As the popularity of women's basketball surges, Providence and Rhode Island hope to follow suit
URI women's head coach Tammi Reiss cheered on a former college teammate from afar. PC women's head coach Erin Batth took her staff to the Final Four in Cleveland to get a closer look at the elite.
They had plenty of company.
It’s been a breakout spring for women’s college basketball, and the television ratings for the NCAA Tournament further confirmed it. The championship game between South Carolina and Iowa drew an average of 18.7 million viewers on ABC and its family of networks, a number bettered since 2019 only by football games and Olympic sports.
How can Reiss and Batth use that momentum at their University of Rhode Island and Providence College programs, respectively? A rising tide is said to lift all boats, and there would seem to be an opportunity for the Rams and Friars to join the party. Success on the floor, entertaining styles and community outreach are all essential to growing audiences of their own.
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“All the story lines that were created with the media really elevated our game,” Reiss said. “We have personalities, and they’re big personalities. We have faces of our game.”
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“I always tell my women to be the first at anything is always a huge blessing,” Batth said. “To change the history of something is forever. To be a part of this — I'll never forget it.”
Reiss was backcourt mates with Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley during their time at Virginia. The extrovert from upstate New York and the shy kid from North Philadelphia made for a dynamic pair, powering the Cavaliers to two national semifinals and a title game. Staley has captured two of the last three championships and has racked up a 109-3 record since the beginning of the 2021-22 season.
“She’s a trailblazer,” Reiss said. “To see that growth is absolutely amazing. It’s inspiring. It makes me thankful that I was blessed to play with her, to know her.”
That’s long been the focus in college sports — the coaches and programs that lead to glory are the constants. The players came and went every four years, and they’re liable to do so even more frequently now thanks to the transfer portal and immediate eligibility. Women’s basketball has seen the attention shift to dynamic individuals in part thanks to transcendent talent like Hawkeyes guard Caitlin Clark, Connecticut guard Paige Bueckers, USC guard JuJu Watkins, LSU duo Angel Reese and Flau’jae Johnson and more.
“Now five players are bringing the ball down the floor,” Batth said. “The big girls are shooting threes and guards are posting up and getting more physical in the paint. It’s been a lot of fun.”
Previous players like Nancy Lieberman, Ann Meyers, Cheryl Miller and Lisa Leslie dominated the game starting in the 1970s. The rise of cable television and the dueling dynasties built by the Huskies and Tennessee added more heat to the sport in the 1990s and 2000s. This next generation has ridden expanded streaming availability, social media platforms and their own development to new heights.
More: Caitlin Clark forever changed the college game — and more importantly the view of women's sports
“It’s more skilled, obviously,” Reiss said. “More athletic across the board. Strength and conditioning are at an all-time high. Every decade gets blessed with knowledge, and they build on it.”
Batth saw one of the game’s best three times during her debut with Providence. Bueckers helped guide UConn to a pair of victories against the Friars during the regular season and another in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals. Crowds packed Gampel Pavilion, Alumni Hall and Mohegan Sun Arena to catch a glimpse of the All-American and AP Player of the Year in 2020-21.
“It’s awesome to watch her play,” Batth said. “It’s so frustrating to coach against her — oh, my gosh. But as somebody who respects the game and loves the game — huge fan. My daughter loves her.”
Clark enjoyed the majority of the spotlight, becoming the all-time leading scorer in college basketball and powering Iowa to a second straight appearance in the finals. She was an in-state commitment to the Hawkeyes who helped sell out Big Ten arenas and March Madness sites throughout the 2023-24 campaign. Clark finally came up short against South Carolina, which finished a first perfect season under Staley’s guidance.
“That young girl carried a heavy load, and she carried it well,” Reiss said. “I don’t know how many people can perform with that much pressure on them, and she did it day in and day out. It elevated our game.”
Clark is one of several women’s players — Bueckers, Reese, Johnson and Tigers guard Hailey Van Lith are among others — who top a million followers on Instagram. Their eventual progressions into the WNBA will help bring a significant amount of attention to what has been, to this point, a lagging professional entity. The league’s media rights deal with ESPN expires after 2025, and multiple suitors — Ion, Prime Video and others — could be in the running next time it becomes available.
“For us, it’s building off momentum,” Reiss said. “We’ve got to keep winning and we’ve got to get talent. Keep promoting in the community. When you win, it’s a lot easier putting those butts in the seats.”
“It’s affected us already,” Batth said. “We sold out a couple of games — hadn't done that forever. We made the postseason. People know our players around this community.
“We don’t have a Paige Bueckers — a name like that right now, but we have great athletes.”
bkoch@providencejournal.com
On X: @BillKoch25
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: As women's basketball grows in popularity, PC and URI hope to capitalize
