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NCAA Tournament tracker: Women’s TV deal could be ‘worth a lot’

(C. Morgan Engel/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

The 2023 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament ended in an action-packed final weekend, from two thrilling semifinal matchups on Friday to LSU’s national championship win against Iowa on Sunday.

While we’re still waiting on ratings for Sunday’s title game on ABC, the rest of the tournament shattered records. The Final Four game between Iowa and South Carolina averaged 5.5 million viewers, the most for a semifinal on ESPN networks and the most-viewed college basketball game (men’s or women’s) on ESPN since 2008.

The women’s tournament is currently included in a TV deal with 28 other sports’ NCAA tournaments. But that contract with ESPN expires in 2024, and the momentum of women’s basketball could give the tournament its own TV deal in the upcoming bargaining cycle.

“I think the biggest opportunity there — and I would argue that the investments that have been made in the women’s game have had a tremendous return to the women’s game and to the players and the coaches and everybody else — is the fact that the timing on the bid associated with this is perfect,” new NCAA president Charlie Baker told reporters Saturday. “Basically, this thing is going out this year and it’s going out on the heels of what will have been the most successful tournament…

“Let’s see what the market thinks it’s worth. I think the market is going to think it’s worth a lot.”


2023 NCAA Tournament: Top storylines from March Madness

March 29 — Caitlin Clark wins Naismith Player of the Year

Iowa star Caitlin Clark beat out reigning winner Aliyah Boston for the Naismith Player of the Year award.

While leading her team to the Final Four, Clark has averaged 8.6 assists per game, which puts her first in the NCAA in that category. She also ranks first in 3-pointers per game (3.53) and triple-doubles (five this season) and third in points per game (27.3). The Hawkeyes guard is the only player in the country to average more than 20 points, five assists and five rebounds per game.

Boston may have lost the top award to Clark, but she took home the Defensive Player of the Year award for the second season in a row. The South Carolina center is ranked in the top five in the country in both offensive and defensive player rating.

Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley has been named the Naismith Coach of the Year for the second season in a row, as she has led the defending champions to an undefeated record and a third straight Final Four berth.


March 26 — Inflate-gate: LSU questions air level in basketballs

After a poor offensive showing from both teams in LSU’s 54-42 win against Miami in the Elite Eight, the third-seeded Tigers questioned the inflation levels of the basketballs.

LSU shot 30.2% from the field in their win, while Miami shot 31.6% from the field. The teams combined to go 1-for-27 from 3-point range, with that one 3-pointer coming from LSU’s Kateri Poole in the fourth quarter.

“They need to take some air out of the ball,” Poole told The Athletic. “It’s too much and I think everyone’s shot has been off lately.”

The men’s tournament has featured similar complaints about the basketballs, including from overall No. 1 seed Alabama.

“We need to check those balls out, because it’s not even fun for me to watch the men play,” LSU coach Kim Mulkey said. “I mean, knockdown shots is normal for men and they’re just rattling all over the rim.

“It’s happening to both teams, so it’s not like one team has an advantage. But I know Alexis Morris’s ball handling skill and she’d bring the ball up, and all of a sudden you’d see that thing just jump off the floor.”


March 25 — Ohio State ends drought, snaps UConn streak

The Ohio State Buckeyes defeated UConn, 73-61, to earn a spot in their first Elite Eight since 1993. With the win, Ohio State simultaneously ended UConn’s streak of consecutive NCAA Final Fours, which dated back to 2007.


March 24 — Miami, LSU, Iowa, and Louisville book tickets to Elite Eight

The first four games of the Sweet 16 were filled with plenty of drama, beginning with No. 9 Miami upsetting No. 4 Villanova. With the win, Miami becomes just the second No. 9 seed to qualify for the Elite Eight of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament.


March 21 — ACC and SEC lead Sweet 16 slate

The ACC and SEC each had four teams advance to the Sweet 16, tied for the most of any conference in this year’s NCAA Tournament.

