April 3, 2026 • 36 mins
Big Citrus jumps on the show for a quick check-in before this weekend’s big college hoops match-ups. With just four teams remaining in the tournament Sarah, Alex and Bianca bravely, boldly put their final title predictions on the record for all to hear — no take-backs! Then, get extra fired up for tonight’s big games by taking a walk down memory lane with Dawn Staley, Sarah Strong, Rori Harmon and some other friends of the show — all of whom just happen to be competing this weekend in Phoenix! Plus, Sabrina Ionescu and Breanna Stewart stay put, a Strong showing pays off, and a fan favorite must weather the Storm once again.
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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 not
not gonna stalk Alona mar in Phoenix this weekend. It's Friday,
April third, and on today's show, Big Citrus jumps on
to do a quick pre Final Four check in and bravely,
boldly put our final predictions on the record for all
to hear, no takebacks. Then we get extra fired up
for tonight's big games by taking a walk down memory
(00:21):
Lane with some friends of the show, all of whom
just happened to be competing this weekend in Phoenix, plus
Sabin Stewey Stay put, a strong showing pays off, and
a fan favorite must weather the storm once again. It's
all coming up right after this welcome back slices. Happy Friday.
(00:46):
Here's what you need to know today, starting with college
basketball and the Final Four in Phoenix. Start your night
with the NCAA Women's Final Four Special that's at six
pm Eastern on ESPN. Then semi final action begins at
seven pm Eastern with number one South Carolina and number
one Yukon face it off. Then at nine thirty pm Eastern,
(01:06):
number one Texas and number one UCLA go head to head.
You can catch both those games on ESPN, and for
those of you in Phoenix, just a reminder, I'll be
doing a live show tomorrow with Sue Bird and Diana Tarassi.
That's one pm Eastern at Tourneytown, presented by Capitol One,
and it's free, so check out the Tourneytown website for
all the details. On Sunday, It's the Championship game Coverage
(01:27):
starts at two thirty pm Eastern on ABC with the
NCAA Women's Championship Special, an hour long preview show to
get you ready for the game. Then at three thirty Eastern,
the National Championship tips off. In addition to the main
game broadcasts, ESPN will also offer court side at the
Women's Final Four altcasts both Friday on ESPN two and
Sunday on ESPN, featuring ESPN talent Jess Sims, rugby star
(01:50):
Alon Omar, The stud Buds, Natisha Heideman and Courtney Williams,
WNBA MVP Chelsea Gray, and ESPN content creator Katie Feeney.
There's plenty more coming from us on this weekend's matchups
later in the show. More college basketball news ahead of
the weekend's festivities. Yukon Sophomore and Friend of the Show.
Sarah Strong was named Naysmith College Player of the Year,
(02:12):
an award given annually to honor the best player in
the country, voted on by coaches, administrators, and members of
the media. Meanwhile, Notre Dame's Hanna Hidalgo was named the
Naysmith Defensive Player of the Year, making her the first
player in fighting Irish history to earn the honor. And
Friend of the Show Vanderbilt Shay Ralph was named Naysmith
Coach of the Year. Even more college hoops, on Thursday,
(02:32):
i Was State center Audie Crooks announced she does plan
to enter the transfer portal. In a post on Instagram,
Crooks thanked everyone who supported her journey with the Cyclones
before writing quote, I still believe the grass is greener
where you water it, and I've done that here. It's
why i want you to hear from me directly that
I've decided to enter the portal and explore what it
means to take root again in new ground. End quote.
(02:54):
Iowa State has seen a mass exodus of players since
their season ended in the first round of the Ncaatorney,
With nine players in addition to Crooks, that's ten total
on a team of thirteen announcing their plans to enter
the transfer portal. Personally, we kind of want to see
a documentary of what happened at Iowa State this year.
They started the season in the top fifteen when their
first fourteen games, and then lost five in a row,
(03:17):
finishing the regular season with a twenty two to ten record.
Crooks was a force throughout the season when healthy, averaging
twenty five point eight points per game, second in the
nation behind only michaelab Blakes of Vanderbilt and more hoops.
It's not just a wild weekend in college ball, it's
also going to be a busy weekend in the WNBA,
as the league's expansion draft is this afternoon, beginning at
(03:37):
three thirty pm Eastern on ESPN. The draft will kickstart
the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fires roster building processes, as
both expansion franchises will have the opportunity to select unprotected
players from the league's existing thirteen teams. Now, the concept
of an expansion draft is always confusing, but especially so
this season given that free agency hasn't yet started and
(03:58):
most veteran players in the w aren't currently signed to teams.
So here's how it'll work. Each of the league's thirteen
current teams were allowed to protect a maximum of five
players based on player lists on the final day of
the twenty twenty five season. They had to turn in
those lists of protective players by March twenty ninth, but
unfortunately they aren't expected to be made public. Ahead of
the Expansion Draft. Teams were able to make trades in
(04:20):
exchange for draft protection, and the Chicago Sky did just that,
receiving protection and the Expansion Draft from both the Tempo
and the Fire in exchange for picks in the college Draft.
This guy's number seventeen pick is headed to Portland, their
number twenty six pick will go to Toronto, and neither
team will select any of their players more WNBA. With
free agency set to get underway in the next few days,
(04:41):
Brianna Stewart and Sabrina and Escou have both declared their
loyalty to the New York Liberty. The thirty one year
old Stewart announced on her podcast game Recognized Game with
Stuwie and Miles quote, I'm not planning on taking any
free agency meetings even though I am an unrestricted free agent.
I'm going to be back in New York, and that's
all there is to it. End quote time, the twenty
eight year old Unescu told reporters at USA Basketball training
(05:03):
camp on Wednesday. Quote Obviously I'm where I'm supposed to be,
never thought anything different, and so excited to be able
to sign and get started. It's coming up really quickly.
So excited to get all this behind us and just
be able to start our season and get going in
New York. End quote. Both players were integral to the
Liberty winning its first title in twenty twenty four, So
no doubt fans and Big Ellie are breathing a sigh
(05:25):
of relief. They'll be back more WNBA And some heartbreaking
news for the Seattlestorms. Nico Mule. The twenty four year
old underwent surgery for a tornycl on Tuesday, and we'll
miss her second straight WNBA season because of a knee injury.
The former Yukon standout tore her right ACL playing for
Croatia in a March eleven EuroBasket qualifying game. Last year,
(05:45):
she tore her left ACL while playing for Turkish club
beseekd Us in the Poeba Super Cup. We're sending Nika
our best to the PWHL, where on Wednesday night, the
Montreal Victoire became the second team to clinch a postseason birth,
joined the already clinched Boston Fleet with three to zero
win over the Vancouver Goldeneyes. Victoire are in action again tonight,
a seven pm contest with the Ottawa Charge, who are
(06:06):
coming off a two to one loss to the Toronto
Scepters on Wednesday. Also on Wednesday, Sarah Phillia's overtime taally
not only gave her New York Sirens a big four
to three win over the Minnesota Frost, it also finished
off a hat trick for the former Rookie of the Year.
Phillya and the Sirens will be part of the biggest
game of the weekend tomorrow, a Takeover Tour matchup with
the Seattle torrent at Madison Square Garden. That's an eight
(06:27):
pm Eastern puck drop. The sold out game is expected
to set a new US attendance record for a professional
women's hockey game, and the way those records are falling,
you might want to write it in pencil, not penn
to the NWSL. After back to back to back games
for a number of teams players got this week off
to rest and you know, practice, But it's time to
(06:48):
lace up those boots again, starting tonight with a matchup
between Boston Legacy FC and the San Diego Wave at
seven pm Eastern. Then it's Orlando Pride versus Angel City
FC at eight eastern LA, looking to extend their undefeated
three and zero start to the year. Any of y'all
get got by the Pride's April Fools post about Marta
playing in her final game tonight, by the way sheepishly
(07:08):
raises hand, but only for a quick second, and then
I remembered what day it was. Also tonight, we've got
the Houston Dash versus Racing Louisville at eight thirty Eastern,
and at nine eastern, Utah Royals FC played the Chicago
Color Neutral Stars. There are three more games on Saturday,
and on Sunday night, BFC plays the Washington Spirit at
five pm Eastern. We'll link to the full schedule in
(07:28):
the show notes, and we'll be keeping an extra close
eye on Racing Louisville, the Washington Spirit, and the Boston
Legacy as all three clubs are still looking for that
first win of the season. More soccer The rumor mill
was churning on Thursday as Australian National News reported that
Austin national Sam Kerr was leaving Chelsea for the NWSL
expansion team Denver Summitt FC at the end of the
(07:50):
Women's Super League season in England. Word of the reported
signings spread fast, but so did a screenshot allegedly from
kerr snapchat where she denies the move, writing quote, don't
don't believe everything you read in the media, man, They
know a decision before me end quote. That's not a no.
