Lauren Barnes is a defender who plays for both Reign FC in the NWSL and Melbourne City in Australia’s W-League. While sports leagues around the world were shutting down due to the coronavirus, the W-League marched ahead, holding its grand final behind closed doors on March 21st (for context, the NBA shut down on March 11th). Melbourne City topped Sydney FC 1-0 to win the game, but as Barnes explains below, it was difficult to get caught up in any celebrations, as she had to catch what might have been the last flight home. 

You’ve had a crazy last few weeks. Basically every sport was shut down, but you guys were playing in the W-League final. Can you walk us through what that was like?

At the time coronavirus hadn’t really hit Australia that bad, so most people there were just living normally. Even in the week leading up to the final, everything was still open. You could easily go to a café, and there would be 25 to 50 people there. It was crazy to me. Obviously, I had family in the U.S., where everyday things were slowly shutting down and all the sports were being cancelled or postponed. So for me, it was just like, this is crazy that we’re even playing, especially because the virus was spiking so fast around the world. I just couldn’t believe it. As a team, we tried to keep our focus on soccer, but that’s pretty hard when there’s a pandemic going on. It was tough, and it was something none of us had ever experienced, or hopefully will ever experience again.

And what was the actual game like? 

I was so drained going into that final. It felt so weird. I was worried about home, and I was worried about Australia, because every other place started off okay, and then there was this rapid domino effect of everything shutting down. I was expecting the same thing to happen in Australia. Obviously, when you’re in the game and you have the adrenaline everything’s fine, but I remember the final whistle blowing and just feeling relief. There were just so many emotions surrounding that game that had nothing to do with soccer. And when it was over, I just felt like this huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

Was that because you could just focus on getting home at that point?

Yeah. And because leading up to the game, it was like, don’t touch anything, make sure you’re washing your hands, and disinfect this, and disinfect that. Oh and also focus on your role with the team and make sure you’re ready to perform. I mean, every minute you had to think about so many different things. So once it was over, I could relax a bit and get home and just focus on what’s going on in the world.

Coronavirus came a bit late to Australia, but when did you realize that it was a serious issue? 

I think I always took it seriously because of the situation in the states. Coronavirus might have been slow to hit Australia, but a couple days before the final, things were picking up. It was clear that this was real, that countries were shutting down, that Australia was heading toward a lockdown. We were all watching the news. Flights were being cancelled for the international girls, and I had to move mine up to the day after the final to make sure I got out.

Did players or coaches ever openly question whether the final should happen? 

Credit to [Melbourne] City, but I do think they tried everything possible to make sure we were safe. Managers and coaches were always telling us to reach out if there was anything we needed. The locker room was kept clean, and we had a bunch of rules we had to follow. I felt safe, but at the end of the day, you’ve seen how fast this virus spreads. So I knew in the back of my head that this was something we might not have been really prepared for, no matter how prepared we felt.

People in the US couldn’t believe we were still playing, but it wasn’t a big worry in Australia. There was definitely a disconnect though, because you would go through handshakes and not be allowed to touch each other. But then you’d go play a competitive contact sport, where you’re scoring goals and celebrating with your teammates, and you’re in huddles, and you’re touching other players. I mean, we were doing all this stuff to prevent the spread, but you can’t prevent it if you’re actually playing a game. That was just hard for me to fathom. It didn’t make sense. And it definitely affected people, especially the internationals who didn’t know if they were going to be able to get home.

Alanna Smith is an Australian basketball player who plays for both the Phoenix Mercury and the Australian national team. A graduate of Stanford University, Smith was the 8th pick in the 2019 draft. She spoke with Just Women’s Sports about what the Olympics postponement means to hear and her teammates, the uncertainty surrounding the WNBA season, and what it was like to have a teammate who likely contracted the coronavirus. 

When did you first start to register that the coronavirus was a big deal?

I think in Australia, because we’re pretty isolated from the rest of the world, we were at little behind. We were watching as China and Italy started to report a lot of cases and go into lockdown. And then you guys in the US started to experience a surge. I think that prompted Australia to realize that we needed to make some moves, especially as cases started to pop up. Because there’s not enough materials to test it, we’re making estimates as to how many people have it. You just don’t know, but you know it’s a lot. Nowhere near the same amount as other places, but we’re still actively trying to stop the spread. Social distancing is in effect, and only essential businesses are open. We’re being encouraged to stay indoors. And all of that happened quite fast, maybe in just the past week or two.

And at what point did you realize the Olympics might be postponed?

Once travel bans were being put in place, and people were being discouraged from travelling. That was when I thought, Okay, this is an issue. Not just for basketball but for other sports as well, because people need to travel to qualifiers and such. And then just thinking about sports in general, so many of them involve contact. You’re in close proximity with others, which is super high-risk. So yeah, I had doubts early on to be honest, just thinking about the health and the safety of all the athletes as well as the fans. It didn’t seem plausible that they could pull it off.

What did you think of Australia’s decision to opt out prior to the official postponement? How did you think the committee handled everything? 