While the Big Ten and Pac-12 dominated the Associated Press Top 25 poll for much of the season, each of those conferences came up just short, with three teams each in the Sweet 16. The Big East has the final two in UConn and Villanova.

LSU star Angel Reese defended the strength of her team’s conference after her Tigers won their second-round game against No. 6 seed Michigan, and then No. 8 seed Ole Miss stunned No. 1 seed Stanford.

“But the SEC was light this year???” she tweeted Sunday night during the Ole Miss victory. “OH OK.”


March 18 — Seven upsets highlight first round

Seven first-round games were won by the lower seed. No. 12 seeds Florida Gulf Coast and Toledo pulled off the biggest upsets, with FGC defeating No. 5 Washington State, 74-63, and Toledo bumping off No. 5 Iowa State, 80-73.

Here’s the full list of first round upsets:

  • No. 10 Georgia 66, No. 7 Florida State 54
  • No. 11 Mississippi State 81, No. 6 Creighton 66
  • No. 9 South Dakota State 62, No. 8 USC 57 (OT)
  • No. 10 Princeton 64, No. 7 NC State 63
  • No. 9 Miami 62, No. 8 Oklahoma State 61
  • No. 12 Florida Gulf Coast 74, No. 5 Washington State 63
  • No. 12 Toledo 80, No. 5 Iowa State 73

March 18 — Baylor records historic comeback

Baylor needed a historic comeback to emerge from the first round of the 2023 NCAA basketball tournament. Trailing by 18 points against Alabama, No. 7 seed Baylor went on to win the game, 78-74. The 18-point deficit is tied for third largest comeback in NCAA tournament history.

“Wow, we were really bad in the first quarter and really good after that,” Baylor head coach Nicki Collen said.

Two other teams managed 16-plus point comebacks Saturday, with Miami coming back from a 17-point deficit and Ohio State reversing a 16-point margin.


March 17 — Stanford’s Cameron Brink misses first round with non-COVID illness

Forward Cameron Brink sat out Stanford’s first round opener with a non-COVID illness. The Cardinal defeated No. 16 Sacred Heart, 92-49.

“Not how I expected March Madness to start but cheering my girls on today – just a stomach bug & I’ll be back asap,” Brink wrote on Instagram.


March 17 — NC State’s Diamond Johnson will miss opening weekend

NC State point guard Diamond Johnson will miss the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament due to injury, she revealed Thursday night on social media.

The junior is dealing with an ankle injury, which has kept her off the court since Feb. 16. Still, the Wolfpack had planned for her possible return, and indeed her absence at the end of the regular season was aimed at giving her enough time to recover ahead of the postseason, according to coach Wes Moore.

“I will not be playing in the NCAA Tournament this weekend and wanted to let everyone know,” Johnson wrote on Instagram. “I have been rehabbing my injury and taking it week by week, although it hasn’t been easy my support system has helped me get to this point both mentally and physically.”

No. 7 seed NC State will start its tournament run against No. 10 Princeton at 10 p.m. ET Friday at Utah’s Jon M. Huntsman Center.


March 16 — Florida State’s Ta’Niya Latson out for NCAA Tournament

Florida State will be without its leading scorer in Ta’Niya Latson for the NCAA Tournament, the team announced Thursday.

Latson missed the Seminoles’ most recent game, a loss to Wake Forest in the ACC Tournament, but Florida State has not released any information about the injury. The freshman guard led the team with 21.3 points per game this season.

Sophomore guard O’Mariah Gordon also will miss the NCAA Tournament due to injury. Gordon averaged 6.9 points per game for the Seminoles.


March 16 — Geno Auriemma: ‘If we weren’t called UConn, we’d be a No. 1’

Geno Auriemma’s UConn teams had earned a No. 1 seed in 13 of the last 15 NCAA Tournaments before this year. But the Huskies will begin this round of March Madness with a No. 2 seed.

