The Dallas Wings selected Texas center Charli Collier with the first pick in the WNBA draft.

A finalist for the Naismith Award, Collier averaged 19 points per game and 11.3 rebounds per game while leading Texas to the Elite Eight.

Collier declared early for the draft and was long projected to be the top overall selection due to her defensive abilities and future potential.

Portland 2, Kansas City 1

Houston 0, Chicago 0

The 2021 NWSL Challenge Cup kicks off tonight with a rematch of last year’s title game between the Houston Dash and the Chicago Red Stars.

Tournament details:

  • Dates: April 9th — May 8th
  • Format: Round-robin group stage followed by a Championship game between each division’s top teams.
  • West division: Chicago, Houston, Kansas City, OL Reign, Portland.
  • East division: Gotham FC (formerly Sky Blue), North Carolina, Orlando, Louisville, Washington.

Teams we’ll have our eyes on: 

  • Portland: They’ll be without their USWNT stars for the opening weekend, but they enter the season as the prohibitive favorites.
  • North Carolina: For the first time in a while, they look beatable. And yet, any squad featuring Lynn Williams, Debinha and Jess McDonald can’t be counted out.
  • Louisville: The NWSL’s newest club could have a rocky first year on the field. Off the field, they’re already crushing the brand messaging. That’s half the battle at this stage!

Tonight: 

  • Houston vs Chicago: 8:30pm ET on CBSSN
  • Portland vs Kansas City: 10:30pm ET on Paramount+

Tomorrow:

  • North Carolina vs Washington: 3:30pm ET on Paramount+
  • Louisville vs Orlando: 7:00pm ET on Paramount+

Note: all games stream internationally on Twitch.

Get prepped with our very own Haley Kopmeyer’s list of 12 players she’ll be watching for this season.

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert published the following op-ed today on WNBA.com:

Beyond the Weight Room

A familiar narrative has reemerged over the past few weeks around disparities in women’s sports, but as a former CEO who spent three plus decades in corporate America and now leading the WNBA, I can confidently say this certainly is not about a weight room.  This is about what the weight room situation represents — the deeply rooted issues in society and business around the lack of equity for and devaluation of women.  I was blessed to work at a firm that early on in my career in the 1990’s, recognized the value of women in the workforce, not because it was trendy to do so, but because it was about leadership in the war for talent and it was a business imperative.

Now, in my second career act as Commissioner of the WNBA, I clearly see the disparities in sports – but why?  Is it a question of whether diversity, equity and inclusion really is a business imperative?  We continue to see study after study that validates that having gender-diverse leadership leads to higher productivity, is critical for innovation, and leads to being more profitable.  It’s why it is even more perplexing to me that the current media rights fee gaps and underinvestment in, and dearth of marketing for, women’s sports is just generally accepted by the sports ecosystem.  Moreover, this imbalance is based on circular logic.  Media companies and agencies that advise corporations on their sponsorship dollars say there are not enough “eyes” on the women’s game, yet if those companies don’t step up to give exposure to the game, how can we make progress?  One solution to narrow the disparities is to transform the valuation models that are spreadsheet driven, are based on decades-old quantitative metrics, and that rarely yield a favorable answer for women. 

It’s no secret that less than 5% of media coverage covers women’s sports and an even smaller percentage of corporate spending goes toward supporting women’s sports.  We have some great partners that support the WNBA such as ESPN and our inaugural WNBA Changemakers, AT&T, Deloitte and Nike.  These partners see the value in supporting these elite athletes who are working moms, entrepreneurs, broadcast personalities, social activists and important role models in their quest to become the next generation of diverse business, community and sports leaders.

