Do you host tournaments open for

Basketball journalist Hannah Robbins discusses Tulsa’s loss against UConn and the team’s inability to put together plays when it mattered.

The Golden Hurricane was planning to add to their six game win streak on Thursday against UConn, but unfortunately the Huskies had one final sucker punch before they left the American Conference: handing Tulsa a loss. While Martins Igbanu scored a career-high 29 points, his successes were unable to transform into a win as the Golden Hurricane made only a single 3-pointer all game. The Golden Hurricane started off strong by winning the tip off. Then Brandon Rachal hit his free throws to put Tulsa on the board first. The Huskies responded, but another pair of free throws by Joiner put Tulsa up by three. UConn made Tulsa fight for every shot and ended up edging above the Golden Hurricane with a three pointer by Jale Gaffney. After that, both teams began to miss back to back until Rachal hit a two pointer and followed it up with a free throw. Igbanu hit a layup then a jumper to put Tulsa up by five.

The teams went back and forth, with TU keeping their narrow lead. But during the next few minutes of play, threes by UConn were only met with two pointers by Tulsa, narrowing their lead to three toward the end of the half. When Rachal missed the first of his pair of free throws, it signalled the end of Tulsa’s lead. After another pair of free throws by Igbanu, UConn hit seven unanswered points before Igbanu could put up one more jumper to bring the Golden Hurricane up to only a two-point deficit. At the start of the second half, UConn seemed energized while Tulsa struggled to keep up, only answering four points at the top of the half with a pair of free throws by Igbanu. The Huskies quickly gained a 10-point lead, but Tulsa fought back. Igbanu quickly put up six points, with a layup by Darien Jackson right after and a dunk by Igbanu brough the Golden Hurricane back in the game. Unfortunately, that did not last. Rachal went down with an ankle injury and left the game at the worst time. James Bouknight singlehandedly gave the Huskies a 10-point lead as Tulsa watched on. Finally, Joiner hit Tulsa’s first 3-pointer of the night and got the team back on the board with eight minutes left, but the team was unable to capitalize on that. The team continued to miss threes and give the Huskies possession without putting points on the board, and in the last eight minutes the team scored only six points, finally being put out of their misery 72-56. The team was not on their A game against UConn, and since they beat UConn only two weeks ago in overtime, Tulsa should have known they had to fight for every point, but the abysmal accuracy in three pointers and reliance on Igbanu for most of the points made it easy for UConn to outplay Tulsa. Just because the team was on top doesn’t mean they will always be, and that might be a lesson Tulsa needed to learn before the season ended.

Igbanu throws down a thunderous dunk (top). Igbanu looks to shoot (left). Rachal flies high above the defense for an attempt at the hoop (right).

New WNBA contract to benefit female athletes

Student journalist Zack Long covers how and why the new deal will bring women’s sports closer to equality with men’s sports.

The start of the new year brought about a new agreement between the WNBA and the players union. This new agreement has the potential to make a large The start of the new year brought about a new agreement between the WNBA and the players union. This new agreement has the potential to make a large impact on both the women of the WNBA and on female athletes in professional sports in general. The push toward the measures outlined in the contract is certainly not a newfound effort, however. Professional female athletes from a multitude of sports and levels have been pushing for a change for years in the areas of compensation, maternity, childcare and more. Such calls for change continue to garner attention today as the lawsuit over equal pay for the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team, spearheaded by Megan Rapinoe, is scheduled for this May. Several changes outlined in the proposed contract will be aimed at creating a standard of salary for athletes in the WNBA that better reflects the demands of the job than the current compensation system. This includes a 53 percent increase in cash compensation, a set minimum of $750,000 in prize money for special competitions, higher cash bonuses for performance awards and a new 50-50 revenue sharing system contingent on the league achieving revenue growth partnerships. Beyond this, the contract will bring about an increase in quality travel elements for players (i.e., better hotel room accommodations and Premium Economy Class flight status for regular season travel) and motherhood provisions that include full salaries for players on maternity leave. The benefits for players don’t stop there as the contract also lifts the free agency restriction to one year earlier than under the prior agreement and aims to help the WNBA facilitate career development workshops and opportunities for players and their post-play careers. Such a deal would also have the potential to impact players and teams around the world. Under the new agreement, players with more than three years of WNBA experience will be required to play the entire WNBA season. If they are playing for another league and subsequently fail to report to their WNBA team, they can be deemed ineligible. This stipulation has the potential to motivate foreign leagues to restructure their season schedules so that players don’t have to choose one league over the other. The higher earning opportunity for WNBA players is also aimed

photos by Tommy Reid

at keeping top players in the U.S. from having to play in such leagues overseas to earn supplemental income in the off-season, which can actually be quite exhausting and lead to injuries that affect these players’ ability to perform in regular season games. While this contract would constitute a huge step forward for the female athletes seeking equal pay with their male counterparts, it still would leave the league’s players far from attaining salaries near the male players of the NBA. Nevertheless, it signifies the leagues’ recognition that more must be done to support the hard work these women pour into the sport and would be a massive milestone representing progress towards building a stronger WMBA while providing a more comprehensive collection of resources to meet its player’s needs.

