Vendor Donald Morris on 2021 Women's NCAA

Vendor Donald Morris chats about the world of sports.

March Madness NCAA Women’s Final Four—I absolutely loved it. Loved it. See, learning about and watching women’s basketball is one of my passions. It’s something different in how women play, how they vibe, how they think—I am moved to no end. For those who didn’t witness the Final Four’s three games, I’ll break it down for you.

The Final Four teams were the South Carolina Gamecocks, Stanford Cardinals, Connecticut Huskies—also known as UConn—and the Arizona Wildcats—all #1 seeds with the exception of Arizona, a #3 seed.

The South Carolina and Stanford game was as good as it gets. The first half was as great a defensive effort as I’ve ever witnessed. Both teams turned it up on the defensive end, and at the half, the score was 31-25. In the second half, both turned up their offensive intensity, especially Stanford’s Haley Jones, who scored 11 points in the third quarter to match South Carolina’s Zia Cooke. It was beautiful to watch: Jones battling inside for hers; Cooke knocking down the long ball. In the end, despite a 6-0 run by South Carolina to go ahead by one in the final seconds, Stanford pulled it out. Who would Stanford play?

The always-in-contention UConn Huskies versus the team-that-could Arizona Wildcats—again, the lowest-ranked team of the four. I believe this played a major role in why UConn were upset: They overlooked the “lowly” #3-seeded team. UConn, respectfully led by All-Everything freshman Paige Bueckers, not only lost, but they lost by double digits in the tournament for the first time since 2007. Arizona’s defense stifled the team that won four straight championships from 2013-2016 and has been a player every year since. Listen, the reason it’s tough to un-focus from UConn’s loss as opposed to focusing on the Wildcats’ victory is because UConn’s the team we know and love; although, because they do win seemingly all the time, many love to dislike them. It’s nice to see an upstart team who’s not supposed to win, win. You witness the little person outdo the bigger one—and to not do it in the way that it usually happens—mentally and strategically—but physically. Change is exciting.

So, we get to it: the championship game between the upstart Arizona Wildcats and the fresh-off-an-intenseand-tightly-contested game against South Carolina, the Stanford Cardinals.

Before I speak about the game, let me add that many wonder how a highly-academicallyranked school such as a Stanford can also be so successful at sports, seeing as one would think a team would be one or the other: it’s because of the intelligence involved. Most anyone can learn to robotically hit a free throw or pass a ball; however, to be able to think on the move or understand a teammate in what she needs is power. It’s like ballet to me.

So, Stanford versus Arizona would come down to the wire. After a back-and-forth game—one of runs—Stanford downed Arizona by a single point. Arizona did have an opportunity to pull off its second upset in a row as Arizona’s star player, Aari McDonald, had a shot for the win, but the Stanford defense stifled her and Arizona, and the 2021 champion was crowned.

P.S. This year’s tournament— despite this little thing called the coronavirus pandemic— was so exciting and powerful and inspiring that I selfishly hope the Chicago Sky can pull one or three of these players. As well put-together as we already are, we could reach the mountaintop with this charactered bunch.