- Kara Lawson to Join Final Four Booth Team as Analyst; Also Calling Early-Round Games
- Maria Taylor and Andy Landers Make Championship Studio Debut
- All 63 games to air on ESPN or ESPN2, and Streaming Live on WatchESPN
- ESPN Celebrating 30th Anniversary of Women’s Basketball Championship Coverage
ESPN will provide coverage of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship from start to finish, beginning with the first round on Friday, March 17, tipping off with four matchups at noon ET on ESPN2 and WatchESPN. The first and seconds rounds will be hosted by the top-16 seeds, with the regional rounds being played at four locations across the country—Bridgeport, Conn., Lexington, Ky., Oklahoma City, Okla., and Stockton, Calif. This year marks the 30th anniversary of ESPN’s coverage of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship, and the 15th year of complete coverage of every game in the championship.
All 63 games will be televised on ESPN or ESPN2, as well as WatchESPN, with regionalized coverage for the first and second rounds on ESPN2. The regional semifinals will be played on ESPN and ESPN2, and the regional finals will air on ESPN. The Women’s Final Four will take place Friday, March 31 (7:30 p.m. & 9:30 p.m., ESPN2), and Sunday, April 2 (6 p.m., ESPN) from American Airlines Arena in Dallas, Texas. Enhanced game coverage, including extended stats and analytics, will also be available on ESPN3 during the Women’s Final Four.
Kara Lawson will shift from studio analyst to game analyst for this year’s coverage, joining Dave O’Brien and Doris Burke for the first round in Louisville, Ky., and the regionals in Bridgeport, Conn. In addition, Lawson will join O’Brien, Burke and Holly Rowe for the Women’s Final Four, calling the semifinals and championship game.
Host Maria Taylor and analyst Andy Landers will also make their women’s championship studio debut, providing coverage alongside Rebecca Lobo throughout the entire tournament.
ESPNU will air a two-hour College Basketball Live: NCAA Women’s Special today, March 14, beginning at 1 p.m. Beth Mowins, Nell Fortner, LaChina Robinson and Deb Antonelli will give further analysis to the women’s bracket, and discuss the teams and players to keep an eye on throughout the championship.
First and Second Round – Regionalized & Home Market Protection
Coverage Highlights
Commentators Highlights
espnW
FiveThirtyEight
Schedule
Quotes from Selection Special
First and Second Round – Regionalized & Home Market Protection
- In the home markets of the competing teams, ESPN or ESPN2 will televise the game of local interest. While constant updates from the other games will be provided in the home market, the networks will not switch to another game during live action, thereby establishing home market protection.
- For the first and second rounds, multiple games (as many as four) will begin within one telecast window. During those windows, the coverage will showcase the best action for viewers in the majority of the nation (except in the home markets of the competing teams).
- Select first- and second-round games will be aired in a full national telecast on ESPN or ESPN2, with supplemental coverage on WatchESPN.
- ESPN3 and ESPN College Extra will carry the games in full that are not being aired in a national window.
Coverage Highlights
- Coverage tips off Friday, March 17, at noon with No. 14-seed Bucknell facing No. 3 Maryland, No. 11 Auburn against No. 6 NC State, No. 13 Belmont vs. No. 4 Kentucky and No. 10 Northern Iowa facing No. 7 DePaul; additional matchups to follow at 2:30 p.m., 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
- UConn, the No. 1 overall seed, will play their first game of the tournament in a full national window Saturday, March 18 (11 a.m., ESPN2)
- 10 Drake, who currently holds the second-longest winning streak behind UConn, will face No. 7 Kansas State on Saturday, March 18 (4 p.m., ESPN2)
- Features and vignettes on UConn, Baylor, South Carolina, UCLA, Tennessee, Texas and Washington
- Player segments highlighting Kelsey Plum (Washington), A’ja Wilson (South Carolina), Katie Lou Samuelson (UConn) and others
- HandClap Hoopla Challenge videos will air throughout the month
Commentators
- Several ESPN commentators will make their women’s championship debut, including play-by-play commentators Courtney Lyle, Eric Frede, Jenn Hildreth, Sam Gore and Elise Woodward, and analysts Tamika Catchings and Julianne Viani
- Lawson will join O’Brien and Burke to call games throughout the championship, including the semifinals and championship game
- LaChina Robinson, who has served as a sideline reporter for championship coverage in years prior, will work as a game analyst; calling first- and second-round games in Columbia, S.C., before heading to Stockton Regionals
- Reporters Molly McGrath and Kaylee Hartung also make their debut
- McGrath will work alongside Dave Pasch and Robinson for Stockton Regionals
- Oklahoma City Regionals will see Hartung with Pam Ward and Gail Goestenkors
- Taylor, Lobo and Landers will provide studio coverage leading up to and including the Women’s Final Four
- Lyle and Catchings, who called several SEC matchups together throughout the season, including the SEC Tournament, will call first round games in College Park, Md.
