What Happened between Geno and Dawn? + Title Game Preview

Summary

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Podcast Summary: No Offseason: The Athletic Women's Basketball Show

Episode: What Happened between Geno and Dawn? + Title Game Preview

Date: April 4, 2026
Hosts: Zena Keita, Layshia Clarendon, Sabreena Merchant, Chantel Jennings
Theme: An inside look at the drama-filled 2026 Women’s Final Four—including the viral Geno Auriemma/Dawn Staley “handshake incident,” in-depth breakdowns of South Carolina-UConn and UCLA-Texas, preview of the championship game, and live reactions to the WNBA expansion draft.

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Main Theme & Purpose

This episode, recorded live from the 2026 Women’s Final Four in Phoenix, provides insider analysis and commentary on the off-court drama between coaches Geno Auriemma (UConn) and Dawn Staley (South Carolina), tactical breakdowns of the semifinal matchups, and a preview of the upcoming national championship game. The hosts also discuss the WNBA expansion draft, offering both reporting and personal perspective from players and journalists on site.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Geno–Dawn Handshake Incident

Timestamps: 05:14–19:00

• Event recap: After South Carolina’s win over UConn, a tense exchange between coaches Geno Auriemma and Dawn Staley at the postgame handshake drew widespread attention.
• Multiple hosts described their vantage points in the arena, all noting the unusual nature of the confrontation:
  • Chantel: “You just... It was, you know, when you... I frankly wasn’t even watching, like that’s the least interesting thing usually, right, like, at that point in the game. (07:26)”
  • Zena: “I would never do that. Now, at the time, I didn’t know what she was referring to. I would never walk away from his players, AKA would never not shake their hands. (12:39)”
• Backstory: The incident is layered, including perceived slights regarding pregame and postgame handshakes. There was also video of Staley missing a pregame handshake, which Auriemma referenced.
• Contextual tension: This was a rematch of the previous year’s championship where UConn beat South Carolina by 25, adding intensity.
• Analysis of behavior: UConn's frustration over the flow of the game, officiating, and a jersey-tearing incident all seemed to fuel Geno’s emotions.
• Discussion on perception of women coaches, especially Black women:
  • Zena: “Stop making Black women get out of character and then judging them on that character.” (17:57)
• Quote on sportsmanship: “You stole that moment for the South Carolina players. ... People were talking about your actions as opposed to a great game between these two programs yesterday.” – Zena (18:56)

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2. South Carolina’s Masterclass vs. UConn

Timestamps: 19:43–30:00

• Defensive game plan: South Carolina’s tactical decisions, especially Raven Johnson’s defense on Sarah Strong, were lauded.
  • Layshia: “At one point, I looked and I was like, who's guarding her? She was defending her so well, like a post player, that it took me a double moment to take of, like, oh, that's number 25. That's Raven John, did she just push Sarah Strong off the block?” (20:26)
• Execution: South Carolina stymied UConn’s attack by forcing more dribbling and less free-flowing passing, taking key UConn role players out of their comfort zone.
  • Chantel: “They just like, kept pushing them out, kept pushing them out. If they could keep Az and Sarah from getting into a flow... there aren’t that many other players on that team that can have those.”
• Rebounding and hustle: South Carolina's guards contributed significant rebounding, especially Taniya Latson, whose “motor” and anticipation skills were highlighted.

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3. UCLA vs. Texas: Defensive Grind

Timestamps: 31:14–44:40

• UCLA’s fast start gave them a lead they never relinquished despite 23 turnovers.
  • Sabrina: “I really think that was one of those first five minutes won, when apparently nobody was watching because they were all focused on this other thing happening.” (34:00)
• Texas’ offensive limitations:
  • Layshia: “I wish Texas offense was as well run as their defense... they don't run a great offensive system.”
• Key stats:
  • Texas took 21 more shots than UCLA but couldn’t convert, due in part to poor three-point shooting and UCLA’s rim protection.
• Pace and physicality:
  • Few fouls called early, limiting both teams’ free throw attempts.
  • Physical play, with UCLA leveraging their size and length to disrupt Texas’ offense and contest shots inside.

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4. National Championship Game Preview: South Carolina vs. UCLA

Timestamps: 47:36–57:59

• Lineups and matchups:
  • No expectation of changing starting fives in the title game, but “who guards Joyce Edwards?” is a big X-factor for UCLA.
  • Joyce Edwards’ impact: Her ability to score and force defensive rotations was stressed as a potential difference-maker.
  • For UCLA, Lauren Betts’ interior presence may present a unique challenge for South Carolina.
    • Sabrina: “I don’t think [South Carolina’s Medina Okot] can handle Lauren in isolation… She just got the footwork and the consistency.”
• Experience vs. youth:
  • South Carolina’s youth (Edwards, McDaniel) was contrasted with UCLA’s veteran core (six seniors).
  • Layshia noted that depth and rotation management by Staley could be key, especially given the grind and fatigue of a long, high-pressure season.
• Sense of pressure (senior urgency):
  • Layshia: “Momentum is important overall, maybe more than age at this point.”
• Predictions:
  • Picks split, with some leaning toward UCLA, others forecasting a close South Carolina win.
  • Consensus: Expect a tight, high-level championship contest.

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5. WNBA Expansion Draft Live Reactions

Timestamps: 61:06–68:09

• Draft rundown: Bridget Carlton went first overall to Portland, followed by Julie Allemand to Toronto.
  • Sabrina: “Portland did the funniest thing possible and took Bridget Carlton, the Canadian player, so she could not go to Toronto.” (62:06)
• Strategy discussion:
  • Frustration over lack of transparency around “protected” player lists.
  • Multiple contributors note that expansion will force teams to adapt new strategies, as depth will be harder to achieve.
  • Losses for teams like LA Sparks and Minnesota Lynx were observed, with multiple core contributors taken.
• Player stories:
  • Bridget Carlton’s journey from being cut to becoming the first expansion pick was highlighted.
  • Discussion on how teams value rookies and young players in expansion situations.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Geno/Dawn incident:
  “Stop making Black women get out of character and then judging them on that character.”
  — Zena Keita, (17:57)

• On South Carolina’s adjustments:
  “We’re supposed to be disruptive. We’re supposed to make them put the ball on the floor, not let them be the machine that they are.”
  — Layshia Clarendon, (21:07)

• On the grind of Final Four basketball:
  “Having gone through it, I remember like in 2013, having gone through it and looking back and being like, I can’t believe Skyler Diggins did four of these. Like she did them every year.”
  — Layshia Clarendon, (59:53)

• On WNBA draft pettiness:
  “Portland did the funniest thing possible and took Bridget Carlton, the Canadian player, so she could not go to Toronto.”
  — Sabrina Merchant, (62:06)

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Timestamps for Significant Segments

• Handshake drama breakdown: 05:14–19:00
• South Carolina-UConn tactical breakdown: 19:43–30:00
• UCLA-Texas breakdown: 31:14–44:40
• Championship game preview: 47:36–57:59
• WNBA expansion draft recap: 61:06–68:09

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Recap & Takeaways

• The hosts provided first-hand and nuanced breakdowns of both the on-court and off-court stories dominating women’s college basketball’s biggest stage.
• The Geno-Dawn fallout is seen as emblematic of broader cultural tensions in women’s sports, especially around race and coaching standards.
• South Carolina’s ability to disrupt UConn’s offense, own the glass, and execute under pressure set them apart.
• UCLA’s grit, depth, and defensive versatility earned them a championship shot—even on an off shooting night.
• The title game is set up as a battle of matchups, experience, and coaching chess—underscored by player relationships and team culture.
• The WNBA expansion draft stirred both celebration (for newly-picked stars) and concern (for talent thinning across established teams).

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For those who couldn’t listen:
This episode is a vibrant snapshot of the current women’s basketball landscape—with passion, inside access, tactical depth, and cultural insight in equal measure. The team breaks down not only what happened on the court, but what it means for coaches, programs, players, and the future of the women’s game.

Transcript

[Zena Kaeda]

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[Zena Kaeda]

It's finally March and you know what that means. Bracket season, baby. Picture it. You're hosting the big tourney game, you've got your jersey, you're looking good, and now all you need is, well, everything else to host. No sweat though, because you're a Sam's Club member. In one trip, you say yes to grabbing everything you need and to getting it all for unbelievably low prices. Plates, cups, tables, chairs, pizza, wings, snacks, sweets and the ultimate three pointer. A big screen tv. Heck, you could even get it delivered. That's because the play that Sam's Club runs is called yes. And it means getting just what you need and enjoying the perks that come with membership like express delivery, bonus points. So even if you don't win your bracket, you'll win best host. Join Sam's Club, the club of yes and on eligible items, terms and fees apply. See samsclub.com yes and for details

[Laja Clarendon]

it's

[TurboTax Advertiser]

that time of year again for taxes, we all know the stress of the old way of filing. You send your documents off and then absolute radio silence. You're stuck refreshing your inbox and sending awkward just checking in texts, wondering if they've even started. But with TurboTax Expert full service I know my TurboTax Expert takes taxes fully off my plate and updates me every step of the way so I don't have to worry about that way I can get back to the things that matter to me, like going on vacation in the spring or enjoying the NFL off season. So stop chasing updates. It's time to switch to the modern tax filing Solution with Intuit TurboTax. The best part? You can get Experts progress right on your phone while you go about your day. So go for a run or grab a coffee. You'll know your dedicated expert is handling it, looking for every last deduction to get you the best possible outcome and and every dollar you deserve. File with confidence. Visit turbotax.com, only available with TurboTax full service experts real time updates only in

[Capital One Advertiser]

iOS mobile app with no fees or minimums on checking accounts, it's no wonder the Capital One bank guy is so passionate about banking with Capital One. If he were here, he wouldn't just tell you about no fees or minimums. He'd also talk about how most Capital One cafes are open seven days a week to assist with your banking needs. Yep, even on weekends, it's pretty much all he talks about in a good way. What's in your wallet term supply see capitalone.combank capital1.na member FDIC.