It was the right decision, just in terms of the health and safety of everyone. And I think the Australian Olympic Committee did a really good job of keeping us in the loop. They were sending out emails two to three times a week, telling us where to go for support and such. We weren’t left in the dark. We had a pretty good idea of what was going on. So overall I think they did their best in terms of the situation at hand. Obviously, right now everyone has to take it day by day, week by week.

But I also know that it was a really, really hard decision to make. You have athletes whose whole lives were dedicated to going to these Olympics. They worked year after year for this moment to be on the world stage, and then to just have it pulled out from under them is really tough. But thankfully, the games aren’t cancelled. They’re still happening, just at a different date.

How would you describe your team’s reaction to all this? 

I think overall, it’s definitely a little bit of heartbreak from the national team perspective. We were in a really good spot. We were ready, and we were really, really excited to get together to prepare for the Olympics. We qualified in early February in France, about two weeks before everything went crazy, and we came home from that expecting to turn all our attention to Tokyo. Obviously, that isn’t happening. But I also sense a bit of relief from a lot of people as well, because people were very worried about what was going to happen and what would come out of it if it was allowed to go ahead.

And how has all of this affected you personally?

I mean, I don’t have a job. I’m out of work. I play a sport for a living, and it’s not possible to do that right now. So like many people, I don’t have any income. And because all the gyms are closed, I can’t go and work out, I can’t lift, I can’t go to a basketball court, I can’t shoot. I’ve been left to my own devices, and I have to get creative about working out at home. It hasn’t been that bad, to be honest. There’s some fun ways to work out at home. I’ve got a little bit of equipment, so I’m lucky that I can at least do some typical stuff. It’s really more about staying active, so I’ve been trying to figure out ways to do that while also staying inside.

Your teammate, Liz Cambage, was in China in December, where she fell ill with what seems like a bad case of COVID-19. You all played together afterwards. What was that like? 

When she was telling us about this sickness, we didn’t know what it was. And she was 100% fine when we saw her in France. She was fully healthy, she’d gotten the okay from doctors and everything, so we were confident that she was healthy and we were all going to be okay. We didn’t really know the full extent of the illness until after France, and then we were like, “Shit.” But no Opals have been confirmed positive since, so I think we’re okay. It was a real case of ignorance is bliss, because if we knew then what we know now, there’d have been a lot more stress.

Even though you saw postponement coming, I imagine the uncertainty was tough to deal with. Do you feel like you’re going through it all again with the WNBA now? 

It was tough, because you put a lot of emotional energy into preparing for something like the Olympics. Plus it was just so close. And personally, I’m recovering from injury, so I’m rehabbing now and was trying to get my body right for the next few months in order to get back to my peak when the games started. Now I’m aiming for the WNBA season, but that’s up in the air as well. We haven’t been told whether it’s going to go ahead or if it’s going to be delayed.

You’re in this limbo, honestly, because you’re trying to prepare for the season physically, but you’re also trying to prepare yourself mentally for the chance that it’s either cancelled or delayed. It does mess with your emotions. You have to be pretty tough and just get on with it. Because this stuff is going to happen, and whether you like it or not, you just have to deal with it.

And unlike the NBA, you fly coach in the WNBA, which means even if you were playing games without fans, you’d still be exposed to crowds on a regular basis if the season went on. 

Exactly. We’d only have so much control over the environment. We wouldn’t really have the luxury of guaranteed safety, so it’s a whole different thought process behind the WNBA’s decision. We just have to wait and see.

What communications have you received from the WNBA regarding a potential delay?

We receive a lot of emails from the Players’ Associations. Just check-ins, making sure we’re safe, and that if we need anything or have to travel at all, they’re aware of it. They did a really good job of getting people back to their home country who needed to go. It’s similar to what we experienced with the Olympic Committee as well. We get updates pretty often about what’s going on and where people’s thoughts are. But we’re all pretty much waiting week-to-week to see how the situation progresses and to see if the season can still go ahead.

In the meantime, are you just going to train as though it’s starting on the intended day? 

At the moment, yes. But like I said, I’m still not sure what decision is going to be made in terms of that. I mean, you look at the NBA, and nobody knows if it’s going to be delayed or if they’ll have to cancel. So I’m just trying to keep fit, and keep relatively active in the hopes that it will go ahead. But you have to be prepared for every outcome, whether you like it or not.

Huge chunks of the world’s population are now living under government-mandated lockdowns. It’s a bleak time, and near the top of almost everyone’s to-do list is to find new ways to stay sane and connected during this period of widespread isolation. This includes athletes, who have to not only re-invent their day-to-day routines, but also their dedicated training routines. Thanks to social media, we all get a peak into how their adjusting:

Washington Mystics forward Elena Delle Donne: re-discovering popcorn.
USWNT defender Kelley O’Hara: sees your toilet paper challenge, raises you one.
Chicago Red Stars goalie Emily Boyd: dancing. With friends.
Lindsey Vonn: trying to lift 213 pounds.
Baylor star Te’a Cooper: dancing… at the store!
Minnesota Lynx guard Lexie Brown: enjoying some family time.
LA Sparks forward Chiney Ogwumike: unleashing auntie moves.
Orlando Pride defender Ali Riley: getting in that workout clean.
River Plate footballer Jordan O’Brien: discovering the perils of the toilet paper challenge.

