that
(44:49):
read quote, you're on your way, keep this and when
you get your own, you can give it back end quote.
Staley repeated that cycle, cherishing the net she was given
until sc its first ever national title in twenty seventeen.
The victory made Staley the second black woman to win
a chip, eighteen years after Peck. Fast forward to November
of twenty twenty one, and Staley took the tradition to
(45:11):
a whole new level. She sent a piece of her
championship net to every single black woman head coach in
Division one hoops at the time, and she did as
she was instructed, returning Peck's piece of the net to
its original owner. When asked about the gesture, Staley told
the Washington Post quote, it's a tangible thing.
Speaker 2 (45:28):
And sometimes when you're going through.
Speaker 1 (45:30):
Things day to day and you don't feel like you
could see your way through it, that little nylon piece
of string, it rejuvenates you to continue, and it gives
you that reason to keep pushing end quote.
Speaker 2 (45:38):
And after Staley won.
Speaker 1 (45:39):
Her first title in twenty seventeen, Peck told The Undefeated,
now andscape quote, now that there's a one and a two,
there'll be a three, and the excitement that that gives
me is thrilling. I'm a true believer in the power
of the mirror. You have a motivation to become what
you see.
Speaker 2 (45:55):
End quote.
Speaker 1 (45:56):
So yes to the greatness and dominance of Don Staley
and her South Carolina teams. And we got to give
flowers to coach Carolyn Peck for being the first black
woman to win a national championship as a head coach. Plus,
let's welcome into the Good Game Hall of Fame both
of these amazing coaches and humans. This lore is an
incredible testament to the power of lifting while you climb
and has gon into something so much bigger than a
(46:18):
little nylon piece of string.
Speaker 2 (46:22):
Yes, and.
Speaker 1 (46:25):
We always love that you're listening slices, but we want
you to get in the game every day too, So
here's our good game play of the day.
Speaker 2 (46:30):
Do we even need to say it?
Speaker 1 (46:32):
Tune into the final four games tonight and you heard
our picks, which may or may not have been consistent
with what's in our brackets, but that's okay. Make sure
you know which squad's you're rocking with before the games
tip off.
Speaker 2 (46:43):
We love to hear from you.
Speaker 1 (46:44):
Hit us up on email good game at wondermedianetwork dot
com or leave a voicemail at eight seven two two
oh four fifty seventy, and don't forget to subscribe a
rate and review. It's easy watch Women's Sports Weekends rating
fifty out of fifty people. You are so super psyched
to see this weekend in Tampa is legit the kind
of magic that inspired the name of this show.
Speaker 2 (47:04):
Women's Sport is the.
Speaker 1 (47:06):
Good game, full of all the competition and excitement and
unpredictability that we love in sports, but shared with a kind, diverse, supportive, fun,
shit talking, but ultimately respectful community. And this weekend it's
gonna be just full of so many hugs and cheers
and laughs with my friends, new friends, old friends, work friends,
friends of friends that will become my friend. I just
(47:26):
I'm so excited. I love you women's sports. Let's party.
Now it's your turn, rate and review. Thanks for listening,
See you next week. Good game, Corey Booker, Good game,
Don and Carolyn. You having to make picks against teams
that we also really like. Good Game with Sarah Spain
is an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep
(47:48):
Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Production by Wonder Media Network, our producers are Alex Azie
and Misha Jones. Our executive producers are Christina Ever, Jesse Katz,
Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rutterer. Our editors are Emily Rutterer,
Britney Martinez and Grace Lynch. Our associate producer is Lucy
Jones and I'm your host Sarah Spain
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're in Tampa,
Florida with our nails painted Husky blue, gamecock garnet, UCLA gold,
and longhorns burnt orange.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
In preparation for the Final four games tonight. Does it
look crazy? Yes? But do I feel good about it? Also?
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Yes, It's Friday, April fourth, Happy Friday Slices. On today's show,
We're all about the hoops, no need to know, no news,
just Big Citrus getting you excited and prepped for the
final four games with our favorite storylines, what each team
needs to do to secure a dub, and of course we'll.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Make some sure to go wrong predictions.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Gotta take a quick break first that it's Page versus
Bets and Booker versus kits. Big Citrus previews the biggest
weekend of the college hoops season. Next welcome back Slices.
Like I said, I am in Tampa for a fun
weekend at the Final Four, including a live show with
(00:58):
Diana Tarassi and Sue Byrd thanks to Capital One. That'll
be on Saturday at Tourneytown at two pm if anyone
is at the Final Four, and you'll also get to
hear that episode on Monday if you don't catch it live. Now,
we got to get you ready for all the action
this weekend with a little big Citrus gab fest, including
some predictions for the national semifinals and the title game
on Sunday. And of course we'll wrap the whole weekend
(01:19):
of parties and events and shows and games and all
that good stuff when we're back next week after the
games are done. But now let's set the stage. Friday's
Semifinals seven pm Eastern. We've got number one Texas versus
Number one South Carolina on ESPN. Then at nine pm Eastern,
Number two Yukon versus Number one Ucla, also on ESPN.
(01:41):
Both those games are at Amelie Arena in Tampa, Florida.
I want to bring in Alex and Meish to chat
about these matchups and just in general chat about the
culmination of one of the best women's college hoops seasons ever.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
First, how we got here.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
I can think back to when the three of us
were prepping for how we were going to I covered
this season, talk about this season, what we were most
excited about, the parody the Superstars misch. Has it lived
up to our very high expectations?
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Absolutely? One thousand percent. You cannot be mad about the
season that we have witnessed. I think that makes me
especially happy because after last season, with all the drama
of the final four in the tournament and all the
hype around Kaylin Clark and Angel Reese, we know about
all that. A lot of folks were like, is it
gonna hit the same without them around? And I think
(02:29):
the answer is absolutely resoundingly yes.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
What about you, Alex, Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
I think back to just five years ago and I
would get so mad reading news coverage in March because
I always would call it my internal red pen. I
would be like men's, men's, men's, you know, like just
so much ignorance around the women's tournament.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
And I finally finally.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
Feel like it has broken through and there is an
expectation that news outlets are covering it, and so I
think I've just been trying to embrace that. And I
have to tell y'all funny story. So Tuesday evening, I
had to run a couple of errands and Sarah, I
was kind of bumped because it meant I was going
to miss you on around the horn. So for slices
(03:13):
that aren't aware, you have to go back and watch,
oh watch.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Sarah was the horn, predicting the.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Costume as Woody Page, a seventy five year old man.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
It's Woody Page. Am I on the show today? Check
the schedule? I'm on the show? Why do I? Is that?
