Dawn Staley knows how far women’s basketball has come, pushes for more at NCAA Final Four

The women's game has grown by leaps and bounds, and those who have helped advance it are inspired to continue to advocate for improvements.

by Maria McIlwain

Published March 30, 2023, 5:20 p.m. ET

DALLAS — When Dawn Staley was a young girl in North Philly, the only women she saw playing basketball on TV were in the Olympics and in the NCAA championship game.

So much has changed since then.

Staley has gone from great player herself to coaching South Carolina, the undefeated No. 1 overall seed at 36-0, as it prepares for a highly anticipated matchup with No. 2 seed Iowa in the Final Four. No. 3 LSU (32-2) will take on No. 1 Virginia Tech (31-4) in the other semifinal (7 p.m., ESPN). The interest is evident — the average ticket price for the women’s Final Four is nearly $97 more than that of a men’s ticket at Houston’s NRG Stadium, according to Sports Illustrated — and TV viewership is on the rise. Iowa’s Elite Eight showdown with Louisville drew 2.5 million viewers on ESPN, more than any NBA game the network has televised this season.

And that’s not to mention the stars colliding — Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, the AP player of the year who trailed only Villanova’s Maddy Siegrist in scoring during the regular season, going against Aliyah Boston, the projected No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming WNBA draft.

“You can always think about people making negative comments about women’s basketball, women’s sports in general, but it’s proof that the numbers are going up,” Boston said. “Everyone is excited to watch the women’s game. Everyone is buying their tickets to travel to watch their favorite players, watch their favorite team. So you can’t really deny that people are interested in watching women’s sports. So it’s just really exciting to be part of the generation that’s continuing to help it grow.”

Clark’s excitement was palpable, too.

“I’ve loved the game since I was a young girl,” she said. “I’ve always seen how good it is. And I really think we have so many good players in our game right now, whether it’s WNBA or at the college level, and people are really starting to figure that out. So I really think the sky’s the limit. I don’t know if ticket prices are as indicative because ours is in an actual basketball arena, and [the men are] playing in a football stadium. I don’t know how much that affects it. But I think it shows the demand that people want to be here and be in the arena that seats 20,000 people.”

Iowa coach Lisa Bluder emphasized that Friday’s matchup (9 p.m., ESPN) is about more than just Boston vs. Clark, though.

“They both contribute so much to their team’s success, but, to me, it’s not Caitlin versus Aliyah,” she said. “It’s Iowa versus South Carolina, and we have to continue to remember that. What we need to do to be successful is we have to make sure we box out. We have to make sure that other people are hitting threes and not just Caitlin.”

The Hawkeyes (30-6) average the most points per game (87.6) and lead the country in several other offensive statistical categories are facing a Gamecocks team that’s third in scoring defense (allowing 51.1 points per game), averages the most blocks (8.9), and outrebounds its opponents by an average of 20.3.

And Staley wants to keep the toxicity out of the Clark-vs.-Boston debate, which Bluder said was like comparing “apples to oranges.”

“Any time you’re able to talk about our game and talk about two young women who have been story lines throughout the season I think is great,” Staley said. “I do think some people do cross the line at times because they’re each of their fan bases’ favorites. … I just don’t like when people cross the line because our game is pure, it’s blossoming. But I guess it’s part of sports when people can take jabs at young people. I just hope they’re not looking at it and seeing it because it’s not cool.”

Staley, winner of two national titles, the only Black coach to do so in Division I basketball, has built a perennial contender and is happy right where she is. Temple has its guy, Adam Fisher, now, but the former Temple women’s basketball coach had no designs on the men’s job after Aaron McKie’s departure.

“I don’t want to coach in the men’s game. It’s cold up there, too,” she said with a laugh.

Staley has seen the momentum around her game building for years and is happy to see that growth.

“Fortunately for us — not just South Carolina, but us as women’s basketball — we’ve got a lot of star power behind our sport,” she said. “You’ve got [LSU’s] Angel Reese. You’ve got [Virginia Tech’s Georgia] Amoore. You’ve got [Virginia Tech’s Elizabeth] Kitley. You’ve got all these players who have been incredible, just incredible, creating incredible stories for our game.”