Dawn Staley aims for ‘generational impact’ ahead of South Carolina’s fourth Final Four appearance

By Lisa AntonucciApr 1, 2022, 2:20 PM EDT

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When South Carolina coach Dawn Staley was named Naismith Women’s Coach of the Year for the second time this week, the three-time Olympic gold medalist and Hall of Famer was quick to share the spotlight.

“It really does take a village,” said Staley, who called associate head coach Lisa Boyer and assistant coaches Fred Chmiel and Jolette Law to stand beside her while posing with the trophy.

RELATED: South Carolina defeats UConn to win 2022 national title

Staley’s humble but significant gesture is indicative of the 51-year-old’s “don’t know how else to do it” persona, which is characterized by this signature move: Lifting up those around her.

But no deflection can dim the glow of Staley’s achievements ahead of her fourth Final Four appearance with the No. 1-seeded Gamecocks, who’ll face fellow top seed Louisville on Friday night in Minneapolis. She kicked off the season by securing an historic seven-year, $22.4 million contract, making her the highest-paid Black head coach in women’s college basketball and one of the highest-paid coaches in all of women’s college basketball, and to celebrate, she sent a piece of South Carolina’s 2017 national championship net to every Black female basketball college coach in Division I (nearly 70).

South Carolina’s second consecutive bid for a national title could provide the perfect ending to a 29-2 season that featured a dazzling campaign by junior forward Aliyah Boston, who was named the Naismith Women’s National Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. It also could serve as a bit of personal revenge after last year’s heartbreaking semifinal loss to Stanford. With the Gamecocks down by three with less than two minutes remaining, a missed kicked-ball call resulted in a fast-break bucket for the Cardinal, who won 66-65 and went on to win the championship.

“Last year is in the past,” Staley said Tuesday, displaying a Zen-like approach to the controversial call. “It is there as part of your journey. So good, bad or indifferent, it’s a part of who we are. Like it was supposed to happen. Our paths are divinely ordered, so we’ve got to take the good and the bad and the disappointments just like we take the celebratory experiences.”

Making those experiences a reality for her players are part of Staley’s mission.

“I want to be a dream merchant for young people because my basketball career as a player was – my cup runneth over, and I wanted other people to feel that,” she said.

Staley’s own story is one that bears repeating ahead of South Carolina’s bid for a second national title. She burst onto the scene during her four years as a player for Virginia, where she was a two-time Naismith Player of the Year and led her team to three Final Four appearances – including the 1991 national championship game. She elevated her legacy as a professional, winning three Olympic gold medals as a member of Team USA in 1996, 2000 and 2014, and her eight-year WNBA career was highlighted by a trip to the 2001 finals with the Charlotte Sting.

But Staley’s legendary status was galvanized after she found her calling as a coach. At the 2000 women’s Final Four in Philadelphia, Staley was on hand as a spectator when she was approached by Temple University’s athletic director, Dave O’Brien, who made several attempts to woo her into coaching. She was finally swayed after O’Brien changed his tactics, challenging Staley to identify ways to improve the program.

2022 NCAA Women’s Basketball: Final Four schedule, March Madness results and scores

That fall, while still playing for Team USA as well as the WNBA, Staley took her place at the Owls’ helm and led them to their first winning season in 11 years and first postseason appearance – at the 2001 WNIT – since an NCAA tournament appearance in 1989. Staley’s teams advanced to the NCAA tournament six of the next seven years, highlighted by a 2004-05 squad that won the Atlantic 10 regular-season and conference titles and went a perfect 15-0 in conference play.

Staley admits that she was “blind” to the fact that she was a Black woman trying to make her way in the collegiate coaching ranks, and simply approached her job with the same love of the game she had as a player.

“You get into coaching, and I truly believe other people make you look at the color of your skin, by how they treat you, by how you aren’t top-tier when it comes to opportunities to coach,” she reflected. “Somebody has really failed for Black women to get an opportunity, and then when they get an opportunity, if they fail, you’re reduced to being an assistant coach. You don’t get recycled to another head coaching position.”

