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- [00:00]
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- [01:16]
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- [03:18]
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- [04:51]
Zena Kaeda
For the Athletic. I'm Zena Kaeda and this is the Athletic Women's Basketball show presented by Michelob Ultra. Welcome back to the Athletic Women's Basketball show presented by our partner McLob Ultra. Shout out to them to allow us the space to talk women's basketball. NCAA women's season has kicked off, folks, and we got things to talk about. Joining me today is our national women's writer, Chantel Jennings. Hey Chantel.
- [05:30]
Chantel Jennings
Hey Xena.
- [05:31]
Zena Kaeda
I am so excited for this season. I cannot tell you how much November 6th like, kicked it off for us. I mean, there was amazing, amazing performances from day one in the ncaa, but particularly against the freshmen. But we Got a pickup from last year. And folks, you remember who won the championship? You remember who won. It was lsu. LSU came out on top in the NCAA women's basketball in March Madness. And then they opened up this season number one ranked and lost to number 20. Colorado score was 92 to 78. Not the expectation that folks had. When you think about what happened in the off season, there were some major transfers, there were some awesome. You know, there's great talent that was already on that roster. And then you think about the star power behind an angel Reese, not only off the court, which everyone wanted to focus on, but still a really formidable player on the court. Shantel, give us the scene. Like, how did LSU come into this game and what was the shift? What happened that Colorado was able to take advantage of to be able to get this win?
- [06:50]
Chantel Jennings
That's a great question. I think it was. You know, we've talked a lot about how LSU is going to be this quote unquote, super team coming in. You know, they use the transfer portal. They had the number one recruiting class in the country. And then on top of that, they're returning angel Reese, Blaje, Johnson. Like, it's not like they had nobody already, right? And then they went and added all of these stars. The better team doesn't always win. You know, this probably better than a lot of our listeners, right? Like, the better team does not always win. The team that plays better that night wins. And I think on Monday, the team that played better on Monday, one, like Colorado came in and let's give some credit to Jalen Sherrod, like put together a hell of a game all around, just sort of had her hands on, like, everything. I think as a team, you saw a group that returned four starters in Colorado from a year ago versus a team in LSU that's still trying to figure out its identity, still trying to figure out how everyone plays individually and together. I think that was probably most seen in the fact that Colorado had 24 assists on 33 field goals. Like, this is a team that knows how to play together. And then you have a player like Frida Foreman who hits seven three pointers. Like, if you have a player on your team that hits seven threes, you're probably going to win. Unless you're playing like Iowa, like, you know, and they have another player who might hit seven threes on their team. But if free to Foreman is going off for 21 just from behind the arc. Like, everything was kind of rolling for Colorado. And I think the main thing, you know, I tweeted this afterwards. No one wins a national title in November. The sky is not falling in Baton Rouge. People don't need to be like, losing their mind about this. Like, LSU is a team that is still very talented, has a lot of the pieces there. They need to figure out how to play together. I think the most worrisome thing, and Kim Mulkey talked about it afterwards, was that she felt like there was a lack of effort at times. Like, that's something that is tough to, you know, you can, you can fix execution, you can fix sort of game planning and how you go into it and all of that. But the fact that she was kind of worried about the lack of effort on her team, I think that is probably the most worrisome piece. You know, put aside the loss, put aside all of those sort of things, they'll be fine. But if Kim is actually worried about her team's effort, that to me is the biggest red flag.
- [09:05]
Zena Kaeda
You know what? This, this loss reminded me of what happened in the WNBA when the New York Liberty, their very first game of the season, they lost as well. And there were questions, ooh, are they gonna gel? Is this gonna make sense? They ended up in the WNBA finals, you know what I mean? Like, there is a certain level of needing to get acclimated to each other and acclimation that and playing in that space, but they had to do it against a really good team. When you talk about the, you know, don't worry, the sky isn't falling, it's a really great point because that means you're discounting the fact that Jaylen Sherrod and Frieda Foreman, two seniors on a really solid team in Colorado that were averaging really great numbers last year, you know, discounting their performance, this isn't a new thing for them. It's not like they had a fluke game. It's not as if they, you know, they just beat lemoine on Wednesday, 92 or 97 to 38. Like, this isn't a buy game, right? This isn't them going to some mid major and being like, hey, can you come and play us? No, this is the number 20 team. And so I agree with you. You losing to a team like this, hey, it's gonna be a wake up call. It's gonna be an identity check. It's definitely gonna make you, you know, go back to practice and run a little bit and be really, you know, be really locked in, into what you wanna do. But it doesn't mean that you have to completely throw away everything that you've worked on or who you think you are. They just had a little bit of a, a little bit of a wake up call for sure.