- Beth Mowins and Nell Fortner will call the first- and second-round games from Lexington, Ky.
- Washington Mystics head coach Mike Thibault will serve as game analyst in Notre Dame, Ind., alongside play-by-play commentator Paul Sunderland
- Games played in Manhattan, Kan., will be called by Brenda VanLengen and Carol Ross
espnW
espnW will provide news, analysis, video highlights and commentary throughout the women’s NCAA tournament, providing coast-to-coast coverage. Highlights:
- Mechelle Voepel and Graham Hays will be live on site for every round
- espnW will feature additional coverage from Michelle Smith, as well as espnW’s Charlie Creme and ESPN’s Sean Hurd and Kevin Pelton
- Women’s Tournament Challenge is where fans and experts alike can pick their brackets and earn points throughout the tournament
- com staff and a handful of ESPN analysts and WNBA players will face off in an Women’s Tournament Challenge group
- Visit com, and follow espnW on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for news and updates
FiveThirtyEight
FiveThirtyEight will once again feature a live interactive bracket calculating the probabilistic projections for the NCAA Women’s Championship. In addition, the site will have a UConn Perfection Tracker, previewing each of the team’s games as they push towards a perfect record and a fifth-straight championship.
Tournament Challenge
ESPN’s Tournament Challenge game returns for its 20th season and will again be free for entrants to submit up to 25 entries each for the Men’s and Women’s tournament at ESPN.com/bracket or the ESPN Tournament Challenge App for iOS and Android. New features in the ESPN TC App include the ability to pre-fill brackets before selection Sunday, Group enhancements to make play with friends and family easier, an all-new News tab, advanced Bracketcast design and functionality, better ESPN Insider integrations, and improved push notifications for up-to-the-second bracket, news and video updates.
In the Women’s Tournament Challenge, entries finishing in the top 1 percent will be entered in a random drawing for a $3,000 Amazon Gift Card. The Women’s Tournament Challenge will accept registration until just prior to tip-off of the first game on Friday, March 17.
When fans log in to fill out their brackets and throughout the tournaments, they will have the ability to donate to the V Foundation and enter for a chance to win an all-expense paid trip to the 2017 Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden, which fields top-caliber matchups, pitting UConn versus Syracuse and Gonzaga against Villanova, in a doubleheader on December 5. The prize package includes two tickets, airfare, accommodations, a signed basketball from all four coaches, and a $400 gift card. To enter the sweepstakes, visit: www.v.org/win. No donation is necessary to win.
NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship Schedule (subject to change)
| Date | Time (ET) | Matchup/Commentators | Network |
| First Round | |||
| Fri, Mar 17 | Noon | No. 14 Bucknell vs. No. 3 Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Courtney Lyle, Tamika Catchings
No. 11 Auburn vs. No. 6 NC State (Austin, Texas) Roy Philpott, Brooke Weisbrod
No. 13 Belmont vs. No. 4 Kentucky (Lexington, Ky.) Beth Mowins, Nell Fortner
No. 10 Northern Iowa vs. No. 7 DePaul (Starkville, Miss.) Bob Picozzi, Katie Smith |
ESPN2 / ESPN3 |
| 2:30 p.m. | No 11 Elon vs. No. 6 West Virginia (College Park, Md.)