[Zena Kaeda]

Good morning, everyone. Got the whole squad here. Welcome to no off season. Live from Phoenix, Arizona, Zena Kaeda.

[Laja Clarendon]

I'm Malaysia Clarindon.

[Sabrina Merchant]

I'm Sabrina Merchant.

[Chantel Jennings]

And I'm Chantel Jennings.

[Zena Kaeda]

Well, you've done that live. That's amazing. We typically do that through boxes. Here we go. I love it. Appreciate you guys being patient with us. We gotta get all set up so we could bring this conversation to you live from 2026 Final Four in Phoenix, Arizona. Two games officially in the books. Got one left on Sunday. Lots of drama around these games last night. It wasn't always just the basketball that was speaking, and I think that's where we have to start. Unfortunately. Unfortunately. We want to talk about South Carolina beating UConn and leaving it at that. We want to talk about UCLA beating Texas and leaving it at that. But we got to start with the handshake heard around the world. No, maybe not. Maybe. Let's. Let's. Let's lay this out. Okay, guys. We all saw with our own eyes. I recorded it. I posted it to my socials. We talked about it a little bit as we were walking through the building. Everyone was talking about it. This dynamic between. This interaction between Gene Auriemma, head coach of the UConn Huskies, and Don Saley, head coach of the South Carolina Gamecocks. This is the end of the game. The game looks like it's about to end. There's a second, a 0.1 of a second left on the clock. The teams have to come back to their huddles. So it looks like the coaches are kind of preemptively already kind of coming together to say good game, etc.

[Laja Clarendon]

And.

[Zena Kaeda]

And an exchange is. Is made. My analysts, my folks that were closer to the action. Who wants to break down exactly what happened for our audience now?

[Sabrina Merchant]

Take it away, Chantel.

[Chantel Jennings]

What exactly happened? So I was across. It's too bad Jerry Brewer isn't here.

[Sabrina Merchant]

I will really quickly give a shout

[Chantel Jennings]

out to his column that he has on the site this morning. It's excellent. You should read it if you haven't read it yet. A great, thorough, balanced sort of look at everything. And he honestly had the best look. He was right there, heard some of the words exchanged. I was across the court, but yeah. So the game is over, though, that it's not zeros on the clock.

[Zena Kaeda]

Right.

[Chantel Jennings]

They're walking towards one another and you just. It was, you know, when you're. I frankly wasn't even watching. Like that's the least interesting Thing usually. Right. Like, at that point in the game. So I'm watching the players on the floor. I'm watching the South Carolina players on the bench. I'm watching the UConn players on the bench, because it's like, okay, how are all these players reacting right now? Because that, in my mind, is sort of where the emotion is. And I was so wrong. And so all of a sudden, we sort of see UConn coaches coming forward, South Carolina coaches coming forward, Gino and Don engaging in conversation, a heated conversation, and everyone is just sort of like, what is going on right now? And then they're separated. A few of the UConn coaches continue to talk to Don Staley, and Gino leaves the court. And it was like. I think everyone was just kind of like, what. What is happening here? And then it.

[Zena Kaeda]

Yeah, so. And, you know, to add to your point, too, is that when they. When the coaches first came together and there was that heated exchange, the referees told Gino and his staff to go back to their bets because there was zeros. It wasn't zeros. It wasn't time for everyone to get back together. And, you know, there are some folks online that were like, oh, no, they told him to leave the court. No, no, no, no. You know, they told him and his staff to separate from the South Carolina staff. And he left, went back to his side, stood there for a second, and then it officially went zeros, and he just left the court. Sabrina, when you saw this, what were your thoughts?

[Sabrina Merchant]

So I had a different vantage, right? Chantel was on the court. I was up, like, bird's eye view of this whole thing. So I had no idea what was actually happening with Gino and Don. There was obviously a lot of crowd around, you know, this coach's interaction. But then you could very clearly see Gino walk away before this airs. And it's like, well, well, that doesn't happen. Right.

[Chantel Jennings]

Well. And it was harder to see that from my point. So then it was sort of like, wait, where did he go? And so you saw that more clearly. This is the dynamics.

[Zena Kaeda]

We're gonna find out what Leisure saw, too.

[Chantel Jennings]

What do you see?

[Sabrina Merchant]

Yeah, I mean, like, that. That just doesn't happen, right. Like, you talked about pregame protocols, which is obviously what Gino was referring to with, you know, the lack of a handshake. But there are also very clearly post game protocols, which you go down and you shake everybody's hands and you tell the players, good job, and, like, that's the opportunity to have some sportsmanship and you know, put everything behind us and some things was broken. Like, everything was wrong.

[Zena Kaeda]

We're going to get into what the heated exchange was about in just a second. I just want to get everyone's vantage point of like and also reaction in real time. Like, what did you. When you saw that, knowing how many games you have played, how many coaches hands you have shaken, what did you think, Leja?

[Laja Clarendon]

I mean, I was shocked, surprised. I was caught off guard. One I thought was walking up on Don was my first thought because there's 0.8 on the clock. And typically this is where it sucks when you're on the losing end because you have to sit there and listen to the crowd cheer. You know the game is over. You know you lost. Yeah. When you're on the winning end, you're just like, ah, yeah. You're like, I can see the assistant coach for South Carolina, like, kept Khadijah

[Sabrina Merchant]

Sessions, professional hype woman. She's so good at it.

[Chantel Jennings]

Love her.

[Laja Clarendon]

Yes. So, like is that moment where I don't. When my vantage point, Don wasn't even looking to Gino. She was looking at her team on the court. And then he walked up and she kind of was like, oh. And then the, like, barking started happening to me. She seemed caught off guard. So for me, I was like, that was weird. Why didn't she get her moment? The game's not over yet.

[Zena Kaeda]

Yeah.

[Laja Clarendon]

You know, sometimes coaches do walk towards each other. That's not.

[Zena Kaeda]

That's true.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Yeah.

[Laja Clarendon]

But yeah, that's not what I saw happen. Then I saw him leave the court.

[Zena Kaeda]

It just happened. Right. And it's worth. So we're going to get into the game, folks. I see some comments of like, oh, this is sad that it's overshadowing. Trust me, we gonna get to the basketball of this. Okay. Because it was a really great game for South Carolina especially. But it is worth noting that why this game particularly had such stuff behind it. Right. This is a rematch of last year's championship game. UConn dominated South Carolina by 25 points last year. So this is an opportunity that was a narrative, that was a storyline coming into this game. And if you remember how it ended last year, it's Geno at the, you know, the T, waiting on Don to come in and hug him at the end of that game. Do you guys remember that? Oh, yes. It's also been circulating. So it's been circulating. It's dawn. It's Geno standing where, you know, players would check in and he's like, come on, bring it in kind of like, come on, let's go. And not in a loving way, in a very loving, very endearing way. And it was just a complete opposite turn of communication. So now I also saw it from a bird's eye view. My immediate was I saw. I was also recording the players, same as you, Chantel. Just thinking of the emotion I was watching, particularly Azbud and her players tapping her on the back. And then I saw the little exchange for a little bit out of the corner of my eye, but not with my video. And when the game ended, I kept my camera on Geno, who walked directly away. And immediately I was like, what's his staff doing? Because what happens when a head coach acts up? Crazy, as I remember from my head coach, the staff has to handle whatever it is, the outcome of that. And so I immediately turn my camera to see his staff, and I see a staff talking to Don. And Don is like, I would never do that. Now, at the time, I didn't know what she was referring to. I would never do that. I assumed it was, I would never walk away from his players, AKA would never not shake their hands. But now we've found out more in the conversations afterwards that it was about a handshake that was missed. Now, the conversation has been. There was a handshake. People have been sharing photos and sharing videos of the pregame handshake, but apparently, Chantelle, there's more than one.

[Chantel Jennings]

Yeah. So there's multiple handshakes. And I think this is an NCAA tournament tradition. And so when the coaches come out for layup lines in the pregame, there's like 90 minutes of pregame time. Right. But so for the last 30 minutes that the players are on the floor, full staffs walk out. And usually they'll go across the bench. One team or one staff will come across and they shake hands. And it's just the coaching staffs full steps down to, you know, sometimes the athletic trainers even like full stabs. And then right before the game when the coaches are announced, so they'll say, from this team and this team, the coaches. Then there's a handshake. And during that one, there is video circulating of Gino coming to half court, standing there for a little bit. South Carolina is already in a huddle. Don Staley doesn't come, and then he goes back to his bench.

[Zena Kaeda]

So that's what he's referring to. I'm sorry, it ain't enough for me.

[Laja Clarendon]

I was going to say, does that work?

[Zena Kaeda]

It doesn't change. It doesn't so.

[Chantel Jennings]

Right.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Because there's a full buildup during the game. Like we mentioned, obviously, what happened at the end. We're not even talking about the third quarter interview that he does with Holly Row, which we're sort of picking up, like, delayed, because obviously we're not watching on television and we can't hear what he's saying to Hollywood. I don't know if you could see how animated he was talking to Holly.