Speaker 1 (03:30):
So? My poor husband has seen me dressed as any
number of men all the time. It's like, how come
you never dress like a hot woman? I'm like, sorry, babe,
not my wheelhouse.
Speaker 4 (03:40):
So I walk in, though I have to run some errands,
and so I walk into our local general store and
I kid you not, this place has everything, but it's
also the size of a shoe box. And I walk
in and I hear just like over the lad speaker,
like Olivia Miles enters the transfer portal and I'm like,
women's sports, what where? And I'm like, is this one
of I heart updates? And then I'm like, Sarah's usually
(04:02):
a little bit more even keel in her iHeart updates.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
This sounds like an.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
Angry Woody Page And sure enough, and so granted it
was you, so like it's not that big of a coincidence,
but just that spirit is like that's March madness for
me now, and I love it.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
Yeah, the idea that you could walk into a store
and have a national show on ESPN be talking about
Olivia Miles and all that stuff and have it be.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
It turns out it was me. Again.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Every time you keep hearing things in your stores or
in places that you don't expect them, it is me.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
But that's also nice.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
I'm really establishing myself as the voice in your head
at all times, even when you're not working.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
What a delight for you, Alex.
Speaker 4 (04:43):
It's honestly pretty sad given how much I hear your
voice that I don't immediately put it together.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
That's what I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Yeah, I mean I was also attempting to do a
woody page, but I honestly just sounded mostly like a
really bad Bernie Sanders impression the whole time. That's funny
that you say that, though, because first of all, I
internal redpen.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
I mean that should be like my nickname for life.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
I literally just think walking around like that could be
done better, or like that's there shouldn't be.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
An apostrophe there, Like I just do that all the time.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
But I have been doing that of late too, and
I've been especially noticing in the positive direction where I
see a headline say men's or I see a story
say men's when it used to always just say NCAA
basketball tournament, and then it would say women's if it
was talking women's.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
But now it's saying men's too, So I do love that.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
And I think as far as the expectations for this year,
one thing I will say, and I'll have to say
this carefully because I don't want to get away from
talking about intersectional issues in women's sports. I think that's important,
it matters, and I care about it. And also I
was really delighted that this season was about basketball and
it felt almost like Caitlin and Angel crawled so that
(05:53):
these players could walk without having to face the garbage
every single second. And I don't know if that's because
Pagebackers is a very unique kind of white women's basketball.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Player because of her background.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
I don't know if that's because now we have this
superstar cadra of women that are black, white, all races
right as opposed to last year when they tried to
make it one versus the other, when it's like Paige
and Juju, you know, there's multiple stars to talk about
where it doesn't feel like it's all centered on one person,
and then everyone is that person's rival or someone to
compare them to. I've certainly heard people comparing Paige to Caitlin.
(06:30):
I've certainly heard people saying Juju hasn't had the draw
of Caitlin last year, but it just hasn't felt as
fraut this year, and I hope that that just means
it going forward, we could keep it this way.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
But that's been nice.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Yeah, I totally get where you're coming from with that,
and I think I understand what you're saying about Caitlin
and Angel crawling so that these folks could run. And
even during the WNBA season, I didn't hear as much. Still,
besides the typical folks who've been around women's basketball forever,
I didn't hear enough about what they were doing on
the court. And I think the thing that's spectacular about
(07:02):
this season is not only are we talking more about
what's happening on the court, but like we're talking about
with this question, it's living up to expectations. Juju, until
she got hurt, was doing miraculous things. Page has had
an excellen season. Hannah Hidalgo Olivia, all of these players
have all individually lived up to the hype as well,
and that's you know what I mean, That only lends
(07:23):
itself to us having real basketball analytical conversations. So as
a hoop nerd, I'm right there with.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
You, and it proves the point we've been saying with
this show since the very beginning, which is you just
have to give people enough information to be able to
have better conversations, and then they care more and then
they watch games on and on it goes. Before it
was literally like if Caitlin Clark opened a little door
for a lot of people to start watching. They didn't
have any context to talk about Madison Booker in Texas.
(07:50):
They didn't really understand what Hannah and Juju had done
as freshman. It was a lot of just oh, women
are playing basketball. Wow, it's physical.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
They're mean to each other like the dumbest shit.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
And now it's like, Okay, I built on a year
of learning about some of the teams and names, and
now I can actually talk about the basketball.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Not me personally, but the people were.
Speaker 4 (08:11):
Talking about I think also credit to Juju's team. You know,
she's just a sophomore, but she has so much going
on around her. Right with this docu series and all
of these other kind of business endeavors that she is
involved with, and so I think she has almost she
has created ahead of time before she became a huge,
(08:31):
huge name, a narrative around her and some of the
infrastructure that for too long in the space, the players
were only reaching that point and getting that kind of
media infrastructure around them, And so I think she's helped
set the narrative to in terms of who she is
as a player and a person.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
And shout out to some brands who saw it when
she was still in high school, because they're part of
the reason that they were able, you know, to start
to put that together. She started get invested in as
a future star, and it allowed her to create that infrastructure.
But you're totally right, it's when she reaches her moment
people already like, oh, I kind of knew this was
coming or know a little bit about her. The excitement
for this weekend is I just have to say, like
(09:12):
I mentioned this right at the beginning of when the
show started, but I just want to repeat it, like
I spent thirteen years basically almost always in men's sports
spaces and then around espnW and my efforts to work
in the women's sports space. I would get these little
reprieves a couple weeks every year where I would drop
in to women's sports events, women's conferences. I would be
in my meetings with all my w people, and I
(09:32):
would just have this like feeling of like these are
my people, right, And then I would go back into
the men's sports spaces, and sometimes they were very fun
and very cool, and there were awesome people there, and
a lot of times they had a lot of bro
energy and it was swimming upstream to try to get
them to talk about women's sports and to care about
the things that I wanted to care about. And so
now it's been like two years or so of really
being just stripped down to the stuff I care about
(09:55):
and wanting to work in the women's space, and events
like the Final Four, like this one are like like
the pinnacle of the joy of being in this space.