Courtney Lyle, Tamika Catchings No. 14 Central Arkansas vs. No. 3 Texas (Austin, Texas) Roy Philpott, Brooke Weisbrod No. 12 Western Kentucky vs. No. 5 Ohio State (Lexington, Ky.) Beth Mowins, Nell Fortner No. 15 Troy vs. No. 2 Mississippi State (Starkville, Miss.) Bob Picozzi, Katie Smith |
ESPN2 / ESPN3 | |
| 5 p.m. | No. 16 UNC Asheville vs. No. 1 South Carolina (Columbia, S.C.)
Dave Pasch, LaChina Robinson No. 9 Purdue vs. No. 8 Green Bay (Notre Dame, Ind.) Paul Sunderland, Mike Thibault No. 15 Long Beach State vs. No. 2 Oregon State (Corvallis, Ore.) Elise Woodward, Mary Murphy No. 11 South Florida vs. No. 6 Missouri (Tallahassee, Fla.) Melissa Lee, Angel Gray |
ESPN2 / ESPN3 | |
| 7:30 p.m. | No. 9 Michigan State vs. No. 8 Arizona State (Columbia, S.C.)
Dave Pasch, LaChina Robinson No. 16 Robert Morris vs. No. 1 Notre Dame (Notre Dame, Ind.) Paul Sunderland, Mike Thibault No. 10 Toledo vs. No. 7 Creighton (Corvallis, Ore.) Elise Woodward, Mary Murphy No. 14 Western Illinois vs. No. 3 Florida State (Tallahassee, Fla.) Melissa Lee, Angel Gray |
ESPN2 / ESPN3 | |
| Sat, Mar 18 | 11 a.m. | No. 16 Albany vs. No. 1 UConn (Storrs, Conn.) Eric Frede, Dan Hughes |
ESPN2 / WatchESPN |
| 1:30 p.m. | No. 9 Iowa State vs. No. 8 Syracuse (Storrs, Conn.) Eric Frede, Dan HughesNo. 13 Chattanooga vs. No. 4 Louisville (Louisville, Ky.) Dave O’Brien, Doris Burke/Kara Lawson No. 15 New Mexico State vs. No. 2 Stanford (Manhattan, Kansas) No. 12 Quinnipiac vs. No. 5 Marquette (Coral Gables, Fla.) |
ESPN2 / ESPN3 | |
| 4 p.m. | No. 12 Dayton vs. No. 5 Tennessee (Louisville, Ky.) Dave O’Brien, Doris Burke/Kara LawsonNo. 10 Drake vs. No. 7 Kansas State (Manhattan, Kansas) Brenda VanLengen, Carol Ross No. 13 FGCU vs. No. 4 Miami (Fla.) (Coral Gables, Fla.) |
ESPN2 / ESPN3 | |
| 6:30 p.m. | No. 16 Texas Southern vs. No. 1 Baylor (Waco, Texas) Lowell Galindo, Sue BirdNo. 11 Gonzaga vs. No. 6 Oklahoma (Seattle, Wash.) Pam Ward, Gail Goestenkors No. 13 Boise State vs. No. 4 UCLA (Los Angeles, Calif.) No. 10 Oregon vs. No. 7 Temple (Durham, N.C.) |
ESPN2 / ESPN3 | |
| 9 p.m. | No. 9 Cal vs. No. 8 LSU (Waco, Texas) Lowell Galindo, Sue BirdNo. 14 Montana State vs. No. 3 Washington (Seattle, Wash.) Pam Ward, Gail Goestenkors No. 12 Penn vs. No. 5 Texas A&M (Los Angeles, Calif.) No. 15 Hampton vs. No. 2 Duke (Durham, N.C.) |
ESPN2 / ESPN3 | |
| Second Round | |||
| Sun, Mar 19 | Noon | No. 5 Ohio State vs. No. 4 Kentucky (Lexington, Ky.) Beth Mowins, Nell Fortner |
ESPN2 / ESPN3 |
| 2:30 p.m. | No. 6 West Virginia vs. No. 3 Maryland (College Park, Md.) Courtney Lyle, Tamika CatchingsNo. 7 DePaul vs. No. 2 Mississippi State (Starkville, Miss.) Bob Picozzi, Katie Smith No. 6 NC State vs. No. 3 Texas (Austin, Texas) |
ESPN2 / ESPN3 | |
| 7:05 p.m. | No. 8 Arizona State vs. No. 1 South Carolina (Columbia, S.C.) Dave Pasch, LaChina, Robinson |
ESPN / WatchESPN | |
| 7:10 p.m. | No. 6 Missouri vs. No. 3 Florida State (Tallahassee, Fla.) Melissa Lee, Angel Gray |