[Chantel Jennings]

I didn't even know because these are the things where it's like sometimes. And this is why it's really helpful we have such a large team. Like, that's. I'm not. I'm not paying attention to third quarter coaches. Like, at that point, you know, this is still a contested game. And I'm, you know, chatting with the people. The reporters next to me, Flavor Faith and Aaliyah Boston are sitting behind me. She's yelling at the refs.

[Sabrina Merchant]

I'm like, what?

[Chantel Jennings]

She's saying about the refs? Like, you know, at that point, like, I. Again, these are things that they matter once they matter. Like how I can count on one hand the number of third quarter coaches interviews that I care at all about. Yeah, this might be one, like, one. That's it. And so it's like, that's not what I was focused on at the time. And so. But other people had different vantage points of it. But, yeah, I don't. I don't recall even being like, oh, this is a moment.

[Sabrina Merchant]

It was such a strange way of experiencing it because we have the live blog going through the game, right. And there are people who are watching on TV and sharing their thoughts that they see from the broadcast. And then all of a sudden, people just start writing, like, not for blog. Gino's very upset. Like, Gino's very upset with Holly. And it's like, well, why is he upset? Like, what's happening? Explain to me what's happening. I don't know why he's upset. Please tell me what they're upset about.

[Laja Clarendon]

This was the jersey ripping, right?

[Zena Kaeda]

Well, there was.

[Sabrina Merchant]

This was the jersey ripping. Yeah, this was related to the jersey ripping. Yeah.

[Zena Kaeda]

So I want to. I'm going to turn this to you, Lazia. So comments that Gino said they've been beating the s out of our guys down there the entire game. I'm not making excuses because we haven't been able to make a shot, but this is ridiculous. So this part of the quote that he mentioned to Holly Rowe, and it is important to note that in the midst of talking later on the handshake that was missed. Not the pregame, but the pre. Start of the game, I guess the second pregame. And then also this notion that Sarah Strong ripped her jersey. Now, I ain't gonna lie, y'.

[Laja Clarendon]

All.

[Zena Kaeda]

This is the one time that made me ask, how old is Gino? Because it's possible he might have not. But, you know, sometimes you get a little older, you don't really know what's going on. Sometimes. I'm just joking. But Sarah Strong ripped her own jersey, and she said that she ripped her own jersey out of frustration for missing a layup. But this is part of what I think cemented the thought. If Gino didn't know that she ripped her own jersey and just looks over and sees this player with a ripped jersey, he's like, hold up.

[Chantel Jennings]

Yeah. And in the course of a game, you make assumptions.

[Zena Kaeda]

Yeah.

[Chantel Jennings]

You don't have enough time to be like. So can you exactly tell me how this.

[Sabrina Merchant]

And a quarter where zero fouls were called against South Carolina.

[Zena Kaeda]

Yeah.

[Laja Clarendon]

My. My takeaway, too, is with Gino was like, I've never seen him so undone in a way of, like, not being able to reel himself back in and his team. And in that way, I was asking. I was wondering this about Vandy was like, can Shea Ralph get in his head? And I'm like, oh, what's. Don's the one that, like, how do you get a new content? How do you shake them up? How do you get them off their train tracks of, like, the machine that they are? And, like, I didn't foresee this doing it. I don't know that Don didn't do the handshake as a mental game.

[Chantel Jennings]

Right.

[Sabrina Merchant]

But if she did.

[Laja Clarendon]

If she did. Smart. Right. But at some point, yeah, you're just reeling. You see that your players jersey's ripped. And all of a sudden, my question was also, like, the fighting back towards the refs. I was curious at one point why you didn't get a technical, why there wasn't, like, some more demonstrative of, like, I'm gonna stand up for my team if I do think they're getting beat out of them. Yeah. I'm gonna be on the refs, like, call. Like, we've all seen those plays where, like, the coaches wear the refs down and they force them to call calls.

[Chantel Jennings]

Right.

[Laja Clarendon]

That's a part of the tactics of basketball. So for me, I was kind of like, where was his offense at? He was reeling, I think, the whole game. And we'll get to this. I thought that showed in offensive execution and a lack of adjustments.

[Zena Kaeda]

So ultimately, I'll say this to close us out on this, like, whole conversation and get to the basketball of it. Gino seemed to be very upset at what was going on the court, and it seemed like it translated into a lot of other stuff that had nothing to do as much with the actual basketball. And I love the way you're using the word. The frustration, I think, is what everyone is just, like, what's going on? I will say this from my personal opinion. Stop making black women get out of character and then judging them on that character. Because there's a lot of quotes going around about Dawn Staley saying that she will beat Gino's ass.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Okay, it was really good.

[Zena Kaeda]

If you roll up on someone like that, you roll up on someone like that while she did a great job out executing your team, and then you're gonna judge her on her reaction to you coming in her face when she's supposed to be celebrating what her team did. And she didn't do that to your team.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Right.

[Zena Kaeda]

And she didn't do that to your team. And there's several times that South Carolina has posed a challenge for UConn over the last few years that hasn't happened. It's not cool. It's not cool. Gino. And what I really was disappointed by Gino Oriemma. And something that, you know, UConn has to remember. The basketball world is watching. Apologize you were wrong or say, you know, I should. The whole handshake thing, even if you are peeved about a handshake, handle that off the court. You stole that moment for the South Carolina players. You stole the moment in general for. For women's basketball because people were talking about your actions as opposed to a great game between these two programs yesterday. So that's my last thought on this before we go to the basketball. Any thoughts that you guys want to add?

[Sabrina Merchant]

I mean, I think it's important that dawn did beat Geno's ass. Like, that's what happened in the game.

[Zena Kaeda]

I mean, she did. She did. And let's get into that. Let's get into that, because this was a masterclass. This was a masterclass. You talk about Geno being undone, offense. Like, all of UConn, what they wanted to do offensively was undone. And it. It started where you're like, ooh, UConn might be the ones that might be, you know, putting on the hammer in this game. They go on that 7 and 0 run in the first part of the first quarter, and then all Of a sudden, South Carolina bounces back. So, Leija, as you watch this game unfold, you started realizing some of the strategic moves that Don Saly was putting on. What stood out to you?

[Laja Clarendon]

Yeah, the first thing that stood out to me was Raven Johnson defending Sarah Strong at the end of the second, first quarter and then before she got the two fouls in the second quarter. But at one point, I looked and I was like, who's guarding her? She was defending her so well, like a post player, that it took me a double moment to take of, like, oh, that's number 25. That's Raven John, did she just push Sarah Strong off the block? Like, straight up post defense? And automatically my brain was like, oh, my God, WBA scouts?

[Zena Kaeda]

Like, hell, yeah.

[Laja Clarendon]

Like, I was like, stop. Went up like, oh, like her switching on to bigger players. So that was the first one. And then what she was able to do was then deny Sarah Strong when

[Zena Kaeda]

she went out for the week.

[Laja Clarendon]

That's what post players often can't do if you're strong enough down low. But can you also deny? And it was the one possession that's been circulating where she played on the block. She denied her out, she came back. So that was the number one tactic that I think was brilliant by Don. And UConn did not do a good job of adjusting to. And they rotated different people on her throughout different times. And then I thought in the first quarter, they got punched a little bit that, like, everybody feels what the game actually is like when you're in it. And I thought they weren't denying they were letting UConn move the ball, like, just smoothly. And then they kind of picked it up. Their interview was like, wait, this was not our game plan. We're supposed to be disruptive. We're supposed to make them put the ball on the floor, not let them be the machine that they are, because they will tear you apart. And so I thought they did a great job across the board of disrupting UConn.

[Zena Kaeda]

Chantel. When we spoke about when UConn made it to the Final Four, we talked about how great their role players play their role. And it felt as if that was something that South Carolina completely said, not today. You're not going to do that today. What happened?

[Chantel Jennings]

I mean, I think, like, coming out of Fort Worth, and I said this, I think, on the podcast. I think I said it that night like, a. And Sarah Bull started really slow in the Sweet 16 and the Elite 8. Like, and what they had going for them then was that Blanca Quinones had a. Ashland had a great first quarter. Like other players, those role players, although I think Blanca's more than a role player. 6 woman first off the bench. But they had basically Blanca or Ashton or whomever bought Easy and Sarah enough time to sort of get relaxed, get rolling, get into their selves and their games. And I think South Carolina came out and they had seen that and they said, like, we're just, we need to make sure that we do an excellent job on them. We make them put the ball on the floor as much as possible. Because that's what South Carolina, that's what UConn does so well. They're such a good passing team. They're so good when they can get into their sets and their offenses and their flow. So if they have to put the ball on the floor, floor, it's much tougher for them to do that. And so I think that's what they did. They just like, kept pushing them out, kept pushing them out. And if they could keep Az and Sarah from getting into a flow and then make sure, I mean, again, like, there aren't that many other players on that team that can have those. Blanca s quarters, Blanca is one of them. She picks up a few quick fouls. I think that changes things a bit. It's still her first tournament. Like, they just, they knew what they were doing. And I think Tonia Ladson said it in the post game, like, we knew their tendencies, we knew what they like to do, and we stuck to the scout. And I was like, yup, that's very exactly what you did to Niya. This is her first Final Four. We'll get to, like, the things that South Carolina did really well. But it was like there were so many players on the floor that had experience in these moments. And I was most impressed with, frankly, two of the players who hadn't been here before. Tania Laxson. And then on UConn, I thought Keely Heckel really had, like, a very good defensive game for them. And like, those are two players who hadn't been in this moment before. And yet, you know. Yeah. So I thought South Carolina's defensive game plan was just really, really spot on.