My texts are just full of all the people coming
to Tampa. What's this event? Like my friends that are
running events, like, oh, this is my vision. So it's
gonna be a rooftop and we're gonna get to make
friendship bracelets and then we're gonna have like basketballs and
(10:16):
we're gonna and it's like all this feminine times masculine energy,
all this sharing of all the things we care about
it once instead of feeling like bifurcated and separated. It's
not like a men's event where it's like and then
here's a little thing for women over here that has
like sparkles and bullshit. It's like, here's your whole person.
For me, at least, my whole person is like talk shit,
(10:37):
drink a beer, make a friendship bracelet, and talk about
Taylor Swift. Like it's like all the things at once,
And so many people that go to these events are
like that too, so for me, like it's just another
reminder of the beauty of the space of women's sports.
And I think it's gonna be just the best weekend
of all my favorite people and people who buy into
all this stuff just like being so excited.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
That's what it's That's what it was always supposed to be,
which is the crazy part, right, it was always supposed
to be this. I remember going to a Final four
I want to say it was twenty fourteen, twenty fifteen
when it was in Nashville, and I went with my
parents and it was just amazing on its own right,
But that compared to what we experienced at WNBA All Star,
(11:21):
which is what I'm comparing. You know, hopefully the final
four feels that same way. It's a totally different level,
Like you're saying, it's a totally different level, and they're.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Catering to us, right, they're catering to us.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
It's not yeah, we care about you, but we're also
trying to get all these brands and no, they're here, No,
everybody's here, and we're just here to have a good time.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Yeah, it's what it's supposed to be.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
The investment has changed, the parties, the activations, the people,
the size of the event, the halftime entertainment, Like all.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
That really is gonna be performing? Are you kidding? Man?
Speaker 1 (11:54):
Yeah, it's just it's gonna be a ton of fun.
And it's it's the value it has earned, it deserves,
and the value that it needs for other people to
believe it's something that people who aren't on board yet,
you have to show them that something matters and that
you care about and you've invested it if you expect
them to invest in We talk about this all the
time with like why aren't women watching women's sports?
Speaker 2 (12:15):
You know why aren't you?
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Because when we have the opportunity to go to a
men's game that you've put a bunch of money and
has a ton of entertainment and everybody's there and everyone's
talking about it, we're this thing over here that doesn't
have a lot of money and not that many people
know about or care about. We're going to pick this
one unless you know we're our die hard and until
you start to give us the value that we know
that it deserves, it's going to be harder to pull
people over there. And we're seeing that change out, which
(12:38):
is just freaking awesome. Okay, let's break down these semi
final games because.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
I don't even know.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
I'm like so excited and so nervous and so confused
at the same time. Because you could not get me
to put a significant sum of money on either of
these games, I have a feeling, I feel like I
have a pick, But none of these games are going
to be a blowout. In my opinion, these are going
to be real time. Let's start with Texas versus South Carolina.
Texas for me, wins if they can make it their
(13:12):
tempo and their style of play. It's what they've been
able to do throughout the tournament. Low scoring games, defensive
minded games where you kind of get into lulled into
submission into playing their style. And then they have such
effective offensive players, particularly Madison Booker. I mean we saw
with Kylo Oldacre in the last game, the ability to
(13:32):
pull off some stuff as bigs that you might not expect,
and then their defense just slowing you down, getting you
in the muck and keeping you from doing what you
want to do. For me, that's the key for Texas
South Carolina. It's not as strong as the team as
they've had in recent years. It doesn't stand out to
you as like big and scary like Don Staley's teams
often have of late. But part of their issue and
(13:55):
what makes them scary is that they have multiple people
who can be too and if they're all on, you're fucked.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
Yeah, right, South Carolina to me feels like a team
of adults, you know, like real No, I don't really
feel like kids, Like they feel like people that know
how to handle the pressure and trust each other. And
you looked at on Staley and I think that's the
reason why, right this is their fifth straight final four appearance.
I think I almost want to make a joke like
is South Carolina bad for women's basketball?
Speaker 2 (14:20):
Maybe?
Speaker 4 (14:22):
But it was so Bundy, Like Sanaia Fagan was asked
after the Elite a like, hey, fourth Final four in
four years, like is this what you expected when you
signed on? And she was like yep, yeah, it's like
a great answer. I love it, you know, And and
Don has said that, like she has literally said, this
is not one of my better teams. She knows that
they have a lot of weaknesses, but I think it's
(14:42):
that kind of experience and that trust under pressure, like
they're not a team that gets flummixed easily.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
Yeah, and that's shown right the last few games they've
played have not been blow up. They have had to
go down to the wire with Duke and then go
like it hasn't just been a for them.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
I agree.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
It makes it really hard to call uh Sarah because
you just don't know where it's gonna come from. And
that also begs the question like what if it doesn't
come who is gonna step.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Up and be that go to person?
Speaker 3 (15:12):
So for me, that's the one thing that scares me
about South Carolina in that game. But if they can
get like ten from three different people and crash the
boards like they do, play the defense that we're used
to seeing them play.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
I think they can walk away with this one. But
for Texas, if they.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
Want to get this job done, Rory Harmon is gonna
do what Rory Harmon did against against TCU, right, She's
gonna have to step up, especially if they end up
in an offensive law because South Carolina does play that defense.
Rory Harmon, the point guard, is gonna have to go
get those paint points, pull up jumpers, all that good stuff.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
I also think this has.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
To be the Madison Booker twenty five plus game. I
really do, because South Carolina's guards, they're relentless defensively, They're
gonna get what they want in the post with Chloe Kids,
Joyce Edwards, all those folks down low. But if Texas
and Vic Shafer want to walk away with this, they
have to play their normal Texas defense, hard nose pressure.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
But Maddie has to go off.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
She has to take over and away, and she's so
hard to guard because she plays a forward, but she
can be a guard. I can't do any when Matt
when Harmon was out, she essentially ran the point. So
you've got Bree Hall and Raven Johnson probably gonna be
tasked with guarding her.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
Tessa Johnson off the bench will take some of that
as well.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
And I like two of those three matchups for Maddie.
