Stark contrast between women’s and men’s facilities
As teams settled into their San Antonio bubble life for the NCAA women's basketball tournament that begins Sunday, personnel found themselves shocked by the lack of a legitimate weight room for players — especially compared with the elaborate men's tournament weight room setup in Indianapolis.
Ali Kershner, the sports performance coach for No. 1 Stanford, posted a photo to her Instagram (@kershner.ali) of the men's setup (which appears to have everything a team could want and spans the equivalent of a convention center ballroom) and the women's (which looks like something you'd find at a hotel gym).
"Not usually one for this type of post but this deserves attention," Kershner posted.
She then tagged the NCAA Instagram accounts and said, "This needs to be addressed. These women want and deserve to be given the same opportunities. Not only that — 3 weeks in a bubble and no access to dumbbells above 30s until the sweet 16? In a year defined by a fight for equality this is a chance to have a conversation and get better."
When former Oregon star Sabrina Ionescu got wind of the disparity, she tweeted, "Thought this was a joke. WTF is this?!? To all the women playing in the @marchmadness tournament, keep grinding!"
Many others voiced their disapproval.
The NCAA did not refute Kershner's comparison.
"We acknowledge that some of the amenities teams would typically have access to have not been as available inside the controlled environment," NCAA vice president Lynn Holzman said. "In part, this is due to the limited space and the original plan was to expand the workout area once additional space was available later in the tournament. However, we want to be responsive to the needs of our participating teams, and we are actively working to enhance existing resources at practice courts, including additional weight training equipment."
The men's tournament hasn't fielded any public complaints about the weight room, but it's been an eventful start in Indianapolis, too.
Players spanning 15 teams launched a protest Wednesday under the hashtag #NotNCAAProperty with the hopes of getting the NCAA to change its rules regarding name, image and likeness.
UCLA surges late to save season and defeat MSU
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — It was a strange twist, UCLA experiencing the opposite of what it had endured over the previous 2 1/2 weeks.
The Bruins were the ones down big in the first half. They were the ones who fought back with seemingly no chance.
Once trailing Michigan State by as many as 14 points in the first half and by 11 points at halftime, the Bruins forced overtime, appearing as if they just might extend their first appearance in an NCAA tournament in three years.
They did just that, a loud eight-clap breaking out high inside Mackey Arena after the Bruins prevailed for an unlikely 86-80 victory in the First Four game that came courtesy of making the kinds of plays they couldn’t during a rash of recent collapses.
Bruins players stood with arms draped over each other’s shoulders in the final seconds, swaying back and forth in celebration of their first NCAA tournament triumph since 2017. It didn’t even matter that Jules Bernard missed two late free throws after the Bruins had dominated the extra period.
UCLA (18-9) will play sixth-seeded Brigham Young on Saturday at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis in the first round. It’s the start of what the Bruins hope will be three games in five days that would be needed to reach a regional semifinal.
Back-to-back baskets by UCLA’s Johnny Juzang gave the Bruins a fourpoint lead to start the overtime and sparked audible unease from a crowd that leaned heavily in the Spartans’ favor.
The Spartans later got the ball back down by three points before Aaron Henry lost a pass out of bounds along the baseline. UCLA’s Cody Riley powered in for a two-handed dunk, extending the Bruins’ advantage to five points, before the Spartans countered with a basket that proved especially costly when Juzang went down hard along the baseline and had to be helped off the court in extreme anguish.