- [10:30]
Chantel Jennings
Yeah. I mean, LSU is still a Final Four team. And honestly, I think when you and I are sitting here and we're talking in April and LSU has punched their tick four, we're going to look back at this game and say, you know what, Like, Angel Reese is a player. When I was in Baton Rouge, she told me, like, I love when people doubt me. Like, I like that chip on my shoulder. That's where I love to play. And this, I almost look at it and I think, like, is this like low key what she like wanted for this year? Like she. To bring the doubters in and to have everyone sort of on the outside saying, look, LSU isn't as good as everyone said, look, the transfer portal doesn't work like LSU thought it would look. It doesn't work when you have this many stars. Like, I do wonder how much that sort of is playing into the sort of emotional factor that might carry LSU through. And here's the other thing, like LSU's non conference schedule isn't great. We're not going to have that many chances to see them play, you know, top 25 teams until they get into the SEC season. They do play Virginia Tech at the end of the month and so that's obviously going to be a great matchup. But you know, they're not like South Carolina, which is turning around and playing Notre Dame game one and then Maryland game two. So yeah, they're going to have a little bit of time to figure this out against teams that they are far overmatched against. And so lsu, you know, I'm not worried about them. This is still a Final Four team.
- [11:51]
Zena Kaeda
You know, to close out this conversation, like the conversation around Angel Reese. I really, I love what you said because I think athletes do this on all levels. They do create conflict for themselves. Right. They do create a narrative for them to be like, oh, we were the villains or oh, we were the underrated or oh, we were the cause. It does motivate them in a way to be able to prove the doubters and that's what makes them great athletes. So I think that's a really interesting point. But particularly, I just want to say this for the record, some of you out there, maybe probably the people that are taking the time to listen to this podcast, but there are people out there that are very strange, like really strange. And the comments that were made around Angel Reese and what her off season activities were and what contributed to this loss and all these things, like, some of you are very like, need help, like, and maybe not you, but people out there. And let's not amplify those people. But Angel Reese had a double, double, again, effort was an issue, as Kim Mulkey said, and all these things. But it's not as if she disappeared. You know, she did what she could and she did what she did. And again, I agree with you. Overall, we are going to be looking back at this game and being able to see like, wow, look how far they've come. And also, was this a motivating factor for them? So that part, you did mention someone that has a little bit of a tough schedule, S.C. and I'm telling you, this game in Paris met all of the hype. All of the hype. And I loved all of the promotion that happened beforehand, all of the buzz that was going on, all of the people that went. There were so many people within the women's basketball world that went over to support or to report back to us in the States. I mean, there was a lot of excitement and it was something that. It was like, oh, dang, I want to be there next time. You know, you got like, really, really pumped and hyped about it. But the game started out, I mean, don't look at that score and think that it was a blowout from the top. It was competitive, it was good, it was exciting, it was flashy. But the conversation really was around the freshies, the bibbies, the youngins, we should say, and I just want to talk about Hannah Hidalgo and Malaysia Fu Wiley. Those two are about to set us up for basketball heaven for the next four years.