Hall is the best matchup for her to me, I think,
so those other two she got to eat.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
I will say, though, yeah, because you mentioned Bree Haul
in that SEC tournament game, she held her to zero
points until late in the second quarter, like she did
not look like herself. Maddie, I think, to your point,
needs to be super aggressive off the top, and it's
kind of like what we've seen with Page, Like every
once in a while she goes all right, I guess
it's on me now, and then she just scores like
(16:56):
eleven y points in a row.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
Like Madison Booker.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Has to decide that that's who she is and that's
the position she's in this game. She'll get help from others,
they'll find theirs, but she needs to approach it with this.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Is my game. I gotta go big. I want to talk.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
Vibes in this one. I mean, first of all, Don
Staley is a queen. I mean, find someone with something
bad to say about her not only as a leader,
as a coach, as a person in this business, in
this industry that is changing things for everyone that follows her,
but also just like vibes, just everything about her makes
you understand why players want to win for her. Vick
(17:31):
Schaeffer is a completely different dude, and yet there is
something so special and sweet and sincere about him. Some
of the quotes that he had after that last win,
we're so moving, he said, I'm not these players' lives,
but their mine, like these.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Players are my life.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
And the way he talked about what it means to
him for them to get so close so many years
in a row, and then to make it to see
Harmon come back from a major in and fight, to
see Maddy Booker, who he's known since before she was
even a college player, be more and even better than
what was expected of her.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
I don't know. There's like a really.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
Special bond between Vic Schaeffer and his players that's been
really sweet to watch.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
Yeah, And if you were to ask me to pick
a favorite based on the vibes I'm getting from them,
I couldn't. I couldn't because I what a thousand percent
be behind both of these stories ending the right way.
So yeah, it's it's hard to choose based on that.
But like you're saying, two people who when you look
at all time the greats in this game coaching, they're
(18:39):
top ten, top fifteen, right maybe even top five depending
on who you ask.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
And we're really lucky right.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
Now to be able to see not just them, but
also Corey Close, Guino Oriama do what they do best
right now.
Speaker 4 (18:51):
Yeah, whenever I think about what makes a good coach,
I think about the role that honesty plays into it,
and the idea that critical honesty can be respectful, it
can be a gift, it can be an act of love,
you know. I interviewed Malaysia full Wiley back in November
of twenty twenty three. It was right after she had
(19:11):
made her collegiate debut kind of set everything on fire
in that game in Paris, and I asked her about,
you know, playing for this coach literally from her hometown.
She grew up in Columbia, and she was just so
honest about how Don Staley was open with her of
you need to improve your practice habits. What you are
doing is not enough right now. But it was clear
(19:31):
that Malaysia just had such respect and reverence and knew
that that criticism was coming from a place of wanting
her to do her best. And I think so often
when we have conversations about coaches right, and coaches will
express right, like the NIL.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Era has changed things.
Speaker 4 (19:46):
This generation of players need to be coddled more. And
yet also there are coaches who are able to both
be harsh and critical and also simultaneously show respect for
their players. And to me, that's kind of what Don
Stalely represents.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
Completely agree, and that's so important with this younger generation,
like we're hearing it more and more. How do they
take criticism, how do they learn through adversity?
Speaker 2 (20:08):
How do they not just give up?
Speaker 1 (20:10):
And so much of that is the deft touch of
a coach who can make them want to do.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
Right by them.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
It's less about like I don't want them to be
angry with me. It's more about I don't want them
to be disappointed in me. I just want to live
up to their expectations for me. A couple more things
about this before we move on. I do think it's
worth noting that Texas lasts in the country in three
point rate and when they played South Carolina In March,
they went one of eight from Beyond the Arc, and
I think South Carolina is really going to try to
(20:37):
keep them honest there and pack the paint, make things
tough for Madison Booker and the bigs and say try
to beat us with the three. So if they can
get off early from Beyond the Arc, that will potentially
force South Carolina to play I'm honest out there, and
it will give them more space for their expert players
inside to work. But if they start out and they struggle,
(20:57):
it's going to make it a lot easier for South
Carolina to play the game that they want. The other
thing I will say too, is you've got a team
in South Carolina that I think has had more ups
and downs in this tournament because they haven't really.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Been fully on like they've won.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
But this hasn't been a team beating the breaks off
people where it just feels like they're in sync. So
is it their due kind of situation, like, oh, we're
going to see them click into place, or has what
we've seen so far been indicative of what we're going
to keep seeing that they're just not quite ready to
put it all together at once. If they do put
it all together once, it's going to be a problem.
And you've got a Texas team that maybe hasn't faced
(21:36):
enough adversity yet.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
TCU gave them a fight, but when they've been.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
Able to put it their best players on the court
and do work, it's been their style of play their game.
So if they get behind a chunk, can they fight
their way back? Especially with their style, this is a
team that keeps it low scoring, keeps it defensive. Will
they be able to push the pace, change the tempo
and get enough points to catch up if they get behind.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
That's a tough one, right, And not to make it
about William and Mary, but I think that first game
in the first round against William and Mary exposed some
things because they stayed with them for like the whole
half and it was exactly what you're saying.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
They weren't hitting from three.
Speaker 3 (22:19):
We've seen it multiple times throughout the duration of this tournament,
so it's a valid question. I do think Kylo Oldacre
could be an X factor, right because the last game
she played against TCU, she only had nine points, but
that was five more than Adona Prince had. She played
good defense on the interior, she showed a lot more emotion, right.
I think at this time of the year, it's not
just about what the x's and o's are. It's also
(22:42):
about momentum. It's also about getting that energy, and I
think she gave them a lot of that. So if
she can get going, even if it's for another five
to nine or ten points, I think that would be
huge as well.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
I think your point about Kyla Oldacre also worth noting.
When you have a big like that that you maybe
want to sag off of. There was a big play
in that last game against where they were sagging. They
didn't even step up to guard her at the top
of the paint.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
She drilled it. Yep. Another play later she makes.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
Almost like the equivalent of a football pick six, a
big man touchdown, right, Like, you don't expect her to
steal it and go the length of the court and finish.