[Zena Kaeda]

Sabrina. I'm particularly enthused by the fact that South Carolina found money with t' Ni Latson to get to this part of this year. Right. Everyone talks about the sacrifices she made, personal sacrifices that she made. She even mentioned the sacrifices she made to come to this program and change things around her. And Raven, I think, provided two very different things yesterday for South Carolina Break that down for us about just how they balance it.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Well, nobody gets downhill quite like tonight.

[Zena Kaeda]

Lawson.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Right. Like you just can't keep her out of the paint. And yeah, maybe she's not finishing directly in the paint, but at least she's collapsed in the defense and you get an offensive rebound or she's getting to the foul line and I think where she was.

[Chantel Jennings]

Great.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Exactly. And we talked about, you know, earlier in the year how South Carolina had been so much more flexible this year and playing small. And you see those lineups with Joyce at the five and a got at the the four and that just gives tonight more room in the lane. Right. Like it's not two bigs in there crowding everything, you know, preventing her from getting all the basket. So I think her attacks just to the rim over and over again. Like I think the very first possession of the game. Right. She just goes right at Sarah strong, this kind of like funny arcing shot. But like it goes in.

[Laja Clarendon]

We came up.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Yeah, like that just set the tone for what they were trying to do offensively. And it's, it's just a perfect reminder of like why they're in this position. Because to Nia Latson packing up her dorm in Florida State, watching this game last year, getting recruited by every single team in the final four at that point. Because reminder, the portal was open at that point. Not tampering.

[Chantel Jennings]

I mean, the portal's open now.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Yeah. And she was trying to figure out where she would fit and like Connecticut's recruiting her. You know, you think, like, that seems like a fun place to go to. I could be the new Paige Beckers. But no, she saw a role, a need for her in South Carolina and it was like plug and play.

[Zena Kaeda]

Right.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Just exactly what they needed from her

[Chantel Jennings]

and the established relationship. She and Raven played together in high school. They're very close friends. Like, there's the personal element here of like, this is a really wonderful friendship story too. Like, of course I'm the one bringing this one up.

[Zena Kaeda]

No, it's very. No, it's very digital esque to like,

[Chantel Jennings]

you know, come to this point, to get to this point together. And Raven, you know, has had such a journey at South Carolina. Tanaya has been there for her and now is physically there with her right now. Like, it's a really beautiful story. And just sort of this arc of their friendship and careers to be playing for a national title on Sunday together

[Laja Clarendon]

and the pressure they take off of each other. Right. Like, Raven Johnson doesn't have to be the entire offensive like, she can worry about guarding Sarah strong, about being the defensive player, about leading the team, and then Lassen could do all of that. It takes so much effort and energy to get downhill rebounds, right? 11 boards, gets to the free throw 10 times. Like, puts her body on the line. Like, that's so much to just ask Raven Johnson to be that player. She's going to get exhausted, right? And then we saw McDaniels be able to come in, like, the balance with those. Those small but mighty guards I love. And Raven Johnson's like, the big guard who plays so strong. And then my last point, too, I think defensively was they defended without fouling. There were so many times that South Carolina contested at the rim, but they didn't swipe down. They just, like, made shots tough. And we saw shots, we were like, az missed that, right? Like, oh, my God, how is Sarah strong not making that shot? And then on the flip end, there was times where I saw with UConn some frustration, where they literally swiped down, where I was like, oh, that's uncaring. Like, why aren't they making them finish? So even with the reffing and all that side, like, I thought particularly what South Carolina did was like, we're not going to let them beat us on the free throw line because we've seen AZ's ability to get to line Sarah strong, right? And when you're having tough shooting nights, what do you want to do? Get to the free throw line. So what do you not do? Do not foul people. I thought that was the particularly one of the most important things they did.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Just one more thing. I thought their pace was so good. Yeah, like, UConn doesn't deal.

[Zena Kaeda]

One more thing. We got things to talk about. A lot more things. Yeah.

[Sabrina Merchant]

UConn doesn't usually have to play A lot of teams where their bigs can run. Like, enjoys is probably one of the best rim runners in college basketball. And she was just beating the defense down all the time. And it's not even like you have to get the ball to Edwards on those possessions, right? It just. The threat of it mucks everything else up, right? Like, there's a defender that goes to her. And now your spacing is a little bit off. And who's on tonight and who's on a God. Like, it's just her consistently running the floor. Like, her ability to toggle between the four and the five, I think was so important in this particular game. Something we'll talk about for ucla, too, but I thought Joyce was just phenomenal. In that matchup.

[Zena Kaeda]

It's so true. Because when you're running on the court and someone has urgently, like, pick up whoever's down, it mucks up your rotations. Right now you've got a big or a guard down on the big. And you got a big. On a guard that's coming up in transition. It's like, that's not what you want in a transition situation. You saw some people take advantage of that on the opposite side of the ball with Agat McKear, for example. I want to talk a little bit about first, the rebounding. Rebecca Lobo, I think, is the one that said this on the broadcast, that said, Don Staley says rebounding is not a skill, It's a decision. UConn did not decide. No, she didn't say that. I am saying that UConn did not decide to rebound the ball very well yesterday. That is huge. Huge. And you think about South Carolina is about to take on ucla. How important is it that their guards to their bigs take that rebounding decision so seriously?

[Chantel Jennings]

Okay, I appreciate that Dawn Staley said that, and I don't want to disagree with her on points about basketball very often and leisure. Maybe you can talk about this. Denial has a skill and a knack for rebounding as a guard. Like, that is not easy to do. Like, there's a lot of incredible rebounders on the floor there. You've got the national player of the year and Sarah Strong out there. Medina Okot, you've got cards that are much bigger. Like, I walk by tonight, Latson, and I'm like, oh, I'm taller than you. That's.

[Laja Clarendon]

That's.

[Chantel Jennings]

And she had 11 boards in the Final Four. That is. It's a decision.

[Zena Kaeda]

First play that she tried to go for a board and like, rolled over in front of the UConn bench when

[Laja Clarendon]

she got knocked, like, it was a very.

[Zena Kaeda]

I think it was like the very first or second play of the game. She's, like, running for, I think, an O board, and she literally rolls over. Like, she's, like, trying to get, I think, stronger.

[Laja Clarendon]

Someone had bumped her.

[Zena Kaeda]

She rolls over. I'm like, oh, she's about to be on every single ball like that. That's the energy that you see out of a tonight, Lawson, but agreed. Oh, yes.

[Laja Clarendon]

I think it's both. I think to Don's point, like, they're rebounding is. Is about having a motor right and having the ability to. To chase it and to hunt it and want it. And then there is a skill set, right. Of like, people knowing where the ball is going to come off of. There's knowing where to be at the free throw line. Like, Kurt Miller often coached this. We called it a certain area on the court of like, don't run. Head to rim, run to the free throw line. Because that's often where the ball bounces out. So I think Latin. I think she has both of those. I think she has the tenacity and the like want where she's going to go in there. Like, I don't care if it's Sarah strong, like, I'm going to get the ball. And then she also has an uncanny. Some people have the ability to like, see where the ball is going to bounce off of. Yeah. And oftentimes with guards, especially at her size, that made her.

[Chantel Jennings]

How hard is that? Like, when someone is shooting the ball to like, even though, like, oh, it's going to be a long rebound, that way it's going to bump out to the free throw line. Like, how hard is that as a player?

[Laja Clarendon]

I don't think it's very hard, but you just read the ball. But not everybody.

[Zena Kaeda]

I think the worst part is when you. You think it's going a certain way and so move your body in one direction and it completely ricochets off the other side. And it's just like the will to have to redirect and re. Pivot is.

[Laja Clarendon]

So that's the will, that's the motor part. Yeah.

[Zena Kaeda]

So tiring. You're like, oh, no, no, going the other way. All right, here we go. Okay. Well, there's a lot that we've now laid out that will be very useful in the next opponent, which let's turn our attention to our second game, UCLA and Texas. Now, after the drama of how Carolina Yukon ended, I feel bad because I feel like the beginning of the Texas UCLA game didn't get the attention it

[Sabrina Merchant]

deserved because did it deserve it, though?

[Zena Kaeda]

And that's maybe that's the question we're talking about. Right. Because UCLA comes out strong. Okay. I think 14:4 was the first timeout score and they looked like, okay, they're about to put a beating on. On Texas. And then Texas started figuring out a little bit more transition. I think Matty Booker made one shot that like kind of get. That gave him a little bit of something. But overall, the beginning of the game was. Sabrina, I'm go with you because you made that comment.

[Sabrina Merchant]

I mean, I watched it. I was not on Geno Don duty.

[Zena Kaeda]

Okay, good, good, good. So where. How do you. How do you see the Beginning of this game and how things were opening up.

[Sabrina Merchant]

I mean, we talked, like, basically since November. How was UCLA going to respond to a full court press? How are they going to handle Texas's guard defense? You know, get the ball to where they need to. And they were just so aggressive. I keep using this word with the ball. You know, for those first five minutes, they had talked just ad nauseam, like, we have to get off to a good start. We have to get off a good start. Can't put ourselves in a hole because then it's just a compounding series of things, right? Texas can score. They get to set up their press. Turnover, rinse, repeat, right? Their defense was so good, they were just really careful with where they wanted to put the ball. And you saw they immediately built this lead. It's like, okay, we've reset the terms of this matchup, right? Like, and point out again, like, they always start with four guards. It doesn't really work against a lot of these opponents. They had Douglas come in right away, and you could see she gets the ball to Bets. Easy basket. She gets the ball to Hawkes on a cut. You know, that's the one that forced Vic to call his first time out. I just thought they. They saw the gaps, you know, because if Texas is going to come up and deny you so hard, like, at the point of attack, like, they're going to be openings behind, right? And they found those openings behind to start the game. And because they weren't letting Texas score, then they were able to actually get into their offense and not worry about, you know, Rory Harmon guarding them for 94ft. So really, I think, like, the game was won in those first five minutes because Texas was constantly playing from behind. And UCLA at least had this cushion, this, like, little bit of comfort that, like, okay, we have something to fall back on if, like, we get into a situation where we have three turnovers in a row, which I'm sure happened at a number of points during this game. If you have 23 turnovers, like, there's going to be three turnovers in a row. So, yeah, I think. I really think that was one of those first five minutes when apparently nobody was watching because they were all focused on this other thing happening.

