The Isobel Cup Playoffs begin Friday, with all six Premier Hockey Federation teams colliding in Tampa. Just Women’s Sports has a primer on every team in the lead-up to the postseason.

The Connecticut Whale and Toronto Six each earned a first round bye after finishing atop the league standings in the regular season. The rest of the weekend’s schedule and matchups can be found here.

No. 1 Connecticut Whale

Connecticut will be looking for its first PHF title. The team is the only one among the league’s original four to have not won the Isobel Cup. After finishing atop the standings for the first time, they certainly have the talent to do so this season.

Kennedy Marchment has been on a tear for the Whale in her first PHF season. The forward ended the regular season as the league leader in points (33), assists (20) and points per game (1.7). She also tied for second in goals with 13 through 20 games played.

Marchment was named the PHF Player of the Month for March after notching four goals and 10 assists through six games. In the final game of the season, she set a single game record for the Whale with four assists in a 5-0 victory over Toronto. Her performance helped the Whale secure the top seed in the playoffs.

The road to No. 1 wasn’t easy for the Whale, as the team dropped three out of its first five games. But they only lost two more games through the rest of the season, including an 11-game winning streak.

“It took us a little bit [of time] to find our stride,” Marchment said. “We’re still getting better each and every game. We had a bit of a rough start but we finished strong, we finished at the top, and we’re not done yet.”

Taylor Girard and Amanda Conway bolster the Whale offense, which helped the team finish the season with a plus-30 goal differential. While Connecticut still has a lot to prove in the playoffs, it is one of the most complete teams in the league.

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No. 2 Toronto Six

One year after losing in the semifinals to the eventual champion Boston Pride, the Six are right back near the top of the league.

In her first full PHF season, Toronto’s Mikyla Grant-Mentis was hot on Marchment’s heels, finishing second behind Marchment in points, assists and points per game. As the reigning league MVP and Newcomer of the Year, she led the league in game-winning goals, notching six on the season, and finished with 30 points.

Elaine Chuli has been outstanding in net for the Six, holding a 1.82 goals against average and a .930 save percentage. She also leads the league in wins, having held down the net in all 16 of the Six’s victories.

While the Six didn’t lose often during the season (just four times), each time they did they rebounded with a win. After a 5-0 defeat to the Whale to end the season, look for Toronto to bounce back in the PHF semifinals and make a run for the final.

“We had a great start and a couple of bumps in the road,” Six coach Mark Joslin said. “But we rebounded every time we lost a game and I’m happy with our response every time. If the trend continues, we’re gonna be golden this weekend in Tampa.”

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No. 3 Boston Pride

The Pride certainly didn’t end the season the way they wanted, dropping five games in a row en route to the third seed in the playoffs. They’ll be facing off against No. 6 seed Buffalo, the team that beat them in the final two games of the regular season.

“I don’t think there’s many teams that have gone into overtime five games in a row and lost, but I think our team has the right mindset going into Friday,” said coach Paul Mara, noting that the team has known for a while that Buffalo would likely end up being their first round opponent.

“We’ve been preparing for them for a long time,” he added.

There’s hope for the Pride in the fact that their last five games were lost in overtime and on the road. The neutral site in Tampa could help them snap the streak.

“Playoffs is always the start of a new season,” captain Jillian Dempsey said. “So it’s a fresh start for us. We’re really excited to go in with a do-or-die situation, backs against the wall and really find out what we’re made out of.

“We feel we’ve been building that mental toughness all season, but especially this past month. We’re battle tested so it’s going to be a great opportunity on Friday.”

The defending champion Pride do boast the season’s best goaltender in Katie Burt, who led the league in goals against average (1.41) and save percentage (.958). They also have a lot of depth and an aggressive zone defense.

Their experience in the postseason – with two Isobel Cup wins, the most of any team in the league – could help them make a run.

No. 4 Metropolitan Riveters

The Riveters had an up-and-down season, finishing with just seven wins and a minus-11 goal differential. They split the regular season series against their preliminary round opponent Minnesota 2-2.

Metropolitan captain Madison Packer is capable of leading her team to victory, including a 3-2 overtime win in early March against Boston. Kendall Cornine, Theresa Knutson and Emily Janiga all managed double-digit points totals this season.

Still, the Riveters have an uphill battle ahead of them if they want to lift the Isobel Cup.

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No. 5 Minnesota Whitecaps

Minnesota lost a lot of depth from last season, which has resulted in some growing pains. But the Whitecaps do have some bright spots, including captain Allie Thunstrom, who is one of the fastest skaters in the league. She also scored a league-high 18 goals on the season.