- [14:15]
Chantel Jennings
I mean, the freshmen, like, if we're going to talk freshmen at this point, we also have to talk about juju Watkins. Like, there are three freshmen that I just think, like, obviously in Paris, and maybe we just focus on those two right now because I had thought about that for quite a while. This is such a huge, like, you did this right? Your first game as a freshman, as a college athlete, it's something you've dreamed about and thought about for a long time. Like, there can be a lot of pressure that you put on yourself. Even though these players have played at high levels, they played with Team usa, they've represented their country, all of these things, right? But it's different than when you go and you're playing in college and then you're playing in this game overseas. There's all of this hype and attention around it, right. And to sort of have, you know, these two players coming out of this week, out of this week, out of this game, and. And you're like, holy shit. Like, did we really just see those two freshmen put together? And I think it was. It was both sort of the Overall, you know, 17 points off the bench, 32 points or whatever it was that Hannah had. I think 31. But it was sort of like how they did it. And the moments, like Hannah Hidalgo got to the free throw line 12 times. Like, that is a player who is not afraid. That is a player who's going to drive in the paint and take it up against anyone. I think that was the part that to me was the most sort of like, oh, shit, like, she's here and she's like making a mark for herself, especially on a Notre Dame team that had so much talent on the bench. You know, they needed her to step up and that's a lot to put on a freshman. And I think she more than rose to the occasion. And then on the other side, you've got Malaysia Full Wiley, who, like Shaq is tweeting about.
- [15:52]
Zena Kaeda
I think it was Shaq, K.D. the world, everyone.
- [15:56]
Chantel Jennings
Yeah. But I think what was hilarious about that was the play that they were all tweeting about was, you know, this behind the back sort of layup. You can describe it better than I can, but what I found most, most impressive about that play was that Notre Dame actually almost stole that ball on the inbounds. And how she was able to keep control of it and keep her momentum moving forward said more to me about sort of her body control in tight and anxious situations than anything else. Like, yeah, and she also had a pass in the third quarter to Tahina Powpow that was like this. No, look, that was like, oh, my gosh, her vision amongst the, like amongst the trees. Like, holy smokes, this kid can play. Like, not a kid, she's 18. But like, the freshmen can play. The freshmen are not freshmen this year.
- [16:43]
Zena Kaeda
They are playing like veterans. And you're so right about approaching that game because not only is it extremely nerve wracking and have anxiety and, you know, there's healthy anxiety. Anxiety is a natural function of the human biology to make sure that you show up and rise up to the occasion. But as a person that's showing up for your freshman game or your first game as a freshman, and it's a game that's been hyped up when you were in high school, right? Like when you were still in high School. They've been talking about this since last April of this game. And so now there's all this attention to you, and particularly on the South Carolina side, there's all this attention of will this team be as good? They just graduated all these people, will there be as good? And so you show up that way. And it is surreal what they were able to do. Hannah Hidalgo, even before this game, has really just been showing up. Like, I'm having fun. Like, you know, I know there's been a lot of focus on Olivia Miles and her injury and not being able to return. Hannah Hidalgo, one of the things that excited me the most when she was talking to Andrea Carter, they had an interview and she was saying, like, I just really love cheering for my team. If I can get them a set, you know, pass them something and set them up for a bucket or whatever, like, that gets me excited. You're having that thought and that kind of perception as a freshman and then producing and literally doing that for your team. Both of them, Malaysia Faweilly and Jael to Hidalgo put on a show, but they also really showed up, like, showed up in a way to show that they are going to be really great leaders on both of these teams. So very, very exciting game, for sure. South Carolina did end up with, you know, a little bit of a blowout at the end. I want to ask, like, you know, what did you see that kind of like, quieted down Notre Dame or maybe ramped up South Carolina?
- [18:27]
Chantel Jennings
Yeah, I think it was multiple things, like I had mentioned, sort of. There's like 35 points sitting on Notre Dame's bench. And sweats, I guess they weren't as sweats. Olivia Miles, they had nice outfits on. Like, there's. There's 35 points on the bench. Right, Right. So there's that. So overall, Notre Dame's depth is less, but also South Carolina has more depth than they've had in a long time. You. You mentioned it. The Freshies have graduated. They went 129 and nine over four years. And so there was this big question about, like, you know, these players who are graduating took up the bulk of the minutes over the last three years, really four years. Like, we know what this team was. Now you're sort of entering this phase where there's a lot of players who've played some but haven't been the prominent players haven't been the starters outside of, like, Raven Johnson. And so it's like, what is this group going to be? And I think what we saw was that their starting Five was super, super strong, but then they also brought a punch off the bench. I thought obviously Malaysia Folweile came off the bench with 17 points, but Saniya Fagan, really good off the bench. Ashlyn Watkins had four blocks off the bench, like, so. I think Dawn Staley has a really versatile and deep bench, which she probably had before, obviously, because the talent was there. But she didn't go to it as much because that Freshies class was so complete that she able to just sort of ride with them through so much. And so you weren't relying on these players as much in the second quarter or the third quarter. They were getting it in like the fourth quarter. But I think now we're sort of having a chance to see these players a little earlier. So I think it was. It was depth on both sides. And ultimately, you know, Kylie Watson for Notre Dame didn't have a very good game. I think she's a player that I look at for Notre Dame in the paint that if they want to be a Sweet 16, an Elite Eight team, Kylie Watson needs to play really well for them. She needs to sort of be that presence in the paint that is unshakable. She didn't have that game against South Carolina. I think she can have it. I was at practice at Notre Dame last month. She looked fantastic in practice. I think she'll look fantastic through the year. It just wasn't. It just wasn't there on Monday.