And speaking of elite WNBA athletes, our 2020 season saw a 68% increase in average viewership with countless historic performances on the court— like Sue Bird forging record-setting playoff performances in her 17th year; and younger stars like League MVP A’ja Wilson and WNBA Finals MVP Breanna Stewart having huge seasons leading both their teams to the WNBA Finals in 2020.  Meanwhile, rookies like Chennedy Carter, Satou Sabally, Sabrina Ionescu, Rookie of the Year Crystal Dangerfield, and others provided tantalizing previews of what’s to come.  If you don’t know some of those names, watch them when they’re on TV and digital, and follow them on social platforms.

Significantly, our viewership success last year demonstrates that when women’s sports are given the proper forum and promotion, they can be good for business and deliver Return on Investment (ROI).  But we need more mainstream sports media to show the competitions that feature these incredible athletes – and maybe more importantly, tell their stories.  And we also need more companies to partner with the players, the league, and our teams.  Along these lines, agencies and the rest of the sports ecosystem should change the way they value women’s sports assets because the players of the WNBA are worth the time, analysis, resources, coverage and respect.

Sports is only one of the vast number of industries, markets, and forums where we need to drive more equitable representation.  So, it’s fine to start by counting the weights, but we have to move quickly to weighing the things that really count – the number of female athletes sponsored by a company, the amount of money spent promoting the women’s game, and the breadth and depth of coverage dedicated to women’s sports.  Because at the end of the day? We’re counting on you.

Cathy Engelbert is the former CEO of Deloitte and the current Commissioner of the WNBA

Oklahoma softball continues to demolish everything in its path as the only unbeaten team (28-0) in the country.

  • The Sooners are averaging 3.25 home runs per game.
  • They’ve outscored opponents 338-39 on the season (i.e., they’re beating most teams 12-1).
  • Their pitching staff has 14 shoutouts.
  • And they’ve won by the run rule (being ahead by more than eight after five innings) in 20 of their 28 games.

The only thing in their way: Covid, of course.

  • The Sooners’ series with Baylor this week was postponed due to Covid concerns within the Baylor program.
  • Coming up: the Sooners face off against rivals Texas next week. Good luck, Longhorns!

Aari McDonald has officially declared for the WNBA draft after a scintillating run through the NCAA tournament. (Though already a senior, McDonald could have technically come back given the NCAA’s blanket waiver.)

  • Stanford’s Kiana Williams is likewise taking her talents to the pros.
  • UConn’s Evina Westbrook, however, is coming back for another run despite being considered a top-5 pick.

Coaching changes:

  • Vanderbilt has fired Stephanie White after five seasons.
  • Washington has hired Tina Langley from Rice University.
  • Jim Jabir is coming back to Siena, 31 years after he previously led the women’s basketball team.

Looking ahead: WNBA draft is next Thursday.

  • McDonald is now a likely first-rounder (No. 5) according to Mechelle Voepel, whose latest mock draft still has Charli Collier going first to Dallas.

21-year-old Patty Tavatanakit became just the second player to win a major championship in her rookie season, going wire-to-wire to win the ANA Inspiration on Sunday.

  • Tavatanakit finished at 18-under, two strokes ahead of Lydia Ko, whose final round 62 matched a major championship scoring record held by Lorena Ochoa.

Golf’s next superstar? 

  • No rookie in the 50-year history of the ANA Inspiration has ever made the major their first professional win.
  • Tavatanakit is two years removed from earning low-amateur honors at the US Open. Now the Thailand native (and former UCLA Bruin) could be golf’s next big thing.

Go deeper: “The arrival of golf’s next superstar” (Steve Eubanks, LPGA)

In Georgia, meanwhile, 17-year-old Tsubasa Kajitani won the second annual Augusta National Women’s Amateur in a Playoff.

Stanford held on to win its first national championship since 1992, topping Arizona, 54-53. In both Final Four games, Stanford had to survive a last-second shot. Aliyah Boston’s put-back came inches away from knocking the Cardinal out in the semis, while Aari McDonald’s championship heave likewise fell just short.

Putting it in perspective: 

  • Stanford is the first team in college hoops history to win both Final Four games by a single point.
  • The 29-year gap between national titles for head coach Tara VanDerveer is the longest in any NCAA DI sport, women’s or men’s.

