WEBVTT - Permanent or Tempo-rary with Alexa Philippou 0:00:00.560 --> 0:00:03.000 Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're wondering 0:00:03.040 --> 0:00:07.120 if the WNBA website really just accidentally leaked the new 0:00:07.200 --> 0:00:10.920 name of the Toronto expansion team. It's Thursday, December fifth, 0:00:10.960 --> 0:00:13.399 and on today's show, we'll be talking all things college 0:00:13.400 --> 0:00:16.800 hoops with ESPN's Alexa Philippoo. Who's your number one team, 0:00:16.960 --> 0:00:20.320 what's the ceiling for USC's Juju Watkins? And just how 0:00:20.360 --> 0:00:23.000 big were those Notre Dame Els, Plus her take on 0:00:23.040 --> 0:00:26.599 the breaking WNBA coaching news and the upcoming expansion draft. 0:00:27.000 --> 0:00:30.479 Then a shark tale and is this permanent or just 0:00:30.600 --> 0:00:31.560 tempo rary? 0:00:32.000 --> 0:00:33.360 It's all coming up right after this. 0:00:39.479 --> 0:00:43.400 Welcome Backslices, and a special shout out to Slices Justin Baird, 0:00:43.600 --> 0:00:47.400 Margo Cison and Kalaine Conahan, who posted their Spotify rapped 0:00:47.400 --> 0:00:50.160 results showing Good Game with Sarah Spain as their most 0:00:50.200 --> 0:00:51.320 listened to show of the year. 0:00:51.680 --> 0:00:53.880 We love seeing those, y'all are the best. Thanks. 0:00:54.440 --> 0:00:56.040 We got a lot of college hoops here today, so 0:00:56.040 --> 0:00:58.640 we're going to get to all your news and updates tomorrow. 0:00:58.760 --> 0:01:00.800 Let's get right into my check with Alexa. 0:01:03.240 --> 0:01:06.520 She covers college basketball and the WNBA for ESPN. She 0:01:06.640 --> 0:01:09.319 previously covered the Yukon Huskies and the Connecticut Sun for 0:01:09.360 --> 0:01:11.040 the Hartford Current, and her work has appeared in the 0:01:11.120 --> 0:01:15.240 Dallas Morning News, Seattle Times, and Cincinnati Inquirer. A Stanford alum, 0:01:15.319 --> 0:01:17.560 she loves a pancake and she'll crush a plate of 0:01:17.640 --> 0:01:18.800 Raising Cane's chicken. 0:01:19.080 --> 0:01:21.240 It's Alexa, Philipoo. What's up, Alexa? 0:01:21.600 --> 0:01:25.000 That was an impressively you know, good bio on my 0:01:25.319 --> 0:01:26.400 food preferences. 0:01:26.480 --> 0:01:29.080 So, yeah, you keep your research. 0:01:29.120 --> 0:01:31.520 Keep it pretty tight. You're very journalists forward. 0:01:31.560 --> 0:01:33.440 But occasionally you do give us a plate of food 0:01:33.480 --> 0:01:35.839 on the road, and that's where the real diging happens 0:01:35.840 --> 0:01:38.400 for me before we get to college hoops. And I 0:01:38.440 --> 0:01:40.400 have so much to ask about college hoops. Let's quickly 0:01:40.440 --> 0:01:42.640 touch on the news that broke Wednesday afternoon, the Connecticut 0:01:42.720 --> 0:01:45.600 Sun hiring Rashid Mazien, who coached in the French Women's 0:01:45.680 --> 0:01:47.360 League and has served as the head coach for the 0:01:47.360 --> 0:01:50.160 Belgian national team, also sometime as assistant coach for the 0:01:50.160 --> 0:01:51.080 French national team. 0:01:51.520 --> 0:01:53.000 Thoughts on the hire for the Sun. 0:01:53.200 --> 0:01:55.600 Yeah, I think the reaction from a lot of people 0:01:55.720 --> 0:01:58.080 might have been who is this guy? Because we're used 0:01:58.120 --> 0:02:00.840 to domestic hires or people. You know, we've seen obviously 0:02:00.880 --> 0:02:03.880 a few people coming from the college ranks this coaching cycle. 