Student writer Zach Short covers all the last-minute wheeling and dealing in men’s pro basketball.

Compared to the drama last summer, this year’s trade deadline week was relatively calm save for a few noteworthy moves. As is in tune with years past, teams moved around role players to assist their superstars as they head into grind time in hopes of either making the Playoffs or securing a top seed. The biggest moment to occur in the face of the looming deadline was the large fourteam trade that involved the Houston Rockets, the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Atlanta Hawks and the Denver Nuggets. That and the move that brought Andre Iguodala out of an attempt at a forced early retirement. The big multi-team trade saw the Rockets send Clint Capela and Nenê to the Hawks and receive Robert Covington and Jordan Bell from the Timberwolves, the latter of which was almost immediately sent to Memphis in exchange for Bruno Caboclo. The Rockets may have something cooking, but for now fans should be wary. Capela was a defensive asset for a team with a certain bearded all-star notorious for not playing defense — this may inadvertently push the team the wrong direction. The Hawks, on the other hand, might just be able to pull something grand out of the big trade as they were the recipients of the Rockets castaways. While Nenê is getting old and has been fighting an injury this season, any return from him would add some height and formidability to the Hawks roster. He could greatly assist the star-in-themaking Trae Young, not to mention the huge boost Clint Capela can provide the struggling team. Supposedly Young was promised by the front office earlier this season that help was coming. If this can give the Hawks a defensive and rebounding boost, it should be no surprise if they rise a few spots in the rankings. The Nuggets picked up four players, none of which are likely to raise any eyebrows. They picked up Gerald Green, Noah Vonleh, Keita Bates-Diop and Shabazz Napier, with the last name being quickly sent on to Washington for Jordan McRae. The acquisition from the Wizards is inarguably their biggest change, as he is coming to assist the guard game on a team led by the post play of Nikola Jokić. Mostly, it appears that the Nuggets are trying to get a little bit of depth so that the pressure is off the team’s best players to stay on the court all the time. After all, these guys have to last until June if they make the Finals, although that is arguably not even an option for the Nuggets this year. As for the Timberwolves, there was an incredible amount of change, too much to enumerate fully without dedicating them an entire article. The biggest acquisitions were DeAngelo Russell and a 2020 first round draft pick, who come in alongside a slew of names new to the team. As for losses, Andrew Wiggins went to the Warriors; Gorgui Dieng ended up with the Grizzlies; and Shabazz Napier, Jordan Bell, Noah Vonleh and Robert Covington have already been mentioned; and two draft picks went out of their hands. It is anyone’s guess as to what can be expected of the Timberwolves now. Finally, outside of the teams involved in that giant trade, there were some other teams who made some moves, most notably of which is probably the Miami Heat

Late deals traded dozens of players around the league.

who decided that they had a spot for Andre Iguodala if the Grizzlies could not find one. The Heat are on their way to being in the top seeds of the Eastern Conference, and a veteran who is dedicated to team basketball and has plenty of Playoffs experience should come as a boost. Jimmy Butler is rocking and rolling in his new town with the assistance of a relatively young supporting cast, and he may be on his way to restoring the Heat to some of their former glory this postseason. The other big team to limit themselves to one notable move was the Clippers, who are currently nipping at the heels of the Lakers’ number one seed in the Western Conference. They picked up Marcus Morris in a bidding

graphic by Emma Palmer

war with their crosstown rival and they might now have the extra help they need to take that top spot, not to mention that they picked up Isaiah Thomas as well in that deal. Of course, the Lakers were the losers in that fight, and they were otherwise quiet amid the antics of the rest of the league. There is the old adage, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” but the Lakers may find themselves in a tough spot if their biggest competitor is improving while they are stagnant. It seems now that the battle for Los Angeles is far from over, and now with all teams having almost cemented lineups through the end of the season, it is safe to say that that battle will end with one being the NBA champion.

Chiefs win the Super Bowl, end drought

Student writer A. C. Boyle celebrates Kansas City’s stunning win over the 49ers, a victory that ended a 50-year losing streak for the franchise.

Mahomes is the youngest Super Bowl MVP ever.