Her perspective sharpened as her coaching gig turned into a full-time career following her retirement from the WNBA in 2006. She left Temple for South Carolina in 2008 and has reached the NCAA Tournament 10 times with the Gamecocks, guiding the program to its first Final Four appearance in 2015, then again in 2017 and 2021. Last summer, Staley coached Team USA to the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, winning all six games and extending her record to 45-0. Staley also coached Team USA to gold in the 2018 World Cup in Spain as well as the 2019 and 2021 FIBA AmeriCup.

“I’m just doing what I’m supposed to do,” said Staley, who on Thursday was honored with the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Pat Summitt National Coach of the Year award. “I’m comfortable in my skin, and I’m comfortable being uncomfortable and making other people uncomfortable when it’s for the right thing.”

Of the 14 SEC women’s basketball programs, five are coached by Black women, and Staley revealed the group has formed an informal network of mentoring and solidarity via group texts and zoom meetings.

“We talk about it. We lift each other up,” said Staley. “When anybody gets a big win, we’re texting, because we know that if we don’t – if we aren’t successful, we go back down – got to wait another 10 years to get another go at it.

“I just feel like Black female coaches have been the voiceless, the ones that don’t really get the opportunity to fail. It is win at all costs, and if you don’t, don’t seek another opportunity.”

2x in the last 3 seasons… the 🐐 @dawnstaley is your @NaismithTrophy Coach of the Year!!! pic.twitter.com/52Aq09mfwX

— GamecockWBB (@GamecockWBB) March 30, 2022

Staley’s knack for building relationships has undoubtedly been the “secret sauce” behind Gamecock fans’ overwhelming support for their women’s basketball program. South Carolina has led the nation in attendance every season since 2014-15, averaging more than 10,000 fans in 92 consecutive regular season home games. A sellout crowd of 18,000 was on hand for this year’s home matchup vs. Tennessee.

“We took matters into our own hands,” Staley explained Thursday. “We invited our fans into our offices. We create opportunities for them to get to know us as people, and then in return, word of mouth, they bring friends. They buy season tickets just to have, just to invite people to our games. … We give our fans access to us, and in return, they fill our arena.”

Plenty of South Carolina fans are expected to be on hand Friday at the Target Center, where the Gamecocks are the odds-on favorite vs. the Cardinals. But Louisville comes in with its own star in sophomore Hailey Van Lith. The 5-7 guard is the first Louisville player with four consecutive 20-point games in the NCAA tournament, and her 22-point performance in the Elite Eight carried the Cardinals’ offense in their 62-50 win over Michigan.

Whether or not the weekend ends with Staley donning another “netlace” – she wore the 2017 championship net as an accessory so often that her players gave it a nickname – Staley already has an idea of how she wants to be known regarding this chapter of her career.

“I want to be remembered as an odds beater – that’s one,” she said. “Then the other … I think what I want is to have generational impact. That’s what I would like to have: generational impact. Not to just impact my current players and my players, but to have impact on people, who will have impact on people, who will have impact on other people.”

NCAA Women’s Basketball – Final Four Schedule

Women’s basketball semifinal round games on Friday, April 1, 2022:

Teams	Time (ET)	TV Channel	Location
No. 1 South Carolina vs. No. 1 Louisville	7 p.m.	ESPN	Minneapolis, Minnesota
No. 1 Stanford vs. No. 2 UConn	9:30 p.m.	ESPN	Minneapolis, Minnesota

2022 NCAA Women’s Basketball National Championship Game – Sunday, April 3, 2022

Teams	Time (ET)	TV Channel	Location
TBD vs. TBD	8 p.m.	ESPN	Minneapolis, Minnesota

MORE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: Stanford, South Carolina book tickets to Final Four

Sloane Stephens gets candid about turning 30, favorite self-care practices and freezing her eggs ahead of 12th French Open

By Lisa AntonucciMay 27, 2023, 12:57 PM EDT

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Sloane Stephens calls the French Open – the second Grand Slam of the tennis season – one of her favorite events of the year, and it’s not hard to understand why: The 30-year-old Stephens owns 32 victories on the “terre battue” in Paris, where she finished runner-up in 2018. The current world No. 35 looks to increase that number when she faces off against No. 16 Karolina Pliskova in first-round action, which begins Sunday.