0:02:03.920 --> 0:02:06.520 We've seen people moving around from the pro side, but 0:02:06.920 --> 0:02:09.520 you know, for someone to come over from the international circuit, 0:02:09.560 --> 0:02:11.520 I think it's a really interesting out of the box 0:02:11.600 --> 0:02:15.320 higher And I not shocked the Sun went that direction, 0:02:15.560 --> 0:02:18.680 because I think the Sun can be a little bit 0:02:18.720 --> 0:02:20.239 of a I don't want to say a tough market, 0:02:20.280 --> 0:02:22.800 but you know that you want someone that can really 0:02:22.840 --> 0:02:25.320 be invested in being in Uncasville. I know that's something 0:02:25.400 --> 0:02:27.560 that was important to President gen Rizzotti when she was 0:02:27.600 --> 0:02:29.760 looking for a replacement for Steph White. And they have 0:02:29.800 --> 0:02:32.240 a lot of uncertainty too, and what their roster looks like. 0:02:32.400 --> 0:02:35.280 They're big threes off free agents, so you know, we're 0:02:35.360 --> 0:02:37.040 going to have to see if they end up staying 0:02:37.080 --> 0:02:40.280 or if they're really rebuilding from scratch. For so, I 0:02:40.280 --> 0:02:43.600 think with a with a hire that has proven success 0:02:43.639 --> 0:02:47.200 even in Europe and also like has you know, relationships 0:02:47.200 --> 0:02:50.760 with different WNBA players, different international prospects and players, I 0:02:50.800 --> 0:02:52.840 think it's something that you know, they want to try 0:02:52.880 --> 0:02:53.400 and see if this. 0:02:53.520 --> 0:02:56.559 Kind of more creative solution works. 0:02:56.280 --> 0:02:58.519 And they you know, I think they wanted to find 0:02:58.520 --> 0:03:00.639 someone who was really going to be committed to this 0:03:00.800 --> 0:03:03.440 Sun team because of the fact that you know, they've 0:03:03.480 --> 0:03:06.240 had a little bit of turnover in the last few years, 0:03:06.280 --> 0:03:08.040 and so you know, my read on this is that 0:03:08.080 --> 0:03:10.560 this is someone they probably thought would be committed and 0:03:10.639 --> 0:03:12.320 would be able to help them kind. 0:03:12.200 --> 0:03:14.960 Of navigate this really challenging. 0:03:14.560 --> 0:03:17.080 Era for not just the Sun but the whole WNBA, 0:03:17.160 --> 0:03:18.440 with so much change undergoing. 0:03:19.080 --> 0:03:21.200 The key will be for him to remember the differences 0:03:21.240 --> 0:03:23.839 between FOEBA and w rules when it comes like down 0:03:23.840 --> 0:03:26.680 the stretch of a tight, close game, remembering, you. 0:03:26.680 --> 0:03:28.720 Know, all the specific differences. 0:03:28.560 --> 0:03:31.000 While we're on the w quick Friday is the expansion 0:03:31.080 --> 0:03:32.640 draft for the Golden State Valkyries. 0:03:33.120 --> 0:03:34.440 We don't have to get too deep into it. 0:03:34.480 --> 0:03:36.200 Tomorrow, we're going to do a little primer so everybody 0:03:36.280 --> 0:03:39.480 knows what to expect. But are you expecting any big splashes, 0:03:39.640 --> 0:03:42.279 any surprises in terms of players left unprotected? 0:03:43.440 --> 0:03:44.320 I don't think anything. 0:03:44.480 --> 0:03:46.840 Maybe that will be shocking, but I do think what 0:03:46.880 --> 0:03:49.520 could be interesting to see is, you know, this is 0:03:49.680 --> 0:03:52.160 their initial step at building a roster. But to me, 0:03:52.240 --> 0:03:54.920 I'm really looking at Okay, this is obviously going to 0:03:54.960 --> 0:03:56.920 be exciting. But what does free agency look like for 0:03:56.960 --> 0:03:59.400 the Valkyries, Because obviously they can get players, they're going 0:03:59.440 --> 0:04:01.800 to be able to train players. They are probably going 0:04:01.880 --> 0:04:03.680 to want to go after some free agents because if 0:04:03.720 --> 0:04:06.040 you've heard the Lake or Joe Lacum in particular talk 0:04:06.120 --> 0:04:08.880 about this team, he wants the Valkyries to win a 0:04:08.920 --> 0:04:10.720 championship in the first five years, just like he said 0:04:10.720 --> 0:04:12.400 with the Warriors when he bought the team. So for 0:04:12.440 --> 0:04:14.320 them to be able to do that realistically, they're gonna 0:04:14.320 --> 0:04:16.400 have to sign really tot named free agents. So I 0:04:16.440 --> 0:04:19.279 think this is like the appetizer more or less, and 0:04:19.279 --> 0:04:20.760 then we'll really get some of the good stuff in 0:04:21.000 --> 0:04:23.520 January and February. But definitely we'll be exciting to see 0:04:23.560 --> 0:04:26.600 them put those initial bricks down of painting this path 0:04:26.600 --> 0:04:27.279 for the new team. 0:04:27.839 --> 0:04:30.680 Yeah, setting the plate with potentially just some good, solid 0:04:30.680 --> 0:04:33.760 young players that they can grow into and potentially picking 0:04:33.839 --> 0:04:36.680 up some draft picks by dealing with teams that will say, hey, 0:04:36.720 --> 0:04:38.560 don't choose this player of ours that we aren't able 0:04:38.600 --> 0:04:40.520 to protect, but we'll give you this draft pick. The 0:04:40.560 --> 0:04:42.560 one thing I heard Kevin Pelton was on ESPN Daily 0:04:42.600 --> 0:04:44.800 talking about and His hot take was that they might 0:04:44.839 --> 0:04:47.919 be able to convince Elena Deladon to come help launch 0:04:48.000 --> 0:04:50.880 this team as someone who maybe the mystics won't protect 0:04:50.960 --> 0:04:52.920 because she wasn't playing last year, was looking for a 0:04:52.960 --> 0:04:55.039 trade that they couldn't make happen. I think that would 0:04:55.040 --> 0:04:57.960 be real spicy and real fund So that's what I'm 0:04:58.000 --> 0:04:58.679 hoping to see. 0:04:59.000 --> 0:04:59.880 But we're all excited for that. 0:05:00.000 --> 0:05:02.440 Okay, let's talk college hoops because we predicted chaos and 0:05:02.480 --> 0:05:05.039 excitement this season and we are already getting it. 0:05:05.040 --> 0:05:06.279 It is so fun so far. 0:05:06.560 --> 0:05:09.279 A forty three game win streak ended a team reaching 0:05:09.360 --> 0:05:11.240 number one in the eight people for the first time 0:05:11.279 --> 0:05:14.680 in program history, a top five squad taken back to back. 0:05:14.760 --> 0:05:19.039 El's already a thrill ride regardless of the official AP ranking. 0:05:19.120 --> 0:05:22.000 Right now, Who is your number one right now? Yeah? 0:05:22.000 --> 0:05:24.000 I had. I mean I'm an AP voter, so I've 0:05:24.040 --> 0:05:26.440 had UCLA as my number one right now because I 0:05:26.480 --> 0:05:28.920 was actually at that game where they beat South Carolina 0:05:28.960 --> 0:05:29.760 in LA and I. 0:05:29.760 --> 0:05:31.240 Was just pretty floored. 0:05:31.320 --> 0:05:34.640 It wasn't just that they beat South Carolina, it was 0:05:34.640 --> 0:05:37.320 that they were up by twenty plus for much of 0:05:37.360 --> 0:05:40.279 the game and they really didn't put you know, they 0:05:40.360 --> 0:05:42.360 didn't take their foot off the break or foot off 0:05:42.360 --> 0:05:44.360 the gas, I should say, so the fact that they 0:05:44.400 --> 0:05:46.680 were able to do that, they didn't really show many weaknesses. 0:05:46.880 --> 0:05:49.039 And they were such a tough matchup for a South 0:05:49.080 --> 0:05:51.719 Carolina squad that I've seen them many times. You know, 0:05:51.760 --> 0:05:53.760 they get down, they come back and end up winning 0:05:53.800 --> 0:05:56.359 the game. But really South Carolina had no answer to 0:05:56.400 --> 0:05:59.479 their shooting, to their length, to their depth, and to 0:05:59.600 --> 0:06:02.479 all the kind of things that make that UCLA team go. 0:06:02.880 --> 0:06:04.560 The thing to me though, is that this is a 0:06:04.600 --> 0:06:07.440 team that hasn't made the final four in program history. 0:06:07.760 --> 0:06:10.880 They have some inexperienced players in terms of, you know, 0:06:11.000 --> 0:06:13.799 as a group, because they have transfers, because they have freshmen, 0:06:13.839 --> 0:06:16.080 and so they do have a core that's experienced in 0:06:16.120 --> 0:06:18.800 playing together. But can they really get to that next 0:06:18.800 --> 0:06:21.880 step of a final four of a national championship. 