Patti Gasso wants change.

The Oklahoma softball head coach appeared on the ESPNPlus show “Stephen A’s World” to discuss their recent title. From there, the coach gave her thoughts about the ongoing inequities between men’s and women’s sports in the NCAA.

“As much as people enjoy watching us — and there’s a lot of revenue and a lot of eyes on this championship, it’s the fastest growing sport that America is watching, and the numbers show it — and yet, we’re still not being treated or have the same opportunities, amenities that others do,” Gasso said. “And it’s sad for me.”

The 2021 WCWS was the most-watched on record, a trend that has continued to permeate women’s sports throughout the year. Yet, as Gasso points out, there’s still a long way to go in making sure there’s equal treatment.

“We deserve a better bracket, better timing, we deserve instant replay,” she said. “We deserve locker rooms. We deserve showers. We deserve batting cages.”

“We have to go find our own cages, otherwise our teams are gonna stand out in the hot sun taking batting practice in one cage and on an open field. That’s unheard of. That is absolutely unheard of.”

Southern California captured the 2021 outdoor track and field national championship in Eugene on Saturday.

Anna Cockrell’s wins in the 100-meter and 400-meter hurdles helped the Trojans clinch the title. She is only the second person in history to win both races in the same season. In addition to Cockrell’s individual effort, a victory in the 4×100-meter relay locked in USC’s championship push.

The 2021 national title is the school’s third, after winning in 2001 and 2018.

Oklahoma defeated Florida State 5-1 to lock up the national title in Game 3 of the championship series on Thursday.

The Sooners survived the tournament’s elimination bracket to advance to the title matchup against Florida State, knocking out UCLA and James Madison in the process.

After dropping Game 1 to the Seminoles on Tuesday, Oklahoma’s offense rallied, outscoring FSU 11-3 in the final two games to clinch the title. It is the program’s fifth national championship overall and first since 2017.

The Women’s College World Series title will be decided by a third and final game.

Oklahoma beat Florida State 6-2 on Wednesday night, rallying to force a Game 3 after dropping Game 1 to the Seminoles.

Oklahoma went down early on a Florida State home run in the bottom of the first inning. The Sooners quickly responded with a home run of their own in the top of the third.

In the sixth inning, Jocelyn Alo smashed a homer to give the Sooners a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Alo’s dinger also gave Oklahoma 159 home runs for the season, setting an NCAA single-season record.

“We’re not going to take a loss two times in a row to the same team,” Alo said after the game.

The teams will play for the national championship Thursday at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN.

For some freshmen, the big stage can be overwhelming. Those freshmen aren’t named Kaeli Harding and Kaley Mudge. 

Harding had a home run and four runs batted in to lead the way for the Seminoles. Not to be outdone, Mudge had three hits of her own, increasing her WCWS total to a record-tying 13. Before the World Series, the freshman had 16 hits all season.

Despite a late-effort comeback by Oklahoma, Florida State’s offensive explosion was too much to overcome as the Seminoles beat the Sooners 8-4.

Harding had the first big play of the night, with a monster throw in the second that led to an out at third.

From there, Florida State’s bats came alive, as Harding then launched a dinger in the top of the third to put the Seminoles on the board first.

She then hit a double in the second to bring in two more and bring the lead total to four.

Not one to go quietly, the Sooners would prove just how dangerous they are – even when down big. In the bottom of the sixth, Mackenzie Danihoo hit a double to cut the lead to three.

The second game of the series kicks off tonight on ESPN at 7 p.m. ET, with Florida State having the chance to win yet another national title.

Florida State and Oklahoma have advanced out of the loser’s bracket and are heading to the Women’s College World Series Championship Finals.

After dropping the tournament-opener to James Madison, Oklahoma rallied to win four consecutive games to keep the school’s title hopes alive.

On Monday, the Sooners got their shot at revenge. In a semifinal rematch of the opening round upset, Oklahoma surged to a 7-1 win over James Madison, securing the school a spot in the championship series.

Florida State also survived the loser’s bracket, clawing their way back to the finals with an 8-5 win over Alabama on Monday.  The Seminoles sprinted to an early 8-0 lead in the third inning and held off a late Alabama surge to earn the school a spot in the title matchup.

The best of three championship series between Oklahoma and Florida State begins Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.

It’s do-or-die time in the Women’s College World Series. 

Four teams play today — only two will advance to the championship series.