Gabby Williams is an American-French basketball player who plays for both the Chicago Sky of the WNBA and the Basket Lattes Montpellier Agglomération club in France, whose season was recently suspended due to the coronavirus. Williams, who remains in France under a government-mandated lockdown, won two NCAA championships while playing at UConn. She spoke to Just Women’s Sports about life in quarantine, the financial realities of playing overseas, and what makes UConn so damn good. 

What is your situation in France right now? How is it living under quarantine? 

I am living in a town called Palavas-les-Flots, right near the beach. It’s just me and my cat. One of my teammates actually lives in the same neighborhood as me so before the official lockdown, I would run down to her place and throw rocks at the window. They recently closed the beach, which is really tough because that was the only thing keeping me sane. I was going to the beach close to every day to get fresh air and to exercise.

At first the quarantine wasn’t too bad, but everyday it’s getting harder and more strict. We were just doing what the States are doing now, a recommended self-quarantine with restaurants and bars closed. Then, as of March 16th, they mandated a government lockdown where if you leave your house, you’re going to get stopped by the police and they’re going to ask for your ID and you have to have a paper explaining why you’re out. And just today they announced that we can’t go outside for exercise anymore. France’s president announced that this lockdown is going to be for at least 15 days, but I think it’s going to be longer. This is going to get worse before it gets better.

How has the virus impacted your ability to train? 

It sucks. I haven’t touched a basketball in so long, and I’m someone who tries to get up 500 shots a day. But now I can’t even practice. I just love to be in the gym working on my game, so I miss it a lot. And any basketball player will tell you, if you go two weeks without shooting, you’re not going to feel right when you come back.

Before restrictions, I was doing beach workouts and spending some time healing my body. Then the beaches closed, so I was just running. Now we can’t even go outside, so I just do high intensity workouts inside. I’m someone who likes to work out until I feel totally exhausted, and that is just hard to do with limited resources. It’s an adjustment, but ultimately, I know everyone’s going through a tough time and this is beyond just us. Everyone’s making sacrifices.

What went into your decision to play overseas in the first place?

Honestly, it’s the money. I hate to say it, but financially, if I have to choose, it’s a no brainer. I play overseas. I read a recent Breanna Stewart interview where they asked her why she was going to Russia to play, and she said the real question is, “Why would I come back to the WNBA? I get $900,000 from the Russian team I play for.”

Almost every WNBA player has to play in other leagues. We have to or we can’t support ourselves for an entire year.

And what made you choose to play in France specifically? 

I am a French-American dual citizen, so I have some family in Paris, but most of my family is back in the US. I chose to play in Europe because having a European passport makes me more valuable. Each team is allowed two Americans, but with a European passport, a team can have an extra American. I was playing in Italy last year, and it was not a good experience at all. The club I played for there was very unprofessional as far as paying me on time, and the team actually ended up folding in the middle of the season, so I lost a lot of money. France is probably the only country in Europe where we get paid by the government, so our money is guaranteed and protected. That was a huge reason for me to come to France. I didn’t want to go through another situation like in Italy.

How would you describe your WNBA career so far? What has been the biggest challenge? 

I’ve definitely learned a lot, but it is really tough. I was spoiled coming from UConn, where our team had our own plane and everything. You go to the WNBA and you’re right back in economy class, and the competition is at a whole other level. There is a very big learning curve. It’s the pace, the physicality, the intelligence of the players. Everyone is good. Everyone was one of the best college players in the country their year. There’s only 12 teams, so it’s hard to earn a spot and even harder to keep it. I mean, Megan Gustafson was the 2019 AP College Player of the Year, and she got cut from the WNBA before her rookie season. That’s how competitive it is.

What are your thoughts on the WNBA’s recent collective-bargaining agreement? How has it impacted you as a player?

I was actually a part of the process as a rep for my team. Each team had two who attended meetings and discussion with the union. It was crazy to see it all unfold. All of us representatives met to discuss amongst ourselves what things were most important to us. And then we just had to hope that the league was going to meet us at least halfway. Raising the max was the most important part of the entire agreement, because ultimately that will keep a lot of players from going overseas to play. It’s finally comparable to the kind of money that players make overseas.

For me, individually, I am still on a rookie contract for the WNBA, so the CBA doesn’t impact me too much right now, but hopefully it will in the future. It’s ultimately going to make the league more competitive and a lot more interesting. I mean, even what happened with all the trades and free agency — a lot of that was because of the CBA. Teams just have more money now.

What’s the biggest difference between playing for UConn and playing professionally? 

At UConn, I had to buy into a program. And now I’m playing for a different professional team every six months. You have to constantly re-learn how your team plays together. And I hate to say it, but things are also a bit more individually focused in the professional basketball world versus at UConn. At UConn, you breathe, eat and sleep UConn basketball. And now it’s like some of the time I am with Chicago, and at other times I am in another league. The best thing I can do is just make sure that I’m at the top of my game individually and then just try to be the missing piece that each team needs.

What makes UConn so good, and what made you a successful player while you were there?