0:06:21.920 --> 0:06:23.200 That I think remains to be seen. 0:06:23.240 --> 0:06:24.960 And I'm really eager to see how they deal with 0:06:25.000 --> 0:06:28.000 the challenges of playing in the Big ten, especially you know, USC, 0:06:28.080 --> 0:06:29.560 I'm sure it is only going to get better, right, 0:06:29.680 --> 0:06:31.839 So are they gonna be challenged by the Trojans? Are 0:06:31.880 --> 0:06:34.320 they going to be able to stay at that top spot. 0:06:34.920 --> 0:06:36.440 We'll have to see, but right now I still have 0:06:36.520 --> 0:06:38.919 UCLAs B one and I wouldn't be shocked tho if 0:06:38.920 --> 0:06:41.080 we see some more movement over the couple months. 0:06:41.480 --> 0:06:44.599 Trojans and travel are probably the two biggest things for 0:06:44.680 --> 0:06:45.599 them in the Big Ten. 0:06:45.760 --> 0:06:46.640 Trojans and travel. 0:06:46.640 --> 0:06:48.480 I don't know if we've talked about the travel enough 0:06:48.480 --> 0:06:52.200 for those teams coming out of California. You mentioned Don 0:06:52.240 --> 0:06:55.720 Staley's South Carolina squad u A the streak breakers for them, 0:06:56.000 --> 0:06:58.520 they're incredible forty three game run dating back to the 0:06:58.560 --> 0:07:01.600 twenty twenty three Final four, And how big of a. 0:07:01.600 --> 0:07:03.120 Deal is it that they took a loss? 0:07:03.760 --> 0:07:06.320 So in the kind of big picture, I don't think 0:07:06.320 --> 0:07:08.320 it's a huge deal, because of course, I think the 0:07:08.360 --> 0:07:10.560 Gamecock fans were all saying, hey, the last time we 0:07:10.600 --> 0:07:13.120 lost a regular season game, we still won a national title. 0:07:13.320 --> 0:07:15.520 They even lost, you know, in the SEC tournament that 0:07:15.600 --> 0:07:18.200 year when they won in twenty twenty two. So no, 0:07:18.400 --> 0:07:20.240 in and of itself, it's not a huge deal. But 0:07:20.280 --> 0:07:23.360 I do feel like there have been some slow starts, 0:07:23.400 --> 0:07:26.640 are been some offensive issues and just you know the 0:07:26.720 --> 0:07:29.160 lack of a dominant big and Camilla Cardos, so that 0:07:29.200 --> 0:07:32.280 there's still the game Cocks are still trying to work through, 0:07:32.400 --> 0:07:35.200 and the season's long, they have time to figure that out. 0:07:35.200 --> 0:07:36.640 But I do think it showed a little bit of 0:07:36.680 --> 0:07:40.200 a snapshot that hey, you know, this team did return 0:07:40.280 --> 0:07:42.520 a you know, most of the same pieces from last 0:07:42.560 --> 0:07:43.760 year's seen that went undefeated. 0:07:44.040 --> 0:07:45.760 But for whatever the reason, they're just. 0:07:45.760 --> 0:07:48.800 Not quite you know, as dominant as they were last year. 0:07:48.880 --> 0:07:51.320 They still have to work on some things Offensively. I 0:07:51.320 --> 0:07:54.040 think Raven Johnson, you know, has another level that she 0:07:54.120 --> 0:07:56.440 can get to in terms of orchestrating the offense. 0:07:56.680 --> 0:07:57.600 We've seen to Heina. 0:07:57.440 --> 0:08:00.240 Palpal play, you know, some great games we've seen Essa 0:08:00.320 --> 0:08:03.640 Johnson and Malaysia will whiley have their a moment. So 0:08:03.680 --> 0:08:05.840 I think if I'm a game Cocks fan, I'm not 0:08:05.840 --> 0:08:08.400 necessarily totally concerned, but I do think there's a ways 0:08:08.440 --> 0:08:10.400 to go if they want to be able to do 0:08:10.440 --> 0:08:12.720 something they'd never done before as a program and repeat. 0:08:13.520 --> 0:08:15.560 Yeah, it feels almost like it might be one of 0:08:15.600 --> 0:08:18.360 those scary teams that during the regular season has to 0:08:18.400 --> 0:08:20.880 figure some of that stuff out and then when they 0:08:20.920 --> 0:08:24.119 get to the tournament might be an absolute. 0:08:24.040 --> 0:08:27.840 Just game wrecker. And because of the talent that they have. 0:08:28.000 --> 0:08:30.200 It felt like preseason it was like, this team's going 0:08:30.240 --> 0:08:32.400 to be even scarier because they're returning all the talent. 