On Sunday, Feb. 2, the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV, coming from behind 10 with only seven minutes left to win by a score of 31-20. Pinch yourself and don’t wake up, because it doesn’t get any better than this. I went into the game expecting a highscoring shootout, one that would finally end the tradition of Super Bowls being defensive, low-scoring affairs. By the end of the first quarter I already knew I was wrong, but of course that mattered little. This game was exciting, perhaps one of the best Super Bowls in history — along with Giants-Bills and Patriots-Seahawks. That might sound biased coming from someone who got to see their team end a

courtesy Wikimedia Commons

half-century long title drought, but what else can you say about the way this game ended? It was simply a raw, intense battle of wills, a game that wasn’t decided right up until the very end. And after last year’s big game debacle, it was very welcome. The first order of business when talking about this game is to point out that, yes — as a Chiefs fan, I will be the first one to admit that the 49ers lost the game before the Chiefs won it. More on that later. But for now, I should talk about how the game started. The first quarter was neck and neck, with Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid making a gutsy call on 4th down when he could have played it safe and kicked a field goal. The result had the Chiefs up 7-3 as the funny commercials started to flow in.

By the second quarter, the Niners had activated their stellar run offense, picking up big chunks of yards and draining plenty of clock with carry after carry from running back Raheem Mostert and wide receiver Deebo Samuel. The game was 10-10 at halftime, and it was either team’s game. The lofty halftime performance was a two-man, or in this case two-girl effort, with Jennifer Lopez and Shakira sharing the spotlight as America watched (or used the restroom). Shakira in particular seemed to have the word swagger tattooed on her forehead when she was performing, but this wasn’t the celebrity highlight of the night. That award goes to actor and comedian Bill Murray, who appeared in a “Groundhog Day” commercial for Jeep, which is probably the best commercial we’ll see all year. When the game resumed in the third quarter, everything seemed to start going San Francisco’s way. Quarterback Jimmy Garroppolo made great pass plays, the 49ers controlled the clock efficiently with the run and they didn’t let KC’s Patrick Mahomes find anybody downfield to throw to. At one point, the camera crews showed a clip of Chiefs Safety Tyrann Matthieu having an angry outburst and berating his teammates. While it looked at first glance like he was having a temper tantrum, he was in fact getting the boys fired up. And they might have won the game for this very reason. When the fourth quarter rolled in, the Niners had extended their lead to 20-10, and the game looked all but over. They had played better for 50 minutes, and were only a short gap away from their sixth Lombardi trophy. And that’s when their head coach, Kyle Shanahan, lost the game, and the Chiefs won it. It was already alarming enough to many that Shanahan had played it safe at the end of the first half by running the clock out when he had a minute left and three timeouts to work with, but the way he coached the final minutes of the game was completely unacceptable at the professional level. With about 10 minutes left, all the Niners had to do was keep running the ball and get rid of as much time as they could. They had been running the ball all night and it was working. Why stop at the only time you shouldn’t do anything else? Shanahan, who had already proved his allergy to smart game clock management as the Offensive Coordinator of the Falcons the year they blew the infamous 28-3 lead, showed that he had learned nothing from that loss. He called for pass plays until they had to punt. With 7:13 left and at 3rd and 15, the Chiefs looked like they would give the ball right back. Instead, Mahomes finally activated for the first time the entire night, and dialed up a beautiful pass to wide receiver Tyreek Hill for a 44-yard play that gave a dying team hope, light at the end of the tunnel. With 6:14 left, the Chiefs scored to make it 20-17. Then the Niners made more puzzling play calls, giving the ball back to the Chiefs with five minutes left — more than enough time for this explosive offense. The Chiefs drove down the field with grit, and scored with 2:45 remaining. Then their defense fought with a passion to protect that lead, getting a turnover on downs. With the ball up four, Kansas City scored another touchdown as insurance, and the most miraculous comeback in Super Bowl history was complete. At one point, ESPN’s Football Index gave the Chiefs only a 3 percent chance to come back and win. But they had come from behind doubledigits twice before in the playoffs, so they knew how to keep fighting. And unlike the Niners, they weren’t playing afraid out there on the field. They took risks, and never played it safe. This is Andy Reid’s first superbowl victory in his career, a moment he’s been waiting for for over two decades. Mahomes had to wait a lot less, becoming the youngest Super Bowl MVP in history. With so much time left in Mahomes’s career, this might very well be the start of the NFL’s next dynasty, a team with a core that can contend for as long as the New England Patriots have. The question on everybody’s minds is: did the Chiefs win it or did the Niners lose it? I will not for a second let anybody undermine this accomplishment for the Chiefs, but at the same time, this was a game that the Niners let slip away from them. At the end of the day, the thing that seperated these two teams was the clutch gene. Mahomes did not have a good game until the last nine minutes, compiling two interceptions. Nobody will remember those interceptions, though. They will remember his refusal to give up when things were dire. Because that is what makes a champion. As Winston Churchill famously said, “Never give in. Never, Never, Never.” You can be sure that Chiefs fans around the world will never forget this moment, nor will they forget the incredible milestones yet to come.