You just have to buy in. I mean, that’s why UConn has been so good for so long. Our coaches know how to recruit the right kids, and they’re going to test and push each of us. And if you can’t handle it then you leave or you just never get the playing time. But if you buy in, then they’re going to give you the tools for success. Everyone always says, UConn wins because they get the best players. But if there’s 24 All-Americans that come out of high school and three go to UConn, what happens to the other 21? It’s not the players, it’s the coaches and the system. You just have to buy into what they tell you. And it’s not easy. It’s mentally and physically the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. But that’s why they push you to pass your limit and that’s why they get the best out of all these players.

You won two national championships as a Freshman and Sophomore and were part of a historic UConn team in 2016. What was that like?

It’s crazy because it’s something you dream about, especially my sophomore year, when we went undefeated. That felt like something out of a movie. You never think something like that is going to happen to you. And I was also so happy for our seniors that year. It was so cool to witness Brianna Stewart in her prime and be a part of it all. We made history, and that’s always special, especially when you really love the team and the girls you’re with.

What happened during your junior and senior seasons?

We fell short in the semifinals. It was crazy, though, because when we lost a lot of our significant players, the media and fans expected nothing from us. I think they ranked us fifth or something, which is a huge deal for UConn basketball. No one expected us to be good. And then we just kept winning. Even though we didn’t win the title those years, it still felt really special because it was me, Naphessa Collier, Katie Lou Samuelson, and Kia Nurse. We were the core four of the team who all stepped up to prove UConn was still great.

On Monday, March 16th, President Emmanuel Macron of France announced a 15-day countrywide lockdown. The very next morning, Carli Snyder was on a plane back to America. The Michigan native and University of Florida graduate had been playing volleyball for ASPTT Mulhouse, whose season has officially been postponed due to the spread of the coronavirus. We spoke with Snyder about what it was like to pack up her life overnight, the mood in both countries, and what she plans to do next.  

Can you walk us through what the last few weeks has been like? 

So the week before I left, our team was put under a kind of quarantine. They postponed the league and said it was up to our teams to decide if we could practice or not. At that point, our team was going to continue practicing until April 5th, when the league was originally supposed to be resuming. So up until last Monday afternoon I was under the impression that I would be staying in France. But then on Monday afternoon our coaches told the other American and I that Macron was going to give a speech that evening and that it would be smart to get out of France as soon as possible because a lockdown was coming.

So you didn’t know until Monday afternoon that you were leaving the next day? 

Yeah. I bought a ticket that afternoon for a 6:00am flight the next day. When you’re playing sports in another country, you’re so dependent on your team. And once the league was postponed, and I didn’t have those day-to-day interactions with my team, I felt distant from the club as I was trying to deal with these issues. I knew I had to leave quickly, because it wasn’t clear if there’d still be flights to America if I waited. There was so much confusion in the country. I barely speak French, so watching the president and others give speeches I couldn’t understand during a moment of crisis was stressful.

Confusion seems to be everywhere now. I imagine almost everyone on the planet now has gone online looking for reliable information and come up empty. 

There’s nothing. Even in France, I was like, I just need some information about what’s going on. But the problem is this hasn’t really happened in such a long time. And the way that our world is connected now is just so much more complicated than when we were dealing with the Spanish Flu, for instance. People obviously couldn’t hop on a Delta flight on a day’s notice during that time. They were forced to stay put by a lack of technology. But now technology gives us the ability to spread information and panic in an instant, and I think most of the truly valuable information ends up lost in the panic.

Have you been in contact with your club since coming back to the states?

A little bit. We’ve been in communication about the money situation because now that I’m in the US I have no access to a French bank account. We’re figuring that out. Mostly I’ve been trying to reach out and say sorry that I didn’t have longer to say goodbye. I mean, I had less than 12 hours to pack up and leave what has been my home for the last two years. I couldn’t stop or slow down to think clearly. But mentally, I wasn’t prepared to leave. I’ve truly loved playing on this team, and I really like the girls a lot, so I’ve just been reaching out to say I’m sorry it all happened the way it did.

I’m sure you all must realize there’s a chance the season isn’t resumed. 

We do, which is why I’m so sorry I had to leave the way I did. You can’t plan for any of this, and I think everyone on the team feels the same about having their lives interrupted. There’s so many moments we won’t get to have with the people we care about.

Obviously, there’s turmoil everywhere, but what are your thoughts about living in a world without sports?

My teammates and I have talked about this. Sports have always offered comfort in times of crisis. They’re a break from politics and religion and racial differences. They bring people together, which is rare in today’s world. That’s what’s so amazing about sports. They offer a break from the rest of reality. But now there’s this huge global threat, and large groups of people just can’t be together. It’s so unusual, especially for athletes who are used to being on a team. We’ve lost the thing that usually helps us through the most difficult times.

What’s it like to be at home? Do you have any sense as to what comes next?

It’s so strange, honestly. It’s strange because being home has always been a break for me. When I was at the University of Florida, we practiced year-round, so I only came home for a week at Christmas and then a week in the summer. And when I was home, I tried to pack everything in: family time, time with friends, time to go and play a little volleyball with people at my old club. Now it just feels really odd to be home because there’s this sense of not feeling finished. There’s no sense of resolution, so it feels weird to take a break.