We're keeping this one in the rumor files for now,
but we'll follow up if more news comes out. We're
(08:12):
also thinking back a couple of years when Chelsea released
a video on social media suggesting Kerr was leaving the club,
only for it to be revealed as a prank twenty
minutes later. But also we already saw Chelsea's standouts Katerina
Macario leave for San Diego and Girl Writon depart for Gotham.
So sometimes where there's smoke, there is fire. We got
(08:33):
to take a quick break when we come back. Are
unanimous picks from Big Citrus about to jinx your favorite team,
Stick around and find out welcome back, Slices. It's been
a while since we had a little, big citrus hang,
and what better time than now as we're heading into
(08:54):
a massive weekend of college basketball and where we should
surely be putting our picks on the record in advance
so no one can equivocate come Monday claiming that what
they really meant, or what they thought they said or
what they had put down was something different. So Alex Bianca,
welcome in. Hey, Hello, I'm bummed y'all won't be with
me out in Phoenix, but I'm super excited for all
(09:15):
the different parties and activations and events and brunches and
lunches and my live show with Sue Bird and Dinah
Tarassi one pm at Tourney Town on Saturday for anyone
who's gonna be in the Phoenix area. And of course,
if you spot me wandering around in the desert, number one,
see if I've been drinking enough water. Number two, do
not comment and help pay aliam, I haven't seen the
(09:36):
sun in like eight months. And number three say hi,
maybe I have some good game pins left over from
the Olympics. Maybe I got some I'm a slice stickers.
You never know what I might have in my bag.
So if you are a Slice and you spot me,
please feel free to come say hey, all right, you
two will not be out there in Phoenix, but we
do need to get all three of our picks on
(09:56):
the record.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Now, Sarah, is this a one pick situation or do
we get two chances at it?
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Like a bracket challenge? Well, this is not a bracket challenge.
This is you standing with integrity. Particularly since there's only
four teams left. The idea of like or or it
could go the other way is not going to fly.
So how you feel it heading into the games this weekend?
Speaker 2 (10:16):
Okay, so first off, my bracket, my loan bracket is
completely busted. And I have to say I'm getting some
real bad flashbacks because I don't know if you guys
have seen, but on ESPN site where we did the
bracket challenge, there's like a setting where you can go
in and like see your brackets chance of winning, and
it reminds me of like the New York Times needle
from the presidential election, where it's like zero percent chance,
(10:37):
and I'm like, this is bad.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
I've never seen that. I've never seen that little feature.
I've never really dug deep on it once, I like,
am out, I'm like, I'm that never happened. I'm not
participating anymore, but thankfully still in, still in.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
You know what's interesting, though, is I picked Ukon to
win it. I also picked the four number one seats
to make it, But at this point, if I were
to fill it out, I think I would actually pick
Texas to win it. And so that's what I want
to put on the record here today. Well thing, Yeah,
my guess is that Yukon and Texas are going to
meet in the championship game with Texas winning it.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
OOO spicy now, Okay, there's also part of me that
may be saying that because so many people picked Yukon
to win it, that my chances might be more than
zero percent if I had picked Texas, you know, like
having that.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Yeah, but like a rewritten bracket, it's not how you
make your picks, now, Alex, just stick with what your
gut's telling you and stand on two feet ten toes
down on that Texas pick. Okay, Bianka, how about you.
Speaker 4 (11:34):
I'm going to sound like a broken record, but I
also would love to see a Texas Yukon final with
Texas winning and just thinking about Texas winning brings me
so much joy, Like if I can picture five SIGs
Roy Harmon hoisting that trophy, that would that would be
enough for me. I don't need any other stat to
(11:56):
go to plan. That would be the stat or the
image that was burned in my mind for this season.
So I would love to see that. But I also
really appreciated what Ryan Ruco said on our show earlier
this week talking about Don Staley and how her getting
to the final four this year with this team deserves
(12:16):
its flowers. That is an accomplishment that I think I
subconsciously and unfortunately was thinking, well, of course they're in.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
The final four. S's Staley at South Carolina.
Speaker 4 (12:27):
And I really appreciated him and other people, you know,
pointing out, No, this is an accomplishment, and I'm excited
to see what.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
They can do. Do I think they're going to get
to the finals.
Speaker 4 (12:38):
No, I'm happy to be proven wrong as long as
Texas is also there.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
But yeah, I think it's going to be you con
Texas at the end. So what you're saying is just
do you hate Ucla?
Speaker 4 (12:49):
Which, wow, which is tough because as a tall I
like Ucla.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
I'm rooting for Ucla.
Speaker 4 (12:56):
But as a basketball fan, who would I want to win?
Speaker 1 (13:01):
Not this year? Not Ucla? Interesting so gosh, I am
also really wondering if UCLA can take out Texas. No,
this is I've got the final four in all the
number one seats. I've got Yukon winning it. I still
feel confident in that, but I am not so certain
about my pick of UCLA over Texas.
Speaker 5 (13:22):
Now.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
Ucla look like world beaters all season long. They are
so big, they are so tough to match up with.
And yet the way that texas Is defense has made
it almost impossible for teams to inbound the ball so
much as set up a half court offense. The way
Texas uses that defense to fuel their offense, I'm now
wondering if those matchups aren't quite as necessary. Like Madison
(13:45):
Booker can get big and also play the point. We've
seen that. She literally was their point guard when Roy
Harmon was at with the knee injury. So she is
a versatile player who can use her size when necessary,
which she will need to do against UCLA. You've got KYLEO.
Oldacre who gets big in there. You've got enough bigs
on Texas that it will not be dumping into Lauren
Betts or bring in Siena Bets as well and just
(14:07):
outbody them, out big them. And so because of that
difference of defensive intensity that we've seen from the Longhorns,
I am now picking Texas to get past Ucla, which
is wild. I just can't quite go far enough to
have them defeating Yukon. Now, both of these teams are deep,
and the big thing that separates I think this final
four set of teams compared to previous seasons is that
(14:29):
every single one of them is pretty deep. See a
little less so they need to rely on a couple
more people to really do well. But you can go
down the bench for a couple. But Yukon to me
is the one where Okay, we're gonna focus all of
our energy and keeping the ball out of Sarah's Strong's hands. Okay, fine,
easy fund, we'll shoot it from anywhere. Okay, fine, we'll
focus on easy fud tool make sure she can't get
the ball. Okay, fine, Well, then we'll just have like
(14:51):
some player that no one even recognized was going to
be a superstar yet, a freshman who's been playing pro
for years and years before she even arrived in stores, Connecticut. Yes,
Blanca Canona is the one that you all had written
down as leading this team heading into the final four weekend.
Like they are unfair. They are so fundamentally sound, And
I will tell you that, as excited as I am
(15:13):
for Texas and UCLA, and I feel bad that we're
all kind of like, yeah, Si, get out of here.
But I think that's kind of how we all feel
about I am very excited for Texas UCLA, and I
am extremely excited if it gets to be Texas Yukon
the defensive intensity, the senior situation of Rory Harmon trying
to win her first title, Asy Fudd trying to get
it without you know, Pagebeckers leading the way, all of
(15:34):
this coming together. I'm very torn. I'm such a huge
Asy fan. And by the way, fud around and find
out one of the wonderful many shows on this I
hurt Women's Sports Network, So we do want to shout
that out. But also Rory Harmon coming on the show,
just the relationship she has with their coach, the relationship
that whole team has with coach Vick Schaeffer. I'm just
picturing them winning and it's bringing me a lot of
(15:56):
Joy too, So now I'm torn.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
Well, I think one of the takeaways ILE have looking
at these four teams is we've had all four of
these coaches on our show at some point, and they
seem like really great coaches, and they seem like coaches
that have so much respect for their players, which should
be a given. But I would be happy for any
of them to help lead their teams to this title too.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
Yeah, and I think it matters a lot to see
the kind of respect they have for each other. We even,
I think mentioned on this show that Vic Shaeffer called
out his team, said they were soft, and they responded
that wasn't a coach who had lost his players because
he publicly challenged them. That was a coach who knew
in that moment, this is what I'm going to need
to do for us to take that next step, for
(16:40):
us to get to the level that we need to be.
I'm going to need them to think of this as
a dire situation. What we heard happened after that was
Rory Harmon stepping even more into her senior leadership and
Madison Booker, despite her age, saying Okay, we're all going
to show up. We're holding each other accountable from here
on out. And I remember talking to Rory and you'll
hear it in today's show how excited she was heading
into this tournament because of how they're playing, And that
(17:02):
came from that Vic Schaeffer moment of like, I know,
I have a team who can handle this criticism.