[Laja Clarendon]

But Andy, our producer, was watching. Sorry. Sorry, Andy.

[Zena Kaeda]

I will say I'm a terrible host. I did not even say that. The final score for the UConn South Carolina game was 62:48. And the final score for this UCLA Texas game was 51:44.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Worth noting that UCLA also scored 51 points in their last final board game against UConn, but they gave up 85.

[Zena Kaeda]

Got it, got it.

[Laja Clarendon]

The defense is better.

[Zena Kaeda]

This game. This game was rough to watch and I think. Sabrina, were you the one that mentioned that Corey Close apologized for the 23.

[Sabrina Merchant]

She apologized for the state of play, for the 23 turnovers. She said we want to put on a good performance and grow the game and this is not the way to do it. Maybe for the UCLA program it's good. We've grown the game, but not for the state of basketball at large.

[Zena Kaeda]

Yeah, it was a tough one. You know, low, low scoring game.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Of course.

[Zena Kaeda]

Just it was a, it was a rough game offensively for Texas. Okay, sorry, what are you, what were you seeing that. You know, we've, we've talked a long time. We've talked for several years about Texas.

[Laja Clarendon]

Yeah.

[Zena Kaeda]

And their lack of three point shooting. For a while it was their lack of offense, but now they've got a little bit of offense. It's not enough offense to spread the floor, I think, but they've got offensive options. But. But yet they're kind of struggling now to get past the hump of length and size and how that offense shows up against a team like ucla. What did you see out on the floor in terms of the struggle that UCLA put in front of Texas?

[Laja Clarendon]

I wish Texas offense was as like, well run as their defenses because their defense is such on a string. Like they're so. They work so well together but offensively they can be disjointed at times and I think that's where they have really good weapons but they don't run a great offensive system. I love Madison Booker and Pick and Rol, like put her there all day. But what UCLA has is length and we've seen Madison Booker shoot over people all season long.

[Zena Kaeda]

Right.

[Laja Clarendon]

Doesn't matter. You're five eight, you're five nine. Like she's going to get to her spots very Chelsea Gray esque and shoot over you. With UCLA you cannot get to your like much harder contested shots. So I thought she was still getting to the places she wanted to do but like now she's taking shots over a Dewana Bonner type length. I think I always translate it to the league and like how it's going to work out. And then I thought they just didn't do it. You can't just put her pick a role and everybody's watching and like UCLA's prepared for that. They're prepared. How many games in the season have we played at this point, we know Texas is going to press. How are we going to spend all week working on that? So for me, it was. I want Texas to just be a better offensive team. And I'm always a little let down because they always let me down. And they're like, I'll believe it when I see it for a national championship. Because they get to these points where their offense just isn't. Isn't as smooth as their defense.

[Sabrina Merchant]

I mean, they play offense like they're going up against Texas's defense, right? Like, it's like this is what they see in practice, what the offense looks like when they're already there and that's

[Zena Kaeda]

how they play it.

[Sabrina Merchant]

You can tell we're recording live, by the way, because Chantelle just had to leave to go take a call from a source. But we still have the three of us, so, you know. Yep, stay tuned. She'll be back. But yeah, that's, that's how I think of Texas playing offense. And I thought, I think it was just so important that UCLA had all these options to throw at Booker. You know, it wasn't just Hawkes. It was John and Eepkins, who is longer than you think she is, and it was Angela Duglish, who was six' four in every bit of it. Right.

[Zena Kaeda]

Dulce is y'.

[Sabrina Merchant]

All.

[Zena Kaeda]

I've. I've seen her before, but walking by her yesterday, she's big. Like, she is a long, big player and I cannot imagine her fully extended. Even that fade away shot that we have seen, Maddie completely, you know, she solidified that over the course of her very short career so far. There's no way that that thing is going to be let off easily. And on target it in front of

[Laja Clarendon]

someone like Dudley, that's literally a different contest. When you have length, like you can get a hand closer to your face. She's not shooting over five eight. It's different.

[Zena Kaeda]

Sorry, Sabrina. Keep going.

[Sabrina Merchant]

No, I mean, I think that's spot on. Like, I, I was worried about this matchup for UCLA because Hawkes has been their primary wing defender for the last three years and like she had to guard juju Watkins the last few years and you've seen. Did not go so well for UCLA in a lot of those matchups. But to have the extra opportunity of A Neepkins who has gotten so much better defensively at UCLA than she was at Utah. And then to be. I think they just, they switch a lot more this year. Like they're more comfortable putting Lauren in this perimeter matchup. So that allows everybody to switch which enables Dugalich to be part of these perimeter defensive challenges, I think was just really important for them.

[Zena Kaeda]

Yeah, I mean, it was. It was wild to see Texas on one side of the ball look so in control on the defensive end. And then offensively, even their offense, we were watching Leyja. There were opportunities for wide open threes or the ball to kick and swing. And they were dribbling. It was over dribbling. And it was kind of funny to watch it kind of back to back games. We saw UConn over dribbling at times and there was an interesting stat that ESPN was capturing. I don't know if you guys at home saw it, but when they were watching the UConn SC game, the amount of field goals that were made off of passes versus dribbling and it was like, it was stark. It was like eight of 12 field goals were made for UConn's pass. First like off the catch. Off the catch. Exactly. And then like one of 12 off the dribble. It was like terrible. And I felt very similar about Texas's offense the second they started trying to do too much on the one on one off the high ball pick and roll, they just couldn't get anything going versus trying to pass.

[Laja Clarendon]

Yeah. And that was the key back to what Don said, is we had to make them put the ball on the floor. I think UConn still shot really well, but if you let them get 20 assists on 25 made buckets, that was going to be the problem. I thought UCLA's gaps were really well. I think they use their length particularly well this season. And then at the end of the game, what do you see? Lauren Bets at the rim, right. Blocking Booker when it's a three point, three point game, I think it was. And you just see that R protection that she brings. So what UCLA can make up with with maybe lateral defense, with not having like, you know, the Raven Johnson. The most athletic on ball defenders is their length and their ability to be on a string together. And then if you do get by them, you have at the rim his rim protection. I remember playing with Elizabeth Williams being like, oh, I got blown by like, thanks, E. Because you have protect. That matters so much.

[Zena Kaeda]

Girl. Yes, thank you.

[Laja Clarendon]

Yeah, we need it.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Yeah.

[Zena Kaeda]

It's like my guards will literally be like, all right, get past me.

[Laja Clarendon]

Right?

[Zena Kaeda]

She'll block it.

[Laja Clarendon]

I got help in the back. I'm like, really, really layers of defense that matters.

[Zena Kaeda]

That's a very, very good point. And I was looking back like at the game where Texas did beat UCLA. That game was November 26, 2025, and Texas beat UCLA 76, 65. Number one scorer in that game was Rory Harmon. She had 22 points in that game. And I'm not sure how much you remember of that game at all, Sabrina. Just thinking about the differences of what they were, what Texas was able to find in comparison to what they were able to find last night against UCLA. Texas. Rory, excuse me, had 26 points. Let me not give her her full Credit. She had 26 points in that game. Maddie Booker had 16 points in that game. And then everything else was pretty scarce. Jordan Lee had 13. The gaps, I feel like is a major factor here because it wasn't as if the bigs were eaten in this first matchup against ucla. The size still did its thing. It felt like it was a perimeter play that really was stifling Texas last night versus the first time they played.

[Sabrina Merchant]

I mean, you look at like the box score of this matchup and it doesn't really make sense that UCLA won. Like, I had gone into this thinking that, okay, UCLA is going to have to cut down their turnovers. No, they didn't. They set a season high in turnovers. They had more turnovers than when they lost Texas and that Thanksgiving game. Okay, UCLA is going to have to even out the possession battle. Like the free throw, I'm sorry, the field goal attempts.

[Zena Kaeda]

Right.

[Sabrina Merchant]

And they took 21 fewer field goals than Texas.

[Zena Kaeda]

That's important.

[Sabrina Merchant]

They got more possessions on the offensive glass. Right. So. Well, how do they do it? Well, Texas just couldn't buy a bucket. Like Madison Booker goes 3 of 23 from the fielding. Yeah, a lot of that is UCLA's defense. Not all of it. A lot of it's just Madison Booker missing shots. You know, Rory Harmon, as you mentioned, 26 points in that game. Like, shoot, a lot of midi opportunities. They didn't all go in.

[Zena Kaeda]

Right.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Didn't get to the line. They weren't like creating extra opportunities from three. Obviously their pressure creates a lot of shot attempts that weren't happening because UCLA, 23 turnovers, a lot of them were dead ball turnovers.

[Laja Clarendon]

That's the difference.