- [20:32]
Zena Kaeda
Yeah, she ended up with only two points and two players in the starting lineup for the Notre Dame Irish had two points. And I think that that was the biggest difference. When you talk about 35 points sitting on the bench, the scoring dispersion on the South Carolina side was so immense. And Dawn Staley got to play six people off her bench, whereas Notre Dame only had three. And I think that that was huge. Camila Cardoso showed phenomenon. Right. When you talk about players that have gotten to play but maybe weren't the focal point. Yeah. When you're playing behind Aaliyah Boston. Right. And you're coming in to give her a rest, that hasn't been your. You haven't had the spotlight on you just yet. And, you know, she finished up with 20 points, 15 rebounds and looking good the whole time. I mean, just fly. But I really, really think that the depth that Dawn Staley has to play with this year is going to be really interesting to see how it plays out long term. And the biggest, like, kind of elevation that she has, I mean, she's always had really a great bench but playing six players, that was really impressive.
- [21:33]
Chantel Jennings
Well, in the versatility those players bring. Right? I mean, when you have. You obviously have a bench, but I think she also has so many options. Now. Where are you going to play Chloe Kits and Ashlyn Watkins? Are you going to play Chloe Kitts and Ashlyn Watkins and Camille Cardoso? Like, are you going to go, like, your. Your lineup that can basically, like, you know, suffocate teams? Like, I think it's. You just have. She has a lot of versatility with the athletes on her roster, because I think she has a lot of players who can play multiple positions. And then I think, as you said, at the center of it, Camila Cardoso. And this is a team that, from Asia Wilson to Aaliyah Boston to Camilla Cardoso, now they're going to build from the paint out. But I think around Camila specifically, Don has a lot of options in terms of who she can put out there and how they can both attack other teams and defend in a way that South Carolina is going to be really hard to game plan against this year. They're going to be a team that can put out a lot of different lineups. And so I think they're going to ultimately keep a lot of coaches up in terms of, like, how do you plan for a team that really can run 11 deep if they need to?
- [22:40]
Zena Kaeda
Absolutely. Right. Notre Dame definitely has to kind of, you know, lick their paws and take those lessons back of having, you know, a Kylie Walker step up a little bit more, but also being able to have their bench come in and make, you know, have some offensive surges and just having a particularly defensive consistency. Right. You cannot have a lapse in the intensity that you have from your starters to your bench. That is the truth across all basketball games. But that is something I'm sure Neal Ivey will be thinking about and working on with that team. So let's keep it moving and talk about another freshman. Across the way they were in Paris, there was someone out in California doing the thing, and that is juju. I mean, first of all, if you love basketball, you love women's basketball. Of course, you probably have seen love in basketball. And I think that there's, like, this wonderful thought process of, like, USC and being that freshman that shows up and, you know, has that swagger and all the above. And I just. Every time I think about juju Watkins staying at home in California and playing for usc, I just cannot but stop thinking about Monica. And so I just, like, I just keep thinking love and basketball. I don't know if she's got a love interest out there, but the point is, she killed it for USC in their opener.
- [24:01]
Chantel Jennings
Yeah, I mean, I think especially offensively, she had 32 points, five assists, six rebounds, one steal, one block. Like, not even offensively. All around the game. She sort of had her hands on everything.
- [24:14]
Zena Kaeda
Yeah.