0:08:32.559 --> 0:08:34.480 But maybe that made it harder. There wasn't as. 0:08:34.440 --> 0:08:37.320 Much creativity going into how it might work because they 0:08:37.320 --> 0:08:39.280 felt like so much of their pieces were coming back. 0:08:39.480 --> 0:08:41.680 But it does look different without Cardoso in the middle. 0:08:41.679 --> 0:08:44.520 That's a huge thing to lose, and so maybe. 0:08:44.280 --> 0:08:46.120 The tinkering that will go on in the regular season 0:08:46.120 --> 0:08:47.920 will strengthen them because it looks like just a lot 0:08:47.920 --> 0:08:49.800 of talent that should still be scaring the hell out 0:08:49.800 --> 0:08:50.160 of people. 0:08:50.360 --> 0:08:51.960 Right, no one's going to want to play them in March. 0:08:52.000 --> 0:08:54.920 It doesn't even matter if they lose another few games, Like, 0:08:55.040 --> 0:08:56.680 no one's gonna be like, oh great, we got South 0:08:56.720 --> 0:08:59.120 Carolina in our rocket, right, And yeah, I think I'm 0:08:59.160 --> 0:09:02.200 really interested too. I know, you know, you mentioned uh 0:09:02.440 --> 0:09:05.880 Cardoso and you know, replacing her presence inside, But to me, 0:09:05.960 --> 0:09:09.360 I'm so curious to look at Malaysia ful Wiley's trajectory 0:09:09.400 --> 0:09:12.120 this season. I know a lot of people were surprised 0:09:12.120 --> 0:09:14.200 she didn't play much in that UCLA game. 0:09:14.200 --> 0:09:16.520 She's you know, gone back to kind of more normal 0:09:16.559 --> 0:09:17.400 minutes since then. 0:09:17.600 --> 0:09:18.080 But to me. 0:09:18.240 --> 0:09:21.000 I mean, she's the player on South Carolina that has 0:09:21.000 --> 0:09:24.120 the highest ceiling. So is she gonna continue to do 0:09:24.160 --> 0:09:27.080 what Don Staley needs from her to display that to 0:09:27.120 --> 0:09:29.440 play with discipline, to play you know, I think the 0:09:29.480 --> 0:09:31.880 word that I've heard don muse is almost like play 0:09:31.920 --> 0:09:34.800 with you know, play lean and be efficient and not 0:09:35.000 --> 0:09:37.120 you know, go for maybe all the flashy moves or 0:09:37.120 --> 0:09:39.480 all the flashy plays. So I'm definitely keeping my eye 0:09:39.520 --> 0:09:41.200 on her and her trajectory for this game. 0:09:41.200 --> 0:09:44.000 Cops squad talking about upsets. 0:09:44.040 --> 0:09:48.040 Notre Dame falls to number seventeen TCU and then unranked 0:09:48.160 --> 0:09:51.040 Utah in the Cayman Islands Classic. How much weight are 0:09:51.040 --> 0:09:53.439 you putting into those back to back losses or can 0:09:53.520 --> 0:09:57.040 we call it, you know, Cayman Islands collapse and move on? 0:09:57.200 --> 0:10:00.199 It was it was special to that particular area. I'll 0:10:00.200 --> 0:10:02.199 come back to the States and be okay, I. 0:10:02.160 --> 0:10:03.200 Mean a little bit of both. 0:10:03.280 --> 0:10:06.040 I saw that game where they you know, really just 0:10:06.240 --> 0:10:09.199 dominated USC and so I mean, I don't even want 0:10:09.200 --> 0:10:12.199 to say that was their ceiling because they're still getting healthy. Right. 0:10:12.280 --> 0:10:15.120 They have Maddi Westpelled on the sideline, They have Liza 0:10:15.200 --> 0:10:17.760 Carlon on the sideline, that they're expecting back, right, So 0:10:18.559 --> 0:10:20.480 it was pretty shocking that they could do that and 0:10:20.520 --> 0:10:23.640 they're really not playing they're playing like six seven players really, 0:10:23.720 --> 0:10:26.520 So the fact that they had that high and then 0:10:26.559 --> 0:10:28.400 they had that low and there's a little bit of 0:10:28.480 --> 0:10:30.600 vary or not a little bit, a lot of variants 0:10:30.679 --> 0:10:34.440 wasn't necessarily shocking to me. Also, Kate caval coming in 0:10:34.480 --> 0:10:36.920 as a freshman, she struggled in the Cayman Islands, and 0:10:36.960 --> 0:10:38.720 I think that's where, you know, you see she had 0:10:38.720 --> 0:10:41.000 some you know, she's having those freshmen lom set, you know, 0:10:41.360 --> 0:10:44.000 first year players take and that's where again having Maddy 0:10:44.120 --> 0:10:47.080 Westbuld back, having Liza Carlon back will make a difference 0:10:47.120 --> 0:10:49.280 for the squad. So I think they're still really capable 0:10:49.280 --> 0:10:51.040 of getting in the final four. I'm not too worried. 