Speaker 4 (17:08):
Yeah, And you don't get that response to that kind
of criticism without hours and weeks and months and in
some cases years of support and a different kind of criticism.
A trust, Yeah, a trust that has been built over
a long time. So that's you know, we sometimes see
or we hear about these very specific cases of criticism.
(17:31):
Good to keep in mind that there are many seasons
worth of trust building that have happened that allow those
conversations to result in possibly championship winning teams.
Speaker 6 (17:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
And I think we also talk a lot about how
coaches are having to finesse the way they interact with
the younger generations of players, and some people simplify that as, oh,
they can't take the heat, they can't be criticized, they
don't like adversity, you know, that kind of thing. And
I think instead what it is is how do you
prove to players that the anger is warranted or in
service of something. How do you prove to players that
you're in control of your response and you're selecting an
(18:06):
intentional about the way that you show up for them
when you are angry or critical or tough on them,
as opposed to you're just out of control, right, And
for a long time it was just coaches out of
control being like, oh, you're not tough enough. And the
players are now saying, okay, like why are you saying this?
When are you saying this? How are you using this
to motivate me? And it's making the best coaches elevate?
And I want to remind people of that too, because
(18:29):
I do think sometimes especially with women's sports, people get
a little too in their field feels about a coach
yelling or about a coach being hard on the players.
And this is sports, and there are players who need
that motivation and they need it from someone that they trust,
from someone they know is invested in them and their success.
And so it's been really fun to watch different iterations
of that, you know, across this tournament for sure, right
(18:51):
y'all picks are in see if you can remember what
we said. We did a lot of maybe this, maybe that,
but I think Alex and Bianco went for Texas over
Yukon in the final, and I said, I believe it
will be Yukon over Texas in the final. So I
guess you, Ceil in South Carolina fans, get your dried
and moldy fruit ready to throw at us on Monday
(19:13):
if none of us respected your teams enough, which I mean,
you know, this is a big citrus conversation. So I
guess throwing dried and old fruit at us is the
appropriate response to our failings. Alex, biank anything else you're
we watching for this weekend.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
Something that I'm excited about and hopeful about is what
changes we're going to see in the WNBA in a
few weeks, which will result in us getting to see
a lot of these players for even longer, because this
happens every single year, where these players are incredible in
the final four, all the way through the NCAA tournament,
they get drafted by a team, and then the rosters
(19:49):
are so small that they get cut. But with the
addition of two new teams this year, plus the three
developmental player spots, which are for athletes kind of in
their first three years out of college. I'm just really
excited to see some of these players for a lot longer.
Speaker 4 (20:06):
And when you say that not gonna lie, I immediately
get excited to see the draft night outfits.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
I'm like, what are they gonna wear? Because last year
was good? And you know what, Alex, that also made
me think of that I have not thought to look
up yet, and I need to get into. Is age
eligibility changes. It's something we talked about in advance of
this new CBA, and I haven't looked into whether or
not they proposed it and it was rejected. I certainly
think we would have heard about it if it was
(20:34):
a part of the new CBA. If they had changed
the rules. You no longer have to be twenty two
in order to play in the WNBA and announce yourself
for the draft. So I'm wondering whether at any point
the players pushed for that and it was rejected, or
if everyone agrees that this is still the best practice.
We'll dig into that in a future show. But I
love that Alex and I agree. I just feel like,
(20:55):
especially with some of these super seniors that are leaving
school now that we've been watching for four, five, five years,
it'll be fun to see more of them get to
stick around and play here in our domestic league. All right, y'all,
enjoy the cold and the wind. I'm going to go
outside and get back in the sun. I hate that
enjoy We got to take another break moment return. Maybe
the real championship is the friends we made along the way.
(21:25):
Welcome back Slices. While watching each of the number one
seeds punch their ticket to this weekend's final four, we
started thinking about how many friends of the show we'll
be taking the court in Phoenix. In the last year
and a half, Yukon's Gina Oriema, Azy Fudd and most recently,
Sarah Strong and kk Arnold have all made appearances on
our show. UCLA coach Corey Close has joined me twice
(21:46):
last year with Keky Rice and then again this season
with Angela Dougalic. Texas coach Vick Schaeffer and stars Madison
Booker and Rory Harmon are all friends of the show,
and South Carolina coach Don Staley joined me last fall
for a fantastic, wide ranging conversation. We've been thinking back
on those conversations ahead of this weekend's final four and
thought we'd bring you a couple excerpts ahead of tonight's games.
(22:06):
First up, it's yukon Sarah Strong and KK Arnold from
just a few weeks ago. The dynamic duel hyped up
each other's defensive prowess. Take a listen. I want to
talk about defense because we've got two lockdown defenders here.
Sarah tell me about KK on that side of the ball.
Speaker 7 (22:24):
Yeah, I mean I would hate to be guarded by KK.
She's just so like on you, like she's everywhere, like
she's he's in your grill, but she's not the same time,
Like it's like it's it's suffocating. Like that's like that's
a good word.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
I don't know.
Speaker 7 (22:39):
She's so good at it, Like I don't know how
she just guards me what She's always running around, She's
so quick. It's just really crazy to watch a lot
of fun watching her KK.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
According to Defensive Writing Statistics, Sarah is having the best
defensive season of any player since at least two thousand
and nine. What do you see from her as a defender?
Speaker 5 (22:56):
Sarah's like a sneaky defender, like you won't know, like
where she's coming from, are like what she's about to do,
Whether that's a black Shaw is still for coast to
coast layup, Like she's just so sneaky and she like
reads the ball really well, and that's something about like
nobody really knows, like she knows how the ball is
going next play and just goes close to coast like
I said, But yeah, she's a great defender. I learned
(23:17):
a lot from her as well, how to just anticipate
a pass or anything like that.
Speaker 8 (23:21):
So thanks Sarah, Sarah KK and the rest of Yukon
are hoping to shut down tonight LATS and Joyce Edwards
and the game Cocks tonight speaking to South Carolina.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
Let's flash back to my conversation with head coach John
Staley from September of last year, just before the season
tipped off. I was curious how she was preparing for
the season given the roster changes in the off season.
Take a listen, how similar or different does it feel
this year in terms of talent and style from last
year's team? Another great run, but a different look this year.
Speaker 9 (23:55):
Different look I mean saying talently, Lego, I think we're
I think we're pretty talented. Think we also have a
team that we haven't been together, you know, as a
as a unit very long, meaning we got our entire
team together in August when we return to school. That
(24:15):
was the first time that we were together, like all
eleven of us. So because of that, we're probably a
little bit behind, but we more than make up for
it because there's a certain cohesion with this team.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
There's a certain thirst for.
Speaker 9 (24:33):
Actually coaching, which is really an anomaly in this day
and age where where everybody wants to be a star,
everybody wants where do I fit in? Everybody wants to ball,
everybody wants to be the focal point, and this particular
team just wants to win. They want they want to
get better individually and they want to win.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
And when you have.
Speaker 9 (24:59):
That kind of perspective, if it's a lot easier on coaches.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
Yeah, for sure. You've got returning folks, Joy said words
Raven Johnson, Chloe Kats, Tessa Johnson, who are trying to
turn the page after that loss at the end of
last season, but coming off more success. And then you've
got Tanaya Latson who led all of Division One in
scoring last season, had over twenty five points per game.
How are you taking the new talent mixing it in
(25:23):
with the old talent and making sure everyone is equally
as hungry to get a title.
Speaker 9 (25:28):
Everybody's coming really just wanting to win and wanting to
get better. Tanaya, Danaya just wants to get better. And
you know, I had to say this to our media
today and that it's it's Florida State did everything they
could do to put Tanaya in this position, and they
needed her to play that role of having to score
(25:48):
a lot of points and playmake for them, and we
need her to do the same things. But also just
watching her play over the years, and I you know,
I watched her play and when it got close to
tournament times, just a kid as we got matched up
with them. She's gifted. She can score the basketball. Tanaya
came here probably for a different look, for different probably
(26:11):
a responsibility, but also to put her in a position
where she can learn some things to be a better
pro and a change of just just a change of
environment will help to do that, you know. But I
feel a responsibility to help her become her better passer,
to counter the fact that she can score points and
(26:33):
score points and bunches to help her to be more
accurate from shooting outside the three. And then probably the
last part of it is we need her to continue
to do what she's doing with place of defense, like
really e locked in defense because because she's going to
a world where you, it has to exist. Both worlds
(26:53):
have to exist and when you go to the next level,
because you could be the greatest score, but if you're
giving up as many or more points than your scoring,
then you got a problem.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
Latson has been a big part of the game Cock
success during this tournament run. We'll see what she can
do against Yukonton tonight. Next up, let's hear from Texas
point guard Rory Harmon, who joined us just a few
weeks ago. I asked how she was feeling about playing
in the final NCAA tournament of her storied college career.