While the team also was a No. 2 seed in 2022 and 2019 (and made it to the Final Four in each of those seasons), the legendary program is not used to playing second fiddle. And the Huskies only did not claim a top seed this year because they are being judged relative to their own high bar, Auriemma said.

“I think if we weren’t called UConn, we’d be a No. 1,” the coach said after the bracket reveal.

The Huskies have dealt with injuries, big and small, all season, which hampered their chances at a No. 1 seed. Star sophomore guard Azzi Fudd missed much of the regular season with a knee injury but returned for the Big East Tournament.

Auriemma called the No. 2 seed “expected” despite the disappointment, though he is not looking forward to the trip to Seattle for the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight should his team make it that far.


March 13 — Holy Cross faces travel trouble ahead of first round

The No. 15 seed Crusaders are set to face No. 2 seed Maryland at 2:15 p.m. ET Friday at the Terrapins’ home arena in College Park — 393 miles from their home in Worcester, Mass.

Unfortunately for Holy Cross, that distance comes in just under 400 miles. The NCAA will reimburse schools for charter flights of 400 miles or more, so the Crusaders’ trip does not make the cut.

With a snowstorm expected in Massachusetts, the team could not find enough space on commercial flights, so the Crusaders may have to turn to a train or a bus, Stadium analyst Jeff Goodman reported.


Complete results from the 2023 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament

First Four Results and Scores

  • Wednesday, March 15:
    • Mississippi State 70, Illinois 56
    • Sacred Heart 57, Southern 47
  • Thursday, March 16:
    • St. John’s 66, Purdue 64
    • Tennessee Tech 79, Monmouth 69

First Round Results and Scores

  • Friday, March 17:
    • No. 8 South Florida 67, No. 9 Marquette 65 (OT)
    • No. 7 Arizona 75, No. 10 West Virginia 62
    • No. 10 Georgia 66, No. 7 Florida State 54
    • No. 1 South Carolina 72, No. 16 Norfolk State 40
    • No. 2 Maryland 93, No. 15 Holy Cross 61
    • No. 6 Michigan 71, No. 11 UNLV 59
    • No. 3 Notre Dame 82, No. 14 Southern Utah 56
    • No. 2 Iowa 95, No. 15 Southeastern Louisiana 43
    • No. 3 LSU 73, No. 14 Hawaii 50
    • No. 1 Virginia Tech 58, No. 14 Chattanooga 33
    • No. 11 Mississippi State 81, No. 6 Creighton 66
    • No. 1 Stanford 92, No. 16 Sacred Heart 49
    • No. 2 Utah 103, No. 15 Gardner-Webb 77
    • No. 9 South Dakota State 62, No. 8 USC 57 (OT)
    • No. 10 Princeton 64, No. 7 NC State 63
    • No. 8 Ole Miss 71, No. 9 Gonzaga 48
  • Saturday, March 18:
    • No. 1 Indiana 77, No. 16 Tennessee Tech 47
    • No. 4 Tennessee 95, No. 13 Saint Louis 50
    • No. 3 Ohio State 80, No. 14 James Madison 66
    • No. 9 Miami 62, No. 8 Oklahoma State 61
    • No. 12 Florida Gulf Coast 74, No. 5 Washington State 63
    • No. 2 UConn 95, No. 15 Vermont 52
    • No. 12 Toledo 80, No. 5 Iowa State 73
    • No. 6 North Carolina 61, No. 11 St. John’s 59
    • No. 4 Villanova 76, No. 13 Cleveland State 59
    • No. 7 Baylor 78, No. 10 Alabama 74
    • No. 6 Colorado 82, No. 11 Middle Tennessee 60
    • No. 5 Louisville 83, No. 12 Drake 81
    • No. 5 Oklahoma 85, No. 12 Portland 63
    • No. 3 Duke 89, No. 14 Iona 49
    • No. 4 Texas 79, No. 13 East Carolina 40
    • No. 4 UCLA 67, No. 13 Sacramento State 45