0:10:51.040 --> 0:10:51.280 I think. 0:10:51.280 --> 0:10:54.800 Also holiday tournaments can be a little funky at times 0:10:55.000 --> 0:10:57.959 and whatnot. But I mean, Hanna Hidalgo and Olivia Miles 0:10:58.960 --> 0:11:02.439 just as a backcourt are just so electric, so dynamic. 0:11:02.520 --> 0:11:04.199 Then you throw in Sonia Citron and then some of 0:11:04.240 --> 0:11:07.480 their other pieces. Again, they're gonna get healthier. I mean, 0:11:07.559 --> 0:11:10.080 if I had a bet right now, I think they 0:11:10.080 --> 0:11:12.240 would be in Tampa even if they lost those back 0:11:12.240 --> 0:11:13.119 to back games. 0:11:13.760 --> 0:11:16.280 Let's talk about TCU eight and no top team in 0:11:16.280 --> 0:11:16.880 the Big twelve. 0:11:16.960 --> 0:11:20.120 They're at number nine. That's the highest ranking in school history. 0:11:20.360 --> 0:11:22.840 Obviously buoyed by that big win over Notre Dame, our 0:11:22.880 --> 0:11:26.520 Sodona Prince and Haley Vanlyth making that team a real contender. 0:11:27.160 --> 0:11:29.800 I mean, it's hard not to say that they are. 0:11:29.960 --> 0:11:32.280 It's really kind of surprising because I think we knew 0:11:32.320 --> 0:11:34.640 they had some of this talent and the pieces to 0:11:34.960 --> 0:11:37.079 do what they're doing now, but to see it really 0:11:37.800 --> 0:11:41.400 go so smoothly, so quickly. I mean, Haley Vanlyth and 0:11:41.440 --> 0:11:44.240 Sedona Prince kind of look like they've been playing together for, 0:11:44.520 --> 0:11:46.960 you know, years, not just whatever eight games or nine games, 0:11:47.040 --> 0:11:47.520 whatever it is. 0:11:47.600 --> 0:11:49.520 So I think Hayley Bentliss. 0:11:49.040 --> 0:11:51.520 Looked really comfortable, like she looks like she has her 0:11:51.559 --> 0:11:54.559 confidence back after all the ups and downs that came 0:11:54.600 --> 0:11:57.040 with her season at LSC last year. And Sadona Prince, 0:11:57.800 --> 0:12:00.760 now that she's healthy, has really been dominant and some 0:12:00.800 --> 0:12:04.040 of the teams that she was impossible to start to stop. 0:12:04.080 --> 0:12:06.319 If you know NC State, obviously they don't have a 0:12:06.400 --> 0:12:08.319 dominant big but you know she was going off I 0:12:08.360 --> 0:12:10.480 think for thirty points and you know, Notre Dame and 0:12:10.880 --> 0:12:12.480 some of these other teams that they're able to beat. 0:12:12.559 --> 0:12:15.240 She's really just asserted her will in the paints. 0:12:15.320 --> 0:12:17.320 So if they can stay healthy, because obviously that was 0:12:17.320 --> 0:12:19.680 their big issue last year, leading to the walk on 0:12:19.760 --> 0:12:20.720 tryouts and whatnot. 0:12:21.360 --> 0:12:22.240 And that's a team. 0:12:22.280 --> 0:12:25.080 And you know they play South Carolina this weekend, so 0:12:25.240 --> 0:12:27.520 I'm so excited for that game to see you this 0:12:27.640 --> 0:12:28.680 is you know, on a big test. 0:12:28.760 --> 0:12:30.000 You know, it doesn't get bigger than. 0:12:29.960 --> 0:12:32.600 South Carolina, So that'll tell I think a lot about 0:12:32.600 --> 0:12:34.280 them and if they're really the real deal. 0:12:35.040 --> 0:12:37.520 I have to say, Hayley Vanleth is such an interesting 0:12:37.559 --> 0:12:40.760 thing to see because we know system matters, we know 0:12:40.920 --> 0:12:43.720 teammates and coaches and how you're