Taylor's 10: The Rising Tide of Women's Sports
Taylor Cummings is a three-time Tewaaraton Award winner, a two-time gold medalist with the U.S. women’s national team, the inaugural Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse champion and the head coach at McDonogh (Md.). “Taylor’s 10” is presented by Gait Lacrosse. Be legendary.
March Madness is officially over for basketball, and the growth and visibility of the women’s tournament this year compared to previous ones was astounding.
Ticket prices were triple the amount for the women’s semifinals than the men’s, games were selling out across the country as the tournament progressed and the amount of positive chatter generated on social media was incredible. The sports world was buzzing over women’s basketball, and I couldn’t help but smile the entire month of March.
As an athlete myself, one of the most frustrating things to continuously read on social media and to hear on TV is that “no one wants to watch women’s sports” or “no one cares about women’s athletics.” Anytime there are highlights of female athletics on SportsCenter or articles on ESPN dedicated to anything about women's sports, you can always count on ignorant Internet trolls to voice their opinions and show their true selves. I hope that this year’s March Madness shuts those trolls down, because what they’re saying simply isn’t true — and there’s proof. The crowds at games, the handmade signs in the stands and the positive dialogue and comments from fans new and old proves that people want to watch women’s sports.
My greatest hope is that this momentum continues not just for basketball or lacrosse, but for all sports. Female athletes are powerful, strong, skilled, dynamic, passionate, inspiring, dedicated and so much more. Our talents deserve to not only be shown to the world but supported and celebrated by communities near and far. The next generation of female athletes will have this year’s March Madness as the new standard, and I sure hope that we can top it in years to come!
In keeping with the March Madness theme for this week, let’s dive into the madness that occurred in our own lacrosse bubble!
WHAT HAPPENED
Virginia Tech outlasts Duke in triple OT
This was a game that I had circled on my calendar since February as a potential upset. Head coach Kristen Skiera has such a solid group this season and has had the Hokies primed for an upset like this since she took over the program. I love the belief and pride that VT plays with, and that resilience was on full display Saturday. My favorite play of the game was not the winning goal. It was actually the caused turnover that the Hokies defensive unit created while player down with 30 seconds left. Most teams would have hung their heads. Not the Hokies.
Johns Hopkins storms back against Rutgers
When I shut off the game in the third quarter to go to lunch, I was sure that Rutgers was on its way to victory. I had no idea a major comeback was brewing at Homewood. The Blue Jays love to create exchanges on the offensive end to catch defenses slipping, and they found success in the fourth quarter doing that, as they scored the final seven goals. This win officially puts all future opponents on notice — never count the Blue Jays out.
Notre Dame stuns North Carolina
In another ACC battle, Notre Dame topped North Carolina and shook up every poll as a result. Like Virginia Tech, Notre Dame always believes and is confident going into every matchup. The Irish’s zone was impressive, as it created utter chaos for the Tar Heel offense, but it was the play of their own offense that was most impressive. UNC is a complete unit defensively, and the Irish attacked them at every turn. They pushed transition with give-and-gos, stuck their 8 meters and were efficient dodging and cutting. I haven’t seen the Tar Heel defense that exposed in a while.
Stanford topples USC
Stanford has had a roller coaster of a year and hasn’t performed to the level most anticipated. The Cardinal began to change that tune after a big win over USC on Sunday. The three-headed monster of Frist, Humphrey and Kelly showed up in every way, and their draw control prowess stymied USC’s efforts to gain momentum. Stanford has had an iffy 2023 but could create a ton of trouble for teams in the back half of the season if it grows from Sunday’s win.
East Carolina cruises past Vanderbilt
East Carolina took care of business Saturday with a 15-10 victory over Vanderbilt. When watching East Carolina play and looking at the stat sheet, what I love most is the balance with which it plays. Nine players were involved in the scoring, half of the goals were assisted and EC managed the “little things” categories very well. Draws, ground balls and saves all went in favor of the Pirates and contributed to their victory.