Roland-Garros is Stephens’ most successful major in terms of match wins at 32-11. Her record at the U.S. Open, where she won the title in 2017, currently stands at 24-10, while she’s 14-11 at Wimbledon. She stands 12-11 at the Australian Open, where she fell in the first round earlier this year to Russia’s Anastasia Potapova.

The Florida native arrives in Paris with 11 events in 2023 under her belt, including her first WTA 125 title at the L’Open 35 de Saint Malo earlier in May. Stephens entered the tournament last-minute following a first-round loss at the Madrid Open, but she rebounded by dropping just one set in four matches en route to the clay-court final, which she won in straight sets over Greet Minnen on May 7.

On Her Turf sat down with Stephens ahead of the 2023 French Open to talk about a wide range of topics including Rolland-Garros, turning 30, mental health advocacy, her favorite self-care practices, freezing her eggs and more.

You can watch the 2023 French Open on NBC, the Tennis Channel and Peacock. Click here for the full schedule.

RELATED: 2023 French Open — Dates, schedule, how to watch on NBC and Peacock

This Q+A has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.

On Her Turf: Let’s start with some general takeaways… What are your thoughts on your season so far?

Sloane Stephens: Definitely started off slow, but we’ve been here before, so not too worried. …I was able to go play in St. Malo, which was great, because I needed to get a bunch of matches, and I was able to pick up a title there, which was really nice. Clay-court season is my favorite season, so I’m really happy to be able to play a lot of matches at the beginning (of the season). … It’s been a tough start this season. I haven’t done as well as I would have liked to, but again, that’s just tennis. And I think now I’ve kind of picked up some momentum. And yeah, playing in my favorite season of the year, the clay-court season is always nice. And being able to win matches and collect a lot of points is always good. So just been trying to keep the momentum going from here.

OHT: Regarding what you just said – “It’s just tennis” – Could you talk a little more about your perspective, dealing with that up-and-down start to a season? Knowing it’s a long season, how do you keep yourself from judging your whole year based on how it started?

Stephens: I think having perspective instead of over-analyzing. Only one person can win every week, right? … It’s all about finding that balance: It’s not getting overly happy and joyous when you’re winning and not getting so depressed that you want to quit tennis when it’s not going well. … And part of it is managing the workload and managing the travel and the logistics. You know, you don’t work a nine-to-five (job), you don’t go into work every day. And it’s the same thing for everyone. Like everyone’s routines are messed up, everyone’s schedule is different. Everyone’s losing their bags, everyone’s flights are super expensive. There’s all of these things that go into it that you really can’t get so upset about, because it’s happening to everyone. Everyone’s managing it, and whoever is managing the very best is probably the No. 1 player in the world. And there can be someone who’s managing really great and they’re No. 50 in the world. So it’s all about perspective.

OHT: Speaking of managing stress, can you talk about how wearing fitness technology (Stephens has been a brand ambassador for WHOOP since 2021) has helped you, and how do you incorporate it into your routine?

Stephens: I think for myself, as a professional athlete, it really helps you gauge where your body is in its recovery and how it’s recovering. WHOOP actually gives you the data … and I think that’s where the stress monitor comes in. Because like I said, like, you can already see like if your body’s recovering or not recovering, and then on top of it, how much stress are you putting on your body with a 10-percent recovery day? What does that look like? Are you gonna get injured? Are you gonna get sick? Are you going to be a couch potato? For myself, I know if I have two days that are in the red and I’m going really hard, I’m gonna have three days where I’m like, “Don’t call me; I’m not going to be able to do anything.” And before, I never really knew why that was happening, so I’m able to just be way more alert and attentive to like what my body needs, especially now that I’ve gotten older. I wish I had this when I was 21, because then I’d be the hero of self-care and recovery and HRV (heart rate variability) and monitoring — all of these things. Whereas now I’m old, and it really does make a difference. I really actually need to be paying attention to these things.

OHT: Speaking of self-care… what are some of your current self-care practices and how did it feel to hit the milestone of turning 30 this year (which by the way is not old!)?

