Stanford wins NCAA women’s basketball title over Arizona.
With ending to remember, Cardinal capture their first national crown since 1992
SAN ANTONIO — This is what they’ll remember.
Four long arms, two belonging to Lexie Hull and two belonging to Cameron Brink, outstretched toward the Alamodome roof, and trying to stretch even higher.
A spinning heave from Aari McDonald, the transcendent star of the NCAA women’s tournament, who lofted the basketball above those four arms toward the rim, maybe toward glory, maybe toward heartbreak.
Thousands of socially distanced lumps in throats as a season hung in the air, and in the balance.
Then the ball bouncing off the back of the rim, and the celebration of a worthy champion.
Stanford will remember this, and everyone else who witnessed it will, too. They will remember how the Cardinal didn’t play the best game of their season against Arizona in the national title game Sunday night, but played well enough to hold on for a 54-53 victory.
They will remember all of the details of coach Tara VanDerveer’s third NCAA championship, secured an astounding 29 years after her previous one, and they will remember how a hometown standout helped make it happen.
“We made a play at the end,” said Stanford guard Kiana Williams of Wagner.
And that’s what they should remember, right? The plays that were made, not only on Sunday but over the last three weeks? Not only by them, but by every player who proved this event was worthy of respect?
The Cardinal won’t forget about the other stuff. They won’t forget about the 87 nights they had to spend in hotel rooms during the past few months, having been pushed out of their home county by pandemic restrictions and then isolated in a River Walk bubble over the duration
of the tournament.
They won’t forget about how they had to start this three-week run having to defend the legitimacy of their sport, and having to demand what they deserved.
But instead of remembering the absurd discrepancies between the Indianapolis and San Antonio bubble weight rooms, they’ll remember everything women like McDonald and Stanford’s Haley Jones lifted.
Their level of play. Their teams.
Their sport. Instead of remembering what was in the men’s swag bags and what wasn’t in the women’s, they’ll remember how this tournament might have been the beginning of stars like
Connecticut’s Paige Bueckers and Louisville’s Hailey Van Lith cashing in. Of all the basketball players who made the Elite Eight this year, eight of the 10 mostfollowed stars on Twitter and Instagram were women, led by Bueckers and Van Lith.
When the NCAA is finally forced to allow athletes to monetize their own names, images and likenesses — and that moment is coming soon — it will be women who stand to benefit the most. According to Axios, Bueckers’ following could be worth $382,000 per year.
Now that’s some swag. On that note, instead of remembering the bubble meal choices that paled in comparison to what the men ate in Indianapolis,
people will remember the women who feasted over the past few weeks. They’ll remember Baylor’s NaLyssa Smith of East Central making every shot she took against Michigan, and Texas A&M’s Jordan Nixon gorging on 35 points and a buzzer-beater against Iowa State, and Texas’ Charli Collier stuffing the stat sheet with buckets, rebounds and defensive stops in an upset of Maryland.
Instead of remembering how the NCAA’s hamfisted handling of even things such as court logos highlighted inequities, people will remember there were breakthroughs, too. With Arizona’s Adia Barnes and South Carolina’s Dawn Staley both making it to the last weekend, it marked
the first time in history two Black women coached in the same Final Four.
From the looks of things, both will be back.
Instead of remembering this as the muted Final Four, the one with empty concourses and cardboard cutouts in desolate sections of the cavernous Alamodome, people will remember hearing the local cheering sections.
Hosting the entire tournament in one place with limited attendance might not have been perfect, but for the San Antonians — Baylor’s Smith, Stanford’s Williams, Texas’ Kyra Lambert, Arkansas’ Amber Ramirez, Georgia’s Gabby Connally, Texas A&M’s Sahara Jones, and North Carolina’s Deja Kelly — it was a chance to have their families’ voices ring out like never before. They’ll remember that. Instead of remembering the justifiable outrage that began the tournament, they’ll remember the justifiable outpouring of support that followed. Instead of remembering how disheartening it was to still have to ask for more, they’ll remember all they gave anyway.
And instead of remembering what the tournament got wrong?
They’ll remember Sunday night, and four outstretched arms, and a ball in the air.
And the reasons why they cared so much in the first place.