Make It Three Cocks, Baby with Big Citrus

Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're in Tampa, Florida with our nails painted Husky blue, gamecock garnet, UCLA gold, and longhorns burnt orange.

In preparation for the Final four games tonight. Does it look crazy? Yes? But do I feel good about it? Also?

Yes, It's Friday, April fourth, Happy Friday Slices. On today's show, We're all about the hoops, no need to know, no news, just Big Citrus getting you excited and prepped for the final four games with our favorite storylines, what each team needs to do to secure a dub, and of course we'll.

Make some sure to go wrong predictions.

Gotta take a quick break first that it's Page versus Bets and Booker versus kits. Big Citrus previews the biggest weekend of the college hoops season. Next welcome back Slices. Like I said, I am in Tampa for a fun weekend at the Final Four, including a live show with Diana Tarassi and Sue Byrd thanks to Capital One. That'll be on Saturday at Tourneytown at two pm if anyone is at the Final Four, and you'll also get to

First, how we got here.

I can think back to when the three of us were prepping for how we were going to I covered this season, talk about this season, what we were most excited about, the parody the Superstars misch. Has it lived up to our very high expectations?

Absolutely? One thousand percent. You cannot be mad about the season that we have witnessed. I think that makes me especially happy because after last season, with all the drama of the final four in the tournament and all the hype around Kaylin Clark and Angel Reese, we know about all that. A lot of folks were like, is it gonna hit the same without them around? And I think the answer is absolutely resoundingly yes.

What about you, Alex, Yeah, absolutely.

I think back to just five years ago and I would get so mad reading news coverage in March because I always would call it my internal red pen. I would be like men's, men's, men's, you know, like just so much ignorance around the women's tournament.

And I finally finally.

Feel like it has broken through and there is an expectation that news outlets are covering it, and so I think I've just been trying to embrace that. And I have to tell y'all funny story. So Tuesday evening, I had to run a couple of errands and Sarah, I was kind of bumped because it meant I was going to miss you on around the horn. So for slices that aren't aware, you have to go back and watch, oh watch.

Sarah was the horn, predicting the.

Costume as Woody Page, a seventy five year old man.

It's Woody Page. Am I on the show today? Check the schedule? I'm on the show? Why do I? Is that?

So? My poor husband has seen me dressed as any number of men all the time. It's like, how come you never dress like a hot woman? I'm like, sorry, babe, not my wheelhouse.

So I walk in, though I have to run some errands, and so I walk into our local general store and I kid you not, this place has everything, but it's also the size of a shoe box. And I walk in and I hear just like over the lad speaker, like Olivia Miles enters the transfer portal and I'm like, women's sports, what where? And I'm like, is this one of I heart updates? And then I'm like, Sarah's usually a little bit more even keel in her iHeart updates.

This sounds like an.

Angry Woody Page And sure enough, and so granted it was you, so like it's not that big of a coincidence, but just that spirit is like that's March madness for me now, and I love it.

Yeah, the idea that you could walk into a store and have a national show on ESPN be talking about Olivia Miles and all that stuff and have it be.

It turns out it was me. Again.

Every time you keep hearing things in your stores or in places that you don't expect them, it is me.

But that's also nice.

I'm really establishing myself as the voice in your head at all times, even when you're not working.

What a delight for you, Alex.

It's honestly pretty sad given how much I hear your voice that I don't immediately put it together.

That's what I'm saying.

Yeah, I mean I was also attempting to do a woody page, but I honestly just sounded mostly like a really bad Bernie Sanders impression the whole time. That's funny that you say that, though, because first of all, I internal redpen.

I mean that should be like my nickname for life.

I literally just think walking around like that could be done better, or like that's there shouldn't be.

An apostrophe there, Like I just do that all the time.

But I have been doing that of late too, and I've been especially noticing in the positive direction where I see a headline say men's or I see a story say men's when it used to always just say NCAA basketball tournament, and then it would say women's if it was talking women's.

But now it's saying men's too, So I do love that.

