From college to the pros, women’s sports have been extremely prominent in sports media so far this year and have no plans to stop anytime soon.
Multiple players have broken records, full teams have set new standards, and whole leagues have been introduced to provide new opportunities to talented female athletes.
Women’s college basketball has been dominating the courts this season, especially because of Iowa standout Caitlin Clark, who has been commanding the league. Clark has broken numerous records throughout her career, such as passing Kelsey Plum for the all-time NCAA women’s scorer on Feb. 15 and besting Pete Maravich’s all-time scoring record for all of Division I men’s and women’s basketball on March 3. Clark is expected to be the first pick in the WNBA draft.
“What Caitlin’s done has been amazing,” Jaeson Maravich, Pete Maravich’s oldest son, told The Associated Press. “She’s a fantastic player, great for the women’s game and basketball in general.”
Apart from Clark, there have been numerous other basketball players that have made their mark on the sport. Notre Dame’s freshman, Hannah Hidalgo, broke the ACC freshman scoring record on Feb. 29; Syracuse’s senior Dyaisha Fair passed Britney Griner for fifth place amongst the NCAA women’s all-time points scored on Feb. 25; and University of Southern California’s freshman JuJu Watkins is currently behind Clark as the highest scorer in the nation after scoring double digits in every game this season.
Moving from the courts to the mats, LSU gymnastics has been rolling through this season with countless successes. The Tigers set both a school and nationwide record on Feb. 2 when they defeated Arkansas with a score of 198.475, just over one point shy of a perfect score. Two weeks later, five gymnasts recorded season-high performances to help earn their team’s third 198 of the season, all in front of a sold-out crowd of 12,740 people.
“I don’t think we have a weak event,” LSU gymnast Aleah Finnegan told College Gym News following LSU’s win. “I think we’re pretty even through all four events. We’re finally just showing how capable we are on that event.”
And, though it has only been in action since January, the new Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) has been making noise. Within the first week, the league set an attendance record when 13,316 people attended the match between Minnesota and Montreal. Just a month later, on Feb. 16, the record was broken again as Toronto and Montreal faced off in front of a crowd of 19,285 hockey fans.
“Young women now have role models to look up to and know that if they want to combine a career with pro hockey, they now have a place to do it,” MLSE president Cynthia Devine told The Athletic. “And that just makes me so proud to see this strong consolidated league finally come to fruition.”
With ten months left in the year, it is very likely that more mile markers will be passed as these female athletes continue to defy odds.
“You see what’s going on all over the country,” Iowa women’s head basketball coach Lisa Bluder said. “There’s an explosion of women’s athletics going on, and largely because we’re getting more TV exposure than we’ve ever had before, so people are understanding how good the level of play is and how exciting it is.”