Stephens: It’s been totally fine. I don’t feel any different at all, really, which is good. I think in terms of “old,” I’m definitely not old, but in tennis terms I am. There are girls on tour who are 17 and 16, and I don’t even remember what it was like when I was 16 playing on the tour — it was just so long ago. …My self-care journey has changed as I’ve gotten older, as I’ve experienced more things, as I’ve traveled the world. When I get to a new city and I’m needing to relax, I’ll try to find where can I get a facial? Where can I get my nails done? I like to do things alone — I don’t know why, I think it’s just part of being a tennis player. I’m used to having to do things alone. So for me, I can take my headphones and my show and go get my nails done, go have lunch by myself, all of those things. To me, that’s very relaxing, and I love it. …But being on the road — so much has really changed how I view self-care. I’ve definitely made it my mission to be more active when I’m on the road, to implement those things I love throughout my day and then be more active in terms of finding places to get facials or get my hair done and just kind of going for it.

OHT: I want to ask about your mom: She was a standout collegiate athlete (Sybil Smith was an All-American swimmer at Boston University) and a Harvard-educated psychologist. How has she informed your approach to self-care and mental health as a professional athlete?

Stephens: My mom, she’s so freakin’ cool. She’s so awesome. We actually do a lot of (self-care) stuff together. We really look forward to like doing those things and having self-care days. …But I think she also knows how important it is to have that time to take care of yourself and have that time alone, too, to recharge and regroup. She’s encouraged me both ways, just because she knows how helpful it can be.

OHT: You mentioned that you like doing things alone when you’re on the road, but I read in a recent article where you note that being a professional tennis player can be very lonely and can take a toll on your mental health, which is a topic you regularly address. Why is it important to you address mental health awareness and where does that comfort level talking about it come from?

Stephens: I would definitely say my mom. I’ve obviously been in therapy pretty much in my whole life, so I’m very open with that. And I think being a tennis player, traveling the world, it’s a very unique experience. I travel with a coach, a physio, sometimes a friend, so it’s like I’m never truly alone. …But during COVID, we weren’t allowed to leave our rooms for probably a better part of a year and a half, and I think that’s when the loneliness came in. All through COVID I was seeing a therapist and post COVID, still continuing to see my therapist, and really just finding the balance in my life. That makes the most sense for me.

Our health depends heavily on our connections with one another. The new @Surgeon_General ’s Advisory highlights evidence that meaningful relationships are beneficial to our individual and collective health and well-being. #Connect2Heal https://t.co/sXP17NRPil pic.twitter.com/50o8PqLKIC

— sloanestephens (@SloaneStephens) May 3, 2023

OHT: It also appears that you have a good relationship with your followers on social media. In particular, it’s been really interesting to follow your journey through freezing your eggs and talking about your reproductive health. Why has that been important for you to engage in that conversation publicly?

Stephens: I’ve always been scared of childbirth, and since I was like 18, I’ve thought I’m definitely having a surrogate, like, this is what I’m putting my mind to, I’m going to freeze my eggs. And now, as I’ve gotten older and have read more about it, and really educated myself about the maternal mortality rate for black women – it’s a very scary thing. For me, egg freezing is something that I’ve always wanted to do, I’ve always been very interested in it, and now I get to share (what I’ve learned). There are so many girls on the tour who are interested. But for a female tennis player, the process takes like three weeks, which is a bit long. You know, men are free to do whatever they want, whenever they want. They don’t have to stop working. Their wives are at home, they’re having babies, and a lot of them now – some younger than me — bring their kids to the tournaments. And I’m like, “I’m 30, I have no kids.” And I totally envisioned having a baby at 27 or 28 and living a normal life. But for a professional tennis player, it’s not ideal. It’s just not possible. We do have a lot of moms on tour, which is the best. It’s just very complicated. The reproductive system is a very complicated thing … I’m on the player council, so I’m very invested in the girls on tour and their health and how they take care of themselves, and this was just something that fits into that — being able to freeze your eggs. Like Michelle Obama said the recently, “You can have it all, just not at the same time.”

OHT: Looking ahead to the 50th anniversary of the WTA this year, what are your thoughts as the organization celebrates this milestone?

Stephens: The WTA has come a long way, and it’s something I’ve been really proud to be a part of. I think obviously when Billie (Jean King) started the tour 50 years ago, I’m sure she didn’t think it would look like what it looks like now. So just being able to be a part of something like that, and I think we all want to leave the tour and tennis better than we found it. There are more initiatives, the pension program is better, there’s free egg freezing, and all of the other things that we want on our tour – those things are possible and we’re able to make that happen.