You're a fifth year senior, You're about to embark on
(27:29):
one last tourney ride. What's the predominant emotion right now? Nervous? Excited?
Are you sad? It's almost over.
Speaker 6 (27:36):
With the way that we played in our last game,
I'm excited, Like there's I can't really get too tied
up in like emotions of it being like the last ride,
because then you start making everything more than it needs
to be, so I'm really just being like it where
my feet are at, and I'm truly just excited to
see like what this team can do because I have
a really good feeling like our chemistry is like coming
(27:57):
together at a great moment right now, Like we're sharing
the ball, we're just playing hard, we're fighting for each other,
and I just can't wait to see like what comes
about of this. And I would say, I know, it's
it's good to like be on a good high right now,
but you can't like let the highs get too high.
Speaker 10 (28:15):
You know.
Speaker 6 (28:15):
It's like one of those things when it comes to
like practice, it comes to these next games coming up,
like you gotta lock back in, like we're still fighting
for for more.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
Watching this Longhorns team decimate opponents all tournament long, it's
pretty easy to see why Rory was so excited. I
also asked for her take on the two teams that
were ahead of Texas and the rankings, undefeated Yukon and
tonight's opponent, UCLA. I want a three word scouting report
on the two teams above you, So three words on Ucla.
Speaker 6 (28:46):
Experience tall you know I'm going with discipline, Okay?
Speaker 10 (28:53):
Good?
Speaker 1 (28:53):
What about Yukon?
Speaker 6 (28:57):
Star power, like putting it dash in between. Yeah, we'll
let you have that as one. I'm going with pace
and I'm going with grit.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
That's pretty good. Could also go as strong and it
would be two things.
Speaker 6 (29:11):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I was gonna say that, but I
didn't want to, like, you know, make too many jokes
today and not just kidding.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
Speaking of UCLA, Bruins coach Corey Close and super senior
Angela Dougalach joined me in late February and talked about
how this year's squad is building off of last year's success.
Take a listen. How different does this year feel having
that year and that experience under your belt, and maybe
how much is it the same.
Speaker 10 (29:37):
I think it's mainly different. It's just obviously we have
a different team and a different mindset. But I think
it's also the fact that we have more experience. Last year,
when we got to the final four, it was all,
you know, bright lights and flashing cameras and we were
really wide eyed, and I felt like I've been in
that situation before because of the Olympics and because I
(29:57):
played with my national team at a professional level. But
I just remember like looking around me and saying like, oh,
this is very new, this is very you know, flashy,
and all this stuff, and this can deter us from
what the main goal is right now. And not that
that was the main thing that you know, turret us,
but I do think that it had a correlation with
why it went the way it did. But I think
(30:19):
this year, when we get to the final four, it's
going to be very much a business like mindset because
we know what we're here to do. As fun as
it will be to you know, be in that situation again,
this year it's gonna be Phoenix, that's gonna be closer
to La We're gonna have hopefully a lot more fans
and all this different stuff. We know that this is
a business trip. We have unfinished business and at the
(30:39):
end of the day, we want that win. We want
to be cutting down nets and you know, the confetti
and all that stuff. But right now, though, we all
have the mindset of this is one game at a time,
So I'm not thinking past USC. I'm thinking that's my
next game. And then you know, once big ten tournaments
starts and it's like, Okay, who's next, who's next, Who's next?
But right now it's sc and yeah, that's it.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
Great attitude. I like how you keep saying business trip
In my mind. Of course, now I'm on the marketing
team and I'm like, we need suits. Everybody needs to
be suited and booted. Walking into the Final four looking
like they're about to rush a meeting. That idea just
a meeting, but a basketball game. I love that. Yes, Corey,
how about you? How different does it feel?
Speaker 11 (31:17):
It really does feel a lot different. I think there's
just some things you have to experience to learn from.
You know, there are rare teams that are immediately successful
when they're in that environment. You know, we were fourteen
weeks is number one. We had never experienced that in
our program history. I do think there's a difference in
how people prepare. What that's like, the outside noise that
(31:37):
you have to learn to lead your team through. And
just like I expect them to grow from those experiences,
I expect that of me as well. And so we
just have to keep focused on getting better every day
and investing in each other. I showed them a video
at practice the other day, and it was teams from hockey, NFL,
the NBA finals, you know, national champions in college and
(31:58):
different sports, different landscape, and there were some very consistent
themes that strung through those and it really was about
your loyalty to each other. That there was just this
deep investment. There was a connection that bred great commitment,
and there was just a sense of that and they
all talked about it. We just need to focus on
getting better and stacking wins and investing in each other.
(32:20):
You know, we always say in our program that success
leaves clues, and the clues that they gave us in
that video was keep focused on those two things and
surrender the outcomes. Actually just let them go and they
will follow where they may if you stay focused on
the process of actually what it takes to get there.
But it does feel different, and I don't think it's
better or worse. I just think it's a stacking of
(32:42):
experiences and learning opportunities that we have going into this year.
Speaker 1 (32:47):
Each of these final four teams has experience on this stage.
Three will look to avenge losses from last year, while
Yukon is seeking a second straight title. Tonight, we'll see
which two earn a chance to battle it out in
Sunday's national title game. I cannot wait, and in honor
of these athletes, stepping into the spotlight and putting it
all on the line. A message from Colgate and the
(33:09):
Colgate Women's Games about confidence, vulnerability, and digging deep when
the pressure's on. Sometimes, in the quiet moments before a
big game, it can feel like you're all alone, the
only person feeling doubt, feeling fear. But sharing those worries
with others opens up a world of support. The power
(33:29):
of knowing everyone else has doubts too, the strength you
can find together, strength that will push you further than
you could ever go alone. UCLA basketball superstar Lauren Betts
has talked openly about her struggles with mental health and insecurity.
Sharing her battle with depression and making herself vulnerable to
the public inspired an outpouring of support, including messages from
(33:52):
many who dealt with the same issues. Having the courage
to name and share her self doubt and hearing that
she wasn't alone gave Betts a life witness and a
smile that her coach and teammates could see, a smile
powered by confidence. Colgate knows your smile is your strength,
So for over fifty years, Colgate has supported the Colgate
Women's Games, giving athletes a sense of personal achievement and
(34:13):
self esteem, and women and girls aren't just given a
chance to shine, they also get the chance to earn
scholarships that will help them to healthier, brighter futures. In total,
five thousand academic scholarships totally more than one point five
million dollars have been awarded through the Colgate Women's Games.
Now that's something to smile about. We love that you're
listening slices, but we want you to get in the
(34:34):
game every day too, So here's our good game play
of the day. Don't forget. You can watch full interviews
from the show on the Iheartwomen's Sports YouTube channel. Subscribe
now so you don't miss a thing. We always love
to hear from you, so hit us up on email
Good game at wondermedianetwork dot com or leave us a
voicemail at eight seven two two o four fifty seventy
and don't forget to subscribe. Rate and review slices. It's
(34:56):
easy watch the women's tournaments. Still we'll not getting their
one shining moment review zero out of dozens of moments
you could be memorializing. Rating one of the best parts
of the men's NCAA basketball tournament comes after the final
buzzer has sounded, a montage of the most memorable tournament moments,
game winners, cheerleaders fishing out balls, wedged in the rim mascot,
(35:20):
high jinks, the reactions of happy or heartbroken fans. The
highlights are always set to One Shining Moment, a corny
but super catchy anthem that's been a cultural phenomenon ever
since CBS used it for their end of tournament video
in nineteen eighty seven. Now, the Women's Tournament also features
some highlights at the end, but the music is ever
changing and the video feels sort of ordinary and forgettable.
(35:42):
It's not a comprehensive look at the whole tournament's best moments,
and it's missing the cordy and catchy allure of a
schmaltzy go to tune like One Shining Moment. Now ABC
and ESPN have the rights to the Women's Tourney, so
we certainly wouldn't expect them to use the same tune
as CBS. But it's high time the women's game gets
some sort of signature. The Women's tournament deserves its own
(36:02):
one Shining Moment. In fact, it's long overdue. Now it's
your turn, y'all rate and review. Thanks for listening. See
you next week. Good game to the friends of the
show who end up lifting the trophy this weekend. Good
game to the friends of the show who don't. We're
still proud of you. Please don't cry. It makes us
so so sad you using Snapchat to debunk a rumor.