- [24:15]
Chantel Jennings
The amount of confidence that all of these freshmen play with. And I would love your thoughts as a former college player, like, what is different about either the AAU or the competitive basketball scene now that is allowing players and maybe it's always been this way, but I guess I don't remember freshmen like, Juju had a play during the USC Ohio State game where she finished at the hoop. And then she did the too small thing that all the NBA players do. And it was just sort of this moment where it was like, talk your shit. Like, you can't because you're putting up 32 points. Like, go ahead and do it. But it was just like, I don't know, just sort of this confidence that these players are playing with. And I think maybe part of it has to do with the proliferation of, like, the EYBL and those, like, circuits that players are playing on that, you know, maybe freshmen especially are less, like, bothered by the limelight of. Of college hoops now that they've sort of played in a lot of these or that they're playing in the higher Nike things. I mean, Juju's a Nike athlete. Like, she's been on Nike basketball shoots with LeBron, like, so I don't know how much sort of gets under her skin. But I would be curious for your thoughts on that. What is sort of allowing all of these freshmen, you know, what different factors are allowing freshmen to be so. Not freshman.
- [25:26]
Zena Kaeda
Like, I mean, Chantelle, you're a smart woman because you just answered your own question. Like, that's exact. All the things that you listed is exactly the thing that allows someone to realize and validate their skills. If you're being asked to be a Nike athlete, you're being on shoots with, you know, the best scorer of all time in the NBA or not necessarily the best scorer. The number one scorer. Right. Has the most amount of points. Some people might have some. Some questions about that, but your emergence.
- [25:52]
Chantel Jennings
Is gonna blow up Cena.
- [25:53]
Zena Kaeda
I know. I'm like, oh, let me walk it back, because Laker fans are gonna be in my DMs. No, just thinking, like, those type of people are validating you and hyping you up and showing up to your gains and on your sidelines. And then you talk about the fact that this is such a visible world now, like, I think about this is a larger conversation. We could have a whole podcast about this, about how much social media has changed the entire, not only recruiting landscape, but just like, like the way in which people act as athletes. Right. If you were watching NBA last night, you saw Giannis Antetokounmpo get kicked out of a game because he did the too small. That's a crazy thing to think. That's a whole conversation that's gonna be had around that. But this whole element of having personality on the court, you see it more and it's retweeted, right? If you didn't catch a game back in the day and you heard about somebody doing a gesture and you heard about somebody doing something, a crazy move like, you know, Malaysia Fu Wiley had, you just could hear about it. That was it. You missed it. Sorry. But now it's being perpetuated and highlighted and spotlighted. And so that I think, you know, feeds into the kind of the gesturing that you're seeing from these, these younger players, but particularly the confidence, I would say, when it comes to these high level players and the ability that they have to play with other high level players. Back in the day, you would play with your AAU team and they were girls from your area. It was very few people that were on the teams where you could get flown out to a tournament and just play with like the top players in the country for that one tournament. That's a little less unlikely now. It's a little less rare. And so you have a Juju Watkins going to these big time camps, these big time tournaments, just being able to play with other topics. Talent in her class and dropping buckets. Right. And being like one of the top players. And so I'm sure that that also influences her ability to be like, yeah, I got this. And I think, I mean, goodness, look at who they beat. 83, 74. USC is number 21 in the country versus 7 ranked Ohio State. Handing Ohio State their first loss. When you drop one bucket in a game like that, depending on who you are, if you're Juju Watkins, floodgates open, right? Your mind goes, oh, I can do this, I can go up against them. And I love that confidence. There's definitely humility, they're definitely humble, but there's also a. Oh, that's why I said confidence.
- [28:25]
Chantel Jennings
It's a confidence.
- [28:26]
Zena Kaeda
Yeah, it's confidence, right, exactly, exactly. And I love that this they're seeing. I can do this I got it. It's interesting, I think the Tennessee game, even against the USA Women's team, like, I think it was Rekia Jackson that, you know, dropped buckets on them. And that's crazy, right? You're a college player playing up against the USA Women's team and you're doing well. That sort of stuff really boosts you up. And so juju Watkins has had multiple opportunities playing for the US Playing against other top talent in her class and above her class, to be able to get that validation of, oh, I'm good. So shout out to her for sure. Would you say that when you look at a USC and what they have on their roster, like, would you say that she's in a solid position? I mean, I look at the scoring breakdown, you know, she had 32, Ryan Marshall had 18, Mackenzie Forbes with 11. I mean, they had a pretty solid starting lineup, kind of dispersion of scoring. I thought they played well together.