And I think as far as the expectations for this year, one thing I will say, and I'll have to say this carefully because I don't want to get away from talking about intersectional issues in women's sports. I think that's important, it matters, and I care about it. And also I was really delighted that this season was about basketball and it felt almost like Caitlin and Angel crawled so that these players could walk without having to face the garbage

Player because of her background.

I don't know if that's because now we have this superstar cadra of women that are black, white, all races right as opposed to last year when they tried to make it one versus the other, when it's like Paige and Juju, you know, there's multiple stars to talk about where it doesn't feel like it's all centered on one person, and then everyone is that person's rival or someone to compare them to. I've certainly heard people comparing Paige to Caitlin.

But that's been nice.

Yeah, I totally get where you're coming from with that, and I think I understand what you're saying about Caitlin and Angel crawling so that these folks could run. And even during the WNBA season, I didn't hear as much. Still, besides the typical folks who've been around women's basketball forever, I didn't hear enough about what they were doing on

You, and it proves the point we've been saying with this show since the very beginning, which is you just have to give people enough information to be able to have better conversations, and then they care more and then they watch games on and on it goes. Before it was literally like if Caitlin Clark opened a little door for a lot of people to start watching. They didn't have any context to talk about Madison Booker in Texas. They didn't really understand what Hannah and Juju had done

They're mean to each other like the dumbest shit.

And now it's like, Okay, I built on a year of learning about some of the teams and names, and now I can actually talk about the basketball.

Not me personally, but the people were.

Talking about I think also credit to Juju's team. You know, she's just a sophomore, but she has so much going

And shout out to some brands who saw it when she was still in high school, because they're part of the reason that they were able, you know, to start to put that together. She started get invested in as a future star, and it allowed her to create that infrastructure. But you're totally right, it's when she reaches her moment people already like, oh, I kind of knew this was

That's what it's That's what it was always supposed to be, which is the crazy part, right, it was always supposed to be this. I remember going to a Final four I want to say it was twenty fourteen, twenty fifteen when it was in Nashville, and I went with my parents and it was just amazing on its own right, But that compared to what we experienced at WNBA All Star, which is what I'm comparing. You know, hopefully the final

Catering to us, right, they're catering to us.

It's not yeah, we care about you, but we're also trying to get all these brands and no, they're here, No, everybody's here, and we're just here to have a good time.

Yeah, it's what it's supposed to be.

The investment has changed, the parties, the activations, the people, the size of the event, the halftime entertainment, Like all.

That really is gonna be performing? Are you kidding? Man?

Yeah, it's just it's gonna be a ton of fun. And it's it's the value it has earned, it deserves, and the value that it needs for other people to believe it's something that people who aren't on board yet, you have to show them that something matters and that you care about and you've invested it if you expect them to invest in We talk about this all the time with like why aren't women watching women's sports?

You know why aren't you?

Because when we have the opportunity to go to a men's game that you've put a bunch of money and has a ton of entertainment and everybody's there and everyone's talking about it, we're this thing over here that doesn't have a lot of money and not that many people know about or care about. We're going to pick this one unless you know we're our die hard and until you start to give us the value that we know that it deserves, it's going to be harder to pull

I don't even know.

I'm like so excited and so nervous and so confused at the same time. Because you could not get me to put a significant sum of money on either of these games, I have a feeling, I feel like I have a pick, But none of these games are going to be a blowout. In my opinion, these are going to be real time. Let's start with Texas versus South Carolina. Texas for me, wins if they can make it their tempo and their style of play. It's what they've been

Yeah, right, South Carolina to me feels like a team of adults, you know, like real No, I don't really feel like kids, Like they feel like people that know how to handle the pressure and trust each other. And you looked at on Staley and I think that's the reason why, right this is their fifth straight final four appearance. I think I almost want to make a joke like is South Carolina bad for women's basketball?

Maybe?

But it was so Bundy, Like Sanaia Fagan was asked after the Elite a like, hey, fourth Final four in four years, like is this what you expected when you signed on? And she was like yep, yeah, it's like a great answer. I love it, you know, And and Don has said that, like she has literally said, this is not one of my better teams. She knows that they have a lot of weaknesses, but I think it's that kind of experience and that trust under pressure, like they're not a team that gets flummixed easily.