[Sabrina Merchant]

It wasn't just like giving the ball directly to Rory. And here, here's your layup. So, I mean, I, it's so funny because, like, I know a lot of people were locked in on UConn, South Carolina and locked in on Don, you know, and they come back and they check the box around. They're like, what in the world is happening? Like, how is this a Game that UCLA is winning. And it is strange, right? Like, it's just a matter of, okay, well, possession by possession game. This is not a game that, like, UCLA has been in a lot this season. They're the number one offense in the country. They don't play games in the 50s very often, but they were just tougher. And that's something you couldn't really say about them last year. And they were this year.

[Zena Kaeda]

Yeah. And it's. It's important. I'm happy you brought up the field goal discrepancy, because 65 field goals for Texas versus just 44 for UCLA, and UCLA won the game.

[Laja Clarendon]

It's not like the crazy threes, right? They only hit four.

[Zena Kaeda]

They only hit four threes. Something that was huge. Huge. And something that, you know, South Carolina should pay attention to. There was one particular play towards the end of the game. It's important to note that Texas wasn't completely out of this. Okay. I'm sitting in the media press box with you, Lay, and our producer Tanika, and I'm like, y', all, it's an eight point game, y'. All. It's a seven point game, y'. All.

[Laja Clarendon]

It's a three point game.

[Zena Kaeda]

Three point game, y'. All. Like, I was like, they're not out of this. They're not out of this. And there was one particular play that. That stood out in my mind was Justice Carlton calling for the ball down low. She ends up getting an and one. She. She's sandwiched between Lauren Betts and I can't. Maybe that's right. And Douglitch is the one that commits the bow. And justice gets the. And one gets up and she gets into the team huddle and she's like, yes. I don't know what she said. I'm just giving a sound.

[Laja Clarendon]

She gave that.

[Zena Kaeda]

What exactly she said. But it kind of sounded like we can do this all day. We can go inside and get fouled all day. And I cannot ignore the fact that Texas only shot five free throws against this team.

[Sabrina Merchant]

So I think part of that just real quick was the way the game was being called. Nothing was being called in the first half.

[Zena Kaeda]

Sure.

[Sabrina Merchant]

It took six minutes for the first foul to be called in the game. And in the second quarter, the first foul wasn't called until 145 left in the second quarter. So UCLA wasn't getting the line. Texas doesn't get in the line until the end. You know, you saw a lot of teams in the bonus in the second half of the year in that first half. They were letting everything go, like a

[Laja Clarendon]

level of physicality that was just.

[Sabrina Merchant]

And, you know, the way Texas and ucla, like, navigate through screens and the way they, you know, move on the perimeter. Like, a lot of these things could have been fouls, and they were not called fouls.

[Zena Kaeda]

That's a good point. All right, well, I'm, I'm looking at South Carolina and opportunities for them to learn from what Texas did going up against UCLA. UCLA has the opportunity to look at what UConn did or did not do against their, you know, battle against South Carolina. It's finally March, and you know what that means. Bracket season, baby. Picture it. You're hosting the big tourney game, you've got your jersey, you're looking good, and now all you need is, well, everything else to host. No sweat, though, because you're a Sam's Club member. In one trip, you say yes to grabbing everything you need and to getting it all for unbelievably low prices. Plates, cups, tables, chairs, pizza, wings, snacks, sweets, and the ultimate three pointer. A big screen tv. Heck, you could even get it delivered. That's because the play that Sam's Club runs is called yes. And it means getting just what you need and enjoying the perks that come with membership, like express delivery, bonus points. So even if you don't win your bracket, you'll win best host. Join Sam's Club, the club of yes. And on eligible items, terms and fees apply. See samsclub.com yes and for details.

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[Zena Kaeda]

Let's turn our attention now to the championship game that's going down tomorrow. Oh my gosh, it's about to be a ton.

[Laja Clarendon]

We're talking about the line. Yeah. Last game of the season.

[Zena Kaeda]

Last game of the season. Yeah. Where do we got, where do we want to start, guys? Lineups. Like how? Because here's the thing, South Carolina could start small. UCLA has a small lineup. I put it that in quotes, but because it lasts for about 2.2 seconds, one, they're not that small, but two, they, the second they bring anyone from the bench, they're massive again. So I'm curious where you all think they're going to start. Sabrina Le Whoever wants to start with lineups, what do you think?

[Sabrina Merchant]

I think they're going to stick with their same starting lineup so you don't come to the national title game and decide, okay, today we're not going to. You never know what got us here.

[Laja Clarendon]

Today we're going to.

[Sabrina Merchant]

I just don't see that happening. So we're going to see, you know, front court of Medina Okot and Joyce Edwards for South Carolina, no matter how good a got Makira has been. And we're going to see, you know, Gabriella Hawkez as the nominal four and Lauren Betts as the five for ucla. No matter how good Duke Lich has been, I don't think anyone's going to divert from that. But the matchup of who guards Joyce Edwards is the most interesting thing to me for UCLA because they had to get, you know, big when they played Duke because Toby Fournier and Delaney Thomas were giving them difficulty with that small lineup. And they're obviously very comfortable going big. They've got Duluth coming off the bench. They've got Sienna Betts coming off the bench who I guess didn't play all that much against Texas. But we'll see if she's available against South Carolina or Corey trusts her to be available against South Carolina.

[Zena Kaeda]

She's available. Yeah. Not used.

[Sabrina Merchant]

But like Joyce Was just so good at the rim, running right and she's a presence on the glass. And she's just so athletic and so, so long and like able to get her shot in so many different ways and reads like the coverages very well. Like, she's not going to try to score very hard on doubles and triples. Like, she knows when to move the ball. So how they hold up against Joyce Edwards to start the game, like, if that's a Lauren matchup, if they just put more bodies on her and like Hawkes Nikkins collectively can handle that, that's what I'm interested to see.

[Zena Kaeda]

It's always nice when you have a player that causes a matchup problem.

[Laja Clarendon]

I feel like we haven't given her enough credit for what she did.

[Zena Kaeda]

We could talk a little bit about that because I do think that she's going to. To be an X factor for South Carolina against ucla.

[Laja Clarendon]

I thought she won the one on battle between her and Sarah strong. When I looked like it wasn't always. They didn't necessarily always pass the ball to her on the block and pounded. They had a couple of possessions where she did that. And I was like, okay. And I kind of looked at Sarah strong like, honey, like you.

[Sabrina Merchant]

This is a growth area.

[Laja Clarendon]

Like, I was a little bit like, oh, I kind of see some growth for her as a sophomore. She looked young at times. So I thought Joyce Edwards absolutely dominated

[Sabrina Merchant]

that matchup, which is what's.

[Laja Clarendon]

Yes, she didn't look like a sophomore. She looked like more like the senior. Right. And so. So credit to her. And when she didn't always score, it was. She forced rotations. That's what Joyce like her rim running or getting to the. Getting to the rim. I missed and scored. Forced other rotations. Latson getting in there. Forced rotations for other people. So Joyce is absolutely like one of the number one people on that scouting report that I'm like. Because her ripple effect, what it causes for other people is a big issue for ucla.

[Zena Kaeda]

I also want to shout out. I thought. I think I knew this, but it was very adorable to hear it in the press conference. Maddie McDaniel. Mouse. Oh, Mouse. Maddie McDaniels, as Don Saley called her, I think, stepped up to the moment as well. I mean, a lot of youth stepping up for the moment for South Carolina. How do we think that's going to fare against six seniors? Six seniors. Six massive seniors on the UCLA side?

[Sabrina Merchant]

Well, this is where I have a question for you, Leysha. Like, is that more pressure? Because they've been Talking about how, like, we just want to get more taste together. Like, we want to just be able to play with each other more because this is our last time in college basketball and we know that this is our last game together, and we know that, like, the team's not going to look like this next next year. And Corey obviously feels like crap. Like, this is the best team I'm ever gonna go.

[Laja Clarendon]

Yeah, this is it.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Is this. Like we talked about, the pressure versions urgency me and Chantel on the pod on Friday. But, like, as a player, like, do you feel like you owe it to your seniors? Like, do you think, like, Texas felt like they owed it to Rory Harmon? Or, like, is it almost better for UCLA that nobody feels like they owe it to them because they're all seniors anyway? Nobody feels pulled into, like, getting one for Lauren, you know, because it's all.

[Laja Clarendon]

They're all in it. It's like they're all in it together. I mean, I definitely know I played for my teammates, even some that weren't seniors necessarily, because you just have that love and care. There is some pressure there with, I think, the seniors. But I would look over at the time in our final four run and look at, like, Michaela Lyles, one of my teammates who just, like, was that sixth, seventh player, didn't always play a ton, but I just was like, damn, I want to win it for her because, like, she's rocks with me in workouts and like, that person who always has your bag. So I think across the board with age, there is of a lot, like, when you have a good team and good culture and you care about your teammates, you do just want to win for them. Yeah, I think momentum is important overall, maybe more than age at this point because they made it to the national championship. South Carolina has experience. I saw that game yesterday. McDaniel, McDaniels getting minutes when Raven Johnson's not in the game. And like, clutch, what, three? I think she came back in around three or two minutes, I think until two minutes left.

[Zena Kaeda]

Yeah.

[Laja Clarendon]

So McDaniels is in from that four to like two minute mark. I was like, these are clutch minutes. I was like, is Don kind of like, am I head getting her experience for next year? But she was playing fine. And Don talked about in the post game presser, it's all about the best rotation at the time. And that's a hard balance as a coach where you kind of ride the wave of your bench player, but then you want to strike and get your starter back in. And she was like, Raven Johnson's one of the best players of being like, leave her in. No, leave her in. So that speaks to the culture of South Carolina. So in that way, I think the way Maddie McDaniels is playing is like prime time. Confident can come in, can give raise Raven Johnson some. Some pressure off the bench. Right. She doesn't have to play the 40 minutes that we've seen Madison Booker have to play. Like, yes, I think she end up playing 35. But first half, I was watching Maddie, like in the corner, like, she was literally just had her hands on her knees and like, she's a tough player. But, like, you can't underestimate the way Don has been able to manage rotations in for South Carolina and get those players out and get them back in.