Second Round Results and Scores

  • Sunday, March 19:
    • No. 1 South Carolina 76, No. 8 South Florida 45
    • No. 2 Iowa 74, No. 10 Georgia 66
    • No. 3 Notre Dame 53, No. 11 Mississippi State 48
    • No. 1 Virginia Tech 72, No. 9 South Dakota State 60
    • No. 2 Maryland 77, No. 7 Arizona 64
    • No. 2 Utah 63, No. 10 Princeton 56
    • No. 3 LSU 66, No. 6 Michigan 42
    • No. 8 Ole Miss 54, No. 1 Stanford 49
  • Monday, March 20:
    • No. 3 Ohio State 71, No. 6 North Carolina 69
    • No. 4 Tennessee 94, No. 12 Toledo 47
    • No. 5 Louisville 73, No. 4 Texas 51
    • No. 4 Villanova 76, No. 12 Florida Gulf Coast 57
    • No. 9 Miami 70 No. 1 Indiana 68
    • No. 6 Colorado 61, No. 3 Duke 53 (OT)
    • No. 2 UConn 77, No. 7 Baylor 58
    • No. 4 UCLA 82, No. 5 Oklahoma 73

Sweet 16 Results and Scores

  • Friday, March 24: 
    • No. 9 Miami (Fla.) 70, No. 4 Villanova 65
    • No. 3 LSU 66, No. 2 Utah 63
    • No. 2 Iowa 87, No. 6 Colorado 77
    • No. 5 Louisville 72, No. 8 Ole Miss 62
  • Saturday, March 25:
    • No. 2 Maryland 76, No. 3 Notre Dame 59
    • No.1 South Carolina 59, No. 4 UCLA 43
    • No. 3 Ohio State 73, No. 2 UConn 61
    • No. 1 Virginia Tech 73, No 4 Tennessee 64

Elite Eight Results and Scores

  • Sunday, March 26:
    • No. 3 LSU 54, No. 9 Miami 42
    • No. 2 Iowa 97, No. 5 Louisville 83
  • Monday, March 27:
    • No. 1 South Carolina 86, No. 2 Maryland 75
    • No. 1 Virginia Tech 84, No. 3 Ohio State 74

Final Four Results and Scores

  • Friday, March 31
    • No. 3 LSU 79, No. 1 Virginia Tech 72
    • No. 2 Iowa 77, No. 1 South Carolina 73
  • Sunday, April 2
    • No. 3 LSU 102, No. 2 Iowa 85

Decorated Olympic Swimmer Katie Ledecky receives Presidential Medal of Freedom

swimmer katie ledecky with world championship gold medal
Katie Ledecky is the most decorated athlete in the history of women's swimming. (Zheng Huansong/Xinhua via Getty Images)

Seven-time Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, at a White House ceremony on Friday afternoon. 

The Team USA standout is the most decorated women’s swimmer in the sport’s history. In addition to her seven Olympic golds, she’s also won a total of 21 gold medals at the World Championships, the most of any swimmer regardless of gender. 

The esteemed award recognizes those who have "made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavors," according to a White House press briefing

Ledecky is one of 19 medal recipients chosen by the Biden administration this year. She joins a class that spans the worlds of politics, sports, film, human rights, religion, and science. Her fellow 2024 awardees include Everything Everywhere All at Once actress Michelle Yeoh, pioneering Hispanic astronaut Dr. Ellen Ochoa, and former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, plus posthumous winners Jim Thorpe, the first Native American to win an Olympic gold medal for the US, and assassinated civil rights leader Medgar Evers. 

"I'm surrounded by so many extraordinary people in so many different fields," Ledecky told Just Women's Sports on Friday. "I feel like I've made a lot of friends today among that group, and their families and their friends."