Yeah, and that's shown right the last few games they've played have not been blow up. They have had to go down to the wire with Duke and then go like it hasn't just been a for them.

I agree.

It makes it really hard to call uh Sarah because you just don't know where it's gonna come from. And that also begs the question like what if it doesn't come who is gonna step.

Up and be that go to person?

So for me, that's the one thing that scares me about South Carolina in that game. But if they can get like ten from three different people and crash the boards like they do, play the defense that we're used to seeing them play.

I think they can walk away with this one. But for Texas, if they.

Want to get this job done, Rory Harmon is gonna do what Rory Harmon did against against TCU, right, She's gonna have to step up, especially if they end up in an offensive law because South Carolina does play that defense. Rory Harmon, the point guard, is gonna have to go get those paint points, pull up jumpers, all that good stuff.

I also think this has.

To be the Madison Booker twenty five plus game. I really do, because South Carolina's guards, they're relentless defensively, They're gonna get what they want in the post with Chloe Kids, Joyce Edwards, all those folks down low. But if Texas and Vic Shafer want to walk away with this, they have to play their normal Texas defense, hard nose pressure.

But Maddie has to go off.

She has to take over and away, and she's so hard to guard because she plays a forward, but she can be a guard. I can't do any when Matt when Harmon was out, she essentially ran the point. So you've got Bree Hall and Raven Johnson probably gonna be tasked with guarding her.

Tessa Johnson off the bench will take some of that as well.

And I like two of those three matchups for Maddie. Hall is the best matchup for her to me, I think, so those other two she got to eat.

I will say, though, yeah, because you mentioned Bree Haul in that SEC tournament game, she held her to zero points until late in the second quarter, like she did not look like herself. Maddie, I think, to your point, needs to be super aggressive off the top, and it's kind of like what we've seen with Page, Like every once in a while she goes all right, I guess it's on me now, and then she just scores like eleven y points in a row.

Like Madison Booker.

Has to decide that that's who she is and that's the position she's in this game. She'll get help from others, they'll find theirs, but she needs to approach it with this.

Is my game. I gotta go big. I want to talk.

Vibes in this one. I mean, first of all, Don Staley is a queen. I mean, find someone with something bad to say about her not only as a leader, as a coach, as a person in this business, in this industry that is changing things for everyone that follows her, but also just like vibes, just everything about her makes you understand why players want to win for her. Vick Schaeffer is a completely different dude, and yet there is

Players are my life.

And the way he talked about what it means to him for them to get so close so many years in a row, and then to make it to see Harmon come back from a major in and fight, to see Maddy Booker, who he's known since before she was even a college player, be more and even better than what was expected of her.

I don't know. There's like a really.

Special bond between Vic Schaeffer and his players that's been really sweet to watch.

Yeah, And if you were to ask me to pick a favorite based on the vibes I'm getting from them, I couldn't. I couldn't because I what a thousand percent be behind both of these stories ending the right way. So yeah, it's it's hard to choose based on that. But like you're saying, two people who when you look at all time the greats in this game coaching, they're top ten, top fifteen, right maybe even top five depending on who you ask.

And we're really lucky right.

Now to be able to see not just them, but also Corey Close, Guino Oriama do what they do best right now.

Yeah, whenever I think about what makes a good coach, I think about the role that honesty plays into it, and the idea that critical honesty can be respectful, it can be a gift, it can be an act of love, you know. I interviewed Malaysia full Wiley back in November of twenty twenty three. It was right after she had made her collegiate debut kind of set everything on fire in that game in Paris, and I asked her about, you know, playing for this coach literally from her hometown.

Era has changed things.

This generation of players need to be coddled more. And yet also there are coaches who are able to both be harsh and critical and also simultaneously show respect for their players. And to me, that's kind of what Don Stalely represents.

Completely agree, and that's so important with this younger generation, like we're hearing it more and more. How do they take criticism, how do they learn through adversity?

How do they not just give up?

And so much of that is the deft touch of a coach who can make them want to do.

Right by them.

It's less about like I don't want them to be angry with me. It's more about I don't want them to be disappointed in me. I just want to live up to their expectations for me. A couple more things

Been fully on like they've won.