MORE FROM ON HER TURF: Q+A with Katherine Legge: Her decision to contest her third Indy 500, why the race is ‘bonkers’ and what she hopes to achieve

2023 NCAA DI women’s golf championships: Wake Forest captures team title, Stanford’s Rose Zhang wins individual crown

By Lisa AntonucciMay 25, 2023, 9:30 AM EDT

Update: No. 3 Wake Forest captured its first-ever NCAA DI women’s golf national title on Wednesday, defeating No. 5 Southern California 3-1-0. Demon Deacons players Emilia Migliaccio, Rachel Kuehn and Lauren Walsh won their respective matches to clinch the 2023 title. Of note, Walsh took down USC’s Brianna Navarossa in the day’s anchor match — a day after Navarrossa beat Stanford’s Rose Zhang, who won the individual title on Monday. Wake Forest finished third in the stroke play portion of the competition to advance to match play. The Demon Deacons beat No. 6 Florida State in the quarterfinals before downing No. 7 Texas A&M to reach the national championship match, where they beat USC.

The 30-team field is set for the 2023 NCAA DI women’s golf championships, set for May 19-24 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, with defending champion Stanford leading the charge among the six regional qualifying tournaments that wrapped on Wednesday. The Cardinal recorded both the best team and individual scores of the week, posting a combined for 50-under par to win the Pullman (Washington) regional by 17 shots.

Stanford sophomore Rose Zhang, who won the 2022 individual NCAA title, led the Cardinal with a score of 19-under over three rounds, highlighted by an 8-under 64 in her first round on Monday. Zhang set a new NCAA record for the low 54-hole score at Regionals by three shots at Palouse Ridge Golf Club, while her team obliterated the NCAA 54-hole team scoring mark by 17 strokes. The Pullman Regional produced the five lowest team scores of the week, as four teams (Stanford, Clemson, Southern California, Baylor) shot better than 20-under.

Other notable performances came from Arizona, which rallied on Wednesday to win the Raleigh Regional, while the Georgia defended its home course in the Athens Regional, holding off a late push from South Carolina. Also advancing out of Athens was No. 11 seed Augusta, who will make its first appearance at nationals in program history. In the Westfield Regional, Mississippi State won its first-ever regional tournament, while Michigan State won the Palm Beach Regional to also mark a program first. Pepperdine and SMU finished tied atop the leaderboard in the San Antonio Regional.

This year marks the first time in women’s tournament history that that five teams will advance from each regional rather than four (increasing the field from 24 to 30 teams). In January, the NCAA gained approval to increase the number of schools moving on to nationals, aligning it with the number of teams in the men’s championships.

The Stanford Cardinal are the defending champions, beating the Oregon Ducks in the 2022 finals at Grayhawk GC. Stanford sophomore Rose Zhang will aim to defend her individual title as well, and looks to keep the momentum rolling this spring after wins at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and Pac-12 Championships, where she claimed her 10th career collegiate title to set a new Cardinal record.

Read on as On Her Turf breaks down all you need to know about this year’s championships, and be sure to check back here for updates and results as the tournament progresses.

Matchups and results

On Monday, Stanford sophomore Rose Zhang became the first women’s player to ever win consecutive NCAA individual titles on Monday at Grayhawk Golf Club. Zhang finished at 10-under 278 after 54 holes, beating USC’s Catherine Park and San Jose State’s Lucia Lopez-Ortega by one stroke. Complete scoring details can be found here.

Quarterfinals matchups and results:

Match 1: No. 7 Texas A&M defeats No. 2 Texas, 3-1
Match 2: No. 3 Wake Forest defeats No. 6 Florida State, 3-1
Match 3: No. 1 Stanford defeats No. 8 Pepperdine, 3-1
Match 4: No. 5 Southern California defeats No. 4 South Carolina, 3-1

Semifinal matchups and results:

Match 5: No. 3 Wake Forest defeats No. 7 Texas A&M, 3-0-0
Match 6: No. 5 Southern California defeats No. 1 Stanford, 3-1-0

Championship matchup and results:

Match 7: No. 3 Wake Forest defeats No. 5 Southern California, 3-1-0

How to watch the 2023 NCAA DI women’s golf championships

You can watch the 2023 NCAA DI women’s golf championships on Golf Channel, Peacock, NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app. Check out the complete TV and streaming schedule:

Monday, May 22: 5 p.m. ET (final round, individual stroke play), Golf Channel and Peacock
Tuesday, May 23: Noon ET (quarterfinals, team matches) and 5 p.m. ET (semifinals, team matches), Golf Channel and Peacock
Wednesday, May 24: 5 p.m. ET (national championship team match), Golf Channel and Peacock

ALSO FROM ON HER TURF: 2023 JM Eagle LA Championship — How to watch, who’s playing in inaugural LPGA event at familiar Wilshire CC venue

Who’s playing in the 2023 NCAA DI women’s golf championships?

UPDATE: Stanford, Texas, Wake Forest, South Carolina, Southern California, Florida State, Texas A&M and Pepperdine advanced to match play.

FINALS FIELD

Thirty teams — five from each of the six regions — qualified for the finals, May 19-24 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona. Also qualifying were six individuals (one from each regional site) whose teams did not advance. They are:

Athens Regional:

1. Georgia
2. South Carolina
3. San Jose State
4. Ole Miss
5. Augusta
Individual: Leon Takagi – Kent State

Palm Beach Gardens Regional:

1. Michigan State
2. Duke
T-3. Texas
T-3. Northwestern
5. LSU
Individual: Sara Byrne – Miami (FL)

Pullman Regional:

1. Stanford
2. Clemson
3. Southern California
4. Baylor
5. Texas Tech
Individual: Tiffany Le – UC Riverside

Raleigh Regional:

1. Arizona
2. NC State
3. Wake Forest
4. TCU
5. Florida State
Individual: Dorota Zalewska – Chattanooga

San Antonio Regional Site:

T-1. Pepperdine
T-1. SMU
T-3. Oklahoma State
T-3. Texas A&M
5. New Mexico
Individual: Camryn Carreon – UTSA

Westfield Regional:

1. Mississippi State
2. Oregon State
3. Vanderbilt
4. Virginia
5. Tulsa
Individual: Isabella McCauley – Minnesota

Past NCAA DI women’s golf champions

The NCAA DI women’s golf championships went to a combination stroke-play and match-play format in 2015. The previous format was strictly stroke play (72 holes) from the championships’ inception in 1982 through 2014.

YEAR	TEAM CHAMPION	COACH	SCORE	RUNNER-UP	INDIVIDUAL CHAMP (school, score)	LOCATION
2022	Stanford	Anne Walker	3-2	Oregon	Rose Zhang (Stanford, 282)	Grayhawk Golf Club, Scottsdale, AZ
2021	Ole Miss	Kory Henkes	4-1	Oklahoma State	Rachel Heck (Stanford, 280)	Grayhawk Golf Club, Scottsdale, AZ
2020	n/a (pandemic)	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
2019	Duke	Dan Brooks	3-2	Wake Forest	Maria Fassi (Arkansas, 211*)	Blessings Golf Club, Fayetteville, AR
2018	Arizona	Laura Ianello	3-2	Alabama	Jennifer Kupcho (Wake Forest, 280)	Karsten Creek Golf Club, Stillwater, OK
2017	Arizona State	Missy Farr-Kaye	3-1-1	Northwestern	Monica Vaughn (Arizona State, 275)	Rich Harvest Farms, Sugar Grove, IL
2016	Washington	Mary Lou Mulflur	3-2	Stanford	Virginia Elena Carta (Duke, 272)	Eugene Country Club, Eugene, OR
2015	Stanford	Anne Walker	3-2	Baylor	Emma Talley (Alabama, 285)	The Concession Golf Club, Bradenton, FL

*Stroke play shortened to three rounds.

What format is used for the 2023 NCAA DI women’s golf championships?

Thirty teams and six individuals will make up the field for the 2023 NCAA DI women’s golf championships, set for May 19-24 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, and hosted by Arizona State and The Thunderbirds. All teams and individual competitors will compete in 54 holes of stroke play (May 19-21), with the top 15 teams and nine individuals not on an advancing team moving on for one additional day of stroke play (May 22), which will determine the eight teams for the match-play competition as well as the individual champion.

