Within the past few seasons, women’s basketball has taken over the world of sports and has become as popular as ever.
A handful of rising stars have shined the spotlight on women’s basketball coming into this year’s March Madness – a single-elimination tournament amongst the top 68 Division I teams in the nation. Iowa State’s Caitlin Clark has astonished fans with her three-point shooting skills and ability to lead her team to the final round of last year’s March Madness tournament. On February 29, Clark announced that she would be declaring for the 2024 WNBA Draft. The guard is projected to be the first pick, which belongs to the Indiana Fever. Following Clark’s draft declaration, Indiana Fever’s ticket prices increased 133%. “It’s Clarkonomics,” basketball analyst Deb Antonelli told AP News. “Her ability to move the meter and the excitement around her is incredible. The socially acceptable thing to do is to watch Caitlin Clark play basketball”.
Another rising college basketball star is the University of Southern California’s JuJu Watkins. Watkins is tied with Clark for the all-time most games with 30 or more points – with 12 games each– and is the frontrunner for national freshman of the year. “She’s the next greatest thing in women’s basketball,” four-time NBA Champion LeBron James told the Los Angeles Times.
Two other top-ranked college basketball stars are Stanford’s Cameron Brink and the University of Connecticut’s Paige Bueckers. As of March 19, the Final Four for women’s basketball sold six times as many tickets as the Final Four for men’s basketball. The viewership of the championship between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the South Carolina Gamecocks peaked at 24.1 million viewers within the game’s final minutes, becoming the most-watched basketball game (including men’s and professional teams) since 2019.
The WNBA has also been thriving more than ever. The 2023 season attracted over 36 million viewers– a 27% increase from the previous season– and a record-high number of merchandise sales– a 107% increase from the previous season. Tickets for the upcoming WNBA Draft sold out in just 15 minutes, largely in part to college stars such as Brink and Clark.
The New York Liberty’s Sabrina Ionescu has gained recognition for her dazzling sharp-shooting skills. Ionescu broke the record for most-made threes in the All-Star three-point contest in both the NBA and WNBA, making 25 out of 27 threes and scoring 37 of 40 possible points. Many fans wanted to watch a three-point contest between Ionescu and Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, who many argue is the greatest shooter of all time. The new contest between Curry and Ionescu was one of four events during the 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis. Ionescu used WNBA basketballs, but had to shoot from behind the NBA three-point line, which is 3 feet and 3 inches further than the women’s line. Curry won by a slim three-point margin – 29 to 26 – but Ionescu had him on his toes throughout the contest.
The WNBA is expanding to more cities. In late 2023, the league announced that it would be adding a 13th team to the Bay Area and would share a facility with the Warriors.
On the local level, one southern Bay Area high school team has gained attention nationwide. Led by senior guard Morgan Cheli, the Archbishop Mitty Monarchs Girls Basketball team was ranked the number one team in the nation in the 2023-24 season. Cheli received over 40 Division I offers to continue her basketball career at the collegiate level, and committed to the University of Connecticut in April of her junior year. Four players, including Cheli, received All-CCS Honors. Mitty rode its phenomenal 24-0 record into the 2024 playoffs, beating six teams to earn their ticket to the Open Division State Championship – the highest-level matchup in California. Despite falling to the Etiwanda Eagles in the final round, Mitty had a season that was one for the history books.
In the past couple of years, women’s basketball has flourished more than ever.
Thanks to a handful of stars on the high school, collegiate, and WNBA levels, women’s basketball has finally started to receive the recognition it deserves.