- [29:27]
Chantel Jennings
Yeah. And that's another team. You know, Lindsey Gottlieb brought in some Ivy League transfers, specifically some shooters from the Ivy League. I think the main tandem there is obviously going to be juju and Raya together playing off one another, which I think is a very. I mean, can be 50 points a night. And then you just sort of figure out where the other scoring is coming from. And I think potentially what USC's biggest benefit is going to be this season is that that the PAC 12 is going to be good. And that I think, man, playing through a conference like that, and you can say this about other conferences as well, it's really going to prepare them for March because they're going to face Colorado, Utah, Stanford, ucla, like Oregon and Oregon State are going to figure it out. They might not be ranked in the top 25 right now, but they're going to be good. Washington State, which won the Pac12 tournament last year, always a tough team to face. Like, this is a team that is going to face a lot of different looks, but also just a lot of really good talent and coaches who know each other really well and know each other's systems really well. And so it's going to be about scheme, but it's mostly going to be about execution. And so I think that's really going to sort of put more pressure on juju and Raya to react and create together, which potentially come March could make for a really dangerous USC team in the tournament.
- [30:48]
Zena Kaeda
Oh, yeah. That aspect of coaches really knowing these players know each other really well. I mean, you just mentioned the connection between juju Watkins and Raya, like they're from la. They've known each other, they've been playing around each other. And so. And there's a lot of just interspersal of players throughout the Pac12, whether it's through transfers or people that played together growing up, et cetera. And so players know each other, coaches know each other. There's a lot of ties between each other and. And PAC12 will be very fun to watch as a result of all of these little, you know, little ties and tentacles to each other throughout the. And the storylines that. That all creates. So, of course, Pac12 finishing out strong, huh? I shouldn't say that. That's sad. I feel Sad that the PAC12 is going away. It's so terrible.
- [31:38]
Chantel Jennings
But this will be a good year. I think this will be a year where a lot of talent is on display. You know, if you're gonna 100% go out, go out big, I guess, girl.
- [31:46]
Zena Kaeda
Go out big, I guess is the right way to put that. Let's go back to the other way, the other side of the country again for probably the biggest return. Biggest return. I haven't seen this much fanfare and this much excitement around a college player returning from injury than what I've seen for paige Beckers at UConn. And I think that there's so many people that. I mean, the empathy, but also the sympathy for her injuries and her wanting to play so badly, it was really inspiring. And I think what I love the most about that is it also shows you just how authentic she is. Cause it's clear. And it felt genuine to everyone that was so excited for her to come back, how much this really weighed on her to not be able to play her favorite sport, to be injured, to have to fight through rehabilitation. And it's not as if she was, you know, shouting from the rooftops what was happening to her, but people still felt that, and the sentimentality around it was still palpable. And I just really love that she was able to come back and get that sort of love now. Wasn't a crazy game. You know, she definitely wasn't dropping buckets like she did when she first came onto the scene. But still really, really exciting to see her back on the course.
- [33:04]
Chantel Jennings
Yeah, she said that she didn't think she had a great game. I'm guessing, you know, she was not happy with shooting. Three of nine, maybe. I know defensively at least, watching the bench and seeing Gina or yell at her a few times, like he thought there were some defensive matchups. She missed and she's a perfectionist. So I think she would probably say, you know, even her games where she was dropping buckets and scoring 25 points, she'd tell you, oh, it wasn't a great game. I think the. The scene that really stays with me from. You know, a lot's been written about Paige over the last few years that she's been out, but our colleague Dana O'Neill had a really great feature for the Athletic about Paige, and that when UConn went to play Tennessee last year, you know, Dana sort of painted the scene of her teammates running out into Thompson Bowling arena and, like, having this moment of Tennessee and UConn, they're playing together in Tennessee and, like, into the sea of orange. And Paige was in the locker room crying, crying. And I think that's.
- [34:02]
Zena Kaeda
If you haven't read that piece, go read it. Go read it. Because I think that I. I know what you're about to say. Go ahead. Sorry.
