Latest news with #Mid-MajorPlayeroftheYear
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Indiana Fever Make Exciting Player Announcement on Tuesday
Excitement around the Indiana Fever is off the charts heading into the 2025 WNBA season, with fans flooding Gainbridge Fieldhouse to catch the team live. That was evident last weekend, when 12,461 fans showed up on Saturday, followed by a sold-out crowd of 14,998 in Iowa City for an exhibition game against the Brazil National Team. Advertisement While Caitlin Clark is a big reason for the buzz, the rest of the roster is starting to earn admiration from fans across Indiana and the country. Two rookies are quickly becoming fan favorites — and they'll be meeting local supporters this week. The Fever made an announcement Tuesday via social media: "come out to @7BrewCoffee at 3710 S East St. tomorrow to meet rookies Makayla Timpson and Yvonne Ejim!" The event will be held at 7 Brew, a drive-thru coffee shop in downtown Indianapolis. The rookies will be there for an hour, giving fans a chance to meet them in person before the home opener on May 17. Indiana Fever guards Caitlin Clark and Lexie Hull© Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images Makayla Timpson, a second-round pick out of Florida State, earned All-ACC First Team honors twice during her collegiate career. She holds the school record for career double-doubles with 47. Advertisement Yvonne Ejim, a 6-foot forward from Canada, played at Gonzaga and was selected by the Fever in the third round. In 2024, she was named the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year and was a two-time West Coast Conference Player of the Year. These two will join a talented core that includes Clark, Aliyah Boston, Sophie Cunningham, Lexie Hull and others as Indiana looks to build on last year's 20-20 record. The Fever reached the postseason for the first time since 2016 but were eliminated in two games by Connecticut. As mentioned earlier, the Fever start their regular season action on May 17. That game will feature a visit from Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky. Related: Fans Notice Paige Bueckers Being Treated Differently Than Caitlin Clark During WNBA Debut Related: Flau'jae Johnson Reveals New NIL Deal After College Basketball Season
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
UNA Men's Basketball season ends after loss in NIT tournament
PEORIA, Ill. (WHNT) — The University of North Alabama Men's Basketball team season came to an end on Wednesday. The Lions fell short 71-62 against the Bradley Braves during their nighttime matchup in the National Invitational Tournament (NIT). The Lions end their season with a 24-11 record, the most single-season wins for the program since 2008. While UNA was a first-time participant in the tournament, Bradley made its 24th appearance in the NIT this season. Advertisement The Braves started on a 14-0 run and led 39-21 by halftime. However, the Lions pulled back within single digits midway through the second half, but Bradley held on. Junior Forward Donte Bacchus led the team in scoring with 19 points and 8 rebounds. Fellow junior Jacari Lane, a Lou Henson Mid-Major Player of the Year finalist, added 12 points. This concludes the seventh season under head coach Tony Pujol, who took over the program at the start of UNA's move to Division I. Pujol has led the Lions to 102 wins in those seven seasons with a 66-27 record at home. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to
USA Today
17-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
5 women's NCAA Tournament players to watch who aren't JuJu Watkins
By now, pretty much everyone knows JuJu Watkins can single-handedly blow up a game. In USC's first meeting with UCLA, Watkins scored or assisted on all but eight of the Trojans' 24 points in the fourth quarter. And of those eight points she didn't have a hand in, four were free throws. Watkins also had five of her eight — eight! — blocks in the fourth quarter, as well as a steal. What had been a five-point UCLA lead became a decisive, 11-point USC win over the then-No. 1 and previously unbeaten Bruins. "JuJu was otherworldly,' USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said after that game. "When you see it happen, it's one of those magical times.' For USC, sure. For its opponents, Watkins is a whole lot of trouble. She's not the only one, however. Here are five other players besides Watkins who can make life unbearable for their opponents in the upcoming NCAA tournament: Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt If you like being ahead of the curve, keep your eyes on Mikayla Blakes. Blakes set the NCAA's freshman single-game scoring record with 55 points against Auburn last month, two weeks after she'd dropped 53 on Florida. At 23.2 points per game, Blakes is seventh in the nation in scoring. Oh, she's also a big reason Vanderbilt was able to snap an eight-game losing streak to Tennessee in January, grabbing a rebound and scoring the last-second put-back in the 71-70 win. Blakes tormented Tennessee again in the SEC tournament, scoring a game-high 24 as the Commodores beat the Vols twice in a season for the first time. Paige Bueckers, UConn Bueckers is probably the most complete player in college basketball right now. Score, set her teammates up, defend — she can read the game as well as anyone and will play whatever role UConn needs her to to win the game. She's also going to take care of the ball, leading the country with a 3.90 assist-to-turnover ratio. In other words, Bueckers is never going to beat herself, so opponents are going to have to find a way to beat her. Ta'Niya Latson, Florida State That Latson is going to get her points is a given. She leads the nation in scoring, at 24.9 points a game, and her nine points against Duke in the regular-season finale was only the second time in 47 games that she was held below double figures. (To be fair, the other came in a non-conference game in which she only played 11 minutes because of an injury. And Latson still scored eight points.) What makes Latson so dangerous, though, is that she's a problem wherever she is on the court. If she doesn't have a shot, she'll find a teammate who does, doling out an average of 4.7 assists a game. She's also averaging 2.2 steals and has 13 blocks this season. Harmoni Turner, Harvard My word is the finalist for the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year award having herself a March! Turner is averaging just over 31 points a game so far this month. That includes a 44-point effort against Princeton on Friday night that broke Turner's own Harvard record for a single game and lifted the Crimson to the Ivy Madness title game. Turner was dealing again in the championship game, scoring a game-high 24 and taking a big offensive foul down the stretch in Harvard's 74-71 win against Columbia. The win assured the Crimson of their first NCAA tournament berth since 2007. Hailey Van Lith, TCU Van Lith got no shortage of grief last year for not having the same success at LSU that she'd had at Louisville. That wasn't really fair, given Van Lith was being asked to play a different position and in a system not built for her. But she's flourished at TCU, reminding people of why she was once considered one of the best players in college basketball. She's averaging 17.9 points per game and her 46% shooting percentage is the best of her career. Her average of 5.3 assists is 1.5 per game better than her previous career best. That's just bonkers.
