I've watched the semi-final game against South Carolina a number of times on YouTube. It was one of the hardest fought games of the post-season - men or women - well officiated, well coached, and well played. The effort expended by each team was prodigious, and they were so evenly matched you felt throughout that it would come down to the last few seconds.
In spite of their effort to be even-handed, the ESPN coverage was slanted toward the East Coast team. It's a regional bias pervasive throughout the national sports media - sort of like Texans cheering for Texas teams in bowl games. New York media types can't help preferring eastern teams - especially when they're playing teams from thousands of miles away with players they're much less familiar with.
Rebecca Lobo was almost worshipful of Aliyah Boston's offense and defense, when to me it looked like Stanford's post players were every bit as effective and kept Boston pretty much in check throughout. When you look at all the All American teams, Aliyah's name is at the top, and she was expected by many to be named the national player of the year. Neither Haley Jones nor Lexie Hull were named to any All American teams - not even third string or honorable mention - nor were they finalists for the Wooden Award (Paige Bueckers won it) or for the Wade Trophy (NaLyssa Smith won it.) (Really?)
As I see it, Stanford will have to kick the door in and force the eastern writers, analysts, and commentators to recognize the greatness of our players. When you have six or seven great scorers on your team and you play in the toughest conference in the nation, your numbers don't look like Paige's or NaLyssa's. Next year we need to win the NCAA Tournament again - and again in 2023. Then, the voters and selectors will be forced to give our great players the awards and the acclaim they deserve.
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