But this hasn't been a team beating the breaks off people where it just feels like they're in sync. So is it their due kind of situation, like, oh, we're going to see them click into place, or has what we've seen so far been indicative of what we're going to keep seeing that they're just not quite ready to put it all together at once. If they do put it all together once, it's going to be a problem. And you've got a Texas team that maybe hasn't faced enough adversity yet.

TCU gave them a fight, but when they've been.

Able to put it their best players on the court and do work, it's been their style of play their game. So if they get behind a chunk, can they fight their way back? Especially with their style, this is a team that keeps it low scoring, keeps it defensive. Will they be able to push the pace, change the tempo and get enough points to catch up if they get behind.

That's a tough one, right, And not to make it about William and Mary, but I think that first game in the first round against William and Mary exposed some things because they stayed with them for like the whole half and it was exactly what you're saying.

They weren't hitting from three.

We've seen it multiple times throughout the duration of this tournament, so it's a valid question. I do think Kylo Oldacre could be an X factor, right because the last game she played against TCU, she only had nine points, but that was five more than Adona Prince had. She played good defense on the interior, she showed a lot more emotion, right. I think at this time of the year, it's not just about what the x's and o's are. It's also about momentum. It's also about getting that energy, and I

I think your point about Kyla Oldacre also worth noting. When you have a big like that that you maybe want to sag off of. There was a big play in that last game against where they were sagging. They didn't even step up to guard her at the top of the paint.

She drilled it. Yep. Another play later she makes.

Almost like the equivalent of a football pick six, a big man touchdown, right, Like, you don't expect her to steal it and go the length of the court and finish. When she makes plays like that, your defense changes. It doesn't matter if it's just one or two buckets. You step up on her. Now you don't sag back, and that leaves more space for Madison Booker and others to work. So it will be big for them to get a

Pretty handily nineteen yep.

So I'll start with my prediction, and like I said, I do not think that either of these games will be blowouts. I think South Carolina wins this one. I wouldn't be surprised if Texas one. I could see the path to do it. But I think Don Staley her experience in these games exactly, the amount of players that she can go to if one is not getting it done, and the ways that Texas will have to try to defend each of those players who have a different skill set to bring, is the difference in this one.

Agreed.

I think not just Don's experience, but also the experience of the players on the floor. Right, this is a South Carolina scene that's got kids who have been in situations like excuse me, I say kids, because we're still calling them Don's daycare over.

Here, okay, right, but Alex is calling them grown and sexy.

All right now?

Oh no, okay, she's not actually calling them that. I just love when people say that they want their theme for something to be adult, and then there was no Okay, grown and sexy.

I go, what, No, that's so much worse. But yeah, I think that, uh, that's going to be the difference. The experience of the players on the floor. Texas has some experienced players who've been in the tournament but not to a final four. Remember, this is their first final four in program history since two oh three. It's a long time and matters to play on this stage before you have another chance to try to go get a national championship.

All right, that's two for South Carolina. Two cocks. What do you got, Alex?

Make it three cocks?

Baby.

I cannot stay you both.

I cannot either of you.

All Right, you have to drink now, yeah, we do all we all have to drink because we said Cox.

I'm say Jack, thank you for bringing that up, Alex. I need to remember that and make sure I have a non alcoholic beverage near me when I interview Sue and DT because we're back again with another weekend that has another.

Weekend full of cocks.

And we all know from Sue and Diana's live show that they have a drinking game that they play during their live sidecast, and when every time they say cos Diana and Sue have to take a drink, and I might be I might be hammered on Saturday Afternoon's all I'm saying.

If I don't bring a big glass of water, we.

Have to take a quick break stick around. Okay, let's talk this second game, nine pm Easter. We got number two Yukon versus number one UCLA. This I'm worried about literally surviving one say, for a number of reasons. Number one, because I'm just a huge Pagebackers fan.

She has been through so much in her career.

To be here, to be healthy, to be performing at the level she is is already a frickin' gift. I just want her to get all the way through the tournament healthy and keep playing her best basketball and have this a moment to shine.

You know, we talked about this.

