The Valkyries enter 2026 in a position that most expansion teams don’t experience in their second season: having a track record of success
Michelle Smith
Michelle Smith has covered women’s basketball nationally for more than three decades. A 2024 inductee into the U.S. Basketball Writer’s Hall of Fame, Smith has worked for ESPN.com, The Athletic, the San Francisco Chronicle, as well as Pac-12.com and WNBA.com. She is the 2017 recipient of the Jake Wade Media Award from the Collegiate Sports Information Directors Association (CoSIDA) and was named the Mel Greenberg Media Award winner by the WBCA in 2019.
Posted inFeatures
Cori Close’s calling finally turns into a UCLA national title
“It’s immeasurably more than I could ask or imagine.”
Posted inNCAA Basketball
UCLA, South Carolina are defined by their ability to thrive under pressure
In the Final 4, the Bruins and the Gamecocks found their composure and rode it to a chance at a national title
Posted inWNBA
Valkyries lose Carla Leite in 2026 WNBA expansion draft
Leite heads to the Portland Fire with their second pick in the long-awaited expansion draft.
Posted inFeatures
The Final Four in the West Coast is long overdue
The West Coast has produced elite talent and teams for decades.
Posted inBig Ten, NCAA Basketball, The IX Basketball, Uncategorized
UCLA earns another chance to go 1-0 — in Phoenix at Final Four
A senior-loaded roster puts pressure on UCLA to finish with a title.
Posted inNCAA Basketball
Takeaways from TCU’s victory over Virginia in the Sweet 16
Just three years into Mark Campbell’s turnaround tenure as head coach, TCU is on the cusp of the Final Four yet again.
Posted inPac-12
Excerpt from ‘Life’s Work’: Tara VanDerveer absorbs the implosion of the Pac-12
VanDerveer: ‘You invest 40 years into something, and to watch it unravel in 40 minutes, it’s sad. And you have to process who you are angry with, you know?’
Posted inACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Features, Mid-Majors, Pac-12
Pac-12 mini-reunion leads to the question: Which programs are better off?
More than two years after the conference imploded, one of the biggest losses remains its women’s basketball brand
Posted inACC, Features, NCAA Basketball
How Stanford is on the way to proving it’s for real
A 7-0 start has put the Cardinal on the verge of being ranked with their toughest non-conference stretch to come