LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — This women’s basketball foursome is no stranger to playing under bright lights on big stages. But it's Paris this time.
The City of Light will be a completely different venue and experience when No. 3 USC, crosstown rival and No. 5 UCLA, No. 17 Louisville and No. 20 Ole Miss take the court Monday in the Aflac Oui-Play doubleheader to open the women's college basketball season.
Several months after a thrilling Olympic gold medal game between Team USA and host France enhanced the game’s rapidly growing appeal, this ranked quartet are eager to maintain that momentum.
“It’s a really good opportunity for us,” Ole Miss guard Kennedy Todd-Williams said. “Big lights, you know, really big game. We came here to compete and showcase who we are. First game of the season, so we’re just really looking forward to this opportunity for everyone to compete on a high level.”
Ole Miss and USC, which features Associated Press preseason All-America selections JuJu Watkins and Kiki Iriafen, will meet in the opener in Adidas Arena. UCLA takes on Louisville in the nightcap. The doubleheader follows last year’s debut between South Carolina and Notre Dame, which the Gamecocks won 100-71 to start an unbeaten run to their third national title.
They claimed the championship against Iowa and superstar Caitlin Clark, a showdown that generated a bigger TV audience than the men's championship amid record attendance for the NCAA Tournament. Watkins’ breakout freshman season helped the Women of Troy earn a No. 1 seeding before falling to UConn in the Elite Eight.
“There’s just a sense of urgency to go further than where we went last year," Watkins said during the team's media day. “It’s just exciting to open and be the first game on TV. The main thing is to win, that’s always the main thing. I’m excited to get that first dub (win) with the team.”
The WNBA also reaped dividends from the presence of Clark and Angel Reese, culminating in an audience of 2.2 million for the decisive fifth game of the WNBA Finals between the champion New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx and at least 1 million for the other four.
Louisville coach Jeff Walz appreciates the increased attention, especially compared to what it was not long ago. The 18-year Cardinals veteran has also seen hearty interest overseas while coaching various U.S. women’s national squads during the summer and relishes being on that stage with a game that counts.
“Our women’s game has grown exponentially here this past year and a half or so, and a lot of it is obviously because of talented players,” he said last month before jetting off to France soon after. “It’s great now because people are able to see how talented and gifted these players are. … I think it’s going to continue to grow because of that internationally. It’s fantastic. I love the opportunities I’ve had to coach internationally, (with) just a little bit different style of basketball.”
Though other marquee matchups await all four after returning stateside, they want a good performance as a springboard to bigger things in a landscape reshuffled by realignment.
USC and UCLA, for example, have moved from the Pac-12 Conference to the Big Ten. Louisville’s Atlantic Coast Conference grind now includes Pac-12 transfers Stanford and Cal, and SMU from the American Athletic. Ole Miss has to deal with Texas and Oklahoma moving into the SEC from the Big 12 in addition to getting past the Gamecocks.
UCLA coach Cory Close looks forward to Louisville pushing her Bruins on both ends of the floor.
“It sets the stage and a standard for us," said Close, who has worked with Walz in many national programs. “We have a very talented team but we are not playing with that level of excellence yet, and they are going to hold us accountable.”
The games will be played at the fairly new 8,000-seat home for the Euro League's Paris Basketball. That will wrap an experience featuring Parisian sightseeing staples such as the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and Arc de Triomphe.
“This is something you dream your whole life about,” Louisville graduate guard Merissah Russell said. “It’s everybody’s dream to play in those top-notch games. … It’s going to be fun to not only play in Paris, but have this experience to see what’s going on in the rest of the world.”
This corrects story in 9th paragraph to show Louisville coach Jeff Walz is 18-year veteran at the school.
AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball
FILE - Southern California guard JuJu Watkins reacts after a shot during a second-round college basketball game against Kansas in the women's NCAA Tournament in Los Angeles, Monday, March 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis, File)
Azerbaijan on Thursday observed a nationwide day of mourning for the victims of the air crash that killed 38 people and left all 29 survivors injured as speculation mounted about a possible cause of the crash that remained unknown.