(36:24):
Put that shit on Maine. Good Game with Sarah Spain
is an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep
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 Azzi
and Bianca Hillier. Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz,
(36:45):
Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rudder. Our editors are Emily Rudder,
Lucy Jones, Britney Martinez, and Gianna Palmer. Production assistants from
Avery Loftus and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're not
not gonna stalk Alona mar in Phoenix this weekend. It's Friday,
April third, and on today's show, Big Citrus jumps on
to do a quick pre Final Four check in and bravely,
boldly put our final predictions on the record for all
to hear, no takebacks. Then we get extra fired up
for tonight's big games by taking a walk down memory
(00:21):
Lane with some friends of the show, all of whom
just happened to be competing this weekend in Phoenix, plus
Sabin Stewey Stay put, a strong showing pays off, and
a fan favorite must weather the storm once again. It's
all coming up right after this welcome back slices. Happy Friday.
(00:46):
Here's what you need to know today, starting with college
basketball and the Final Four in Phoenix. Start your night
with the NCAA Women's Final Four Special that's at six
pm Eastern on ESPN. Then semi final action begins at
seven pm Eastern with number one South Carolina and number
one Yukon face it off. Then at nine thirty pm Eastern,
(01:06):
number one Texas and number one UCLA go head to head.
You can catch both those games on ESPN, and for
those of you in Phoenix, just a reminder, I'll be
doing a live show tomorrow with Sue Bird and Diana Tarassi.
That's one pm Eastern at Tourneytown, presented by Capitol One,
and it's free, so check out the Tourneytown website for
all the details. On Sunday, It's the Championship game Coverage
(01:27):
starts at two thirty pm Eastern on ABC with the
NCAA Women's Championship Special, an hour long preview show to
get you ready for the game. Then at three thirty Eastern,
the National Championship tips off. In addition to the main
game broadcasts, ESPN will also offer court side at the
Women's Final Four altcasts both Friday on ESPN two and
Sunday on ESPN, featuring ESPN talent Jess Sims, rugby star
(01:50):
Alon Omar, The stud Buds, Natisha Heideman and Courtney Williams,
WNBA MVP Chelsea Gray, and ESPN content creator Katie Feeney.
There's plenty more coming from us on this weekend's matchups
later in the show. More college basketball news ahead of
the weekend's festivities. Yukon Sophomore and Friend of the Show.
Sarah Strong was named Naysmith College Player of the Year,
(02:12):
an award given annually to honor the best player in
the country, voted on by coaches, administrators, and members of
the media. Meanwhile, Notre Dame's Hanna Hidalgo was named the
Naysmith Defensive Player of the Year, making her the first
player in fighting Irish history to earn the honor. And
Friend of the Show Vanderbilt Shay Ralph was named Naysmith
Coach of the Year. Even more college hoops, on Thursday,
(02:32):
i Was State center Audie Crooks announced she does plan
to enter the transfer portal. In a post on Instagram,
Crooks thanked everyone who supported her journey with the Cyclones
before writing quote, I still believe the grass is greener
where you water it, and I've done that here. It's
why i want you to hear from me directly that
I've decided to enter the portal and explore what it
means to take root again in new ground. End quote.
(02:54):
Iowa State has seen a mass exodus of players since
their season ended in the first round of the Ncaatorney,
With nine players in addition to Crooks, that's ten total
on a team of thirteen announcing their plans to enter
the transfer portal. Personally, we kind of want to see
a documentary of what happened at Iowa State this year.
They started the season in the top fifteen when their
first fourteen games, and then lost five in a row,
(03:17):
finishing the regular season with a twenty two to ten record.
Crooks was a force throughout the season when healthy, averaging
twenty five point eight points per game, second in the
nation behind only michaelab Blakes of Vanderbilt and more hoops.
It's not just a wild weekend in college ball, it's
also going to be a busy weekend in the WNBA,
as the league's expansion draft is this afternoon, beginning at
(03:37):
three thirty pm Eastern on ESPN. The draft will kickstart
the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fires roster building processes, as
both expansion franchises will have the opportunity to select unprotected
players from the league's existing thirteen teams. Now, the concept
of an expansion draft is always confusing, but especially so
this season given that free agency hasn't yet started and
(03:58):
most veteran players in the w aren't currently signed to teams.
So here's how it'll work. Each of the league's thirteen
current teams were allowed to protect a maximum of five
players based on player lists on the final day of
the twenty twenty five season. They had to turn in
those lists of protective players by March twenty ninth, but
unfortunately they aren't expected to be made public. Ahead of
the Expansion Draft. Teams were able to make trades in
(04:20):
exchange for draft protection, and the Chicago Sky did just that,
receiving protection and the Expansion Draft from both the Tempo
and the Fire in exchange for picks in the college Draft.
This guy's number seventeen pick is headed to Portland, their
number twenty six pick will go to Toronto, and neither
team will select any of their players more WNBA. With
free agency set to get underway in the next few days,
(04:41):
Brianna Stewart and Sabrina and Escou have both declared their
loyalty to the New York Liberty. The thirty one year
old Stewart announced on her podcast game Recognized Game with
Stuwie and Miles quote, I'm not planning on taking any
free agency meetings even though I am an unrestricted free agent.
I'm going to be back in New York, and that's
all there is to it. End quote time, the twenty
eight year old Unescu told reporters at USA Basketball training
(05:03):
camp on Wednesday. Quote Obviously I'm where I'm supposed to be,
never thought anything different, and so excited to be able
to sign and get started. It's coming up really quickly.
So excited to get all this behind us and just
be able to start our season and get going in
New York. End quote. Both players were integral to the
Liberty winning its first title in twenty twenty four, So
no doubt fans and Big Ellie are breathing a sigh
(05:25):
of relief. They'll be back more WNBA And some heartbreaking
news for the Seattlestorms. Nico Mule. The twenty four year
old underwent surgery for a tornycl on Tuesday, and we'll
miss her second straight WNBA season because of a knee injury.
The former Yukon standout tore her right ACL playing for
Croatia in a March eleven EuroBasket qualifying game. Last year,
(05:45):
she tore her left ACL while playing for Turkish club
beseekd Us in the Poeba Super Cup. We're sending Nika
our best to the PWHL, where on Wednesday night, the
Montreal Victoire became the second team to clinch a postseason birth,
joined the already clinched Boston Fleet with three to zero
win over the Vancouver Goldeneyes. Victoire are in action again tonight,
a seven pm contest with the Ottawa Charge, who are
(06:06):
coming off a two to one loss to the Toronto
Scepters on Wednesday. Also on Wednesday, Sarah Phillia's overtime taally
not only gave her New York Sirens a big four
to three win over the Minnesota Frost, it also finished
off a hat trick for the former Rookie of the Year.
Phillya and the Sirens will be part of the biggest
game of the weekend tomorrow, a Takeover Tour matchup with
the Seattle torrent at Madison Square Garden. That's an eight
(06:27):
pm Eastern puck drop. The sold out game is expected
to set a new US attendance record for a professional
women's hockey game, and the way those records are falling,
you might want to write it in pencil, not penn
to the NWSL. After back to back to back games
for a number of teams players got this week off
to rest and you know, practice, But it's time to
(06:48):
lace up those boots again, starting tonight with a matchup
between Boston Legacy FC and the San Diego Wave at
seven pm Eastern. Then it's Orlando Pride versus Angel City
FC at eight eastern LA, looking to extend their undefeated
three and zero start to the year. Any of y'all
get got by the Pride's April Fools post about Marta
playing in her final game tonight, by the way sheepishly
(07:08):
raises hand, but only for a quick second, and then
I remembered what day it was. Also tonight, we've got
the Houston Dash versus Racing Louisville at eight thirty Eastern,
and at nine eastern, Utah Royals FC played the Chicago
Color Neutral Stars. There are three more games on Saturday,
and on Sunday night, BFC plays the Washington Spirit at
five pm Eastern. We'll link to the full schedule in
(07:28):
the show notes, and we'll be keeping an extra close
eye on Racing Louisville, the Washington Spirit, and the Boston
Legacy as all three clubs are still looking for that
first win of the season. More soccer The rumor mill
was churning on Thursday as Australian National News reported that
Austin national Sam Kerr was leaving Chelsea for the NWSL
expansion team Denver Summitt FC at the end of the
(07:50):
Women's Super League season in England. Word of the reported
signings spread fast, but so did a screenshot allegedly from
kerr snapchat where she denies the move, writing quote, don't
don't believe everything you read in the media, man, They
know a decision before me end quote. That's not a no.