- [34:08]
Chantel Jennings
Well, that's what I thought of, was just sort of. You could sort of see the. It was such an emotional return for her to be out 584 days away from the thing that you love, but also so close to the thing you love. Right? Like, she had to sit on the bench and watch Yukon go through so much over the last two. Two seasons. Obviously, she played half a season of that, but, like, to be that close to it and not be able to contribute and then to sort of see through great writing behind the scenes what she was going through. I think just being back out on the court and sort of getting over that hump of like, okay, I'm back. The fanfare can be over. I'm just playing basketball now. Like, let's just get back to UConn basketball. I think no matter what she had done this week, she probably would have said, like, oh, it wasn't my best game. It wasn't great. But ultimately, she's back on the floor, with which I'm sure, in hindsight, she'll. She'll come back to really be grateful that she's just on the floor again. And now that sort of all that fanfare is behind her, and the Huskies, they can move forward in. To being what, you know, is a really, really, really good team, a really, really, really deep team. UConn, I think, has a very clear path to the national title if they can stay healthy this year. And there's not a lot of teams you can say that about this year.
- [35:22]
Zena Kaeda
And that is the key to stay healthy. One point I want to make on the page Becker's return. I loved the video that I think it was UConn that put it out of her getting her hair braided again. I think maybe it was just from me. I know, like, when we played that process of getting ready for the game, it's part of your mentality, like how you set your mentality for the day, right? And what you're gonna do and being able to mentally prepare for that. You do your routines. I had a teammate that would, like, do a full face of makeup and it calmed her because she liked makeup, but it would calm her down and relax her just like her anxiety or whatever it was. We definitely braids on our team as well. There was the pre wrap figuring out the exact way you wanted your pre wrap to be your headband. So I thought that was a really beautiful kind of moment again of her getting her hair braided again for the opportunity to go play that. And of course, like you said, Dana O'Neill's article kind of puts you in the shoes of Paige Beckers in two different ways. Being able to see just how much this meant to her, but then also now being able to see her being like, back to her routine was really exciting. If you talk about the depth of the bench, Gino Auriemma played seven players last night, including some of his freshies. And we've been talking about freshies and, you know, particularly thinking about Kaden Samuels and a KK Arnold also. KK Arnold, like, shout out to your parents, because I just love that name. I think that we're gonna be saying that name a lot in the next few years. But KK Arnold is like such a great basketball name. But. Yes, but particularly, you know, those two solid minutes off the bench from those freshmen and, you know, respectively, cadence with 11 points, finishing out one block, you know, probably could have had a few more rebounds at her, at her size, particularly, but going 3 of 5 from 3, that was awesome. And then KK Arnold in 19 minutes, 8.7 assists, 4 steals. Big, big contributions from the two freshmen there.
- [37:21]
Chantel Jennings
I think the other play that I really look at that at that game, and. And this is a team that the starting five, you know, Gino didn't have to run too much with them against Dayton, obviously, because they won almost 50 points. And so this, you know, no one played more than 26 minutes, which was easy. So it's not going to look like this every night. They're not always going to play seven players off the bench, but a player that I think will contribute more, who wasn't one of sort of the top minute. Skitter was Ice Brady, the forward. She was only one of six from the floor, but you know, when I was in stores and saw her, she was someone who really stood out to me. I think as the season goes on, as she's back kind of into the flow of playing and with this team specifically, I think she's going to become a bigger and bigger contributor for this UConn team as the season goes on. But as I said, it's going to be a group that is really reliant on its starting five while also bringing some depth in. But like when you have Edwards foot, Becker's Ducharme and Mule, like you can kind of ride with those five and go up against anyone in the country.
- [38:24]
Zena Kaeda
Especially when you're in the beginning of the season, everyone's still healthy, everyone's got fresh legs. Also, Ice Brady, another wonderful name. I just love the cool. Like, I hope there's an nil deal somewhere in there. Ice for that awesome, awesome name. But this has been an eventful first week. A lot of amazing games have been played. A lot of statements have been made around the way that teams want to show up or how teams want to bounce back even. But it's time for a new segment called the Look Ahead. So we want to do something new. You know, I typically go off the script, but as we continue this podcast and we continue to grow and evolve with our audience, we want to do something a little bit different. And so we are going to do something called the Look Ahead, where we choose a game and we tell you why you should have it marked on your calendar. And this week's game is number six, South Carolina against number 14, Maryland Terrapins. It is this Sunday, November 12th at 10:00am Pacific, 1:00pm Eastern Shantel. Why should we be looking ahead to this matchup?