ESPN2 / WatchESPN | |
| 9:05 p.m. | No. 9 Purdue vs. No. 1 Notre Dame (Notre Dame, Ind.) Paul Sunderland, Mike Thibault |
ESPN / WatchESPN | |
| 9:10 p.m. | No. 7 Creighton vs. No. 2 Oregon State (Corvallis, Ore.) Elise Woodward, Mary Murphy |
ESPN2 / WatchESPN | |
| Mon, Mar 20 | 6:35 p.m. | No. 8 Syracuse vs. No. 1 UConn (Storrs, Conn.) Eric Frede, Dan HughesNo. 7 Kansas State vs. No 2 Stanford (No. Manhattan, Kan.) Brenda VanLengen, Carol Ross |
ESPN2 / ESPN3 |
| 6:40 p.m. | No. 10 Oregon vs. No. 2 Duke (Durham, N.C.) Clay Matvick, Christy Winters-Scott |
ESPN2 / ESPN3 | |
| 6:45 p.m. | No. 5 Tennessee vs. No. 4 Louisville (Louisville, Ky.) Dave O’Brien, Doris Burke/Kara Lawson |
ESPN2 / ESPN3 | |
| 9:05 p.m. | No. 6 Oklahoma vs. No. 3 Washington (Seattle, Wash.) Pam Ward, Gail Goestenkors |
ESPN2 / ESPN3 | |
| 9:10 p.m. | No. 12 Quinnipiac vs. No. 4 Miami (Coral Gables, Fla.) Jenn Hildreth, Steffi SorensenNo. 9 California vs. No. 1 Baylor (Waco, Texas) Lowell Galindo, Sue Bird |
ESPN2 / ESPN3 | |
| 10:05 p.m. | No. 5 Texas A&M vs. No. 4 UCLA (Los Angeles, Calif.) Sam Gore, Julianne Viani |
ESPNU / WatchESPN | |
| Regional Semifinals | |||
| Fri, Mar 24 | 7 p.m. | Oklahoma City Regional Semifinal #1 Pam Ward, Gail Goestenkors, Kaylee Hartung |
ESPN / WatchESPN |
| Lexington Regional Semifinal #1 Beth Mowins, Deb Antonelli, Allison Williams |
ESPN2 / WatchESPN | ||
| 9 p.m. | Oklahoma City Semifinal #2 Pam Ward, Gail Goestenkors, Kaylee Hartung |
ESPN / WatchESPN | |
| Lexington Regional Semifinal #2 Beth Mowins, Deb Antonelli, Allison Williams |
ESPN2 / WatchESPN | ||
| Sat, Mar 25 | 11:30 a.m. | Bridgeport Regional Semifinal #1 Dave O’Brien, Doris Burke/Kara Lawson, Holly Rowe |
ESPN / WatchESPN |
| 1:30 p.m. | Bridgeport Regional Semifinal #2 Dave O’Brien, Doris Burke/Kara Lawson, Holly Rowe |
ESPN / WatchESPN | |
| 4 p.m. | Stockton Regional Semifinal #1 Dave Pasch, LaChina Robinson, Molly McGrath |
ESPN / WatchESPN | |
| 6 p.m. | Stockton Regional Semifinal #2 Dave Pasch, LaChina Robinson, Molly McGrath |
ESPN / WatchESPN | |
| Regional Finals | |||
| Sun, Mar 26 | Noon | Lexington Regional Final Beth Mowins, Deb Antonelli, Allison Williams |
ESPN / WatchESPN |
| 7:30 p.m. | Oklahoma City Regional Final Pam Ward, Gail Goestenkors, Kaylee Hartung |
ESPN / WatchESPN | |
| Mon, Mar 27 | 7 p.m. | Bridgeport Regional Final Dave O’Brien, Doris Burke/Kara Lawson, Holly Rowe |
ESPN / WatchESPN |
| 9 p.m. | Stockton Regional Final Dave Pasch, LaChina Robinson, Molly McGrath |
ESPN / WatchESPN | |
| Women’s Final Four | |||
| Fri, Mar 31 | 7:30 p.m. | Semifinal #1 (Dallas, Texas) Dave O’Brien, Doris Burke, Kara Lawson, Holly Rowe |
ESPN2 / WatchESPN |
| 9:30 p.m. | Semifinal #2 (Dallas, Texas) Dave O’Brien, Doris Burke, Kara Lawson, Holly Rowe |
ESPN2 / WatchESPN | |
| Sun, Apr 2 | 4 p.m. | College Basketball Live: NCAA Women’s Championship Preview | ESPNU / WatchESPN |