Any ties after 54 holes – either to determine the teams or individuals who’ll advance to the final round of stroke-play – will be broken by sudden-death playoff. Additionally, ties to determine the eight teams advancing to match play — as well as the individual champion — also will be broken by sudden-death playoff.

Following the conclusion of 72 holes of stroke play, the top eight teams will advance to single-elimination match play, with seeds determined by the team results. A total of five points will be available in each round, with the first team to three points winning. Once a team has won three individual matches, any remaining individual matches will be halted at that point, and the score recorded as it currently stood. Quarterfinals and semifinals are set for May 23, with the finals on May 24.

Regionals rewind: 72 teams take aim at qualifying for nationals

Regional action took place May 8-10 at six regional sites, featuring 72 teams and 36 individuals (396 competitors total). Twenty-seven conferences received automatic bids to regional championships, with each regional site hosting 12 teams and six individuals. The top five teams and the low individual not on an advancing team from each regional site moved on to the national championships, set for May 19-24 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Committee announced the teams and individuals for each of six regional tournaments on April 26, with Stanford, Wake Forest, LSU, South Carolina, Mississippi State and Texas A&M all earning No. 1 seeds. The SEC led the way with 13 conference programs securing spots in the regional fields (including four No. 1 seeds), followed by the Big Ten and Pac-12 with eight each, and the ACC and Big 12 with seven.

Each regional hosted 12 teams and six individuals competing in a 54-hole tournament, with the top five teams — along with the low individual not on an advancing team — from each site qualifying for nationals at Grayhawk. The six regional sites, including selected teams and individuals, were as follows (includes seeding; conference automatic qualifiers indicated in parentheses):

PULLMAN REGIONAL

Palouse Ridge Golf Club in Pullman, Washington; hosted by Washington State

Teams:

1. Stanford
2. Baylor
3. Southern California (Pac-12 Conference)
4. Clemson (Atlantic Coast Conference)
5. Kentucky
6. Texas Tech
7. Houston
8. North Carolina
9. UNLV
10. Sacramento State (Big Sky Conference)
11. Cal Poly (Big West Conference)
12. Green Bay (Horizon League)

Individuals:

Camille Boyd, Washington
Tiffany Le, UC Riverside
Harriet Lynch, Fresno State
Darcy Habgood, Washington State
Stefanie Deng, Washington
Cassie Kim, Gonzaga

WESTFIELD REGIONAL

The Club at Chatham Hills Golf Course in Westfield, Indiana; hosted by Indiana and Indiana Sports Corp

Teams:

1. Mississippi State
2. Oregon
3. Vanderbilt
4. Iowa State
5. Virginia
6. Tulsa
7. Tennessee
8. Michigan
9. Oregon State
10. Xavier (Big East Conference)
11. Lipscomb (ASUN Conference)
12. Morehead State (Ohio Valley Conference)

Individuals:

Isabella McCauley, Minnesota
Carmen Griffiths, Louisville
Luisamariana Mesones, Minnesota
Sofia Torres, Colorado State
Lauren Beaudreau, Notre Dame
Sabrina Coffman, Cleveland State (Horizon League)

RALEIGH REGIONAL

Lonnie Poole Golf Course in Raleigh, North Carolina; hosted by NC State

Teams:

1. Wake Forest
2. Arizona State
3. Florida State
4. Florida
5. Arizona
6. North Texas (Conference USA)
7. TCU
8. NC State
9. Purdue
10. Nebraska
11. Campbell (Big South Conference)
12. Richmond (Patriot League)

Individuals:

Dorota Zalewska, Chattanooga
Kendall Turner, James Madison
Mallory Fobes, UNCW
Morgan Ketchum, Virginia Tech
Becca DiNunzio, Virginia Tech
Sarah Kahn, High Point (Big South Conference)

ATHENS REGIONAL

University of Georgia Golf Course in Athens, Georgia; hosted by Georgia

Teams:

1. South Carolina
2. San Jose State
3. Ole Miss
4. Ohio State
5. Georgia
6. Maryland
7. Kent State (Mid-American Conference)
8. Charleston (Colonial Athletic Association)
9. Kansas
10. Furman (Southern Conference)
11. Augusta (Southland Conference)
12. Sacred Heart (Northeast Conference)