When she makes plays like that, your defense changes. It
doesn't matter if it's just one or two buckets. You
step up on her. Now you don't sag back, and
that leaves more space for Madison Booker and others to work.
So it will be big for them to get a
couple of those players in early. Okay, So these two
(23:29):
teams have met three times this season before the game
Cocks lead the series two games to one. They won
the SEC Tournament championship just three weeks ago.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
Pretty handily nineteen yep.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
So I'll start with my prediction, and like I said,
I do not think that either of these games will
be blowouts. I think South Carolina wins this one. I
wouldn't be surprised if Texas one. I could see the
path to do it. But I think Don Staley her
experience in these games exactly, the amount of players that
(24:02):
she can go to if one is not getting it done,
and the ways that Texas will have to try to
defend each of those players who have a different skill
set to bring, is the difference in this one.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
Agreed.
Speaker 3 (24:13):
I think not just Don's experience, but also the experience
of the players on the floor. Right, this is a
South Carolina scene that's got kids who have been in
situations like excuse me, I say kids, because we're still
calling them Don's daycare over.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
Here, okay, right, but Alex is calling them grown and sexy.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
All right now?
Speaker 1 (24:33):
Oh no, okay, she's not actually calling them that. I
just love when people say that they want their theme
for something to be adult, and then there was no Okay,
grown and sexy.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
I go, what, No, that's so much worse. But yeah,
I think that, uh, that's going to be the difference.
The experience of the players on the floor. Texas has
some experienced players who've been in the tournament but not
to a final four. Remember, this is their first final
four in program history since two oh three. It's a
long time and matters to play on this stage before
(25:02):
you have another chance to try to go get a
national championship.
Speaker 1 (25:05):
All right, that's two for South Carolina. Two cocks. What
do you got, Alex?
Speaker 2 (25:08):
Make it three cocks?
Speaker 4 (25:09):
Baby.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
I cannot stay you both.
Speaker 4 (25:14):
I cannot either of you.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
All Right, you have to drink now, yeah, we do
all we all have to drink because we said Cox.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
I'm say Jack, thank you for bringing that up, Alex.
I need to remember that and make sure I have
a non alcoholic beverage near me when I interview Sue
and DT because we're back again with another weekend that
has another.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
Weekend full of cocks.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
And we all know from Sue and Diana's live show
that they have a drinking game that they play during
their live sidecast, and when every time they say cos
Diana and Sue have to take a drink, and I
might be I might be hammered on Saturday Afternoon's all
I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
If I don't bring a big glass of water, we.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
Have to take a quick break stick around. Okay, let's
talk this second game, nine pm Easter. We got number
two Yukon versus number one UCLA. This I'm worried about
literally surviving one say, for a number of reasons. Number one,
(26:15):
because I'm just a huge Pagebackers fan.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
She has been through so much in her career.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
To be here, to be healthy, to be performing at
the level she is is already a frickin' gift. I
just want her to get all the way through the
tournament healthy and keep playing her best basketball and have
this a moment to shine.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
You know, we talked about this.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
She was Player of the Year as a freshman and
has had a number of high points since, but it
just hasn't been the path that you wish for a
player as talented as her. So this season and this
tournament has just been a really, really big blessing. On
the other hand, I love coach Corey close, and I
just love this program. And I think because of the
(26:56):
men's side and John Wooden, it's always been this like,
oh yeah, Ucla, there are always in the mix. They're
a basketball powerhouse, and on the women's side that hasn't
been the case.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
But it feels like it should be.
Speaker 1 (27:05):
It just has always felt like, let's catch UCLA up
on the women's side to what we expect of them,
and so making their first ever final for Corey close
like leading this team in a way and getting people
to see it as a new destination in the women's game. Oh,
it's just like pulling at my heartstrings. I think this
matchup it's.
Speaker 3 (27:23):
Definitely given me the feels I think entertainment value wise.
And when I say entertainment value, I really mean offense
because I love seeing the ball with theft.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
A lot of other people love defense. Hey I am
who I am?
Speaker 3 (27:33):
Okay in terms of that, this is going to be
the more fun matchup for me personally, So I like
it because of that, But also I'm right there with you.
It feels like with UCLA's program specifically, I've been waiting
for their women's team to get on that same level
as you know, the men had been on and then Yukon.
Like you said, it's not just Page, I feel like
having a renaissance.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
It's that entire program.
Speaker 3 (27:54):
Not that they've necessarily been bad recently for Yukon standards,
but you know, they haven't one chip since twenty sixteen,
and something out there. We'll get to prediction to a second,
but something out there is giving me husky very much.
Speaker 4 (28:07):
Yeah, I think even circling back on what we were
saying before, Oh, circling back. I hate the office in
the podcast, but what we were saying a few minutes
ago about quotes, relationships and Gino for sure, Sarah, when
he came on this show and was talking to you,
and he called when he called Page delusional, and you
could tell that was just the most respectful delusional anyone
(28:30):
has ever been called. But in his press conference after
the Elite eight, he was just talking with so much
admiration about her and talking not only about who she
is as a player in you know, his long Yukon history,
but about the amount of scrutiny that she has been under.
And I think that's something too, where these players are
under so much for pressure, there's so many more eyes
(28:52):
on them mm hmm.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
I want to talk about what these teams need to
do to win, and I'm going to start with UCLA
because for me, it is a simple, simple thing. Lauren
Betts period. That is what I have said all tournament long.
Find me someone that can go up against Lauren Betts,
and you can't, I'm sorry. She's six foot seven, She's
averaging twenty points a game on nearly sixty five percent
(29:16):
shooting from the field. She has amazing footwork, her passing
out of a double team is perfect. She is mobile,
she is consistent, she is tough, and she is an
impossible matchup for every team in the country. And I
(29:37):
think that that's it. Obviously, you need Kiki Rice to
have a better game than she did in the last one.
You need Keiki Rice to step up, and need the
rest of that team to be able to keep Yukon's
defense honest right, you can't let them send everybody at
Betts and have nobody else that goes off, because then
they'll be able to focus everything on the big problem
in the middle. If you could just get a couple
(29:58):
of your players to show up up in a way
that makes Yukon have to keep the floor spread on
defense and be respectful of inside outside. You've got a
really good shot to fear your CLA. I have trouble
seeing anyone beat them, if I'm being honest. The bracket
that I never actually filed but I did fill out
had UCLA winning. I'm not saying that's my prediction now,
(30:20):
But what do you think me? I mean, I think
UCLA's game plan, that's it. It's pretty simple.