She was Player of the Year as a freshman and has had a number of high points since, but it just hasn't been the path that you wish for a player as talented as her. So this season and this tournament has just been a really, really big blessing. On the other hand, I love coach Corey close, and I just love this program. And I think because of the men's side and John Wooden, it's always been this like,

But it feels like it should be.

It just has always felt like, let's catch UCLA up on the women's side to what we expect of them, and so making their first ever final for Corey close like leading this team in a way and getting people to see it as a new destination in the women's game. Oh, it's just like pulling at my heartstrings. I think this matchup it's.

Definitely given me the feels I think entertainment value wise. And when I say entertainment value, I really mean offense because I love seeing the ball with theft.

A lot of other people love defense. Hey I am who I am?

Okay in terms of that, this is going to be the more fun matchup for me personally, So I like it because of that, But also I'm right there with you. It feels like with UCLA's program specifically, I've been waiting for their women's team to get on that same level as you know, the men had been on and then Yukon. Like you said, it's not just Page, I feel like having a renaissance.

It's that entire program.

Not that they've necessarily been bad recently for Yukon standards, but you know, they haven't one chip since twenty sixteen, and something out there. We'll get to prediction to a second, but something out there is giving me husky very much.

Yeah, I think even circling back on what we were saying before, Oh, circling back. I hate the office in the podcast, but what we were saying a few minutes ago about quotes, relationships and Gino for sure, Sarah, when he came on this show and was talking to you, and he called when he called Page delusional, and you could tell that was just the most respectful delusional anyone

I want to talk about what these teams need to do to win, and I'm going to start with UCLA because for me, it is a simple, simple thing. Lauren Betts period. That is what I have said all tournament long. Find me someone that can go up against Lauren Betts, and you can't, I'm sorry. She's six foot seven, She's averaging twenty points a game on nearly sixty five percent shooting from the field. She has amazing footwork, her passing

I think that's a big old chunk of it for sure. I also agree Kekey Rice has to have a game. She had eight assists in the last game, so that was kind of overlooked. She only had eight points, So continue to keep running the offense and keeping things connected the way coach Close wants to, but also getting that scoring column. The other player for me that when she transferred to UCLA, I was expecting maybe some more numbers out of her.

Not that she hasn't had a good season. Janiah Barker.

She came off the bench for UCLA against LSU had six to rebounds, so you know, decent contribution. But she's the kind of player who gets you fifteen and ten h straight like that, and against Yu Kon, I think she's got an opportunity here because a lot of their attention and focus, as you said, is gonna be on Lauren Betts. So if she can get off, she can score some points, get some rebounds, make some shake for UCLA.

I think that gives them a good shot.

Yeah, And I think Gardner and Hawka is what we talked about last after last game. Their ability to hit, especially if you drop into a double team on Bets and she kicks it out and they're waiting outside and can hit that that changes everything. Hawkas in particular in that last game against usc was a huge piece of their success. To your point about Kiki Rice and her passing, they shoot sixty nine percent, I want to say on shots off of Kiki Rice assists, so she is setting

She's also from the she and Kendall. We didn't talk about this in the Vibe section, but put that down as UCLA vibes as well, both of them out of the dc DMV area.

Yes, yes, okay.

On Yukon's side, give it to Page and tell her that it's on her to get it done.

Listen there.

I mean, Sarah Strong was huge in the last game, and she is going to be a very tough matchup, even for someone like Lauren Betts, who's got mobility and size. I think Sarah Strong plays like a guard who's a big so she will hopefully in this game be able to still show off some really good skills inside even

That'll be a big issue.

I think you see it will try to send Bets in and try to get the Bigs in foul trouble on Yukon. But as great as Sarah Strong is, as great as Asy Fudd can be, and you saw Page kind of put her arms around her after that game and say you good.

You good, were all right, and she said you save in all your shots.

For the fun so funny, I said, no, Page, as I said as Woody Paige yesterday, she could put play dead for three quarters and they were fine.

As an old man way of talking.

