The Los Angeles Sparks enter unchartered territory this season, and how they will finish is anyone’s guess.

As they seek to return to the playoffs after a three-year absence, they do so with a reconstructed roster that is largely absent of star power. They are also battling some early injuries, which is reminiscent of the way that their 2023 campaign began.

But with two top-five draft picks, some solid veterans and quality roster candidates on hand, coach Curt Miller is entering his second year in Los Angeles with optimism and enthusiasm.

“We’re excited,” he said. “We know who we are. We know we’re in the build process and may be undervalued and underappreciated, but we’re going to get to work every day and try to put as good a product as we can on the floor.”

The Sparks lost 2012 No. 1 draft pick Nneka Ogwumike, who signed with the Seattle Storm over the winter, and they appear to have also parted ways with her sister, Chiney Ogwumike, who is not listed on the team’s training camp roster. A team spokesperson declined to comment on her status with the organization.

Returning starters include Layshia Clarendon and Azura’ Stevens, but Stevens broke her arm during the winter, playing in China, and will miss at…

From today’s press conference at Stanford, as Tara VanDerveer spoke to the media about her retirement from coaching:

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. We’ll start with opening remarks from Jaquish & Kenninger Director of Athletics Bernard Muir. He’ll then turn it over to Tara who will offer an opening statement and then we will open it up to questions for you all. Bernard? 

BERNARD MUIR: Thank you all for coming. Just hard to believe, Tara — you can sit down for a little bit. (Laughter). 

I had a chance to visit with Tara quite a few times yesterday, and obviously this is a monumental moment for Stanford, for the athletic department, and certainly women’s basketball. But Tara, on behalf of our coaches, our student-athletes over the years, just thank you. That’s all we can say and say repeatedly. 

At some point in time, we will honor your legacy and we will hold that for now, but today is just a chance to express our gratitude for all you’ve meant to this community, all you’ve meant to Stanford, to women’s basketball, to college sport in general, and we’re so appreciative. 

With…

If this season is eventually remembered as the year women’s basketball broke out, it’s NCAA Tournament may be dubbed the rematch round.

Iowa squeaked by traditional power house UConn, 71-69, in Friday night’s second semifinal, to set up a date in the Championship game with two-time champion South Carolina. Earlier, the Gamecocks handily beat NC State, 78-59, to earn the right to meet the Hawkeyes in what will be a rematch of last year’s semifinal, in which Iowa stunned the two-time champs in the upset.

Hannah Stuelke lead the Hawkeyes against the Huskies with 23 points, and Caitlin Clark finished with 21.

Nika Muhl spearheaded the UConn defense by locking down the nation’s top scorer in Clark in the first half. Clark, who averages almost 30 points per game, was held to just 6 points on 7-18 shooting, including 3-11 from the three-point line. The Huskies also forced 12 turnovers, as they stole the ball 11 times to take a 32-26 advantage into the locker room at the break.

Clark ignited in the third quarter, and Iowa rallied to tie the score 5 different times in the half. With 9 seconds remaining, UConn forced a turnover. But as Paige Bueckers was trying to run to catch the inbound ball for the…

The raucous crowd at USC’s Galen Center reached a crescendo Monday night, with 1:04 remaining, as freshman standout JuJu Watkins hit a jumper that would be the last points of the night for either team.

“USC! USC! USC!” the packed house of 8,941 chanted, as a trip to the Sweet 16 became inevitable for the No. 1 seed Trojans for the first time in 30 years.

When the final buzzer sounded to a 73-55 win over eighth-seeded Kansas, players hugged each other briefly. Then they all took off running down the court towards the student section, where they leaned over the rail or ascended into the seats to give fans hugs, high-fives and exchange smiles and words.

Afterwards, Watkins and senior McKenzie Forbes said the team wanted to make sure their fans knew how much their support had meant to them during the season.

“It’s such a blessing to play in front of this crowd…..we didn’t want to leave the court,” Forbes said. “I wanted to go around and make sure the fans know we appreciate them so much. They had that place jumping, and it’s so much fun to play in front of a crowd like that.”

Watkins noted that it was a school and work night, and a Monday, at that.

“We have students…

Though few on the USC roster had NCAA Tournament experience going into Saturday’s round 1 matchup, they handled themselves like pros, running to an 87-55 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

JuJu Watkins, who averages 27 points per game for the Trojans, got off to a slow start, but finished with 23 on the day. McKenzie Forbes had 23 points and Rayah Marshall put up 10 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in pacing the team to the second round for the first time since 2006.

Coach Lindsay Gottlieb had high praise for her squad.

“I thought (JuJu) had a terrific debut here, made all the right decisions,” she said. “Kenzie is playing as well as virtually any guard in the country in terms of leadership, and knocking down shots.”