Speaker 3 (30:25):
I think that's a big old chunk of it for sure.
I also agree Kekey Rice has to have a game.
She had eight assists in the last game, so that
was kind of overlooked. She only had eight points, So
continue to keep running the offense and keeping things connected
the way coach Close wants to, but also getting that
scoring column. The other player for me that when she
transferred to UCLA, I was expecting maybe some more numbers
(30:50):
out of her.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
Not that she hasn't had a good season. Janiah Barker.
Speaker 3 (30:54):
She came off the bench for UCLA against LSU had
six to rebounds, so you know, decent contribution. But she's
the kind of player who gets you fifteen and ten
h straight like that, and against Yu Kon, I think
she's got an opportunity here because a lot of their
attention and focus, as you said, is gonna be on
(31:16):
Lauren Betts. So if she can get off, she can
score some points, get some rebounds, make some shake for UCLA.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
I think that gives them a good shot.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
Yeah, And I think Gardner and Hawka is what we
talked about last after last game. Their ability to hit,
especially if you drop into a double team on Bets
and she kicks it out and they're waiting outside and
can hit that that changes everything. Hawkas in particular in
that last game against usc was a huge piece of
their success. To your point about Kiki Rice and her passing,
(31:44):
they shoot sixty nine percent, I want to say on
shots off of Kiki Rice assists, so she is setting
them up and she's putting them in good position. I
think that's third in the tournament for players with at
least twenty assists. So she's that Like to your point
about assists being not just being about the box score
of looking at her scoring, She's getting her teammates in
(32:04):
position to succeeds.
Speaker 3 (32:05):
She's also from the she and Kendall. We didn't talk
about this in the Vibe section, but put that down
as UCLA vibes as well, both of them out of
the dc DMV area.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
Yes, yes, okay.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
On Yukon's side, give it to Page and tell her
that it's on her to get it done.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
Listen there.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
I mean, Sarah Strong was huge in the last game,
and she is going to be a very tough matchup,
even for someone like Lauren Betts, who's got mobility and size.
I think Sarah Strong plays like a guard who's a
big so she will hopefully in this game be able
to still show off some really good skills inside even
with Betts lurking there looking for the block. Sarah Strong
(32:48):
both both sides of the floor, and I think Sarah
and al Alfie are going to have a big load
on their hands trying to probably double team and get
Bett's way, take some fouls, but not get into foul trouble.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
That'll be a big issue.
Speaker 1 (32:59):
I think you see it will try to send Bets
in and try to get the Bigs in foul trouble
on Yukon. But as great as Sarah Strong is, as
great as Asy Fudd can be, and you saw Page
kind of put her arms around her after that game
and say you good.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
You good, were all right, and she said you save
in all your shots.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
For the fun so funny, I said, no, Page, as
I said as Woody Paige yesterday, she could put play
dead for three quarters and they were fine.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
As an old man way of talking.
Speaker 1 (33:28):
But also the beauty of Gino's belief in her to
come out of a time out with that elevator play
two picks up top. She squeezes through and drains it
and it gets her back in her game. Like that's
coaching right there, and that's trust, and that's a relationship
of knowing what she can do if you believe. So
if easy Fudd is hot earlier and doesn't just have
(33:48):
a couple successful shots down the stretch, doesn't start oh
for eleven, which is I think what she was against USC,
that'll help too. But like I said, for me, the
difference is what Gino said in that sideline in her
with Holly Row, I tell Page all the time, stop
looking for other people, start looking for yourself, be a killer,
get after it. And that's the game where she ended
up having forty, and the second half she just goes
(34:09):
all right, I guess I'll start trying now and then
just destroys everything in her path. That's the game plan
for me.
Speaker 3 (34:15):
Yeah, I think again, another huge chunk of it. It's
gotta be page time. Asy is where my big red
circle is. Even if she doesn't hit the shots right.
She went three for fourteen in their last game, but
I think it was very important for her to take
every single shot that she took because to be a shooter,
sometimes you're gonna have lulls, but you have to be consistent.
You have to shoot yourself through it to your point.
(34:37):
She got hot at the end of that game, so
I'm hoping for her sake that it'll carry over.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
And frankly, she's due too, right.
Speaker 3 (34:45):
She also had knee injuries also was out, so that's
a redemption story and hopefully she can bring some of
that Maxia momentum with her. But the other player who
I'm gonna keep my eyes on Kaitlyn Chen. Kaitlyn Chen
against USC had Gino cheering more than I've seen him
cheer for any single player in a game ever. I mean,
he was fist pumping, He's screaming at his bench because
(35:07):
Caitlyn Chen, the Princeton transfer, former IVY League Player of
the Year, She's one of those players it's hard to
root against. She does all the little things. She's not
the fastest. We were talking about this the last time
we had a big centrist conversation. Right, she's not the
most athletic, but she's heady, she does what needs to
be done. She doesn't back down. And also something that
I think is important. Page is a great leader for
this team. But Caitlyn she stays right in the middle.
(35:29):
She's composed, and I haven't seen Gino blow up a lot,
at least not on camera, not when we were watching the.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
Game at home. But she's just a steady presence.
Speaker 3 (35:39):
And I think if she can get off UCLA's guards London, Jones, Keiky,
who we already talked about, they're gonna have to focus
on her. That again takes some people away who maybe
aren't gonna be able to double down or bring double
teams to Page, whatever the case may be, and open
up some more space for the Huskies. So she's another
player I got my eyes on. I think she plays
(35:59):
well well, she gives them a great chance.
Speaker 1 (36:01):
I think there's an argument sometimes for more kk Arnold
very different style of player than Chen, and so there
might be moments in this game where kk Arnold is
the call and that's the move because Chen is deliberate
and intentional and smart, and kk Arnold is explosive and
dramatic and fiery and very different energy. So it'll be
what Gino reads as this team needing in that moment.
