The Most Manic of Mondays
WBB: And just like that another historic NCAA women’s basketball season has come to a close. This year’s Championship was highly anticipated with the Player of the Year, Caitlin Clark, and her Iowa Hawkeyes taking on Coach of the Year, Dawn Staley, and the undefeated South Carolina Gamecocks. Clark concluded her epic college career with 30 points, helping her break yet ANOTHER record for most career points in an NCAA Women’s Tournament (483). Yet, in the end, it was South Carolina who came out victorious with a final score of 87-75, an extra impressive feat considering the team had lost all five of last season’s starters to the WNBA. South Carolina now boasts their third NCAA title and is just the tenth team to finish the NCAA women’s basketball season with a perfect record.
USWNT: Continuing with the girl power, what a win for the USWNT. Japan took the lead early in the game, scoring not even one minute into the Semi-final game of the SheBelieves Cup. The game was full of feel-good moments including Mallory Swanson taking the field 354 days after tearing her patella tendon, Jaedyn Shaw making herstory as the first USWNT player to score a goal in each of her first five starts, and the record-breaking crowd of 50,644. The USA ultimately came out victorious thanks to Captain Lindsay Horan’s PK in the 78th minute. They’ll take on Canada tomorrow in the SheBelieves Cup Final.
MLB: Topping the MLB standings are the Boys from the Bronx. This weekend they hosted the Toronto Blue Jays. With a tied ball game, Yankee’s Giancarlo Stanton hit a grand slam (a home run hit with all three bases loaded) giving the Yankees the lead in the third inning. The home team beat the Blue Jays 8-3 and have now won their first three series of the season. They sit atop the MLB standings with 8 wins and only 2 losses.
It’s the most Manic of Mondays as the Men’s NCAA March Madness tournament prepares to crown a champion in tonight’s final game. Two of the tournament’s top teams, No.1 Purdue and No.1 UConn will face off at 9:20 pm ET tonight in State Farm Stadium - a.k.a the first place Taylor played the Eras tour and home to the Arizona Cardinals. Tonight marks the Boilermaker's first Championship appearance since 1969 where they were runner-ups to the legendary John Wooden and his UCLA Bruins. Despite making it to three Final Fours and two championships, this would be Purdue’s first title if they won tonight’s game. In contrast, the Huskies look to defend their title after they beat No.5 San Diego State in last season’s Championship game. UConn has won five titles since 1999, the most of any school in that timeline and the fourth all-time. Similar to the women’s final, both the Player of the Year and Coach of the Year will go head to head as Purdue’s 7′4″ Zach Edey took the title for P.O.Y and UConn’s Dan Hurley became the first coach in program history to earn the coaches title. East Coasters grab your caffeine and West Coasters grab your popcorn because it’s going to be a late but entertaining night!
