More than two years after the conference imploded, one of the biggest losses remains its women’s basketball brand
Michelle Smith
Michelle Smith has covered women’s basketball nationally for more than three decades. A 2024 inductee into the U.S. Basketball Writer’s Hall of Fame, Smith has worked for ESPN.com, The Athletic, the San Francisco Chronicle, as well as Pac-12.com and WNBA.com. She is the 2017 recipient of the Jake Wade Media Award from the Collegiate Sports Information Directors Association (CoSIDA) and was named the Mel Greenberg Media Award winner by the WBCA in 2019.
Posted inACC, Features, NCAAW
How Stanford is on the way to proving it’s for real
A 7-0 start has put the Cardinal on the verge of being ranked with their toughest non-conference stretch to come
Posted inACC, Features, NCAAW
Cal modeling after the Golden State Valkyries in Year 2 in the ACC
The Bears have veteran leadership in Lulu Twidale and fresh star power in Puff Morris to lead them back to the NCAA Tournament.
Posted inACC, Features, NCAAW
2025-26 ACC preview
After losing 70% of all-conference performers from last season, ACC teams are looking for fresh starts all around
Posted inFeatures, Golden State Valkyries, WNBA
Valkyries finish with guts, grit and a roaring crowd
Natalie Nakase: ‘We were the first to do this’
Posted inFeatures, Golden State Valkyries, Minnesota Lynx, WNBA
Why it’s dangerous to assume Golden State Valkyries can’t compete with Minnesota Lynx
The Valkyries’ margin for error in this playoff series is razor-thin, but they’ve defied assumptions all season long
Posted inFeatures, Golden State Valkyries, WNBA
At present, the Valkyries are set up for the playoffs
Golden State’s magic number – the combination of Golden State wins and Los Angeles losses to secure a playoff spot, the first in league history for an expansion team, sits at three.
Posted inFeatures, Golden State Valkyries, WNBA
Why resilience is the Golden State Valkyries’ superpower
At first, the Valkyries were ‘killers.’ Now, they’re something even more effective
Posted inFeatures, Los Angeles Sparks, WNBA
Cameron Brink emotional in her return to the Bay Area
Brink doesn’t know yet what she has learned from this experience
Posted inFeatures, Golden State Valkyries, WNBA
GM Ohemaa Nyanin assesses the Valkyries’ roster heading into stretch run
Nyanin has made a decision to stand pat with the gritty, resilient team she has built