being used matters. But 0:12:44.120 --> 0:12:46.400 the way she fell off at LSU and then to 0:12:46.440 --> 0:12:49.000 see her play now to your point about her confidence, 0:12:49.040 --> 0:12:51.720 but also just it's a reminder for us that a 0:12:51.760 --> 0:12:54.880 player is so much more than their ability. It is 0:12:54.960 --> 0:12:57.319 about everything else around them as well. I want to 0:12:57.320 --> 0:12:59.280 talk about Sadona Prince. She's the focus of one of 0:12:59.280 --> 0:13:01.800 a couple darker stories in women's soups this year. 0:13:01.960 --> 0:13:03.400 We got to take a quick break, but when we. 0:13:03.320 --> 0:13:05.400 Come back, we're going to talk to you about those 0:13:05.440 --> 0:13:08.240 stories and what the ceiling is for Juju Watkins, So 0:13:08.480 --> 0:13:19.880 stick around slices. Okay, before the break, Alexi, we were 0:13:19.920 --> 0:13:23.080 talking about TCU. Sodona Prince played for Texas and Oregon 0:13:23.160 --> 0:13:26.040 before transferring to TCU before the twenty twenty three season, 0:13:26.040 --> 0:13:28.079 and she's somewhat of a household name in part because 0:13:28.080 --> 0:13:30.319 she had that big role in calling out the lack 0:13:30.360 --> 0:13:33.320 of resources provided by the NCAA during the twenty twenty 0:13:33.320 --> 0:13:36.880 one NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament, and her complaints really helped 0:13:36.880 --> 0:13:40.960 inspire an independent investigation sweeping changes new TV deals. All that, 0:13:41.559 --> 0:13:44.440 but Prince has also drawn attention for accusations from her 0:13:44.480 --> 0:13:48.360 ex girlfriend, Olivias Debil, alleging physical and verbal abuse, and 0:13:48.400 --> 0:13:51.560 another former girlfriend posted on social media that's Tabiel's account 0:13:51.600 --> 0:13:54.920 paralleled some of her experiences with Prince. Meantime, we also 0:13:55.000 --> 0:13:57.800 have Notre Dames Hannah Hidalgo making headlines in July after 0:13:57.840 --> 0:14:02.360 reposting an Instagram video of a conversial conservative commentator calling 0:14:02.400 --> 0:14:06.280 gay marriage a sin, and then South Carolina's Ashlyn Watkins 0:14:06.320 --> 0:14:09.240 recently returned to the team after charges were dismissed after 0:14:09.280 --> 0:14:12.119 an August arrest for first degree assault and battery and kidnapping, 0:14:12.120 --> 0:14:14.760 and per court records, the charges were dismissed because she 0:14:14.880 --> 0:14:18.839 completed a pre trial intervention program. I don't necessarily want 0:14:18.840 --> 0:14:20.800 to dig into each of these issues individually, in part 0:14:20.840 --> 0:14:22.840 because I know you didn't cover them, But I do 0:14:22.960 --> 0:14:25.000 want to talk about what has felt like sort of 0:14:25.040 --> 0:14:28.400 a relative lack of coverage and discussion about them, not 0:14:28.480 --> 0:14:31.280 a lot of commentary from these players or their coaches 0:14:31.320 --> 0:14:32.000 and teammates. 0:14:32.520 --> 0:14:33.640 And I wonder if you feel like. 0:14:33.600 --> 0:14:36.720 Women's hoops media and fans are ready to start holding 0:14:36.840 --> 0:14:39.800 women athletes accountable the same way that we demand male 0:14:39.840 --> 0:14:43.080 players and especially their coaches be held accountable and transparent 0:14:43.120 --> 0:14:43.920 in these situations. 0:14:44.640 --> 0:14:46.520 Yeah, I think we have a little bit of a 0:14:46.520 --> 0:14:48.480 ways to go in the women's sports world. And I 0:14:48.480 --> 0:14:51.840 think it's a really layered discussion when we talk about 0:14:51.880 --> 0:14:54.240 media coverage, you know, we have to talk about how 0:14:54.240 --> 0:14:56.280 there's still not a lot of full time people covering 0:14:56.320 --> 0:14:59.960 women's sports that can really you know, give these important 0:15:00.120 --> 0:15:03.920 issues or these you know, complicated matters the full kind 0:15:03.920 --> 0:15:08.040 of coverage or reporting depth that they deserve. 