But also the beauty of Gino's belief in her to come out of a time out with that elevator play two picks up top. She squeezes through and drains it and it gets her back in her game. Like that's coaching right there, and that's trust, and that's a relationship of knowing what she can do if you believe. So if easy Fudd is hot earlier and doesn't just have a couple successful shots down the stretch, doesn't start oh for eleven, which is I think what she was against USC,

Yeah, I think again, another huge chunk of it. It's gotta be page time. Asy is where my big red circle is. Even if she doesn't hit the shots right. She went three for fourteen in their last game, but I think it was very important for her to take every single shot that she took because to be a shooter, sometimes you're gonna have lulls, but you have to be consistent. You have to shoot yourself through it to your point.

And frankly, she's due too, right.

She also had knee injuries also was out, so that's a redemption story and hopefully she can bring some of that Maxia momentum with her. But the other player who I'm gonna keep my eyes on Kaitlyn Chen. Kaitlyn Chen against USC had Gino cheering more than I've seen him cheer for any single player in a game ever. I mean, he was fist pumping, He's screaming at his bench because Caitlyn Chen, the Princeton transfer, former IVY League Player of the Year, She's one of those players it's hard to

Game at home. But she's just a steady presence.

And I think if she can get off UCLA's guards London, Jones, Keiky, who we already talked about, they're gonna have to focus on her. That again takes some people away who maybe aren't gonna be able to double down or bring double teams to Page, whatever the case may be, and open up some more space for the Huskies. So she's another player I got my eyes on. I think she plays well well, she gives them a great chance.

I think there's an argument sometimes for more kk Arnold very different style of player than Chen, and so there might be moments in this game where kk Arnold is the call and that's the move because Chen is deliberate and intentional and smart, and kk Arnold is explosive and dramatic and fiery and very different energy. So it'll be what Gino reads as this team needing in that moment.

I'm not on the beat. This is my goddamn show.

I can say what I want, and I want Paigebackers to win a title before she graduates. It's normally not that clear cut for me. As you guys know, in women's sports, I'm always like, I.

Want everyone to have a good time. I'm rooting for everyone.

Nope, this time, Corey close and us toa. They got more chances they do South Carolina, they had some, they'll get more. Texas. Congratsivic Shaper and Matt you guys have time. This is it for Page and I want her to go out on top.

Oh it's hard to argue with that. It's one of those situations where you think about the legacy of a player and the what if that would come with it if they don't finish the job. And so for that reason, I'm right there with you.

I really want when the context is forgotten right now, will be like, oh here's why, but like five ten years from now, like oh, yeah, but she never won.

You know what I mean. You could already hear, Oh she's not one of the great she never was exactly exactly. So for that reason, I want this for her. What's up?

What about Kaitlyn Clark, she never won a national championship.

I mean asked those questions.

Depending on who you ask, it matters or it doesn't, right.

The Brianna Stewart says it matters.

Yeah, so I think the Hoopeds. I think the Hoopeds think it matters for sure.

Well listen, I also think Caitlyn Clark is a tremendous player who did a ton for the game. But the argument is she the greatest to ever play college basketball is insane. The only people asking that question are people

And not to go too far down to this tangent, but there's a separation between those two things, right, they have to be separated. And I think that's where you know a lot of folks who aren't asking that question. Those folks forget what she did with the endorsements and attention and all that has not Jack Squat to do what happens.

And you want to say most impactful, she is up there, if not the biggest, although again you have to have a whole ass bonfire built before the match has anything to burn. So if you're not going to talk about Cheryl Swoops and Maya More and Brianna Stewart and Diana Tarassi and you know a million other players that came before, your argument is in valid.

Cheryl Miller right, the number.

Of people that I'm seeing right now posting, I don't know why everyone's talking about Page Becker.

She's not as good as Caitlyn Clark or.

I don't know why people talk about Brianna Stewart about Oh maybe because she won four titles and player of the tournament every single year in college.

And listen, she's got teammates to help.

She had a system around her at Yukon, and she still had to win every single time and go to four straight championships and win every single time and be MVP every single time. And Diana Tarassi you want to talk about, come, I can't. I'm sorry.

I'm getting the buff.

And I'm a huge Klin Clerks fan, I'm like, what are we what are you watching or clearly not watching?