Individuals:

Carla Bernat, Tulane
Mathilde Delavallade, Penn State
Mikhaela Fortuna, Oklahoma
Catie Craig, Western Kentucky (Conference USA)
Christy Chen, Boston U (Patriot League)
Isabella Gomez, Harvard (The Ivy League)

SAN ANTONIO REGIONAL

TPC San Antonio in San Antonio, Texas; hosted by UTSA and San Antonio Sports

Teams:

1. Texas A&M (Southeastern Conference)
2. Auburn
3. Pepperdine
4. Oklahoma State (Big 12 Conference)
5. SMU (American Athletic Conference)
6. UCLA
7. New Mexico (Mountain West Conference)
8. Denver (The Summit League)
9. Illinois (Big Ten Conference)
10. Sam Houston (Western Athletic Conference)
11. ULM (Sun Belt Conference)
12. Missouri State (Missouri Valley Conference)

Individuals:

Victoria Gailey, Nevada
Allysha Mae Mateo, BYU
Haley Vargas, Kansas State
Camryn Carreon, UTSA
Jasmine Leovao, Long Beach State (Big West Conference)
Alex Giles, Incarnate Word (Southland Conference)

PALM BEACH GARDENS REGIONAL

PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida; hosted by Florida Atlantic and Palm Beach County Sports Commission

Teams:

1. LSU
2. Texas
3. Northwestern
4. UCF
5. Duke
6. Michigan State
7. California
8. Arkansas
9. Alabama
10. South Florida
11. Penn (The Ivy League)
12. Quinnipiac (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference)

Individuals:

Christin Eisenbeiss, North Florida
Sara Byrne, Miami (FL)
Yanjun Liu, Princeton
Karissa Kilby, FIU
Leah Onosato, Old Dominion (Sun Belt Conference)
Katherine Lemke, Creighton (Big East Conference)

Last year at Grayhawk Golf Club

The No. 1-ranked Stanford Cardinal captured their second national title — and first since 2015 — with a 3-2 win over the No. 2 Oregon Ducks at Grayhawk Golf Club, marking the first time that a No. 1 seed won the title since the tournament switched to match play in 2015. The Cardinal also became the first team since Arizona State in 2017 to win both the team and individual championship in the same year.

In the championship matches, Stanford’s Brooke Seay and Aline Krauter each won to give the Cardinal a 2-0 edge, but Oregon’s Briana Chacon and Tze-Han Lin tied it up with wins over Sadie Englemann and Rachel Heck, respectively. Stanford’s hopes rested on Rose Zhang, who closed out Sofie Kibsgaard Nielsen on the 17th hole, 3 and 1, and secured Stanford’s team title.

Earlier in the week, Zhang also secured the individual NCAA title, finishing four rounds of stroke play at 6-under 282. Despite a 3-over 75 in the final round, Zhang won by three shots over SJSU’s Natasha Adrea Oon, who finished solo second, followed by Texas A&M’s Jennie Park and LSU’s Ingrid Lindblad, who tied for third. Zhang became the second consecutive Cardinal to win the title following teammate Heck’s win in 2021. Heck and Zhang are the only two Stanford women to win the individual national championship, and each did so as freshmen.

More about Grayhawk Golf Club’s Raptor Course

This year marks the third straight year that the Raptor Course at Grayhawk Golf Club will host the women’s NCAA golf championships. Located in Scottsdale, Arizona, less that 20 miles from the Arizona State campus, Grayhawk was designed by Tom Fazio and opened in 1995. The Raptor Course will play as a par 72 (36-36), stretching 6,384 yards, and is known for its generous fairways, large and undulated greens, and deep bunkers, which are especially noteworthy considering Fazio sculpted these features from what started as a flat piece of desert land.

Grayhawk GC also will host the men’s NCAA tournament May 26-31, but both tournaments move to the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa’s Champions Course in Carlsbad, California, for 2024. This year marks the eighth consecutive edition of the NCAA Division I Golf Championships that one course will host both the women’s and men’s championships in the same year in consecutive weeks.

The NBC Sports golf research team contributed to this report.

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Time (ET)

TV Channel

Location

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