We're keeping this one in the rumor files for now,
but we'll follow up if more news comes out. We're
(08:12):
also thinking back a couple of years when Chelsea released
a video on social media suggesting Kerr was leaving the club,
only for it to be revealed as a prank twenty
minutes later. But also we already saw Chelsea's standouts Katerina
Macario leave for San Diego and Girl Writon depart for Gotham.
So sometimes where there's smoke, there is fire. We got
(08:33):
to take a quick break when we come back. Are
unanimous picks from Big Citrus about to jinx your favorite team,
Stick around and find out welcome back, Slices. It's been
a while since we had a little, big citrus hang,
and what better time than now as we're heading into
(08:54):
a massive weekend of college basketball and where we should
surely be putting our picks on the record in advance
so no one can equivocate come Monday claiming that what
they really meant, or what they thought they said or
what they had put down was something different. So Alex Bianca,
welcome in. Hey, Hello, I'm bummed y'all won't be with
me out in Phoenix, but I'm super excited for all
(09:15):
the different parties and activations and events and brunches and
lunches and my live show with Sue Bird and Dinah
Tarassi one pm at Tourney Town on Saturday for anyone
who's gonna be in the Phoenix area. And of course,
if you spot me wandering around in the desert, number one,
see if I've been drinking enough water. Number two, do
not comment and help pay aliam, I haven't seen the
(09:36):
sun in like eight months. And number three say hi,
maybe I have some good game pins left over from
the Olympics. Maybe I got some I'm a slice stickers.
You never know what I might have in my bag.
So if you are a Slice and you spot me,
please feel free to come say hey, all right, you
two will not be out there in Phoenix, but we
do need to get all three of our picks on
(09:56):
the record.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Now, Sarah, is this a one pick situation or do
we get two chances at it?
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Like a bracket challenge? Well, this is not a bracket challenge.
This is you standing with integrity. Particularly since there's only
four teams left. The idea of like or or it
could go the other way is not going to fly.
So how you feel it heading into the games this weekend?
Speaker 2 (10:16):
Okay, so first off, my bracket, my loan bracket is
completely busted. And I have to say I'm getting some
real bad flashbacks because I don't know if you guys
have seen, but on ESPN site where we did the
bracket challenge, there's like a setting where you can go
in and like see your brackets chance of winning, and
it reminds me of like the New York Times needle
from the presidential election, where it's like zero percent chance,
(10:37):
and I'm like, this is bad.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
I've never seen that. I've never seen that little feature.
I've never really dug deep on it once, I like,
am out, I'm like, I'm that never happened. I'm not
participating anymore, but thankfully still in, still in.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
You know what's interesting, though, is I picked Ukon to
win it. I also picked the four number one seats
to make it, But at this point, if I were
to fill it out, I think I would actually pick
Texas to win it. And so that's what I want
to put on the record here today. Well thing, Yeah,
my guess is that Yukon and Texas are going to
meet in the championship game with Texas winning it.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
OOO spicy now, Okay, there's also part of me that
may be saying that because so many people picked Yukon
to win it, that my chances might be more than
zero percent if I had picked Texas, you know, like
having that.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Yeah, but like a rewritten bracket, it's not how you
make your picks, now, Alex, just stick with what your
gut's telling you and stand on two feet ten toes
down on that Texas pick. Okay, Bianka, how about you.
Speaker 4 (11:34):
I'm going to sound like a broken record, but I
also would love to see a Texas Yukon final with
Texas winning and just thinking about Texas winning brings me
so much joy, Like if I can picture five SIGs
Roy Harmon hoisting that trophy, that would that would be
enough for me. I don't need any other stat to
(11:56):
go to plan. That would be the stat or the
image that was burned in my mind for this season.
So I would love to see that. But I also
really appreciated what Ryan Ruco said on our show earlier
this week talking about Don Staley and how her getting
to the final four this year with this team deserves
(12:16):
its flowers. That is an accomplishment that I think I
subconsciously and unfortunately was thinking, well, of course they're in.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
The final four. S's Staley at South Carolina.
Speaker 4 (12:27):
And I really appreciated him and other people, you know,
pointing out, No, this is an accomplishment, and I'm excited
to see what.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
They can do. Do I think they're going to get
to the finals.
Speaker 4 (12:38):
No, I'm happy to be proven wrong as long as
Texas is also there.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
But yeah, I think it's going to be you con
Texas at the end. So what you're saying is just
do you hate Ucla?
Speaker 4 (12:49):
Which, wow, which is tough because as a tall I
like Ucla.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
I'm rooting for Ucla.
Speaker 4 (12:56):
But as a basketball fan, who would I want to win?
Speaker 1 (13:01):
Not this year? Not Ucla? Interesting so gosh, I am
also really wondering if UCLA can take out Texas. No,
this is I've got the final four in all the
number one seats. I've got Yukon winning it. I still
feel confident in that, but I am not so certain
about my pick of UCLA over Texas.
Speaker 5 (13:22):
Now.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
Ucla look like world beaters all season long. They are
so big, they are so tough to match up with.
And yet the way that texas Is defense has made
it almost impossible for teams to inbound the ball so
much as set up a half court offense. The way
Texas uses that defense to fuel their offense, I'm now
wondering if those matchups aren't quite as necessary. Like Madison
(13:45):
Booker can get big and also play the point. We've
seen that. She literally was their point guard when Roy
Harmon was at with the knee injury. So she is
a versatile player who can use her size when necessary,
which she will need to do against UCLA. You've got KYLEO.
Oldacre who gets big in there. You've got enough bigs
on Texas that it will not be dumping into Lauren
Betts or bring in Siena Bets as well and just
(14:07):
outbody them, out big them. And so because of that
difference of defensive intensity that we've seen from the Longhorns,
I am now picking Texas to get past Ucla, which
is wild. I just can't quite go far enough to
have them defeating Yukon. Now, both of these teams are deep,
and the big thing that separates I think this final
four set of teams compared to previous seasons is that
(14:29):
every single one of them is pretty deep. See a
little less so they need to rely on a couple
more people to really do well. But you can go
down the bench for a couple. But Yukon to me
is the one where Okay, we're gonna focus all of
our energy and keeping the ball out of Sarah's Strong's hands. Okay, fine,
easy fund, we'll shoot it from anywhere. Okay, fine, we'll
focus on easy fud tool make sure she can't get
the ball. Okay, fine, Well, then we'll just have like
(14:51):
some player that no one even recognized was going to
be a superstar yet, a freshman who's been playing pro
for years and years before she even arrived in stores, Connecticut. Yes,
Blanca Canona is the one that you all had written
down as leading this team heading into the final four weekend.
Like they are unfair. They are so fundamentally sound, And
I will tell you that, as excited as I am
(15:13):
for Texas and UCLA, and I feel bad that we're
all kind of like, yeah, Si, get out of here.
But I think that's kind of how we all feel
about I am very excited for Texas UCLA, and I
am extremely excited if it gets to be Texas Yukon
the defensive intensity, the senior situation of Rory Harmon trying
to win her first title, Asy Fudd trying to get
it without you know, Pagebeckers leading the way, all of
(15:34):
this coming together. I'm very torn. I'm such a huge
Asy fan. And by the way, fud around and find
out one of the wonderful many shows on this I
hurt Women's Sports Network, So we do want to shout
that out. But also Rory Harmon coming on the show,
just the relationship she has with their coach, the relationship
that whole team has with coach Vick Schaeffer. I'm just
picturing them winning and it's bringing me a lot of
(15:56):
Joy too, So now I'm torn.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
Well, I think one of the takeaways ILE have looking
at these four teams is we've had all four of
these coaches on our show at some point, and they
seem like really great coaches, and they seem like coaches
that have so much respect for their players, which should
be a given. But I would be happy for any
of them to help lead their teams to this title too.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
Yeah, and I think it matters a lot to see
the kind of respect they have for each other. We even,
I think mentioned on this show that Vic Shaeffer called
out his team, said they were soft, and they responded
that wasn't a coach who had lost his players because
he publicly challenged them. That was a coach who knew
in that moment, this is what I'm going to need
to do for us to take that next step, for
(16:40):
us to get to the level that we need to be.
I'm going to need them to think of this as
a dire situation. What we heard happened after that was
Rory Harmon stepping even more into her senior leadership and
Madison Booker, despite her age, saying Okay, we're all going
to show up. We're holding each other accountable from here
on out. And I remember talking to Rory and you'll
hear it in today's show how excited she was heading
into this tournament because of how they're playing, And that
(17:02):
came from that Vic Schaeffer moment of like, I know,
I have a team who can handle this criticism.
Speaker 4 (17:08):
Yeah, And you don't get that response to that kind
of criticism without hours and weeks and months and in
some cases years of support and a different kind of criticism.