Olympic gymnast Simone Biles and USWNT legend Megan Rapinoe were among 2022’s class of Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients. Biles and Rapinoe were the fifth and sixth women athletes to be given the honor, making Ledecky the seventh.

Ledecky said she was surprised to learn how recent it has been that athletes in women's sports have been considered for the honor. Billie Jean King was the first to receive the award in 2009. "That kind of blew my mind that it was that recent," she said.

"There are so many great female athletes that I've looked up to for so many years," she continued. "And I know we're just going to keep pushing ahead, and doing our best to continue to get a seat at every table."

Like Biles, Ledecky receives the Medal of Freedom while she's still actively competing in her sport, a fact not lost on the 27-year-old. "My goals in the pool are to continue to push forward and swim good times, hopefully win some more medals. And then secondly to continue to do good things out of the pool, whether that's inspiring young kids to learn how to swim, get into the sport, set big goals in whatever pursuits they're interested in."

"I've recognized I've had a long career now, and it's important to reflect every now and then. But at the same time, I'm still competing and still working hard into the future."

Exclusive: Kelley O’Hara announces retirement at end of 2024 NWSL season

uswnt player kelley o'hara poses with an american flag at the world cup
USWNT defender Kelley O'Hara will close out her decorated career at the end of the 2024 NWSL season. (Jose Breton/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

After an illustrious career for both club and country, Gotham FC and U.S. Women’s National Team defender Kelley O’Hara announced today via Kelley on the Street that she will be retiring from professional soccer at the end of this year, making the 2024 NWSL season her last.

"I have always said I would play under two conditions: that I still love playing soccer, and if my body would let me do it the way I wanted to," O’Hara told Just Women’s Sports in the lead-up to her retirement announcement. "I realized a while back that I was always going to love it, so it was the physical piece that was going to be the deciding factor."

The 35-year-old will retire as a two-time World Cup champion, an Olympic gold medalist, and at least a two-time NWSL champion, depending on where Gotham finishes this season. Her legacy as a player is hard to fully encapsulate, and will forever run through some of the biggest snapshots in USWNT and NWSL history. 

In 2012, O’Hara played every minute of the USWNT’s Olympic gold medal run, after having recently converted into a defender. Her soaring goal off the bench in the 2015 World Cup semifinal is the stuff of legend. And her return from lingering injury to play in every knockout match of the national team’s 2019 World Cup win cemented a storybook international career. 

It was O’Hara who scored the overtime goal in 2021 to earn the Washington Spirit their first-ever NWSL championship, and O’Hara who returned to help see Gotham earn a title in 2023 after years spent in the trenches with the club’s previous iteration, Sky Blue. Her 15-year career spanned two professional women’s soccer leagues in the U.S. (she earned her first professional title in 2010 with WPS’s FC Gold Pride), as well as sweeping changes to the sport both on and off the pitch.

O'Hara celebrates after scoring the winning goal for the Washington Spirit at the 2021 NWSL Championship match in Louisville, Kentucky. (Jamie Rhodes/USA TODAY Sports)

On the field, O’Hara has always been known for a motor that never quits, making the right flank her domain in attacking possession and defensive transition. In recent years, she’s also been celebrated for a competitive fire that raises the level of her teammates, whether she’s in the starting XI or supporting from the bench.

But injuries take a toll, a reality not always seen by the fans watching from home. "I've never taken anything for granted, and I feel like I've never coasted either," O’Hara said of her late-career success in the NWSL despite battling injuries. "I've always been like, 'I gotta put my best foot forward every single day I step on this field' — which is honestly probably half the reason why I'm having to retire now as opposed to getting a couple more years out of it. I've just grinded hard."

Recently, O’Hara has been sidelined at Gotham with ankle and knee injuries, and the situation motivated her to really prioritize listening to her body. "To get injured and come back, and get injured and come back, and just keep doing it, it really takes a toll on you.