The captain is joined by Jonna Curtis, who tied for the third-most points on the season with 24. Curtis also notched 15 assists and averaged 1.2 goals per game, making her a threat in any game.

Thunstrom said Tuesday that over the course of the season the team has grown together and grown resilient, something that could help the Whitecaps on Friday against the Riveters.

“Everybody on our team feels really confident in who we have in our locker room and who we have out on the ice,” she said. “There’s a lot of belief in each other.”

No. 6 Buffalo Beauts

Despite a minus-29 goal differential, don’t count the Beauts out in Friday’s matchup with Boston. They took a 3-2 overtime victory over the Pride to end the regular season.

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Offensive defenders Dominique Kremer and Anjelica Diffendal each have the ability to find the back of the net and are followed closely behind by Autumn MacDougall and Kennedy Ganser. Captain Taylor Accursi is another threat to opposing teams, having scored three times on the season and recorded eight assists.

Consistency has been an issue this season, but Buffalo has gone up against the league’s best and given them a run for their money. The Beauts have the potential to play spoiler as the postseason gets underway.

Zimbabwean swimming legend Kirsty Coventry made history on Thursday, when she became both the first woman and first African ever elected president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

At 41-years-old, Coventry will also be the youngest president in the organization's 131-year history and the 10th individual to ever hold the office.

"As an nine-year-old girl, I never thought I would be standing up here one day getting to give back to this incredible movement of ours," the five-time Olympian said in her remarks.

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An extensive Olympic resume, in and out of the pool

The Auburn University grad and seven-time Olympic medal-winner — including back-to-back golds in the 200-meter backstroke at the 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing Games — retired from competition after the 2016 Rio Olympics.

At that time, Coventry was already three years into her IOC membership, after initially joining as part of the governing body's Athletes' Commission. She joined the Executive Committee in 2023.

"I will make all of you very, very proud and hopefully extremely confident in the decision you have taken," Coventry said to her fellow members in her acceptance speech. "Now we have got some work together."

That work that awaits Coventry in her eight-year mandate will include navigating the 2028 LA Games and selecting a host for the 2036 Summer Games.

Her first Olympic Games at the helm, however, will be the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, giving her less than a year to prepare before the Opening Ceremony kicks off.

Coventry to continue IOC efforts to promote gender equity

Coventry will have a few months to adjust before assuming her new office on June 23rd, when she will succeed her mentor, 71-year-old Thomas Bach.

Bach will have served the IOC's maximum 12-year tenure in the role when he steps down, having led the governing body to stage the first-ever Olympic Games with equal numbers of women and men competing — a mark captured at the 2024 Summer Games in Paris.

With gender equity as a driving force in his leadership, Bach also increased the number women serving as both IOC members and in the organization's leadership roles, with women comprising seven of the body's 15-person executive board.

Coventry is one of those seven women, and Bach specifically hand-picked her as his successor.

The legacy she inherits isn't lost on Coventry, both in the efforts of Bach and in the women who paved the way — perhaps none more directly than IOC member Anita DeFrantz, a 1976 Olympic bronze medal-winning rower for Team USA and the only other woman to ever run for IOC president.

Recognizing the election's historic significance, 72-year-old DeFrantz overcame significant health issues to travel to Greece in order to vote for Coventry — with her ballot securing the exact number of votes Coventry needed to win.

"I was really proud that I could make her proud," an emotional Coventry said.

The NCAA is leveling the playing field, with Women’s March Madness teams in line to receive their first-ever prize payouts based on tournament performance — a mechanism the men’s tournament has enjoyed since 1991.

Sparked by 2021's landmark NCAA gender equity review, the NCAA will distribute a total of approximately $15 million to individual conferences based on how many games their teams play, with each March Madness performance "unit" worth about $113,000.

This year's inaugural $15 million purse represents 26% of the competition's $65 million media rights valuation — putting it proportionally on par with the percentage allocated to the men's fund.

That overall prize pool will jump to $20 million in 2026 and $25 million in 2027, before switching to a successive 2.9% increase per year.

"We are all playing in the same March Madness," said UNC Greensboro head coach Trina Patterson, whose No. 16-seed Spartans will face No. 1-seed USC in the first round on Saturday. "The treatment for the men and women should be equal. We get a unit!"

March Madness teams get additional NCAA tournament perks

While the performance payouts are new this year, women's March Madness teams also receive perks like charter flights throughout the tournament, which can make all the difference for smaller programs eyeing an upset.

"Everyone is so excited about the experience. Going from the bus directly to the plane, everyone was so happy," March Madness debutante William & Mary head coach Erin Dickerson Davis told ESPN ahead of her No. 16-seed team’s First Four victory on Thursday.

Columbia junior Perri Page, whose No. 11-seed Lions defeated Washington in their own First Four matchup on Thursday, echoed Davis' sentiment, saying, "It was cool going to the charter, and we've been taking it all in."

"We've been enjoying the whole season," the forward added, noting "It's great we can make money for the school now."

"It should have always been that way. Women's basketball has been fighting for equality for a very long time," said Davis. "I've been in this business for many, many years. I played college basketball. It's a long time coming."

"You got to start somewhere, and I think we've been so far behind," added Columbia head coach Megan Griffith.

"This is more like the whipped cream. I think the cherry on top is going to keep coming — but it's really good so far."

Less than two months before the season tips off on May 16th, the WNBA dropped its full 2025 national broadcast slate on Thursday, rewarding last year’s most in-demand teams with a significant uptick in screen time.

Fueled by the fan fervor around 2024 Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark, the Indiana Fever will see a league-record 41 of their 44 regular-season games aired nationally this season.

That tally includes all five Fever matchups against regional rival Chicago, after the pair's June 23rd game averaged 2.3 million viewers — becoming the most-watched game of the 2024 regular season.

Just behind Indiana in earning significant national broadcast coverage are two-time WNBA champs Las Vegas, who will see 33 of their games aired across the country. As for the reigning champions New York Liberty, they trail the Aces by just one game, with 32 of their 2025 season games garnering national attention.

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Record WNBA ratings spur big broadcast moves

Thanks to 2024’s monster ratings, big-name networks are increasingly recognizing the WNBA as a profitable summer product, with broadcasters expanding their coverage as the league prepares for its 11-year, $2.2 billion media rights contract to kick in next year.

With the 2025 WNBA season expanding from 40 to 44 games per team, ION is leading all broadcasters with 50 regular-season games, with ABC/ESPN, CBS Sports, NBA TV, and Amazon Prime all taking a piece of the pro women's basketball league's pie.

Broadcasters are also moving games off of their sports-specific networks and onto flagship cable channels, with a record 13 matchups — a full half of Disney Networks' 26 regular-season games — set to air on ABC, including the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game.

The league will also see its first-ever regular-season games earn primetime broadcast TV slots, with CBS Sports elevating two of its 20 games — the June 7th and August 9th battles between the Chicago Sky and the Indiana Fever — to its flagship network, CBS.

As the WNBA shoots for an even more impactful 2025 season, broadcasters are helping to boost the charge, offering increased access to the league’s brightest stars and biggest games.

The NCAA tournament tips off in earnest with the bracket's 64-team first round on Friday, as eager March Madness fans look beyond the chalk to eye the competition's underdogs after a rollercoaster 2024/25 basketball season.

Early upsets aren’t exactly the norm in the women’s tournament. Only one lower seed won their first-round matchup in 2024, and no team below a No. 3 seed has ever gone the distance, but in a season of increased parity, a few lower-rated squads are rounding into underdog form.

Breaking down potential March Madness bracket-busters

For potential March Madness upset instigators, late-season momentum late season momentum is the name of the game — a dangerous factor in any single-elimination tournament.

Even without superstar grad Caitlin Clark, No. 6-seed Iowa capped their regular season on a high before narrowly losing to No. 4-seed Ohio State in the Big Ten tournament's quarterfinals. Should they advance past No. 11-seed Murray State in their first-round Saturday matchup, the Hawkeyes are poised to give No. 3-seed Oklahoma a run for their money in the second round on Monday.

Entering as a No. 10-seed, Ivy League tournament champs Harvard will have their hands full against No. 7-seed Michigan State on Saturday, but Crimson senior Harmoni Turner and her season-average 22.5 points per game could tilt the scales in Harvard's favor.

After edging out first-round opponent No. 11-seed Iowa State, No. 6-seed Michigan is playing like an upset contender. Now a potential second-round matchup against No. 3-seed Notre Dame — fresh off a recent losing skid — awaits the young squad. 

With the brackets locked and the teams loaded, the prospects of twists and turns make the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament especially exciting — even if this year’s frontrunners appear destined for Tampa.

How to watch Women's March Madness games this weekend

The Big Dance officially begins at 11:30 AM ET on Friday, when No. 11 Iowa State tips off against No. 6 Michigan on ESPN2.

Saturday's slate will complete the 2024/25 NCAA tournament's first round, with No. 6 Iowa beginning their Madness run against No. 11 Murray State at 12 PM ET on ESPN.

No. 10 Harvard will start dancing a few hours later, with the Crimson facing No. 7 Michigan State at 4:30 PM ET on ESPNews.

All games in the 2025 March Madness tournament will have live coverage across ESPN networks.