A trust, Yeah, a trust that has been built over
a long time. So that's you know, we sometimes see
or we hear about these very specific cases of criticism.
(17:31):
Good to keep in mind that there are many seasons
worth of trust building that have happened that allow those
conversations to result in possibly championship winning teams.
Speaker 6 (17:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
And I think we also talk a lot about how
coaches are having to finesse the way they interact with
the younger generations of players, and some people simplify that as, oh,
they can't take the heat, they can't be criticized, they
don't like adversity, you know, that kind of thing. And
I think instead what it is is how do you
prove to players that the anger is warranted or in
service of something. How do you prove to players that
you're in control of your response and you're selecting an
(18:06):
intentional about the way that you show up for them
when you are angry or critical or tough on them,
as opposed to you're just out of control, right, And
for a long time it was just coaches out of
control being like, oh, you're not tough enough. And the
players are now saying, okay, like why are you saying this?
When are you saying this? How are you using this
to motivate me? And it's making the best coaches elevate?
And I want to remind people of that too, because
(18:29):
I do think sometimes especially with women's sports, people get
a little too in their field feels about a coach
yelling or about a coach being hard on the players.
And this is sports, and there are players who need
that motivation and they need it from someone that they trust,
from someone they know is invested in them and their success.
And so it's been really fun to watch different iterations
of that, you know, across this tournament for sure, right
(18:51):
y'all picks are in see if you can remember what
we said. We did a lot of maybe this, maybe that,
but I think Alex and Bianco went for Texas over
Yukon in the final, and I said, I believe it
will be Yukon over Texas in the final. So I
guess you, Ceil in South Carolina fans, get your dried
and moldy fruit ready to throw at us on Monday
(19:13):
if none of us respected your teams enough, which I mean,
you know, this is a big citrus conversation. So I
guess throwing dried and old fruit at us is the
appropriate response to our failings. Alex, biank anything else you're
we watching for this weekend.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
Something that I'm excited about and hopeful about is what
changes we're going to see in the WNBA in a
few weeks, which will result in us getting to see
a lot of these players for even longer, because this
happens every single year, where these players are incredible in
the final four, all the way through the NCAA tournament,
they get drafted by a team, and then the rosters
(19:49):
are so small that they get cut. But with the
addition of two new teams this year, plus the three
developmental player spots, which are for athletes kind of in
their first three years out of college. I'm just really
excited to see some of these players for a lot longer.
Speaker 4 (20:06):
And when you say that not gonna lie, I immediately
get excited to see the draft night outfits.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
I'm like, what are they gonna wear? Because last year
was good? And you know what, Alex, that also made
me think of that I have not thought to look
up yet, and I need to get into. Is age
eligibility changes. It's something we talked about in advance of
this new CBA, and I haven't looked into whether or
not they proposed it and it was rejected. I certainly
think we would have heard about it if it was
(20:34):
a part of the new CBA. If they had changed
the rules. You no longer have to be twenty two
in order to play in the WNBA and announce yourself
for the draft. So I'm wondering whether at any point
the players pushed for that and it was rejected, or
if everyone agrees that this is still the best practice.
We'll dig into that in a future show. But I
love that Alex and I agree. I just feel like,
(20:55):
especially with some of these super seniors that are leaving
school now that we've been watching for four, five, five years,
it'll be fun to see more of them get to
stick around and play here in our domestic league. All right, y'all,
enjoy the cold and the wind. I'm going to go
outside and get back in the sun. I hate that
enjoy We got to take another break moment return. Maybe
the real championship is the friends we made along the way.
(21:25):
Welcome back Slices. While watching each of the number one
seeds punch their ticket to this weekend's final four, we
started thinking about how many friends of the show we'll
be taking the court in Phoenix. In the last year
and a half, Yukon's Gina Oriema, Azy Fudd and most recently,
Sarah Strong and kk Arnold have all made appearances on
our show. UCLA coach Corey Close has joined me twice
(21:46):
last year with Keky Rice and then again this season
with Angela Dougalic. Texas coach Vick Schaeffer and stars Madison
Booker and Rory Harmon are all friends of the show,
and South Carolina coach Don Staley joined me last fall
for a fantastic, wide ranging conversation. We've been thinking back
on those conversations ahead of this weekend's final four and
thought we'd bring you a couple excerpts ahead of tonight's games.
(22:06):
First up, it's yukon Sarah Strong and KK Arnold from
just a few weeks ago. The dynamic duel hyped up
each other's defensive prowess. Take a listen. I want to
talk about defense because we've got two lockdown defenders here.
Sarah tell me about KK on that side of the ball.
Speaker 7 (22:24):
Yeah, I mean I would hate to be guarded by KK.
She's just so like on you, like she's everywhere, like
she's he's in your grill, but she's not the same time,
Like it's like it's it's suffocating. Like that's like that's
a good word.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
I don't know.
Speaker 7 (22:39):
She's so good at it, Like I don't know how
she just guards me what She's always running around, She's
so quick. It's just really crazy to watch a lot
of fun watching her KK.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
According to Defensive Writing Statistics, Sarah is having the best
defensive season of any player since at least two thousand
and nine. What do you see from her as a defender?
Speaker 5 (22:56):
Sarah's like a sneaky defender, like you won't know, like
where she's coming from, are like what she's about to do,
Whether that's a black Shaw is still for coast to
coast layup, Like she's just so sneaky and she like
reads the ball really well, and that's something about like
nobody really knows, like she knows how the ball is
going next play and just goes close to coast like
I said, But yeah, she's a great defender. I learned
(23:17):
a lot from her as well, how to just anticipate
a pass or anything like that.
Speaker 8 (23:21):
So thanks Sarah, Sarah KK and the rest of Yukon
are hoping to shut down tonight LATS and Joyce Edwards
and the game Cocks tonight speaking to South Carolina.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
Let's flash back to my conversation with head coach John
Staley from September of last year, just before the season
tipped off. I was curious how she was preparing for
the season given the roster changes in the off season.
Take a listen, how similar or different does it feel
this year in terms of talent and style from last
year's team? Another great run, but a different look this year.
Speaker 9 (23:55):
Different look I mean saying talently, Lego, I think we're
I think we're pretty talented. Think we also have a
team that we haven't been together, you know, as a
as a unit very long, meaning we got our entire
team together in August when we return to school. That
(24:15):
was the first time that we were together, like all
eleven of us. So because of that, we're probably a
little bit behind, but we more than make up for
it because there's a certain cohesion with this team.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
There's a certain thirst for.
Speaker 9 (24:33):
Actually coaching, which is really an anomaly in this day
and age where where everybody wants to be a star,
everybody wants where do I fit in? Everybody wants to ball,
everybody wants to be the focal point, and this particular
team just wants to win. They want they want to
get better individually and they want to win.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
And when you have.
Speaker 9 (24:59):
That kind of perspective, if it's a lot easier on coaches.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
Yeah, for sure. You've got returning folks, Joy said words
Raven Johnson, Chloe Kats, Tessa Johnson, who are trying to
turn the page after that loss at the end of
last season, but coming off more success. And then you've
got Tanaya Latson who led all of Division One in
scoring last season, had over twenty five points per game.
How are you taking the new talent mixing it in
(25:23):
with the old talent and making sure everyone is equally
as hungry to get a title.
Speaker 9 (25:28):
Everybody's coming really just wanting to win and wanting to
get better. Tanaya, Danaya just wants to get better. And
you know, I had to say this to our media
today and that it's it's Florida State did everything they
could do to put Tanaya in this position, and they
needed her to play that role of having to score
(25:48):
a lot of points and playmake for them, and we
need her to do the same things. But also just
watching her play over the years, and I you know,
I watched her play and when it got close to
tournament times, just a kid as we got matched up
with them. She's gifted. She can score the basketball. Tanaya
came here probably for a different look, for different probably
(26:11):
a responsibility, but also to put her in a position
where she can learn some things to be a better
pro and a change of just just a change of
environment will help to do that, you know. But I
feel a responsibility to help her become her better passer,
to counter the fact that she can score points and
(26:33):
score points and bunches to help her to be more
accurate from shooting outside the three. And then probably the
last part of it is we need her to continue
to do what she's doing with place of defense, like
really e locked in defense because because she's going to
a world where you, it has to exist. Both worlds
(26:53):
have to exist and when you go to the next level,
because you could be the greatest score, but if you're
giving up as many or more points than your scoring,
then you got a problem.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
Latson has been a big part of the game Cock
success during this tournament run. We'll see what she can
do against Yukonton tonight. Next up, let's hear from Texas
point guard Rory Harmon, who joined us just a few
weeks ago. I asked how she was feeling about playing
in the final NCAA tournament of her storied college career.