If this season is eventually cancelled, the next would start in August. My contract is up in France at the end of this season, so I’ll have to talk to my agent if that’s the case. We’re all just waiting with the rest of the world to see how things unfold. Everything’s up in the air, but if there are leagues operating next year, I plan on playing. In the meantime, I’m going to quarantine and socially distance, and I’ll dedicate myself to some hobbies. But in the back of my mind, I have this lingering feeling of unfinished business.

Have you put any thought into how you’re going to work out while staying isolated back home? 

I keep getting tagged on this thing on Instagram to do 10 pushups, and I’m like, don’t tag me in these. I’m horrible at pushups [laughs]. So I’m not participating in any of those challenges, but luckily my family has an elliptical, a treadmill and some weights in the basement. I’ve been doing that, but of course, there’s nothing to replace the atmosphere of team sports.

I’m a community person. I’ve always gravitated toward team sports because you’re working with others. I need to know that I’m training for something, for the betterment of a group, and that’s hard right now because I have no idea what the future holds. I’m not used to being on an elliptical alone in my house.

You saw France initiate a lockdown. You’re now back in the states. Do you have a sense of a difference in moods between the countries? 

I think in France, the same as in Italy, and the same as here, the virus wasn’t taken so seriously at first. People like to be outside in France and sit at cafes, and they like to do their grocery shopping every day. It’s part of the culture. Macron put out a statement saying please stay inside, and the next day I saw people in the market still hugging each other. Macron had to make another statement saying this isn’t a joke, we’re just a few days behind Italy. And after that the city I live in became a ghost town.

So when I got back to the US, it felt like being back at that initial stage. We’re talking about it, we know it’s there, but people aren’t ready to completely adjust their lives. I saw St Patrick’s Day celebrations and kids on spring break packed into small spaces. These kinds of events were a bit concerning coming from Europe and seeing how easily this thing can spread.

It’s obvious we’re behind. We’ve known about this since late January or early February, and we’re only now taking precautions. I understand there’s a lot you have to consider regarding the economy, but I think we’ll now be forced to take some really drastic measures. I’m nervous, because this is a massive, massive country. On the other hand, I think we’re more equipped to do an extended shutdown. The stuffed suburban pantry is a very American concept — Europeans aren’t as used to stocking food. Now’s the time to eat those three-year-old Cheez-Its we’ve all got hiding in the backs of our pantries.

For one team, and especially one player, 2020 was about unfinished business. Of course, with the abrupt cancellation of March Madness, 2020 left unfinished business for everyone.

But first, that player and that team.

Sabrina Ionescu’s past year was movie material. It started with bringing Oregon to its first Final Four, where they lost to eventual champion Baylor. Then came the surprise announcement that she would play her senior season, putting a WNBA career on hold for one last chance to win a title. Ionescu called it “unfinished business.”

Oregon came into the preseason ranked first overall. They beat Team USA, faltered during a neutral site game against then-No. 8 Louisville, and dropped their first Pac-12 road game against Arizona State. Then, the unthinkable happened. A helicopter crash in LA claimed the lives of Kobe Bryant (a mentor to Ionescu), his daughter and seven others. Somehow, someway, Ionescu managed to play that night, and, when basketball mattered least, she led her team to a season sweep of rival Oregon State.

A month later, Ionescu became the only Division I player to ever record 2,000-points, 1,000 assists, and 1,000 rebounds in a career, only hours after speaking at the Kobe Bryant Memorial in Los Angeles. She played through the flu after flying from LA to Stanford, all while beating the Cardinal on their home court and notching her 26th (and final) career triple double, by far the most in collegiate history.

Storming through the Pac-12 tournament, Ionescu and Oregon confronted Stanford again in the championship, and a year after a heartbreaking loss, doubled down on their regular season conference title, throttling the Cardinal 89-56. Awaiting Oregon on the selection Monday that never came was another No. 1 seed and another opportunity for a Portland regional. Waiting forever, in New Orleans is the stage where Ionescu was supposed to be crowned, where she would finish her business, where the season she dedicated to Bryant was supposed to reach its pinnacle.

At least that’s the ending Hollywood would have written. Now, we’ll never know.

This week, Ionescu was voted the unanimous AP player of the year. She was also a first-team All-American for the third straight year. Ionescu was joined by Ruthy Hebard on the first team and Satou Sabally on the second team. Both their stories deserve a pause.

Hebard finished second on Oregon’s career points list, first in career field goals made, and first in the conference’s all-time field goal percentage. Sabally, just a junior but forever linked to her contemporaries, announced she would forego her senior season to enter the WNBA draft after back-to-back All-American campaigns.

Ionescu will be drafted first into the WNBA (even if it’s not the scheduled April 17 date). Hebard and Sabally will follow in the picks soon after.

But what about the Gamecocks?

Across the country, there’s a team that doesn’t think Oregon was destined for that Hollywood ending anyway.