(36:24):
You've got very different styles here. You've got a team
that plays through the post in UCLA but does have
some great shooters, and then you've got a team in
Yukon that spreads the floor. They've got players who are
sort of multi positional. You can sort of count Sarah
Strong as a guard at times in the way that
she can move and play on the outside. So if
you've got sort of a five guard situation out there
(36:46):
with Sarah Strong, as you're big, you're spreading the floor,
you're moving the ball throughout, You're looking for that weak
moment in the defense to attack, versus a sort of
inside outside, more traditional game from UCLA. So that'll be
a super fun to watch. I talked about vibes or storylines,
but like for me, I want Page to win it all.
I just listen. I'm not gonna be neutral. I'm not
(37:07):
gonna have journalistic integrity here.
Speaker 2 (37:09):
I'm not on the beat. This is my goddamn show.
Speaker 1 (37:12):
I can say what I want, and I want Paigebackers
to win a title before she graduates. It's normally not
that clear cut for me. As you guys know, in
women's sports, I'm always like, I.
Speaker 2 (37:20):
Want everyone to have a good time. I'm rooting for everyone.
Speaker 1 (37:22):
Nope, this time, Corey close and us toa. They got
more chances they do South Carolina, they had some, they'll
get more. Texas. Congratsivic Shaper and Matt you guys have time.
This is it for Page and I want her to
go out on top.
Speaker 3 (37:36):
Oh it's hard to argue with that. It's one of
those situations where you think about the legacy of a
player and the what if that would come with it
if they don't finish the job. And so for that reason,
I'm right there with you.
Speaker 1 (37:49):
I really want when the context is forgotten right now,
will be like, oh here's why, but like five ten
years from now, like oh, yeah, but she never won.
Speaker 2 (37:57):
You know what I mean. You could already hear, Oh
she's not one of the great she never was exactly exactly.
So for that reason, I want this for her. What's up?
Speaker 4 (38:04):
What about Kaitlyn Clark, she never won a national championship.
Speaker 3 (38:08):
I mean asked those questions.
Speaker 2 (38:11):
Depending on who you ask, it matters or it doesn't, right.
Speaker 4 (38:14):
The Brianna Stewart says it matters.
Speaker 3 (38:17):
Yeah, so I think the Hoopeds. I think the Hoopeds
think it matters for sure.
Speaker 1 (38:22):
Well listen, I also think Caitlyn Clark is a tremendous
player who did a ton for the game. But the
argument is she the greatest to ever play college basketball
is insane. The only people asking that question are people
who didn't watch college basketball. Yes, so No, Caitlyn Clark's
legacy in college and what she did is not based
(38:43):
on titles, especially because she went to Iowa and took
a program that hadn't been top notch for a while
back into contention and changed the entire landscape for women's
basketball as a player. No, she is not close to
the greatest collegiate player of all.
Speaker 3 (38:59):
And not to go too far down to this tangent,
but there's a separation between those two things, right, they
have to be separated. And I think that's where you
know a lot of folks who aren't asking that question.
Those folks forget what she did with the endorsements and
attention and all that has not Jack Squat to do
what happens.
Speaker 1 (39:15):
And you want to say most impactful, she is up there,
if not the biggest, although again you have to have
a whole ass bonfire built before the match has anything
to burn. So if you're not going to talk about
Cheryl Swoops and Maya More and Brianna Stewart and Diana
Tarassi and you know a million other players that came before,
your argument is in valid.
Speaker 2 (39:32):
Cheryl Miller right, the number.
Speaker 1 (39:35):
Of people that I'm seeing right now posting, I don't
know why everyone's talking about Page Becker.
Speaker 2 (39:39):
She's not as good as Caitlyn Clark or.
Speaker 1 (39:42):
I don't know why people talk about Brianna Stewart about
Oh maybe because she won four titles and player of
the tournament every single year in college.
Speaker 2 (39:49):
And listen, she's got teammates to help.
Speaker 1 (39:53):
She had a system around her at Yukon, and she
still had to win every single time and go to
four straight championships and win every single time and be
MVP every single time. And Diana Tarassi you want to
talk about, come, I can't. I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (40:07):
I'm getting the buff.
Speaker 1 (40:10):
And I'm a huge Klin Clerks fan, I'm like, what
are we what are you watching or clearly not watching?
Speaker 4 (40:17):
I mean it always comes back to the scarcity mindset
of women's sports and honestly women in general, where multiple
women aren't allowed to succeed in rice and lift each
other up.
Speaker 2 (40:28):
Only one room.
Speaker 1 (40:30):
At the table for one, as Abby Wambach says, if
there's not a seat at the table, pulling up a seat,
I'm building a new table, and that's what we are doing. Okay,
So my prediction, this is too hard. I not you
at my bracket. I picked your sailing my bracket. I
told you that before the tournament started. But from watching
(40:54):
these two teams in this tournament, Yukon looks so hard
to beat.
Speaker 2 (40:59):
But Lauren Bets is such a tough matchup.
Speaker 1 (41:03):
But I think if there's any coach that can figure
out how to scheme around Lauren Bets and get his
team to play the right defense, it's Ginito. Spit it out,
Spit it out, Okay, purely because I want to send
energy into the universe.
Speaker 2 (41:15):
I'm picking Yukon. See that wasn't so hard. It was
really hard. I'm literally gripping my chair. My hands are
white from gripping my chair.
Speaker 3 (41:24):
Oh well, this will make you feel better. I'm right
there with you. Yet again, I'm usually the contrarian, like
in my head, I'll try to build an argument against
but I really just this is what I alluded to
when we first started this portion of the conversation about
Yukon and UCLA. There's just the magic in the air
around this Connecticut team. I feel like it's undeniable. It's
(41:44):
a huge part of it. The basketball gods. I will
see when they actually hit the court, but it feels
like everything's leaning their way. And I think, again, this
is another situation where experience is important. Ucla has not
been to a Final four. Yukon has been here before
on this roster, have been there before, and frankly, when
it comes down to it, I just don't think Paige
(42:05):
is going to be denied.
Speaker 2 (42:06):
I'm Yukon.
Speaker 4 (42:07):
So given that all three of us are in agreement
and us this is how this is going to unveil.
We'll have South Carolina and Yukon in the final.