You're a fifth year senior, You're about to embark on
(27:29):
one last tourney ride. What's the predominant emotion right now? Nervous? Excited?
Are you sad? It's almost over.
Speaker 6 (27:36):
With the way that we played in our last game,
I'm excited, Like there's I can't really get too tied
up in like emotions of it being like the last ride,
because then you start making everything more than it needs
to be, so I'm really just being like it where
my feet are at, and I'm truly just excited to
see like what this team can do because I have
a really good feeling like our chemistry is like coming
(27:57):
together at a great moment right now, Like we're sharing
the ball, we're just playing hard, we're fighting for each other,
and I just can't wait to see like what comes
about of this. And I would say, I know, it's
it's good to like be on a good high right now,
but you can't like let the highs get too high.
Speaker 10 (28:15):
You know.
Speaker 6 (28:15):
It's like one of those things when it comes to
like practice, it comes to these next games coming up,
like you gotta lock back in, like we're still fighting
for for more.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
Watching this Longhorns team decimate opponents all tournament long, it's
pretty easy to see why Rory was so excited. I
also asked for her take on the two teams that
were ahead of Texas and the rankings, undefeated Yukon and
tonight's opponent, UCLA. I want a three word scouting report
on the two teams above you, So three words on Ucla.
Speaker 6 (28:46):
Experience tall you know I'm going with discipline, Okay?
Speaker 10 (28:53):
Good?
Speaker 1 (28:53):
What about Yukon?
Speaker 6 (28:57):
Star power, like putting it dash in between. Yeah, we'll
let you have that as one. I'm going with pace
and I'm going with grit.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
That's pretty good. Could also go as strong and it
would be two things.
Speaker 6 (29:11):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I was gonna say that, but I
didn't want to, like, you know, make too many jokes
today and not just kidding.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
Speaking of UCLA, Bruins coach Corey Close and super senior
Angela Dougalach joined me in late February and talked about
how this year's squad is building off of last year's success.
Take a listen. How different does this year feel having
that year and that experience under your belt, and maybe
how much is it the same.
Speaker 10 (29:37):
I think it's mainly different. It's just obviously we have
a different team and a different mindset. But I think
it's also the fact that we have more experience. Last year,
when we got to the final four, it was all,
you know, bright lights and flashing cameras and we were
really wide eyed, and I felt like I've been in
that situation before because of the Olympics and because I
(29:57):
played with my national team at a professional level. But
I just remember like looking around me and saying like, oh,
this is very new, this is very you know, flashy,
and all this stuff, and this can deter us from
what the main goal is right now. And not that
that was the main thing that you know, turret us,
but I do think that it had a correlation with
why it went the way it did. But I think
(30:19):
this year, when we get to the final four, it's
going to be very much a business like mindset because
we know what we're here to do. As fun as
it will be to you know, be in that situation again,
this year it's gonna be Phoenix, that's gonna be closer
to La We're gonna have hopefully a lot more fans
and all this different stuff. We know that this is
a business trip. We have unfinished business and at the
(30:39):
end of the day, we want that win. We want
to be cutting down nets and you know, the confetti
and all that stuff. But right now, though, we all
have the mindset of this is one game at a time,
So I'm not thinking past USC. I'm thinking that's my
next game. And then you know, once big ten tournaments
starts and it's like, Okay, who's next, who's next, Who's next?
But right now it's sc and yeah, that's it.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
Great attitude. I like how you keep saying business trip
In my mind. Of course, now I'm on the marketing
team and I'm like, we need suits. Everybody needs to
be suited and booted. Walking into the Final four looking
like they're about to rush a meeting. That idea just
a meeting, but a basketball game. I love that. Yes, Corey,
how about you? How different does it feel?
Speaker 11 (31:17):
It really does feel a lot different. I think there's
just some things you have to experience to learn from.
You know, there are rare teams that are immediately successful
when they're in that environment. You know, we were fourteen
weeks is number one. We had never experienced that in
our program history. I do think there's a difference in
how people prepare. What that's like, the outside noise that
(31:37):
you have to learn to lead your team through. And
just like I expect them to grow from those experiences,
I expect that of me as well. And so we
just have to keep focused on getting better every day
and investing in each other. I showed them a video
at practice the other day, and it was teams from hockey, NFL,
the NBA finals, you know, national champions in college and
(31:58):
different sports, different landscape, and there were some very consistent
themes that strung through those and it really was about
your loyalty to each other. That there was just this
deep investment. There was a connection that bred great commitment,
and there was just a sense of that and they
all talked about it. We just need to focus on
getting better and stacking wins and investing in each other.
(32:20):
You know, we always say in our program that success
leaves clues, and the clues that they gave us in
that video was keep focused on those two things and
surrender the outcomes. Actually just let them go and they
will follow where they may if you stay focused on
the process of actually what it takes to get there.
But it does feel different, and I don't think it's
better or worse. I just think it's a stacking of
(32:42):
experiences and learning opportunities that we have going into this year.
Speaker 1 (32:47):
Each of these final four teams has experience on this stage.
Three will look to avenge losses from last year, while
Yukon is seeking a second straight title. Tonight, we'll see
which two earn a chance to battle it out in
Sunday's national title game. I cannot wait, and in honor
of these athletes, stepping into the spotlight and putting it
all on the line. A message from Colgate and the
(33:09):
Colgate Women's Games about confidence, vulnerability, and digging deep when
the pressure's on. Sometimes, in the quiet moments before a
big game, it can feel like you're all alone, the
only person feeling doubt, feeling fear. But sharing those worries
with others opens up a world of support. The power
(33:29):
of knowing everyone else has doubts too, the strength you
can find together, strength that will push you further than
you could ever go alone. UCLA basketball superstar Lauren Betts
has talked openly about her struggles with mental health and insecurity.
Sharing her battle with depression and making herself vulnerable to
the public inspired an outpouring of support, including messages from
(33:52):
many who dealt with the same issues. Having the courage
to name and share her self doubt and hearing that
she wasn't alone gave Betts a life witness and a
smile that her coach and teammates could see, a smile
powered by confidence. Colgate knows your smile is your strength,
So for over fifty years, Colgate has supported the Colgate
Women's Games, giving athletes a sense of personal achievement and
(34:13):
self esteem, and women and girls aren't just given a
chance to shine, they also get the chance to earn
scholarships that will help them to healthier, brighter futures. In total,
five thousand academic scholarships totally more than one point five
million dollars have been awarded through the Colgate Women's Games.
Now that's something to smile about. We love that you're
listening slices, but we want you to get in the
(34:34):
game every day too, So here's our good game play
of the day. Don't forget. You can watch full interviews
from the show on the Iheartwomen's Sports YouTube channel. Subscribe
now so you don't miss a thing. We always love
to hear from you, so hit us up on email
Good game at wondermedianetwork dot com or leave us a
voicemail at eight seven two two o four fifty seventy
and don't forget to subscribe. Rate and review slices. It's
(34:56):
easy watch the women's tournaments. Still we'll not getting their
one shining moment review zero out of dozens of moments
you could be memorializing. Rating one of the best parts
of the men's NCAA basketball tournament comes after the final
buzzer has sounded, a montage of the most memorable tournament moments,
game winners, cheerleaders fishing out balls, wedged in the rim mascot,
(35:20):
high jinks, the reactions of happy or heartbroken fans. The
highlights are always set to One Shining Moment, a corny
but super catchy anthem that's been a cultural phenomenon ever
since CBS used it for their end of tournament video
in nineteen eighty seven. Now, the Women's Tournament also features
some highlights at the end, but the music is ever
changing and the video feels sort of ordinary and forgettable.
(35:42):
It's not a comprehensive look at the whole tournament's best moments,
and it's missing the cordy and catchy allure of a
schmaltzy go to tune like One Shining Moment. Now ABC
and ESPN have the rights to the Women's Tourney, so
we certainly wouldn't expect them to use the same tune
as CBS. But it's high time the women's game gets
some sort of signature. The Women's tournament deserves its own
(36:02):
one Shining Moment. In fact, it's long overdue. Now it's
your turn, y'all rate and review. Thanks for listening. See
you next week. Good game to the friends of the
show who end up lifting the trophy this weekend. Good
game to the friends of the show who don't. We're
still proud of you. Please don't cry. It makes us
so so sad you using Snapchat to debunk a rumor.
(36:24):
Put that shit on Maine. Good Game with Sarah Spain
is an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep
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 Azzi
and Bianca Hillier. Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz,
(36:45):
Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rudder. Our editors are Emily Rudder,
Lucy Jones, Britney Martinez, and Gianna Palmer. Production assistants from
Avery Loftus and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain
Host
Sarah Spain
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