"People don't see the doubt that's associated with injury,” she continued. "As athletes we feel a certain way, we perform a certain way, our body feels a certain way, we're very in tune with our bodies. And there's always so much doubt surrounding injury. It’s like, 'Can I feel the way I felt before?' The reality is sometimes you don't."

O’Hara didn’t arrive at the decision to move on from her playing career lightly. But once she began seriously considering making 2024 her final year during the last NWSL offseason, it felt right. "Once I was like, 'Alright, you know what, this will be my last year,' I have had a lot of peace with it," she said. "Truly the only thing I felt was gratitude for everything that my career has been, all the things I've been able to do and the people I've been able to do it with."

She said she’ll miss daily interactions with her teammates and all the amazing memories they’ve created, though she feels lucky to have formed relationships that go beyond sharing a locker room. "You're basically getting to hang out and just shoot the shit with your best friends every day," she reflected. "Which is so unheard of, and I just feel very lucky to do it for so long."

O'Hara poses with USWNT teammates Alex Morgan and Tobin Heath after winning the 2015 Women's World Cup in Vancouver, Canada. (Mike Hewitt - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)

The Stanford graduate also mentioned that the NWSL’s suspension of regular season play in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic made her realize how much playing allowed her the space to simply be creative every day. The tactical elements of soccer provided O’Hara an outlet for problem solving and made use of her naturally competitive edge.

She’s now gearing up to channel her on-field intensity into her post-playing career full time, which is a new chapter she’s excited to begin. "I don't know if the world's ready for it, like the fact that I'm not going to be putting all of my energy into football all the time," she said with a laugh. 

O’Hara said she would like to stay connected to the game in some fashion, whether it be as an owner, coach, or member of a front office. She’s also interested in the growing media space surrounding women’s sports, having provided on-camera analysis for broadcasters like CBS Sports in addition to starting a production company with her fiancée.

"I just feel like I have a lot of passions, and things that excite me," she says. "And I do want to stay as close as I can to the game, because I feel a responsibility — and I'm not sure in what capacity — to continue to grow it."

O'Hara speaking with fellow USWNT members and vets at the White House Equal Pay Day Summit in 2022. (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

A sense of responsibility to grow the game has been a consistent refrain for the USWNT and NWSL players of O’Hara’s era, who ushered in a new age of equal pay for the national team and collectively bargained protections for those in the league. The landscape for new players looks different than it did 14 years ago, in large part due to this pivotal generation.

"I feel an immense sense of pride around that, because I don't know if any of us knew that was gonna happen," she said. "We kind of, as things unfolded, took the next step towards changing what women's football looks like in this country and around the world.

"I'm really grateful to have been part of this era with the players that I was [with], not backing down and pushing and knowing that was the right thing to do."

Whatever the future holds, O’Hara is going ahead full throttle. It’s a piece of advice she’d also give to the next generation of professionals looking to make their own impact.

"Whatever you do in life, do it because you love it, and the chips will fall in place," she said. "If you love something, you're willing to do what it takes. You're willing to make the sacrifices, you're willing to handle the roller coaster.

"To me, it's simple. Don't do it for any other reason but that, and I think you'll be alright."

Brittney Griner Opens Up about Russian Imprisonment in New ’20/20′ Special

brittney griner talks to press
Griner was jailed in Russia for almost 10 months in 2022. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

The Phoenix Mercury center spoke with Robin Roberts about her 10-month incarceration, reflecting on her poor living conditions and shaky mental state ahead of her May 7th memoir.

"The mattress had a huge blood stain on it. I had no soap, no toilet paper," Griner told the ABC News anchor in last night’s 20/20 special. "That was the moment where I just felt less than a human." 

She also detailed some of her lowest moments during that time, saying with tears in her eyes that she went so far as to consider taking her own life on more than one occasion. However, the thought of Russian officials not releasing her body back to her family made her reconsider.