South Carolina, after all, ended the season ranked atop the AP poll, with 26 first place votes to Oregon’s four. They were the real deal. According to FiveThirtyEight’s model, South Carolina was the only team besides Oregon that was more likely to reach the championship game than not. The two teams combined for a 63-3 record this season, and the Gamecocks had one fewer loss.

Their seniors, Tyasha Harris and Mikiah Herbert Harrigan, were denied the opportunity to end their college career the same way it started — with a national championship. Their outstanding freshmen, Aliyah Boston, Zia Cooke and Brea Beal, will not have the chance to start their own path in a similar fashion.

And this would have been a meeting for the ages.

The first time the Final Four was hosted in New Orleans, the championship game itself went to overtime for the first time in its history. Fans across the country might have been in for an equally thrilling ending had Oregon’s big three and South Carolina’s standout trio of freshmen collided in the Big Easy.

Then again, they don’t call it March Madness for nothing, and it’s likely the games we can’t even imagine that are ultimately the biggest loss, the tournament matchups between Cinderellas and powerhouses that define this time of the year. The chaotic poetry of March Madness is unlike anything else precisely because it can’t be predicted.

History on pause: who’s grateful, who’s not

Notre Dame, which was likely going to miss the tournament, is able to maintain its 24-year streak. UConn, which had reached the Final Four every year since 2008, had its run snapped. (Or was it?)

Baylor was seeking to become the fourth program to ever win back-to-back titles, joining UConn, Tennessee, and USC. Now the Lady Bears will need to wait a year for another opportunity. Only this time, Baylor will be without Lauren Cox, who injured her knee during the championship last year but played the entire 2019-20 season and was named the Big 12 Player of the Year as well as a first-team All-American.

Conferences will also have to wait a year to make their case. The top heavy Pac-12 was fitted to have five teams seeded in the top sixteen. The Big Ten was supposed to send more teams to the NCAA tournament than any other league. And Charlie Creme’s bracketology for ESPN had seven teams from mid-major conferences earning single-digit seeds.

UConn and Stanford, two of the sport’s preeminent programs, each had a special moment on the line. UConn could have sent its senior class off with its first national title, saving the group from becoming the first since the 2004 recruiting class to leave Gampel Pavilion without a ring.

Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer could have matched the legendary Pat Summitt’s career wins mark of 1,098 with an upset to reach the Final Four. Instead, VanDerveer (and UConn’s Geno Auriemma, who is three wins behind VanDerveer) will likely achieve the feat in an early season game next year with much less on the table.

Both coaches, however, will have another shot. The graduating seniors, on the other hand, will not.

March sadness, indeed.

The abrupt cancellation of college softball put a premature end to what looked to be an epic season. To celebrate (and lament) those players and teams whose seasons were cut short, here’s a recap of the five biggest stories we weren’t ready to have end:

 

1. The farewell tours of two shortstop greats

The 2020 season was supposed to provide us one last look at two of the best dual threat shortstops in recent memory: Sis Bates and Jessie Harper (neither of whom have given any indication that they plan to pursue a fifth year next season).

Bates, my number one player to watch this year, was the rare player whose fielding abilities made her must-watch entertainment. The reigning two-time Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and two-time first team All-American, Bates’ spectacular defensive plays made her both a Washington legend and a national treasure. I know I speak for countless fans across the country when I say that I already miss seeing her make the plays that only she could make:

The abrupt cancellation of college softball put a premature end to what looked to be an epic season. To celebrate (and lament) those players and teams whose seasons were cut short, here’s a recap of the five biggest stories we weren’t ready to have end: 1. The farewell tours of two shortstop greats

Harper, the number two player on my pre-season watch list, was another two-time All-American who led the NCAA in home runs last year. Even with the shortened season, she led the Pac-12 in home runs with 10. This means that every year of her college career, Harper was either first or second for home runs in the conference. Talk about leaving a legacy. Her 76 career home runs are just 19 shy of the NCAA record. Against Team USA, Harper lit up arguably one of the best pitchers in the world, hitting two home runs against Cat Osterman. Though the Wildcats lost, there’s no doubt Harper caught the eye of Team USA’s coaches. Could Tokyo 2021 be next on her agenda?

2. UCLA looked ready to repeat

The Bruins began and ended 2020 ranked No. 1, racking up a decisive 25-1 record along the way. Before conference play and just before the season was cut short, the Bruins were coming off a dominant double-header, with freshman Lexi Sosa pitching UCLA’s first perfect game since 2008, followed by a 4-0 shutout win over No. 18 Minnesota. Such performances made it seem almost certain, even this early in the season, that UCLA was bound for the WCWS. Would they have repeated as champs? I think they would have.

It’s also worth noting that Rachel Garcia, UCLA’s all-world dual threat pitcher and hitter (and the 2019 WCWS MVP) took this college season off to train with Team USA for the Olympics. Now that the Olympics are postponed, it seems unlikely that Garcia will return to UCLA next season as she will now need to train for Tokyo 2021.

