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The Athletic Women's Basketball Show

The Athletic
120 episodes   Last Updated: Dec 20, 24
The Athletic Women's Basketball Show brings you the latest news from the WNBA, Women's College Basketball and more each week. Zena Keita hosts along with Sabreena Merchant, Ben Pickman, Chantel Jennings and guests from around the sport.

Episodes

Zena and Sabreena welcome Annemarie Farrell to the podcast to dive into the world of women's sports trading cards. Annemarie, who runs the women's sport card Instagram account "women on Topps", introduces us to the trading card community and how to get involved as a collector. She also details the history of women's basketball cards and explains the recent boom in the industry, including how Caitlin Clark's cards are resetting the market. -Follow Zena on X: @itszenakeita -Follow Sabreena on X: @sabreenajm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
With conference play underway, Zena, Chantel, and Sabreena break down what to expect in the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, and SEC. They give their favorites to win each conference, which other teams could spoil the party, and players and trends they're keeping an eye on. -Follow Zena on X: @itszenakeita -Follow Chantel on X: @chanteljennings -Follow Sabreena on X: @sabreenajm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Zena, Sabreena, and Ben chat with Morgan Tuck, the new general manager of the Connecticut Sun. They talk about Tuck's path to a WNBA front office after being drafted to the league eight years ago, the player-to-GM pipeline, and why she draws inspiration from Pat Riley. They also discuss the Sun hiring Rachid Meziane as their new head coach. -Follow Zena on X: @itszenakeita -Follow Ben on X: @benpickman -Follow Sabreena on X: @sabreenajm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Zena, Chantel, and Sabreena break down a jam-packed weekend in college basketball, starting with the inaugural Champions Classic as UConn made a statement as a title contender and new-look Tennessee introduced itself to a national audience. Then, the trio analyzes how the defending champs have rebounded since their loss to UCLA and if TCU has any hope after getting absolutely wrecked by South Carolina. -Follow Zena on X: @itszenakeita -Follow Chantel on X: @chanteljennings -Follow Sabreena on X: @sabreenajm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this bonus episode, Ben and Sabreena dive deep into the Golden State expansion draft. They talk with general manager Ohemaa Nyanin and head coach Natalie Nakase about their pre-draft process, the experience of the event, and what comes next for the Valkyries. After those conversations, Ben and Sabreena analyze Golden State's selections and what we learned about their roster-building strategy. -Follow Ben on X: @benpickman -Follow Sabreena on X: @sabreenajm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
New Sparks head coach Lynne Roberts joins Ben and Sabreena to detail her basketball career and the various odd jobs she took en route to becoming a head coach. They discuss this current moment in women's basketball, why Lynne made the move to the WNBA, her hopes for the Sparks and basketball in Los Angeles, plus her past obsession with "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette" reality series. -Follow Ben on X: @benpickman -Follow Sabreena on X: @sabreenajm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Ben, Zena and Chantel take stock of some current top teams to discuss how much they truly trust that group to get the job done. Is it: In UConn we trust? Or better to rely on UCLA? South Carolina? TCU? Or another squad? And which teams in the field do they definitely not trust? -Follow Zena on X: @itszenakeita -Follow Ben on X: @benpickman -Follow Chantel on X: @chanteljennings Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Zena, Sabreena and Chantel discuss the best weekend of women's hoops since the 2024 Final Four, recapping the USC-Notre Dame and UCLA-South Carolina games. They break down what went right for Notre Dame and UCLA and what could've gone better for USC and South Carolina while looking ahead to what it all means as these teams try to remain national title contenders.  -Follow Zena on X: @itszenakeita -Follow Chantel on X: @chanteljennings -Follow Sabreena on X: @sabreenajm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The upstart 3x3 winter basketball league will begin play this January. Recently-hired general manager and EVP Clare Duwelius joins Zena and Ben to discuss why she left the Minnesota Lynx for the new venture, explain more about Unrivaled’s place in the women’s basketball landscape, and talk about how players are at the center of the new league in more ways than one. Then, Zena and Ben debrief their conversation, analyze the league’s six rosters and provide an update about Caitlin Clark’s involvement.  -Follow Zena on X: @itszenakeita -Follow Ben on X: @benpickman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Zena, Sabreena and Chantel discuss five of the biggest surprises they've had through the first two weeks of the season. They discuss TCU's big win over NC State with a veteran core, two Big Ten teams that have surpassed expectations, South Carolina's slow starts, two transfers that didn't get enough attention ahead of the season and how surprising (or not surprising?) it is that Kentucky looks like ... Virginia Tech? -Follow Zena on X: @itszenakeita -Follow Chantel on X: @chanteljennings -Follow Sabreena on X: @sabreenajm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices