The only thing more difficult than listing all the superlatives for Notre Dame’s Olivia Miles might be guarding her. The rising sophomore is coming off of a freshman season in which she led the Irish back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019 and within a minute of the Elite Eight.

Big things are undoubtedly in store for Miles after she finished second in the country in assists per game with 7.4 and recorded a triple-double in her first NCAA Tournament game. She also received votes for the AP’s preseason All-America team. With the 5-foot-10 guard orchestrating the offense, Notre Dame enters the season ranked No. 9 in the AP Poll.

Just Women’s Sports’ Calvin Wetzel sat down with Miles to break down film from 2021-22 and talk about what she learned as she heads into a new season with high expectations.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

CW: Your team runs this play a lot of times late in the clock, where you make this little hand signal. It’s basically a ghost screen pick-and-pop … What can you tell me about this play?

OM: This is one of our late shot-clock plays. It’s a very quick hitter. It’s actually pretty hard to guard when you get two shooters or a dynamic guard and a shooter that come off the brush screen because it just confuses the defense since it’s not exactly a screen. They’re usually wide open or I take it to the basket, so it really depends. It’s just a good quick hitter play. The Warriors run it a lot actually, where they’ll have two guards coming off. It’s just very hard to guard the drive and the three at the same time.

CW: Here, I like this play because you have Maddy [Westbeld] setting the screen and it looks like the opponent is jamming her. The defender can’t stay too far off of Maddy because she’s a shooter, so that lets you get downhill. When you have those shooters setting screens for you, how much does that help you?

OM: It’s so hard to guard when you have so many things to worry about. Having Sonia [Citron], having Dara [Mabrey], having Maddy, and obviously we had Sam [Brunelle] in our offense and those kind of weapons around me — I can see where the defense is rotating, like I did there, and I knew they were gonna come on Maya because she was having a good game I remember. So it’s easy to read when you have so many great shooters around you and they can’t really guard it.

CW: On this one, Miami gets switched and tries to scram switch out of it at the end, but it’s too late. Maddy has a smaller player on her, and it looks like you’re aware of that from the start. You don’t even have the ball yet, but it looks to me like you want to get the ball into Maddy and exploit that mismatch. When you see a switch like that, is that your mindset, where you’re hunting to get the ball into the mismatch, and if it’s not there, to come off some other action to find it open?

OM: We practice mismatches all the time — I feel like that’s one of our points of emphasis that we work on all the time in practice because we have bigger guards like Maddy who do get switched onto guards a lot. It all just stems from the way we screen and the way people have to guard us. Oftentimes people will switch onto Maddy on the pop or on the rolls, so our coach really emphasizes trying to get the ball inside. In that play, they switched a little late so it was kind of easy to see, but also Maddy’s just such a big target that I can see her out of my peripheral vision and whatnot. She’s just always there and in a great position to get the ball.

I feel like those kinds of plays I make up on the fly. I’m not really thinking about it too heavily, but usually I can identify the mismatch right away and we look to hit that and exploit that immediately.

CW: I have a few clips of you attacking hedges. Are you reading something when they hedge on whether to get downhill around it, hit the roller, split it, whatever? Or is it more like, you’ve been playing basketball so long you have that feel where you don’t even really need to think about it?

OM: l think most of what I try to do kind of happens on the fly, but a lot of it comes from watching film and watching the other team and their tendencies around the way they hedge. Usually I know with bigger posts, I can make my way around. What I’ve noticed with the more athletic posts is they like to try and come out a bit too high, so that’s when I like to split. So it’s all personnel, and it’s all knowing who can do what and who’s guarding you in that moment. I would say it’s, like, 70 percent me watching film and then 30 percent me making it up and just taking what the defense gives me in the game.

CW: So, you watch film beforehand and know some of their tendencies so you’re mentally prepared for a lot of that heading into the game?

OM: Yeah. Me and my position coach, we do film sessions just the two of us to break down what I’m gonna get and the areas that I can score in and work on that in practice. We drill out a lot of different personnel and playing to that with our advantages. What big can do what? Who’s good at this and that? So I feel like I’m prepared when it comes to the actual game.

CW: This one in particular I love. So, you have Mabrey cutting. It looks like she sees her defender here not recognizing her. Her defender’s focused on you mostly. And then she cuts and you see that. Obviously you’re a great ball handler and passer — you draw a lot of attention. Do you feel like you and your teammates have that chemistry where, when one of their defenders gets caught ball watching, you can make eye contact or they can make that back cut and know you’ll find them?

OM: Yeah, that play was complete luck. I honestly did not know what I was gonna do with the ball, and then I saw her and I was like, “Thank the lord.” But I feel like a lot of our team, we have such great chemistry with each other. And another point of emphasis for our coach is to just keep moving. Keep moving regardless of how much time is left on the clock. Sonia does a really, really good job of that. Her and I connect on so many backdoors and so many sneak plays like that. And Dara did a good job here.

But I feel like, to answer your question, our team — they’ve kind of gotten used to the way I play and the things that I see, and those cuts in particular are passes that I like to throw a lot, so they’re getting used to cutting like that.

CW: This one is an absolute dime. You hit Maya on the fast break, and I don’t know how that pass gets through. Watching this back, I paused it right here when you first start making the pass, and I’m counting up one, two, three, four, five red jerseys. And then there’s Maya. It doesn’t seem open, but you sneak in the pass an inch above the defender’s fingertips. What gives you the confidence to be able to make a pass like that?

OM: I mean, a lot of times it goes wrong, so I definitely kind of question myself at points. But at the end of the day, I feel like I know … and at this point in the season, I learned who I could trust and count on to catch those passes. And I feel like Maya, I knew her body, I knew her athleticism, I knew her speed, I knew she was gonna be able to rise up and get that one. And she was also looking at me like she wanted it, so I was like, “Why the heck not? Let me just heave it downcourt.”

But I feel like knowing personnel is super important, and if it were a different one of my teammates, I probably wouldn’t have thrown it. But I was like, “You know what, I’m just gonna give it a go. Why not?” It could either be a really, really good layup, or a turnover. It’s high risk, high reward.

CW: People talk about your offense all the time, but I feel like something you don’t get as much credit for is that you have good hands on defense. So on this one, you wait a little bit for the player to turn and then you time it up perfectly so you get your hands in there on the dribble without fouling. Is that another thing where you know their tendencies from film? Or do you work on timing those up and swooping in at the right moment? Or is all of that natural?

OM: Part of it is definitely tendencies — I like learning what other people are gonna do. I don’t study bigs that much; I more so study guard tendencies. But I know that, especially when we’re in zone, a lot of the bigs like to turn their back so it’s easy to get those pluck steals really quick or catch them off guard when they turn around. I feel like I’ve always had good reflexes and good hand speed, and that’s helped me get quite a few steals. I definitely could be a little better — I’m aiming for more steals this year — but I feel like that’s just something that I’ve always had. I know the timing and I’ve been playing basketball long enough to know what people like to do, so it’s easy for me to predict in certain situations where I can get the ball. Just scanning the floor, similarly to offense.

CW: I had one more question for you, unrelated to the clips. Did the extra spring semester you got for COVID-19 eligibility help you prepare for the game at the Division I level?

OM: It definitely helped me prepare more. I obviously didn’t really get that many minutes on the floor like I did this past season, but I feel like just knowing the ins and outs, starting to get that knowledge of the game, knowledge of our playbook, of our teammates a little earlier helped me and my teammates adjust to each other better. That year definitely helped me mature mentally, physically, emotionally in aspects of the game. I came in the first game [last season] more confident than another freshman who might have been a little nervous for their first game. So, while I do still get nervous and I do still get worked up for games, I feel like having that intro with no pressure on me, and just using that as a learning experience, helped me to settle my nerves and be more familiar with our playbook, our coach, and just play the game better, honestly.

CW: Are you able to manage those nerves better now? Have you learned some strategies on that?

OM: Yeah, I mean I’m still working on it, but it’s definitely something that has progressed. I’ve found that when I’m nervous, I’ve just told myself that it’s a good thing because I care and I wanna do well. And I turn those feelings into more of an excited feeling so I can just convince my brain that we’re on the biggest stage, I’m having fun, it’s just a sport. At the end of the day, I’m still the person that I am and still have the people around me that I love, so whatever happens on the court happens on the court. I’ve just been working on my mindset a lot, and I feel like that’s helped me prepare before games. And even more so this year, I hope it helps me play on a higher level than I did last year.

Calvin Wetzel is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports, covering basketball and betting. He also contributes to Her Hoop Stats, CBS SportsLine and FiveThirtyEight. Follow him on Twitter at @cwetzel31.

USC sophomore JuJu Watkins took home the 2025 Naismith Player of the Year award on Wednesday. The guard subsequently rose above a wealth of talent after a parity-heavy season that saw success spread across multiple conferences.

“We at Jersey Mike’s extend our congratulations to JuJu Watkins for her phenomenal accomplishment,” said Jeff Hemschoot, vice president of marketing at Naismith awards partner Jersey Mike’s. “Her extraordinary talent and significant influence on the court are unparalleled, and we are thrilled to honor her exceptional achievements with this prestigious recognition.”

Beating out NCAA superstars like Paige Bueckers and Hannah Hidalgo, Watkins averaged 23.9 points a game this season. She led the top-seeded Trojans through the NCAA tournament before tearing her ACL in the second round.

Watkins also won Big Ten Player of the Year, becoming USC's first conference POY since Cherie Nelson in 1988.

“This is just the beginning and I can’t wait for what’s ahead,” Watkins said after receiving the prestigious Naismith award. “Thank you so much again and fight on.”

Big Ten racks up 2025 Naismith awards

The Big Ten swept the annual end-of-year awards for the first time in history. In addition to USC, No. 1 overall seed UCLA's also saw their impact reflected beyond the scoreboard.

Bruins junior Lauren Betts won 2025 Defensive Player of the Year. The junior center also picked up Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and first-team all-conference selection this season.

Cori Close earned Coach of the Year honors after guiding UCLA to a Big Ten tournament title and a top-seeded NCAA tournament berth.

“JuJu’s exceptional prowess, Cori’s unwavering guidance, and Lauren’s relentless defensive prowess mean each is worthy of this year’s Naismith awards,” said Eric Oberman, president of the Atlanta Tipoff Club. “Their outstanding achievements have rightfully earned them the most esteemed accolades in college basketball. We take great pride in acknowledging their unshakeable commitment and remarkable abilities.”

“May our work in the win and loss column always pale in comparison to the work we do to help teach, mentor and equip for life beyond the hardwood,” Close said in a statement.

The USWNT will play the first of two April friendlies against Brazil on Saturday, as the repeat of 2024’s Olympic gold medal match launches both sides down the 2027 World Cup path — though this time, the US will take the field without several trusted Olympians.

Already missing mainstays Naomi Girma, Rose Lavelle, Mallory Swanson, Lynn Biyendolo, and Sophia

The USWNT will play the first of two April friendlies against Brazil on Saturday, as a repeat of 2024’s Olympic gold medal match launches both sides down the 2027 World Cup path.

This time, though, the US will take the field without several of the Olympians that helped them win gold last summer.

USWNT vets hit with injuries

The USWNT is contending with more than a few key roster absences. They're already without defender Naomi Girma, midfielder Rose Lavelle, and forwards Mallory Swanson, Lynn Biyendolo, and Sophia Wilson.

Compounding these challenges, Gotham FC announced yesterday that defensive mainstay Tierna Davidson suffered a season-ending ACL tear during a recent match against the Houston Dash. ​

“She is so, so good, she will be back,” US captain Lindsey Heaps said of Davidson. “We have not lost her. She will be great.”

In response to Davidson's injury, USWNT head coach Emma Hayes has called up 19-year-old defender Gisele Thompson from Angel City FC. Thompson, who earned two caps during the SheBelieves Cup, will join the national team for the upcoming friendlies against Brazil. ​

USWNT layers remain optimistic ahead of Olympics rematch

As the US continues to develop its young player pool, the team’s remaining vets will be tested against a top international opponent. But new faces might also get a chance to show out on the international stage.

Despite the roster gaps, there is one important frontline figure retaking the pitch. Striker Trinity Rodman will rejoin the USWNT on Saturday for the first time since the 2024 Olympics, with the Washington Spirit star still recovering from a lingering back injury.

“Going into the game, you know it’s going to be a difficult one,” Heaps continued. “We [need to] capitalize on our chances, because we might not get that many.”

“We don’t have the same players that we did in the Olympics. But I’m really, really excited to see you know what these new players can do,” she added.

Where to watch the USWNT vs. Brazil friendly on Saturday

The USWNT kicks off against Brazil on Saturday at 5 PM ET, with live coverage on TNT.

When Texas takes on South Carolina this Friday, they’ll be playing for more than a shot at the NCAA tournament championship title. 

That's because this year's Final Four is a rematch, marking the fourth meeting between the Longhorns and the reigning national champion Gamecocks this season. Now, Texas is looking for a little revenge against their top-ranked SEC rivals.

Longhorns head coach Vic Schaefer knows South Carolina well. It’s a competitive relationship that dates back to his time coaching Mississippi State, where he led the Bulldogs to the 2017 title game. And the story is strikingly similar.

“I think in '17, we played them three times also, before we played them in the Final Four,” Schaefer said after Monday’s Elite Eight win over TCU. “I think that was our fourth time when we played them in the national championship game.”

Staley got the best of Schaefer back then, with South Carolina defeating the Longhorns 67-55 on the way to their first-ever national championship. On Friday, Texas will attempt to flip the script against the 2024 champs, in hopes of securing the team’s first NCAA title in over 30 years.

“That's the thing about Dawn's teams, is that you know you're going to get the same from them that you try to impart on others, too,” Schaefer continued. “They're going to be tough.”

While this Texas squad has showcased their own toughness all season long, South Carolina has once again proven to be a formidable foe. The Gamecocks downed the Longhorns 67-50 in their first clash back in January. Subsequently, the loss served as a valuable lesson, lighting a fire under Texas that they’ve carried with them ever since.

“If you’re going to be a top team you have to beat a top team,” star sophomore Madison Booker told Just Women’s Sports ahead of the 2025 SEC tournament. “Reality hits you right there.”

“After that [game], we kind of figured we weren’t preparing right,” she continued. “We weren’t preparing like we want to win championships. We weren’t preparing like we want to beat top teams, or be a top team. So we had to change.”

That late January defeat launched Texas into a 16-game winning streak. They went on to finish out the regular season without dropping a single additional game.

Moving to the SEC puts Texas in a whole new league

Joining the SEC in 2024 after 28 years in the Big 12, the Longhorns have adapted smoothly. They’ve shown that they know what it takes to become a true title contender, building on two straight appearances in the Elite Eight to punch their ticket to the program’s first Final Four in two decades.

The conference move didn’t hurt, said Schaefer. The coach credited what he calls “a different league" for challenging his players to grow this season. 

“I say it all the time, we jumped out of the frying pan and into the grease,” he said of the leap to the SEC. “It’s a different style, it’s certainly more physical. It’s a league that challenges you every night. You win on the road in this league, it’s like a win and a half.”

“This whole conference [season], I feel like people have been throwing some different stuff at me,” Booker emphasized on JWS podcast Sports are Fun! with Kelley O’Hara. “Box-and-one, face guarding, double- or triple-team. I think I’ve seen it all.”

Despite the competition, the Longhorns played to a 17-0 home record this year. Additionally, they gave up just one non-conference game to Notre Dame last December. Booker saw another excellent season, leading Texas in scoring on her way to winning SEC Player of the Year. And senior Rori Harmon’s return from injury gave Texas yet another boost, with the trusted point guard guiding Texas’s offense through difficult defensive sets with steady composure.

In early February, Texas settled the regular-season score with South Carolina, defeating the Gamecocks 66-62. And the win was bigger than the rivalry. It shot the Longhorns to the top of the AP Poll rankings. That boost saw Texas enter the SEC tournament as the country's No. 1 team.

And after ousting Ole Miss and LSU in the conference tournament’s first two rounds, there was only one team left to beat. 

Texas basketball's bumpy road to the NCAA tournament

Texas reveled in wins as they came, whether it was going undefeated at home, winning a regular-season conference title, or progressing through the SEC tournament. But after each game, the same common refrain would emanate from the huddle: “What did Kobe say? JOB’S NOT FINISHED.”

“I think everyone understands what’s at stake here,” said Harmon ahead of Texas’s SEC conference final against South Carolina. “There’s definitely a chip on our shoulder. We need to get stuff done.”

Playing on their biggest stage yet, however, the Longhorns once again couldn’t hold off South Carolina. Eventually, they fell to the Gamecocks 64-45 in March's SEC championship. Rings aside, South Carolina had become Texas’s Achilles heel, with the SEC’s gold standard responsible for two-thirds of their losses going into March Madness.

Despite their late stumble, Texas still entered the NCAA tournament as a No. 1 seed. The Longhorns then became more interested in defining their season from that point on, rather than wallowing in opportunities lost.

“You’re talking about a six-game winning streak. To win a national championship, you gotta win six in a row,” Schaefer said, sizing up the road ahead.

Taking March Madness by storm

So far, Texas has held up their side of the bargain. They’ve battled through four NCAA tournament rounds, downing March Madness debutant William & Mary, No. 8 seed Illinois, and tricky Tennessee side. Finally, they toppled a determined TCU team to set up a fourth date with their SEC rival. 

And they know full well that they’ll have to tackle this next game as if it was their last.

“It probably means a little bit more [this year], there’s seniors on the team, including me,” Harmon noted. “But this is the team that can do it.”

After turning a solid regular season into a breakout year, everyone in the Texas locker room is firmly on the same page. Intensity and poise got them to the Final Four. Now they’ll have to trust that process to get over the same hurdle that has haunted them throughout the season.

“There is so much on the line, but you've gotta just go play,” Schaefer said on Saturday. “That game is very difficult, and you gotta have kids that can just kinda block out all the distractions, and everything around 'em, and just go play the game.”

The message in the huddle remains the same, because despite all their accomplishments, the job is far from finished. And no one’s lost sight of the bigger picture.

“We're here for a reason,” Harmon said earlier this week. “We worked hard for a reason. Everything happens for a reason. And we put our faith into that.”

Watch more: 'Can Texas Make a Tourney Run?' on Just Women's Sports

UCLA-bound high school senior Sienna Betts led the West team to a decisive 104-82 victory over the East in the McDonald's All-American Girls Game held last night at New York's Barclays Center.

The 6'4" forward contributed 16 points, seven rebounds, and two assists, earning MVP honors for her performance. ​

Betts is currently the class of 2025's No. 2 overall recruit. Only Texas-based point guard Aaliyah Chavez, who recently committed to the Oklahoma Sooners, ranks above her.

Betts to join sister Lauren Betts at UCLA next year

Betts's performance is a good indicator of her potential impact at UCLA next year. There, she'll join forces with her sister Lauren Betts, the junior center currently leading the Bruins to this season's NCAA Final Four after transferring in from Stanford.

The Betts sisters' arrival is highly anticipated, with Lauren opting to forgo the 2025 WNBA Draft in order to play out her final year of college eligibility alongside her little sister.

“For me, it [committing to UCLA] was a lot about how the coaches care about you off the court, and the coaches at UCLA, they really care about your mental health,” Betts told The Flagler College Gargoyle after committing last year. “Every team that I’ve ever been on, we’ve been a family… So, they really cared about that part of basketball for me, and they showed me that on my visits and when I called to talk to them.”

Betts in good company as McDonald's All-American Game MVP

In Brooklyn, Betts showcased her ability among the sport's best high school talent. Recent McDonald's All-American MVPs have all gone onto fuel prominent NCAA programs, including top-ranked recruits UConn's Sarah Strong, South Carolina's Joyce Edwards, USC's JuJu Watkins, Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo, and UCLA's own Kiki Rice and Gabriela Jaquez.

The McDonald's All-American Game has a storied history of highlighting promising players, with past MVPs subsequently laying the foundation for future superstars.