Stanford will return much of its core next season, while fellow Final Four squads South Carolina and UConn will reload with the nation’s two best recruiting classes.

UConn’s Paige Bueckers may have just completed the best individual freshman season in college basketball history, having won the AP, Naismith and Wooden POTY awards.

  • Next year, she’ll share a backcourt with Azzi Fudd, a generational talent and the No. 1 recruit in the incoming class. Watch out.

UConn may have the top recruit, but South Carolina has No. 2, 3 and 4: Raven Johnson, Saniya Rivers, and Sania Feagin.

  • Add that trio to the Gamecocks’ veteran core of Aliyah Boston, Zia Cooke, Brea Beal and Laeticia Amihere, and South Carolina could enter next year as the prohibitive favorites.

Stanford, for their part, will need to replace their backcourt of Kiana Williams and Anna Wilson, but they’ll still have enough experience to contend for a title.

  • Haley Jones will be back, and will likely take over as a primary ball handler. Cameron Brink was a defensive force in the Final Four, while fellow 6’5” forward Ashten Prechtel proved to be a lethal three point shooter.

ESPN’s Way-Too-Early Top 10: 

  1. UConn
  2. South Carolina
  3. Stanford
  4. Baylor
  5. Maryland
  6. Louisville
  7. Indiana
  8. NC State
  9. Iowa
  10. Oregon

Stanford won its first national championship in nearly 30 years, holding off Arizona to win 54-53 in the title game.

Aari McDonald’s couldn’t get a last-second heave to fall, bailing out the Cardinal after they ran out the shot clock on their own final possession.

It was that kind of game for Stanford, who finished with 21 turnovers but managed to string together just enough defensive stops to keep Arizona from ever pulling ahead in the final minutes.

Haley Jones came up in the clutch again for Stanford, with her final basket once again proving to be the difference maker. In the semifinals, it was Jones’ last-minute jumper which put the Cardinal ahead for good against South Carolina. Jones was named Most Outstanding Player for her performance over the weekend, finishing with 17 points on 8-for-14 shooting in the championship game.

For Tara VanDerveer, it was her third national championship, but her first since 1992. She’s now won three national championships to go along with being the winningest coach in women’s basketball history.

26 state legislators introduced 41 bills targeting transgender children in sports in just the first two months of 2021—numbers that have since increased to 50 bills in 28 states, according to Axios Sports.

  • The laws primarily seek to prohibit transgender women from competing in women’s sports, claiming that such athletes would be at a natural advantage.
  • In Minnesota, one such bill would make trans girls playing sports a petty misdemeanor, meaning they could end up in juvenile court.

There is little, if any, scientific evidence backing the bills, and state legislators have struggled to point to an actual surge of trasgneder athletes in women’s sports.

  • Proponents of the measures, however, say they’re trying to get ahead of a trend.

Prominent female athletes continue to speak out against the laws.

  • 176 athletes and sports figures, including Candace Parker, Megan Rapinoe, and Billie Jean King, all signed a legal brief opposing a bill in Idaho.
  • Rapinoe likewise wrote an opinion piece for The Washington Post on the issue.
  • And Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve wrote a similar piece for SI.

For context: the NCAA promotes the inclusion of trasgender athletes, while requiring athletes who are transitioning to female to undergo testosterone suppression treatment for one year before they’re allowed to compete on a women’s team.

The big picture: if the issue of transgender women in sports seems to have come out of nowhere, it’s largely because of an uneven sense of urgency across policital lines.

  • The issue is more widely covered in conservative media, and much of the current Republican-led legislative push has come as the result of nationwide polling among social conservatives.
  • “On the Democratic side, this is not an issue that really excites the base,” Dan Cox, the director of the American Enterprise Institute’s Survey Center on American Life told Axios. “It tends to fire up folks disproportionately on the right than the left.”