| 5 p.m. | NCAA Women’s Championship Special Presented by Capital One Maria Taylor, Rebecca Lobo, Andy Landers |
ESPN / WatchESPN | |
| 6 p.m. | National Championship Game (Dallas, Texas) Dave O’Brien, Doris Burke, Kara Lawson, Holly Rowe |
ESPN / WatchESPN | |
Quotes from Selection Special
Lawson on UConn being No. 1 overall seed: “I feel like we’ve done the same show the last five seasons – and I don’t mean that as a negative. I absolutely marvel at the job that Geno [Auriemma] has done with this team. When you consistently exceed expectation. When you consistently are the expectation. It’s just been a phenomenal regular season performance for the Huskies.”
Lobo on Maryland: “I’m not sure they are thrilled to be in the Bridgeport Region with Connecticut, but this is a really good Maryland team. Great on the offensive end of the floor… I think they probably expected a two-seed and hoped to not be in the Bridgeport Region.”
Landers on Duke: “This is a bounceback year for Duke. They had some problems off the court… if their defense comes together tournament time, it’s a problem for everybody.”
Jay Bilas on UConn and pressure of winning streak: “They handle it and they embrace it. They’re ones who think pressure is a privilege and that comes from Geno Auriemma. I think they address, don’t act like they are above it, they address and attack it head on.”
Lawson on the Oklahoma City region: “Whoever comes out of this [Oklahoma City] region will be well tested.”
Taylor: “Drake is the darling of the NCAA Tournament.”
Lawson on South Carolina: “I look at the South Carolina team, and to me one of the big things they need to get back to the Final Four is point guard play.”
Landers on Oregon State: “A lot to celebrate, defensively one of the best in the whole country. Not only do they guard you, they bend, they don’t break. They don’t foul you, they clean up after themselves with rebounds.”
Coaches’ interviews
Brenda Frese (Maryland): “I’m most surprised, obviously, to be a team ranked top-4 in the country and be a three-seed… but at this point it really doesn’t matter. You put your head down, you get the bracket that you have… for us, it’s the next opportunity and this is what we’ve been working so hard for in our season. To be the most prepared team in the tournament.”
Vic Schaefer (Mississippi State) on loss to Tennessee: “We were disappointed to lose to Tennessee, we had 10,000 in the building and no one was more disappointed than me, but it’s part of being in our league.”
Interview with Terry Gawlik, Chair of the Women’s Basketball Committee
(Some questions were asked via Twitter using #AskGawlik)
On determining bracket: “In the bracketing process, we try and take in the body of the work and we take in the best geographic proximity that we can.”
On Tennessee: “The wins outweighed what the losses were on Tennessee.”
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