 

3. Conference play was just around the corner

This may be the most depressing face of the shortened season: teams were only just beginning to enter conference play. While the early season tournaments were fun to watch, they are traditionally such a steep learning curve that it’s difficult to know how exactly a team will do just based on their opening slate of games. We saw a lot of early upsets this year, including more than a few ranked teams losing to unranked opponents (UNC took down then No. 2 Alabama and Loyola Marymount upset then No. 4 LSU, among others). While these were exciting to watch, they didn’t give us a clear picture of how the rest of the year would have gone. Odds are that both the Pac-12 and the SEC would have gone down to the wire, with No. 1 UCLA, No. 2 Washington, and No. 4 Arizona fighting out west while No. 5 LSU, No. 7 Florida, and No. 10 Alabma duked it out down south. Fans of the sport will spend a long time lamenting the fact that we never got to see those conference tilts.

 

4. Miranda Elish was making things happen in the circle. 

The NCAA is losing a lot (and I mean, a lot) of great pitchers this season. One of the most notable is Miranda Elish, who transferred to Texas from Oregon in 2019 after going 37-2 during her time with the Ducks. At the time, Elish was touted as the missing piece that Texas needed in order to be competitive again. The last memorable pitcher to don the burnt orange was 4-time All-American and 2-time Olympic medalist Cat Osterman, who graduated in 2006. After taking a nasty accidental throw to the face from her own catcher in last year’s postseason, Elish made a complete recovery and was back this season with a vengeance. In 84 innings, she recorded 96 strikeouts, with 11 of those coming in a season high performance against Fresno State. Her most notable game, however, was a 7-0 win over New Mexico, when Elish tossed her third career no-hitter and second perfect game.

5. Speaking of Texas…

The Longhorns were having one of the best seasons in program history under new coach Mike White. White brought along four Oregon transfers with him when he moved south in 2019, including Elish. In the short 2020 season the team finished No. 3 in the country with a 24-3 record. And with Elish pitching as well as she was, the Longhorns appeared on track to not only win the Big 12, but potentially return to the WCWS for the first time since 2013. They were the only team to beat No. 1 UCLA this year, on the same weekend that they also took down No. 2 Washington. Those kinds of wins will have Longhorns fans wondering for years to come about what could have been in 2020.

With the 2020 college lacrosse season coming to an unexpected and abrupt close due to the spread of coronavirus, it’s time to look back at what might have been. These are the biggest storylines we no longer have the chance to see unfold.

 

1. Would UNC have run away with it?

The Tar Heels ended the season undefeated and ranked No. 1, and though the 2020 campaign was brief, they still managed to knock off five ranked teams. Since their last title in 2016, UNC has returned to Championship Weekend every year but fallen short each time. This year, they looked poise to bring the program’s third title back to Chapel Hill, ranking second in the country in scoring an astonishing 19.57 goals per game.

The silver lining for UNC is that they’ll almost certainly be back in the driver’s seat next year. Jamie Ortega, US Lacrosse Magazine’s preseason Player of the Year, is only a junior. Katie Hoeg, a two-time All-American and the UNC record holder for career assists, will reportedly join her. And UNC’s coach has announced that seniors Caroline Wakefield and Catie Woodruff are also planning to return next year.

 

2. Speaking of Notre Dame…

The Fighting Irish opened and ended the season 7-0 for the second straight year, putting a close to what might have been their best chance to return to the Final Four since 2006. They were set to take on No. 1 UNC in their very next game before the cancellations were announced. Now, both teams end their seasons undefeated… Boring!!

But again, there’s a silver lining. Notre Dame’s best offensive players this season were both freshmen. Neither Kasey Choma nor Madison Ahern are going anywhere in a hurry. Choma led the team with 18 goals, while Ahern led the team with 23 points. It’s rare to have two top recruits perform so consistently this early into their college career, and while fans were looking forward to seeing if the duo could keep it up against UNC, they’ll at least have a few more years to watch them in action.

 

3. Would Maryland have recovered?

The reigning national champs, on the other hand, were having a historically bad start to their 2020 season. They were doubled up by Syracuse 10-5 after complaining about the weather in New York and forcing the Orange to drive down and play them in College Park (the game was originally scheduled to take place at Syracuse.) They only lost by one to Florida, but they were pummelled 19-6 by UNC. Could they have just had early season jitters? Would Cathy Reese have righted the ship?

On an individual note, Kali Hartshorn was on track to top lax legend and Maryland alum Taylor Cummings’ single-season program record for draw controls (144). Now barring a potential fifth year, she won’t get the chance.

 

4. In memoriam: the behind-the-backs that could have been 

Even in a shortened season, we saw an insane amount of behind-the-back goals this year. The collective skill of college laxers continues to improve year after year. It’s hard not to watch these highlights and not salivate over all the awesomeness we won’t get to see:

5. But of course… 

The storylines we’ll miss the most are the ones we can’t even imagine. The season had only just begun. Most teams had only played about 7 or 8 games, and conference play wasn’t even in full swing. Every lax fan knows that anything can happen over the course of a single game, let alone an entire season. And looking back, it’s clearly the moments, the upsets, the tournament runs and broken records that we couldn’t predict that will leave the bitterest (and most elusive) sense of FOMO in every fan’s mind.

Following Carlos Cordeiro’s abrupt resignation as U.S. Soccer’s president, vice president Cindy Parlow Cone is now in charge of righting what appears to be a sinking ship.