But despite their offensive firepower, USC’s defense also stood out, as they recorded 14 blocks – 10 of which were delivered in the first period. The Islanders trailed 36-20 at halftime and 71-41 going into the final quarter. Mireia Aguado had 15 points and Alecia Westbrook added 12 for TAMUCC.

McKenzie Forbes runs the ball into the paint. Jerry Kelly/TGSportstv1 photo

Since winning the Pac-12 Tournament title two weeks prior, the Trojans have been practicing. Forbes said the team was…

If there were few surprises around which teams made the field of 68 Sunday, the decision to include them – and especially where to place them – was not easy to come by.

NCAA Women’s Basketball Committee Chair Lisa Peterson said the growth of the game meant she and her colleagues had intense discussions leading up to seeding and placement of teams for the NCAA Tournament, which tips off Wednesday.

“This is my fourth year on the committee, and I’ve never been in a room that was so highly-debated,” Peterson said. “We went back and forth and revisited all of the teams that we put in the bracket…..There’s so much parity happening. And it makes it really exciting for the game.”

Peterson said the committee spent a lot of time on making sure each seed pairing would play out fairly, all the way to the winner of each regional.

“We also spent a lot of time on the last four teams in,” she said. “It was something that was debated over a couple of days, as we finished watching the rest of the tournaments play out.”

Undefeated South Carolina is the No. 1 seed in Albany regional 1, while Notre Dame is No. 2, Oregon State No. 3, and Indiana No. 4. The Hoosiers’ matchup with 13th-seeded Fairfield, who has lost only one game this season, could be contentious, as could…

In evolving her game this season, Londynn Jones has not only made marks for herself, but she has helped guide No. 7 UCLA to a third-place Pac-12 finish, and an NCAA Tournament first- and second-round hosting gig.

The sophomore guard has stepped into the starting line up to become the team’s third-leading scorer, at 12.7 points per game. She has bettered her scoring average from the floor, including behind the arc, where she hits 39 percent of the time. In the team’s last regular-season game this past weekend, Jones broke the program record for three-point shots made in a single season, reaching 78.

Two weeks ago she scored a career-high 23 points. And despite being 5-4, Jones has had one block per game this year on eight different occasions. Her fiery play has ignited Bruin runs on several occasions this year. Her no-fear mentality was on display in the team’s last home game, against Colorado, when she raced past three post players to lay the ball up and in.

A Southern California native, Jones scored 2,713 points in four years at Centennial High School in the Inland Empire. She was part of USA Basketball’s U16 team in 2019, the U18 team in 2022 and the U19 team last summer – each of…

When Carly Thibault-DuDonis took the helm of the Fairfield basketball program in 2022, it wasn’t hard to imagine her enhancing the success of the program, given her coaching lineage.

But no one necessarily expected the incredible season that the team has had this year.

After losing their third game by just 3 points, the 24-1 Stags have won 22 straight, breaking a 50-year-old program record and standing behind only No. 1 South Carolina with the longest winning streak in Division I. One more win will tie Fairfield for the most wins in program history.

Last weekend they clinched the MAAC regular-season championship, with a perfect 16-0 record. They’ve beaten opponents from seven different conferences, including two Power 5 teams, by an average of 19.1 points per game. They have been on the verge of being ranked in the AP top 25 poll for weeks.

Thibault-DuDonis’ former boss Lindsay Whalen, for whom she served as associate head coach at the University of Minnesota, said the elevation of the Stags program was all in the cards.

“The success that Fairfield is having is certainly outstanding, but not surprising,” Whalen said. “Carly was born for this. She is the hardest-working person I’ve seen during my…

Things weren’t going too well for USC in their first matchup against UCLA in December. The top 10 rivalry game was physical, the Trojans were trailing, and emotions were running high when center Clarice Akunwafo was called for a foul. Incensed, she yelled in frustration.

With a few quick steps, McKenzie Forbes was in front of her teammate looking up, and into her eyes.

“You’re fine,” the graduate senior forward told her with emphasis.

As Forbes continued talking, Akunwafo’s shoulders relaxed, and tension on the court evaporated.

In any game, Forbes has numerous such stops. She may coach up her teammates; she will give props or pointers to the underclassmen, including freshman phenom JuJu Watkins. Forbes also takes the initiative to ask coach Lindsay Gottlieb what changes she might want to see.

These qualities, as well as Forbes’ ability to fill up the stat sheet, have been one of the reasons USC quickly elevated from an unranked position to begin the season, to the top 10, her coach said.

“She can play the 3 or the 4, she knows everyone’s spot, she’s super-confident,” Gottlieb said. “She’s mature….she has a really good way with her teammates, and she’s a good…