On Sunday, Oklahoma got their revenge and took down James Madison 6-3 after losing to them earlier in the first game of the World Series. James Madison tied it at three in the bottom of the fourth, before Kinzie Hansen hit a clinching two-run bomb. 

The two teams will face off once more for a trip to the championship series tonight at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN. 

Florida State, meanwhile, ended Alabama’s 20-game win streak, forcing a winner-take-all Monday night game. The Seminoles won 2-0, with Josie Muffly driving in Dani Morgan in the bottom of the sixth to get the insurance run.

Florida State and Alabama will play again tonight at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN. 

The winners of both games advance to the best-of-three championships series, which begins tomorrow. 

Oklahoma beat UCLA 10-3 on Saturday night to keep the team’s Women’s College World Series hopes alive.

The two teams were favorites to make it to the championship series. Instead, they found themselves in a sudden-death matchup after James Madison upset Oklahoma and Alabama bested UCLA.

The Bruins took an early 3-0 lead, but as the Oklahoma offense started to heat up, that advantage quickly slipped away. Once the No.1 Sooners got going, there was no looking back in their commanding 10-3 victory.

Saturday night’s game marked the end of UCLA pitcher Rachel Garcia’s storied collegiate career. Garcia — an Olympian, two-time National Player of the Year and national champion — is considered one of the best ever to wear a Bruins jersey.

With the win, Oklahoma advances to the WCWS semifinals, where the Sooners will get a chance at redemption against James Madison. Florida State will face off against Alabama on the other side of the bracket after defeating Oklahoma State 4-2 on Saturday to survive elimination.

Both semifinal matchups are scheduled for Sunday, with Oklahoma versus James Madison at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN and Alabama versus Florida State at 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.

The UConn women’s rowing team is safe, for now. A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order this week preventing the university from eliminating the program until at least Aug. 2.

The team filed a Title IX lawsuit against UConn back in April, arguing that in cutting the program the university was no longer in compliance with the law.

U.S. District Judge Stephen Underhill ruled Wednesday that it was likely the rowers would prevail in their Title IX lawsuit against the university. Underhill said there is compelling evidence that UConn has failed to comply with Title IX since 2008 and has been inflating the number of student-athletes on its women’s teams to suggest otherwise.

“Plaintiffs have shown that it is substantially likely that UConn is not presently in compliance with Title IX’s effective-accommodation mandate, and cutting the women’s rowing team would only exacerbate that noncompliance by magnifying UConn’s disparity in athletic participation opportunities,” the judge wrote.

The restraining order will last until at least Aug. 2, when a hearing on a preliminary injunction will take place.

After rallying on Tuesday to beat Texas, the Ole Miss women’s golf team never looked back. 

In Wednesday night’s championship match, Chiara Tamburlini provided the spark that lit the match in the Rebels’ 4-1 victory with an impressive 6-and-5 win. It was the largest margin for a final round since the NCAA switched to match play in 2015. 

Ole Miss senior Julia Johnson had a big day, winning 4-and-3 against Rina Tatematsu. The senior holed a critical birdie putt on the 11th to go up four.

Fifth-year senior Kennedy Swann, facing women’s world amateur No. 7 Maja Stark, also delivered needed points for Ole Miss. Swann fell behind after three holes but came back to tie the match and win three straight holes to take a 3-up lead heading into the back nine.

While Stark attempted the comeback, a missed birdie putt allowed Swann to end it on the 17th and take the 2-and-1 win.

Andrea Lignell delivered the final blow for the Rebels, rallying from her own early deficit to take the lead on the 13th over Isabella Fierro. Lignell then holed one from 6 feet on the 17th for a 2-and-1 victory and the national title.

“No one ever thought that we could do this,” Johnson said, in tears after the win. “No one ever believed in us. And I knew. I just knew when I committed here that we could do this and I just believed in us from the start. It’s just really special and we’re just really thankful for this moment.”

The title is Ole Miss’ first-ever recognized national championship — men’s or women’s — in school history. The last time an Ole Miss team played for a NCAA title was in 1995, when the men’s tennis team fell to Stanford.

It’s also a watershed moment for the program. When head coach Kory Henkes took over in 2015, the team was ranked 134th in the country.

“When I came into this program a couple of years ago, we were nowhere close. We worked our tails off to get to the point that we’re at now,” said Swann. “I think it’s great that we’ve finally proven that we belong here. I mean, we just won a national championship.

“Ole Miss is a good team that is here to stay and we’ll be around for a long time.”