Cordeiro’s resignation was all but inevitable after the federation filed a legal argument in their case with the national team which claimed that the USWNT had less “skill” and “responsibility” than their male counterparts. Such comments were immediately and widely blasted for their blatant misogyny, with not only fans and players, but even corporate sponsors of U.S. Soccer speaking out. (And once you’ve alienated sponsors, whose left to defend you?)

As vice president, Parlow Cone was next in line to be Cordeiro’s successor. Now, she is the first female president in the federation’s 107-year history.

The name might ring a bell, and for good reason: Parlow Cone won three NCAA championships, as well as the Hermann Trophy, while playing for North Carolina in the late 90’s. She went on to play for the national team, and was a member of the famed 1999 World Cup winning squad. She also played in three Olympic games, as well as the 2003 World Cup.

After serving as an assistant coach at UNC, Parlow Cone became the first head coach of the Portland Thorns in 2012, leading the club to the inaugural NWSL title the following year.

A member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame, Parlow Cone’s ascension has largely been met with praise, including a glowing review from her former team, Mia Hamm. And in her first public comments as president, Parlow Cone condemned the federation’s previous legal strategy as “offensive.”

With all that said, it’s clear that Parlow Cone has inherited a mess. As Grant Wahl puts it:

She’s an unpaid volunteer doing a job that should be paid in the high six figures, and she’s not a former Goldman Sachs partner like Cordeiro, who could afford this. She’s in charge of an organization that currently has no CEO, no vice president and no chief commercial officer. The people that have had the biggest influence on U.S. Soccer over the past two decades are now gone: ex-CEO Dan Flynn, ex-CCO Jay Berhalter and ex-president Sunil Gulati, who’s now no longer on the board (since he’s no longer the immediate past president).

Her former coach and colleague, UNC’s Anson Dorrance, offered a similar prognostic.

“Her position right now is virtually impossible if you think about it,” said Dorrance. “Because she’s not only tasked with resolving lawsuits, but also mending relationships, restoring faith not just with the U.S. women’s national team, but with members, fans, and sponsors… She has to do this and guide us through a gutted organization that requires a complete reconstruction.”

Such a reconstruction must begin at the top. Though Cordeiro’s resignation was necessary, the federation’s issues run much deeper.

For starters, the entire board of directors needs to be held accountable for not only initially approving the federation’s misogynistic legal strategy, but for failing to speak out until their sponsors went public.

Parlow Cone has already promised an immediate internal review. But even with a shift in tone, and even if additional resignations are imminent, it’s difficult to see how U.S. Soccer has any hope of recovering the public’s support given that their fundamental stance has not changed. They are, barring a last minute settlement, still going to court with their own national team in May. And while Parlow Cone has stated that her hope is to find “a positive resolution for both sides,” it’s difficult to imagine what kind of solution could appease both parties at this point.

It’s enough, at this point, to wish her good luck, as she’s certainly going to need that and more.

I have to start by stating the obvious: we’re living in strange, distressing, and unprecedented times. Never in my life have I seen so many people’s everyday lives be so radically re-scripted in the matter of a week. The coronavirus has brought the world to a standstill, and at this point, it’s anyone’s guess as to how long it will last. Global uncertainty has become the new normal.

The show can’t go on. March Madness has been cancelled, as have all college sports. The NWSL and WNBA seasons are likely to be pushed back, if not entirely cancelled, unless containment improves. And while both Japan and the IOC have so far refused to even publicly entertain the notion of cancelling the Olympics, it’s obvious that this is not only a real possibility, but is perhaps, increasingly, the only responsible one.

Sports may seem trivial at a time like this. And yet, it was only after major sporting events in America and Europe were cancelled that the general public began to take the threat of coronavirus seriously. And if we didn’t already understand just how crucial sports are to our collective identity, we soon will, as each day we wade deeper into our new sports-less world. Just as the coronavirus has already made clear just how fragile some of our most cherished institutions ultimately are, it may, in the coming weeks, likewise make evident just how much we rely on sports for both community and inspiration. (I know I can’t be the only one who spent the last weekend wishing there was a game on TV.)

But though the calendar is empty, Just Women’s Sports is marching on. We will continue to publish stories highlighting the courage of female athletes and the immeasurable impact of sports on our lives. Even when athletes can’t compete, they still have stories to tell. And while our content may look a little different over the coming weeks and months, our mission remains the same: to bring you everything there is to see and know in women’s sports.

We’re going to take this time to talk with athletes about what it means to have their careers put on pause. We’ll also revisit historical moments, highlight movies and re-watchable games to add to your streaming queue, and continue to cover breaking developments regarding both the lead up the Olympics and the USWNT’s pending gender discrimination trial. Rest assured, you’ll still be getting this newsletter in your inbox every week.

I’d like to end by sending my personal condolences to both those affected by the coronavirus as well as those who are most financially and socially vulnerable at this time. I also want to thank the many health care workers and government officials around the world who are working to contain this disease.

This is a time of widespread confusion and hurt. Show compassion. Be smart. Stay prepared.

We’re in this together.