[Sabrina Merchant]

So quick apology to Maddie. I think we've been saying Maddie McDaniels. It's Maddie McDaniel.

[Laja Clarendon]

McDaniel.

[Zena Kaeda]

Sorry, you're right.

[Laja Clarendon]

Thank you.

[Sabrina Merchant]

It's in the final four. We should say her name, right?

[Zena Kaeda]

Yeah, we've got invisaligning.

[Laja Clarendon]

Thank you for that.

[Zena Kaeda]

Okay, so any predictions?

[Sabrina Merchant]

Have you seen my predictions over the course of this tournament? Like, nobody should be listening to me. Not at all. I think I watched more college basketball than anybody I know, and I have no idea what's happening.

[Zena Kaeda]

We get. We get a chance to live audit, because, let's be real, I don't think. I mean, my bracket is. Is effed. It's gone. It's gone. I chose Texas to upset UCLA and I chose UConn to beat South Carolina, even though I knew that game was going to be close. But I was wrong. We were all wrong. And we get a chance now to reset.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Except for Jerry Brewer again, you should read his column on the site. But he did pick South Carolina to

[Zena Kaeda]

win it all people that did. And so, you know, shout out to them. And I get it because there was a comment in here earlier that said, court Bentley in Dawn. I trust she will have the girls ready and adjust accordingly. And I think that that is the number one thing that we can say about Dawn Staley and the way that she played that game and the way that she plays in general. And part of why I think she's kind of like the next coming of these college coaches is that she adjusts so well. Her game time, execution and strategy. Just, you know, the way that she maneuvers throughout a game, you can see it actively. And these players really match the game plan to a T. So master class in that regard. But Corey Close, as you mentioned, Sabrina's got one of the best teams, if not the best team she'll probably ever coach. And you're just. You wonder, is it going to be enough?

[Sabrina Merchant]

So I think it's really interesting because we haven't had a first time head coach win a national championship since 2017 when Don Staley did it. And now Corey has an opportunity to be a first time head coach winning a national championship. So to do it against like the standard of the time. And I think about all of the, you know, this class that has gone through at ucla. I mean, a lot of transfers has come in, but Kiki Rice, Gabriella Hawkes, they played against South Carolina their freshman year in the tournament. They set them as like the barometer of what it was going to look like to be that kind of program. They wanted to be like the Freshies, the Aaliyah, Boston, you know. And then last year they get to welcome South Carolina to Polyvilian. Winning that game, I think is what sort of put them on the course to be this dominant team over the course of the season. It was beating South Carolina. That was an assertion like, we've arrived. This is a team that is good enough to be in that conversation and now not in the regular season anymore. You get to do it on the stage where it actually matters. So I love the narrative symmetry of it. They've gone through all of these touchstones against South Carolina over the course of their four years. And I think it would just be very pretty bow for UCLA to win it and for Corey close to get that first national title title. I was just very impressed with UCLA winning a game that I had. I think they had no business winning. Like, I don't understand how they won that game still. Like, we've gone through all of them.

[Zena Kaeda]

Sure.

[Sabrina Merchant]

They none of the things that they were supposed to. They did and they still won that game. So.

[Zena Kaeda]

Oh, and they might bounce back, like knowing like we, you know, we skate.

[Laja Clarendon]

Yeah.

[Sabrina Merchant]

We talked a lot about choice being like this matchup problem. I don't think we talked at all about Lauren Bets being the matchup problem. Like, I think she had better season than Joyce Edwards. I think she's going to cause some real difficulties for South Carolina. Yeah. They have six. Six. Medita Okot. I don't think she can handle Lauren in isolation. Yeah, I really don't think that. She just got the footwork and the consistency to do that for 40 minutes.

[Laja Clarendon]

So you can't quite put Raven on her. That's. I think she might reach her limit.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Yeah.

[Zena Kaeda]

And you know and this is. We don't want to keep opening up more doors and more doors and more doors. There's so much that we could talk about in this game. But Kyla Oldacre. Yes.

[Laja Clarendon]

I'm about your girl. I know you love her.

[Zena Kaeda]

I'm about Kyle Oldacre. And if you listen to old shows from last year, I've been about Kyla Oldacre, okay. And seeing her bump down low with Lauren Betts. Cut the tape. Show that to South Carolina because she was making Lauren work to find her position out on the block. And that is exactly what you're going to need out of Medina Okot. And I agree. I don't know that Medina Okot has the same level of physicality that you saw out of Kyla Oldrigger on top of the ability to catch and finish in traffic. And I mean, Kyle Oldacre was like Spider Manning rebounds out of the air. It was impressive. And so that's the kind of game you're going to need out of the bigs in South Carolina. We didn't see tournaments that come on the floor for South Carolina, so it's going to be a very much Joyce Edwards, you know, Okot kind of game. And we'll see what happens. But before we get to the expansion draft, I need to know predictions.

[Sabrina Merchant]

We're still doing expansion drafts.

[Zena Kaeda]

We're going to touch on it really quickly.

[Sabrina Merchant]

I think I put this on the site, but I picked UCLA 60 something to like 59 something around there.

[Zena Kaeda]

Okay.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Okay.

[Chantel Jennings]

Okay.

[Laja Clarendon]

Oh, I'm torn. I don't want to pick. I want a good game. I'm gonna be happy either way, but I think, I think I'm gonna go with it. I think South Carolina's gonna win.

[Zena Kaeda]

Okay. I'm. I'm gonna want UCLA to win, but

[Laja Clarendon]

I think South Carolina's gonna win.

[Sabrina Merchant]

This is the problem. When it's like all three California girls.

[Zena Kaeda]

I know I can't get

[Chantel Jennings]

hair advice.

[Laja Clarendon]

I did do the eight clap yesterday. You were looked at me, I was, okay. West coast basketball is still a thing. That was my like, I'm so proud of UCLA. I'm proud of the Pac 12. I was like, she's funny.

[Sabrina Merchant]

As I ran yesterday and I asked her the same question. I was like, do you feel like the west coast packed all bluffer? She's like,

[Laja Clarendon]

see some Stanford girls?

[Zena Kaeda]

Yeah, they don't.

[Laja Clarendon]

The private school.

[Chantel Jennings]

Yeah.

[Laja Clarendon]

They don't care. They're a different breed.

[Zena Kaeda]

I will say this. I think South Carolina's going to win and it's Going to be incredibly tight. Tight. One or two point differential. Whether it's going to be high scoring, low scoring, it's very possible we might get a 40 point game.

[Laja Clarendon]

No, I'm putting it out there. It's going to be high scoring. The ball is going to go through the basketball.

[Zena Kaeda]

High scores.

[Sabrina Merchant]

A1 possession. Final four games since what, Iowa, Connecticut at the 2024 Final Four when there was the moving screen on Aaliyah Edwards

[Zena Kaeda]

at the end of the game.

[Laja Clarendon]

She did it twice, didn't she?

[Sabrina Merchant]

Something like that.

[Laja Clarendon]

I remember that. Yeah.

[Sabrina Merchant]

So I think we do. I feel like that's been six games, seven games. Because the national title game was also not a one session game.

[Laja Clarendon]

Okay. But this something people don't talk about like coming in. I kind of already expected the final four games to not be the best product. Having gone through it and know what it's like. Grinds, they're grind. It's exhausting. You played the entire year. I talked about Madison Booker, like hands on the, on the shins, just exhausted. You go through this gauntlet of media like you're traveling everywhere, playing every single game.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Yeah.

[Laja Clarendon]

Then everyone. There's an entire arena at your practice. Like it's just kind of a circus. Having gone through it, I remember like in 2013, having gone through it and looking back and being like, I can't believe Skyler Diggins did four of these. Like she did them every year.

[Chantel Jennings]

Sorry.

[Laja Clarendon]

She landed. Brianna did too.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Yes.

[Laja Clarendon]

Did four of them and she won them. All right. Skyler never won it, but I was

[Zena Kaeda]

like most outstanding player at all.

[Laja Clarendon]

It's kind of like LeBron, he's in the and like stuff when they're in the playoffs every year you're like, oh my God. You know how much it takes every year to make this kind of run. So I think that's something like fans like people don't understand like what really goes on behind the scenes and the exhaustion for these players to get to this point. So I do hope that national championship game is good. But sometimes that's why the shooting, like people have text me like, why isn't the shooting better? Why isn't that? I'm like, they're just so worn out.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Like, yeah.

[Laja Clarendon]

They're basically on pro level schedules right now dealing with all this stuff.

[Zena Kaeda]

And that's why this game is going to come down to what every single team has basically said in almost every single media timeout. The first ones of interviews, whoever takes a deep breath first. How many coaches have we heard that say, you know, I Told them to take a deep breath. Oh, yeah, yeah. They just take deep breath. Everyone takes deep breath. Deep breath.

[Laja Clarendon]

Everybody breathe.

[Zena Kaeda]

Yeah. And then. And then you go talk to the players at halftime. Yeah, we just took a deep breath.

[Laja Clarendon]

No, apparently Don told him meet the moment. Don was going ham on there.