0:15:07.720 --> 0:15:09.360 Right, and so I think it's a little bit of that. 0:15:09.480 --> 0:15:12.880 I think time even because when there's legal things involved, 0:15:13.080 --> 0:15:15.480 a lot of people do not understand behind the scenes, 0:15:15.840 --> 0:15:19.280 there isn't access, there isn't ability to get comment or 0:15:19.280 --> 0:15:21.360 to do research. A lot of people get stymied by 0:15:21.360 --> 0:15:24.360 the fact that once there are lawsuits or legal issues involved, 0:15:24.400 --> 0:15:26.080 you're just sort of stuck in waiting for a while. 0:15:26.080 --> 0:15:28.800 And a lot of people reporting on everything else can't 0:15:28.840 --> 0:15:30.840 also be showing up for that stuff every day. 0:15:31.040 --> 0:15:33.920 No, absolutely, that's a huge part of it as well. 0:15:33.960 --> 0:15:36.640 And then two, I think in women's sports, maybe it's 0:15:37.000 --> 0:15:41.720 fans or people that care about women's sports. Also there's 0:15:41.720 --> 0:15:43.840 this tendency I think at times where we want to 0:15:43.880 --> 0:15:46.440 put I say we but like people want to protect 0:15:46.720 --> 0:15:49.320 the women's athletes or women's sports athletes because of the 0:15:49.360 --> 0:15:52.200 fact there's so many bad faith actors that do try to. 0:15:52.160 --> 0:15:54.120 Tear people and women's sports down. 0:15:54.240 --> 0:15:57.400 But I think you know, to really give these athletes 0:15:57.400 --> 0:15:59.320 and the sports and the leagues, you know, the coverage 0:15:59.360 --> 0:16:02.240 that they do, you have to hold them accountable at times, 0:16:02.240 --> 0:16:04.720 whether or not that's an instances that you just mentioned 0:16:04.840 --> 0:16:07.640 or you know, bigger picture matters when a league does 0:16:07.680 --> 0:16:09.680 something wrong or when you know team you know there's 0:16:09.720 --> 0:16:12.720 a coach issue or whatnot, Like you have to be 0:16:12.760 --> 0:16:15.200 able to hold everyone accountable in the same way. And 0:16:15.240 --> 0:16:18.560 then you know, there's some of the ones the examples 0:16:18.720 --> 0:16:22.240 you brought up too, we're talking about queer relationships or 0:16:22.360 --> 0:16:25.640 dynamics where the you know, a woman is the one 0:16:25.640 --> 0:16:28.560 that's allege of being you know, the abuser or someone 0:16:28.600 --> 0:16:32.120 that you know has been, you know, in a bad situation. 0:16:32.240 --> 0:16:35.480 I just think that maybe as a society there's still 0:16:35.560 --> 0:16:38.920 just like we don't quite know how to grapple with 0:16:38.960 --> 0:16:41.360 that or talk about that when it comes to women 0:16:41.520 --> 0:16:44.360 or queer relationships as opposed to maybe the stereotype of 0:16:44.440 --> 0:16:48.800 like this male football player was accused of his girlfriend. 0:16:48.800 --> 0:16:50.600 So I think it's there's a lot of different layers. 0:16:50.640 --> 0:16:52.760 I do hope that we as a society continue to 0:16:52.800 --> 0:16:57.480 have difficult conversations and obviously people also can grow and 0:16:57.520 --> 0:17:00.560 can change, and you know, we want to hold for that, 0:17:00.640 --> 0:17:03.440 but there's also times to hold them accountable. And as 0:17:03.480 --> 0:17:07.399 a media kind of environment and stand bases, we can 0:17:07.440 --> 0:17:09.600 do that. And it's not like they're always in men's 0:17:09.640 --> 0:17:12.399 sports doing that as well. There's many examples that people 0:17:12.400 --> 0:17:15.560 that are still have jobs that have been accused of 0:17:15.560 --> 0:17:18.439 horrible things. So I think in general sports fans, but 0:17:18.520 --> 0:17:21.720 also in women's sports, there's a lot of ways for 0:17:21.800 --> 0:17:23.600 us to kind of continue to improve on that. 0:17:24.240 --> 0:17:26.439