Speaker 2 (42:16):
Who's women Yukon, Yeah, Yukon. It's a husky year, all right.
Speaker 1 (42:22):
Sorry for jinxing you Page and company. The final is
on Sunday, three pm Eastern on ABC. We will be
so excited to chat all things Semis and Final next week.
But that's all you're getting from us today, just some
predictions sure to go wrong, but hopefully won't.
Speaker 2 (42:39):
We got to take a break.
Speaker 1 (42:40):
When we come back, a little Good Game Hall of Fame,
Yes and mashup, we'll be right back.
Speaker 2 (42:50):
Welcome back, slices.
Speaker 1 (42:51):
It's time for another entry into the Good Game Hall
of Fame, and it's also time for another edition of
yes and.
Speaker 2 (43:02):
Yep, both at once.
Speaker 1 (43:03):
Like two star studded teams meeting in the Final four,
these two powerhouse segments come together for an epic Good
Game haul of yes and Now. If you're a regular
watcher of women's soups or regular listener to this show,
you know the name Don Staley. She's been South Carolina's
head coach since O eight, has led him to three
national championships twenty seventeen, twenty two, and twenty four. She's
(43:23):
the only black basketball head coach with multiple national titles,
and she's a Nasmith Hall of Famer from her playing days. Now,
if you're really paying attention, you also already know about
Carolyn Peck She's a former player college and WNBA coach
turned ESPN analyst who's been calling games throughout this tournament.
Back in ninety nine, when she was at Purdue, Peck
became the first black woman to win a national championship
(43:45):
as a head coach. Now, how are these two connected? Well,
in a lot of ways, but in one beautiful way
in particular. We've known about the tie between them for years,
but we learned so many extra details in the lovely
piece Friend of the Show Jordan Robinson wrote for home
Field a couple of years go. We'll link to it
in our show notes, So here it is. Peck's first
coaching job was an assistant to the legendary Pat Summit
(44:07):
at Tennessee in nineteen ninety three. The team lost in
the championship in ninety five, and Peck moved on to
take an assistant position at Kentucky. In ninety six, Summit's
Lady Vols won the chip, and one of Peck's former
players gifted her a piece of the net. Now, if
you're not familiar, the tradition when you win a national
championship is that you get to cut down the net
on the basketball hoop and players and coaches e to
(44:29):
take a little piece of the net. So the player
gave Peck a little bit of that, and she cherished it.
She said she looked at it every day and even
tied it to the shoes she wore while coaching. Then,
in twenty fifteen, when Don Staley's game Cocks put together
their first thirty win season, Peck gave Staley a piece
of the net that she cut down after her ninety
nine championship win with Purdue, complete with a note that
(44:49):
read quote, you're on your way, keep this and when
you get your own, you can give it back end quote.
Staley repeated that cycle, cherishing the net she was given
until sc its first ever national title in twenty seventeen.
The victory made Staley the second black woman to win
a chip, eighteen years after Peck. Fast forward to November
of twenty twenty one, and Staley took the tradition to
(45:11):
a whole new level. She sent a piece of her
championship net to every single black woman head coach in
Division one hoops at the time, and she did as
she was instructed, returning Peck's piece of the net to
its original owner. When asked about the gesture, Staley told
the Washington Post quote, it's a tangible thing.
Speaker 2 (45:28):
And sometimes when you're going through.
Speaker 1 (45:30):
Things day to day and you don't feel like you
could see your way through it, that little nylon piece
of string, it rejuvenates you to continue, and it gives
you that reason to keep pushing end quote.
Speaker 2 (45:38):
And after Staley won.
Speaker 1 (45:39):
Her first title in twenty seventeen, Peck told The Undefeated,
now andscape quote, now that there's a one and a two,
there'll be a three, and the excitement that that gives
me is thrilling. I'm a true believer in the power
of the mirror. You have a motivation to become what
you see.
Speaker 2 (45:55):
End quote.
Speaker 1 (45:56):
So yes to the greatness and dominance of Don Staley
and her South Carolina teams. And we got to give
flowers to coach Carolyn Peck for being the first black
woman to win a national championship as a head coach. Plus,
let's welcome into the Good Game Hall of Fame both
of these amazing coaches and humans. This lore is an
incredible testament to the power of lifting while you climb
and has gon into something so much bigger than a
(46:18):
little nylon piece of string.
Speaker 2 (46:22):
Yes, and.
Speaker 1 (46:25):
We always love that you're listening slices, but we want
you to get in the game every day too, So
here's our good game play of the day.
Speaker 2 (46:30):
Do we even need to say it?
Speaker 1 (46:32):
Tune into the final four games tonight and you heard
our picks, which may or may not have been consistent
with what's in our brackets, but that's okay. Make sure
you know which squad's you're rocking with before the games
tip off.
Speaker 2 (46:43):
We love to hear from you.
Speaker 1 (46:44):
Hit us up on email good game at wondermedianetwork dot
com or leave a voicemail at eight seven two two
oh four fifty seventy, and don't forget to subscribe a
rate and review. It's easy watch Women's Sports Weekends rating
fifty out of fifty people. You are so super psyched
to see this weekend in Tampa is legit the kind
of magic that inspired the name of this show.
Speaker 2 (47:04):
Women's Sport is the.
Speaker 1 (47:06):
Good game, full of all the competition and excitement and
unpredictability that we love in sports, but shared with a kind, diverse, supportive, fun,
shit talking, but ultimately respectful community. And this weekend it's
gonna be just full of so many hugs and cheers
and laughs with my friends, new friends, old friends, work friends,
friends of friends that will become my friend. I just
(47:26):
I'm so excited. I love you women's sports. Let's party.
Now it's your turn, rate and review. Thanks for listening,
See you next week. Good game, Corey Booker, Good game,
Don and Carolyn. You having to make picks against teams
that we also really like. Good Game with Sarah Spain
is an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep
(47:48):
Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Production by Wonder Media Network, our producers are Alex Azie
and Misha Jones. Our executive producers are Christina Ever, Jesse Katz,
Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rutterer. Our editors are Emily Rutterer,
Britney Martinez and Grace Lynch. Our associate producer is Lucy
Jones and I'm your host Sarah Spain
Host
Sarah Spain
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