[Zena Kaeda]

Meet the moment. Exactly. Okay. Let's keep the movement to the expansion graph. Speaking of a circus, the way that this expansion graph was announced was crazy. Okay. For what it's worth, I was on a plane and so I didn't get to see the TV special that I didn't miss much. And Malik Andrews, Monica McNutt, Carolyn, Peter Tech have this like half hour session to announce the teams. Now they, what they did do was announce the first two draft picks for each inaugural team. So Sabrina, would you do this the honors?

[Sabrina Merchant]

Yeah, I mean they did show the picks. All of them in order.

[Zena Kaeda]

So all of them in order.

[Sabrina Merchant]

But they didn't go literally like six minutes and then I don't know what the remainder 23 minutes of the telecast was, but yeah. Question for another day. First pick Portland got the first pick. If you remember, there was a coin toss. Toronto elected to take the earlier pick in the college draft. So Portland had the first pick in the expansion draft. They did the funniest thing possible and took Bridget Carlton, the Canadian player, so she could not go to Toronto.

[Zena Kaeda]

This is petty. It's crazy.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Also just like a good basketball player. Let's been a starter on an excellent Wings team for the last couple seasons. You know, one that made the finals. I think culture wise fit, you know, she can do anything. I think makes a lot of sense on an expansion team. Toronto took Julie Alaman with their first big point guard from the Los Angeles spark. Parks love to start a team with just a good point guard who knows how to get people in their spots. Right. Third pick for Portland was Carla late, obviously. Golden State Valkyries guard.

[Zena Kaeda]

I know we're sad. Just we're sad.

[Sabrina Merchant]

One of the most fun players I think to watch at her position in the W. And then Toronto took Niara Sabley with the fourth pick, center from the New York Liberty. You might remember she played for Sandy Brown Dallow in New York. Cindy obviously likes her quite a bit. I helped her win a title in the 2024. So those are the first four picks of draft.

[Zena Kaeda]

Okay. And so they were. They released them all. You can go see on our site, we got a full breakdown. Shout out to our team for covering it and we've done draft predictions and then now the draft has happened. Any. Did it land any how? Any way how you thought it would? Because I'm not gonna lie to you, I. I'm surprised, like, the way that it all laid out. I was actually kind of surprised by some of these picks, but wanted to hear what you guys thought. Leisure, you start first.

[Laja Clarendon]

Well, I've been railing in the slack about I want who's protected and who's not, and I want someone to leave the list.

[Sabrina Merchant]

I want to know because I'm working on it.

[Laja Clarendon]

Oh, thank you. Because that was kind of the question I had of like, did they leave certain talent on the table? But we don't know because we don't know who is protected. So all we're doing is guessing and making the best predictions we can because we were talking about, did they leave Chachi, Zan and Lusini on the table? Like, who did the Valkyries protect? So that was the biggest thing for me, that I just have to let go, that I will not know. Maybe not ever. Um, but I thought Bridget's like a dear friend, and I thought that was such a marker of, like, watching her career. She gets cut in Connecticut the year I'm there in 2019 with Natisha Heideman, or I get injured and Tisha Heideman comes back and they cut Bridget Carlton. She gets picked up by the Minnesota leagues. This is like the WNB in a nutshell, right? The player gets cut, she gets picked up with the links. The fit works. And then next thing you know, she's like, the first pick is an unrestricted free agent. And shout out to Bridget's like, her resilience. Like, she's that kind of player who across the board, she's the Swiss army knife. She's never going to be an issue. She can shoot the three. She can guard whoever you want to guard. Like, she's always going to know the plays. Like, so just super proud of her to see what she's done. But otherwise, when I look at this list, I think it's interesting to look at. Like, Nico Mule was an interesting that.

[Sabrina Merchant]

I pointed out to you too, that, like, she just.

[Laja Clarendon]

She has another ACL injury that they took her. So I'm kind of strategy. I'm like, are they stashing that pick for later? I thought LA kind of got the worst end of two really good pieces taken from them. The Sparks, right? You take Julie Alamond, who's averse a really. She's like a dog. She knows how to win.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Like, she's a very good combo together. Yeah.

[Laja Clarendon]

So you have Plum in her. And now that's more pressure on Plum to not be able to have a combo guard with her. Like, that was a. That hurt to me for the Sparks. And then your girl who you love, Barker, like, you love her, like, she's another. She's another versatile player. You love her. Another versatile, versatile player. Right. Who's young and still up and coming and developing. So I kind of looked at it in two ways of, like, what Portland was trying to do and Toronto was trying to do, but then who also got hurt with pieces that got taken. And to me, LA was like, one of the biggest ones. I was like, ouch.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Yeah, same with Minnesota. I thought they just lost two really good rotation players. And like, that's kind of the sucky thing about expansion is, like, we're gonna have to go through these drafts three more times in the next four years. And it's gonna be so hard to build a deep team because, like, Minnesota just lost a starter, LA just lost a starter. And like, you want to see really great teams with all of this talent accumulated to get together. Like, the way of the 12 team WNB is just never gonna happen again. Right. We're never gonna have these teams that have eight quality rotation players. Because even if you get a good roster for like one season, like, here comes the expansion draft. They're gone. You know, So I think it's just gonna really change team building over the next four or so years. And, like, obviously some teams just don't care about their young players. Like, I cracked up when Ali and I was on this list, I was like, of course Vegas is not protect the rookie.

[Zena Kaeda]

Of course. I was like, I was shocked twice. Right.

[Laja Clarendon]

Last two years, there's like.

[Zena Kaeda]

Like, that's crazy.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Wilson, Chelsea Gray, Jackie Young. We don't really.

[Laja Clarendon]

They're fine. We can plug anybody in.

[Zena Kaeda]

That's true. Everybody will learn from ours. Yeah, I. I really look at, you know, looking at these two, and Leia, if you're watching, has perfect notes. And I just love that you, like, perfectly listed this out. Thank you. But I'm excited for Lexi Held for in Toronto. I think that's someone. And I believe we wrote on Lexi Held as well. I mean, we've, over the course of last year's WNBA season talked about just her being a breakout star. Covering the Valkyries out in the Bay gave the Valkyries work, but particularly that first time they met up. That could be a definitely big breakout star in Toronto. And then of course, thinking about Bridget Carlton having a full lay of the land on top Of Carla late, those two as guards. A really exciting prospect there. But yeah, yeah, this is. This is. This is good. The work has been done. Shout out to Ben Pickman, our former co host, for his work in the Portland Mix. And I put. I put the Portland roster on my Instagram story. And I just put eyes. And he just put eyes back to me. I was like, I'll comment on this another time.

[Laja Clarendon]

Don't worry.

[Zena Kaeda]

But, yeah, no, it was. The only thing I'll say is, you know, now we get to see these two teams. This is great. Got roster. The schedule's starting to condense a little bit in terms of what needs to be done before the season starts. We got an expansion draft out the way. Next up, we've got a championship game tomorrow. Then we've got a college draft to get out the way and then a training camp and all.

[Laja Clarendon]

Free agency, official start.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Sorry.

[Zena Kaeda]

That starts first. That starts first.

[Sabrina Merchant]

It's free agency.

[Zena Kaeda]

My bad. I was gonna get into that.

[Laja Clarendon]

No, yeah.

[Zena Kaeda]

We don't have dates. That's why I was like, I know those dates.

[Sabrina Merchant]

But eventually, theoretically, before April 19th, I

[Laja Clarendon]

guess

[Zena Kaeda]

we do need to figure out who's in these camp.

[Laja Clarendon]

That's real.

[Sabrina Merchant]

That's real.

[Zena Kaeda]

But, yeah, no, this was an amazing conversation. For those of you that are wondering, where did Chantelle's voice go? She had a call with the source, so that's why she had to dip out on us. This is why we're really. We're doing the thing, guys. These are real journalists doing their jobs here at the Final Four. But we appreciate all of you that tuned into our live online on YouTube. We're going to be doing another live after. Right after the championship game, lady and I. And then we're going to have a full show available for you on Monday to. On Tuesday. Monday. Excuse me. For us breaking it all down and getting you ready for the end of NCAA season.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Oh, and thinking about the next year

[Zena Kaeda]

and all the above.

[Sabrina Merchant]

So the portal opens on Monday.

[Zena Kaeda]

The drama begins.

[Laja Clarendon]

Will Sarah Strong be in the portal, question mark?

[Sabrina Merchant]

This is. I'm not putting any of this out either, y'.

[Zena Kaeda]

All. It's gonna be crazy. All right, well, we appreciate you. Again, if you haven't already subscribe to our show, there is a big button. There's like a button somewhere on YouTube.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Press it.

[Zena Kaeda]

Yeah, you gotta go press that. Okay, go ahead and press that thing. Press a, like a thumbs up. They even give you a little picture of what the thumb looks like. Just go ahead and press that. Let us know that you like us. Let other people know that you like us as well so that they can find us a little bit easier and make sure that you are tuning along because we're keeping you up to date with everything. Women's basketball, college, pro, doesn't matter. We got you. We're all locked. So on behalf of the Athletic, I'm going to go ahead and say on behalf of Chantelle Jennings, who's doing her job right now, and Sabrina and Leigh, I'm Zena Keda. Appreciate you guys. Thank you guys so much for joining us and we'll see you next time. No Off Season is hosted by Zena Kada with Chantelle Jennings, Sabrina Merchant and Laja Clarendon. It's produced by Tanika Burrell. Our executive producer is Andrea B. Scott. Monica Compton is our video editor and Charles Childers is our social video editor. Our theme music is by Marcus Bagala. Shannon Ryan is managing editor of women's basketball at the Athletic. Tim McMaster is our director of operations and Jessie Burton is global Head of Series.

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