"I just didn't think I could get through what I needed to get through," said Griner.

In February 2022, Griner was arrested and charged with drug possession and smuggling by a Russian court after Sheremetyevo International Airport police found vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage. The cartridges were prescribed by Griner’s doctor for chronic pain back in Arizona, where medical marijuana is legal. In the interview, the two-time Olympic gold medalist said she had a "mental lapse" while packing, and never intended to bring the cannabis products with her when she returned to play for UMMC Ekaterinburg.

"It's just so easy to have a mental lapse," Griner said. "Granted, my mental lapse was on a more grand scale. But it doesn't take away from how that can happen." 

She was later sentenced to nine years behind bars after her Russian attorneys advised her to plead guilty the following July. Griner was then sent to a remote penal colony where she was forced to spend her days cutting cloth to make military uniforms. From there, it only got worse.

"Honestly, it just had to happen," she said when asked about her decision to cut off her signature long locks. "We had spiders above my bed making nests.

"My dreads started to freeze," she added. "They would just stay wet and cold and I was getting sick. You've gotta do what you've gotta do to survive."

Shortly after Griner’s initial arrest, the U.S. State Department classified her case as wrongfully detained, escalating its urgency within the government and calling even more attention to the situation. On December 8th, she was freed in a prisoner exchange negotiated by the Biden administration.

While she told Roberts she was "thrilled" when she got the news, she was also very upset about having to leave fellow wrongful detainee Paul Whelan behind. She also continues to carry guilt about her arrest, saying "At the end of the day, it's my fault. And I let everybody down."

Griner’s memoir, Coming Home, hits shelves on May 7th.

"Coming Home begins in a land where my roots developed and is the diary of my heartaches and regrets," Griner told ABC News in an exclusive statement. "But, ultimately, the book is also a story of how my family, my faith, and the support of millions who rallied for my rescue helped me endure a nightmare."

USWNT Vet Carli Lloyd Announces Pregnancy After ‘Rollercoaster’ IVF Journey

retired soccer player carli lloyd
Lloyd will welcome her first child with husband Brian Hollins this October. (Dennis Schneidler/USA TODAY Sports)

Longtime USWNT fixture Carli Lloyd took to Instagram Wednesday morning to announce that she’s pregnant with her first child. 

"Baby Hollins coming in October 2024!" she wrote. The caption framed a collaged image of baby clothes, an ultrasound photo, and syringes indicating what she described as a "rollercoaster" fertility journey.

In a Women’s Health story published in tandem with Lloyd’s post, the Fox Sports analyst and correspondent opened up about her struggles with infertility and the lengthy IVF treatments she kept hidden from the public eye.

"Soccer taught me how to work hard, persevere, be resilient, and never give up. I would do whatever it took to prepare, and usually when I prepared, I got results," Lloyd told Women’s Health’s Amanda Lucci. "But I found out that I didn’t know much about this world. I was very naive to think that we wouldn’t have any issues getting pregnant. And so it began."

Lloyd went on to discuss her road to pregnancy in great detail, sharing the highs and lows of the process and expressing gratitude for the care and support her family and medical team provided along the way. She rounded out the piece with a nod toward others navigating the same challenges, encouraging people to share their own pregnancy journeys, painful as they may be.

"My story is currently a happy one, but I know there are other women who are facing challenges in their pregnancy journey. I see you and I understand your pain," she said. "My hope is that more and more women will speak up about this topic, because their stories helped me. I also wish for more resources, funding, and education around fertility treatments. There is much to be done, and I hope I can play a role in helping."

The 41-year-old New Jersey native retired from professional soccer in 2021, closing out her decorated career with 316 international appearances, the second-most in USWNT history, in addition to 134 international goals. A legend on the field, Lloyd walked away from the game with two World Cups, two Olympic gold medals, and two FIFA Player of the Year awards.

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