I mean it always comes back to the scarcity mindset of women's sports and honestly women in general, where multiple women aren't allowed to succeed in rice and lift each other up.

Only one room.

At the table for one, as Abby Wambach says, if there's not a seat at the table, pulling up a seat, I'm building a new table, and that's what we are doing. Okay, So my prediction, this is too hard. I not you at my bracket. I picked your sailing my bracket. I told you that before the tournament started. But from watching these two teams in this tournament, Yukon looks so hard to beat.

But Lauren Bets is such a tough matchup.

But I think if there's any coach that can figure out how to scheme around Lauren Bets and get his team to play the right defense, it's Ginito. Spit it out, Spit it out, Okay, purely because I want to send energy into the universe.

I'm picking Yukon. See that wasn't so hard. It was really hard. I'm literally gripping my chair. My hands are white from gripping my chair.

Oh well, this will make you feel better. I'm right there with you. Yet again, I'm usually the contrarian, like in my head, I'll try to build an argument against but I really just this is what I alluded to when we first started this portion of the conversation about Yukon and UCLA. There's just the magic in the air around this Connecticut team. I feel like it's undeniable. It's a huge part of it. The basketball gods. I will see when they actually hit the court, but it feels

I'm Yukon.

So given that all three of us are in agreement and us this is how this is going to unveil. We'll have South Carolina and Yukon in the final.

Who's women Yukon, Yeah, Yukon. It's a husky year, all right.

Sorry for jinxing you Page and company. The final is on Sunday, three pm Eastern on ABC. We will be so excited to chat all things Semis and Final next week. But that's all you're getting from us today, just some predictions sure to go wrong, but hopefully won't.

We got to take a break.

When we come back, a little Good Game Hall of Fame, Yes and mashup, we'll be right back.

Welcome back, slices.

It's time for another entry into the Good Game Hall of Fame, and it's also time for another edition of yes and.

Yep, both at once.

Like two star studded teams meeting in the Final four, these two powerhouse segments come together for an epic Good Game haul of yes and Now. If you're a regular watcher of women's soups or regular listener to this show, you know the name Don Staley. She's been South Carolina's head coach since O eight, has led him to three national championships twenty seventeen, twenty two, and twenty four. She's the only black basketball head coach with multiple national titles,

And sometimes when you're going through.

Things day to day and you don't feel like you could see your way through it, that little nylon piece of string, it rejuvenates you to continue, and it gives you that reason to keep pushing end quote.

And after Staley won.

Her first title in twenty seventeen, Peck told The Undefeated, now andscape quote, now that there's a one and a two, there'll be a three, and the excitement that that gives me is thrilling. I'm a true believer in the power of the mirror. You have a motivation to become what you see.

End quote.

So yes to the greatness and dominance of Don Staley and her South Carolina teams. And we got to give flowers to coach Carolyn Peck for being the first black woman to win a national championship as a head coach. Plus, let's welcome into the Good Game Hall of Fame both of these amazing coaches and humans. This lore is an incredible testament to the power of lifting while you climb and has gon into something so much bigger than a little nylon piece of string.

Yes, and.

We always love that you're listening slices, but we want you to get in the game every day too, So here's our good game play of the day.

Do we even need to say it?

Tune into the final four games tonight and you heard our picks, which may or may not have been consistent with what's in our brackets, but that's okay. Make sure you know which squad's you're rocking with before the games tip off.

We love to hear from you.

Hit us up on email good game at wondermedianetwork dot com or leave a voicemail at eight seven two two oh four fifty seventy, and don't forget to subscribe a rate and review. It's easy watch Women's Sports Weekends rating fifty out of fifty people. You are so super psyched to see this weekend in Tampa is legit the kind of magic that inspired the name of this show.

Women's Sport is the.

Good game, full of all the competition and excitement and unpredictability that we love in sports, but shared with a kind, diverse, supportive, fun, shit talking, but ultimately respectful community. And this weekend it's gonna be just full of so many hugs and cheers and laughs with my friends, new friends, old friends, work friends, friends of friends that will become my friend. I just I'm so excited. I love you women's sports. Let's party.