- [39:31]
Chantel Jennings
So, Zena, we've already talked a lot about South Carolina. I think we've highlighted a lot of the players for why someone might want to tune into one of their games games. So I'm going to focus on the Maryland side of this matchup. They have a junior who is one of my favorite juniors in the country, Cheyenne Sellers. This is a player who can do everything and has kind of come up, you know, with Angel Reese as a freshman last year, with Diamond Miller this year, this is her team, this is Shy's team and I'm really excited to see what she does with it. Maryland beat Harvard, which is a good team out of the Ivy league. She had 25 points, seven assists, two steals. What I most liked about her was she got to the free throw line eight times, eight of eight from the free throw line. And best thing that I would assume, Brenda Freeze felt zero turnovers. So this, she had a great first game. But what I'm curious to see is coming out against South Carolina in Colonial Life Arena. So she's going to be facing sort of six players, really, because Colonial Life arena is one of the toughest venues in women's basketball to play. Those South Carolina fans pack it and make it really, really loud. But this Maryland team is really interesting. They're a top 25 team, but this is Shy's team. And so I'm curious to see how she leads this group against a South Carolina team that has obviously already been tested against Notre Dame. But I. I'm really excited to see what Junior Shy looks like. We talked a lot last year about Sophomore Shy and just sort of Junior Shy in the third year in the system, finally having it be her team. So, yeah, I think if people are only going to watch one game this weekend, which is hard because there's a lot of good games this weekend, I would say, you know, tune in to watch Maryland, South Carolina, because there's a junior on the Maryland team in addition to a lot of other really good players that I think is pretty special.
- [41:16]
Zena Kaeda
All right. And not only is that game a really wonderful matchup, it's the first game of few games on Sunday that are great matchups. So that game starts at 10am Pacific, 1pm Eastern. Right after that, number two, UConn goes up against NC State at 12pm Pacific, 3pm Eastern, and then closing it out on Sunday, number nine, Indiana versus number number 15, Stanford, at 2pm Pacific, 5pm Eastern. So it's just going to be a wonderful day of women's college basketball on Sunday.
- [41:48]
Chantel Jennings
And yeah, your Sunday's set.
- [41:50]
Zena Kaeda
Your Sunday.
- [41:51]
Chantel Jennings
You don't need to make any plans.
- [41:52]
Zena Kaeda
Exactly. If you don't have plans, trust me, if somebody calls you to make plans. Exactly. Now you have plans. And if somebody calls you to make plans, tell them you know what you're doing. This is what it is. Invite them. Invite them. They can watch it with you. You all right, folks? We appreciate you tuning in as always. Chantelle, thank you for giving us that Week one breakdown. We will continue to give you guys this insight, and I'm really excited. We're going to get some interviews going. We're going to talk to people around the. What would you call it, the Association? It's not the association like WNBA's association, but the NCAA, the league around the country. Around the country. There you go. We're going to be having some really cool interviews and as well. And so thank you guys for tuning in. Continue to support us, continue to let us know what you want to talk about and hear. But for now, we're going to tune out for the Athletic. I'm Zena K. Encouraging you to continue listening, keep learning, keep loving the game because that's the only way we're going to grow it, folks. All right, until next time.
- [42:56]
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Zena Kaeda
Remember blowing into a video game cartridge.
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Wayfair Representative
Or taping songs off the radio?
- [44:28]
Sunshine
How about Saturday morning cartoons?
- [44:30]
Wayfair Representative
Hey, AOL chat rooms.
- [44:32]
Zena Kaeda
Did we just age ourselves?
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Wayfair Representative
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Sunshine
We're Mike Fenoya and Charles McBee, two.
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Wayfair Representative
Comedians getting nostalgic and asking that nagging question, Are we old?
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Sunshine
Relive the laughs, the cringes and the nostalgia.
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Wayfair Representative
Are we old? Podcast Acast Right here on acast. ACAST helps creators launch, grow and monetize their podcasts everywhere.
- [45:04]
Salesperson
Acast.com.