Azerbaijan Airlines' Embraer 190 was en route from Azerbaijan's capital of Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus on Wednesday when it was diverted for reasons yet unclear and crashed while making an attempt to land in Aktau in Kazakhstan after flying east across the Caspian Sea.
The plane went down about 3 kilometers (around 2 miles) from Aktau. Cellphone footage circulating online appeared to show the aircraft making a steep descent before smashing into the ground in a fireball. Other footage showed part of its fuselage ripped away from the wings and the rest of the aircraft lying upside in the grass.
On Thursday, national flags were lowered across Azerbaijan, traffic across the country stopped at noon, and signals were sounded from ships and trains as the country observed a nationwide moment of silence.
Speaking at a news conference Wednesday, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that it was too soon to speculate on the reasons behind the crash, but said that the weather had forced the plane to change from its planned course.
“The information provided to me is that the plane changed its course between Baku and Grozny due to worsening weather conditions and headed to Aktau airport, where it crashed upon landing,” he said.
Russia’s civil aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, said that preliminary information indicated that the pilots diverted to Aktau after a bird strike led to an emergency on board.
According to Kazakh officials, those aboard the plane included 42 Azerbaijani citizens, 16 Russian nationals, six Kazakhs and three Kyrgyzstan nationals.
As the official crash investigation started, theories abounded about a possible cause, with some commentators alleging that holes seen in the plane's tail section possibly indicate that it could have come under fire from Russian air defense systems fending off a Ukrainian drone attack.
Ukrainian drones had previously attacked Grozny, the provincial capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, and other regions in the country's North Caucasus. Some Russian media claimed that another drone attack on Chechnya happened on Wednesday, although it wasn't officially confirmed.
Osprey Flight Solutions, an aviation security firm based in the United Kingdom, warned its clients that the “Azerbaijan Airlines flight was likely shot down by a Russian military air-defense system.” Osprey provides analysis for carriers still flying into Russia after Western airlines halted their flights during the war.
Osprey CEO Andrew Nicholson said that the company had issued more than 200 alerts regarding drone attacks and air defense systems in Russia during the war.
“This incident is a stark reminder of why we do what we do,” Nicholson wrote online. “It is painful to know that despite our efforts, lives were lost in a way that could have been avoided.”
Asked about the claims that the plane had been fired upon by air defense assets, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “it would be wrong to make hypotheses before investigators make their verdict.”
Officials in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have similarly avoided comment on a possible cause of the crash, saying it will be up to investigators to determine it.
Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Aida Sultanova in London, contributed to this report.
In this image taken from video released by the Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service, rescuers transport wounded passengers from a medical plane after the Azerbaijani Airline crashed, near the Kazakhstani city of Aktau, upon their arrival at the Zhukovsky airport outside Moscow, Russia, on Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service via AP)
In this photo taken from a video released by the administration of Mangystau region, rescuers prepare to carry a wounded passenger near the Kazakhstani city of Aktau, Thursday, Dec. 26 , 2024, after a plane of Azerbaijani Airline crashed. (The Administration of Mangystau Region via AP)
In this photo provided by Azerbaijan's Presidential Press Office, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, center, holds a meeting following an Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 plane crash, in Baku, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024. (Azerbaijani Presidential Press Office via AP)
In this image released by the Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service, rescuers carry a wounded passenger near the Kazakhstani city of Aktau, Thursday, Dec. 26 , 2024, after a plane of Azerbaijani Airline crashed. (Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service via AP)
In this image released by the Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service, rescuers prepare to carry a wounded passenger near the Kazakhstani city of Aktau, Thursday, Dec. 26 , 2024, after a plane of Azerbaijani Airline crashed. (Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service via AP)
In this photo released by Kazakhstan's Emergency Ministry Press Service, rescuers work at the wreckage of Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 lays on the ground near the airport of Aktau, Kazakhstan, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (Kazakhstan's Emergency Ministry Press Service via AP)
In this photo released by Kazakhstan's Emergency Ministry Press Service, rescuers work at the wreckage of Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 lies on the ground near the airport of Aktau, Kazakhstan, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (Kazakhstan's Emergency Ministry Press Service via AP)
The wreckage of Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 lays on the ground near the airport of Aktau, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Azamat Sarsenbayev)
In this photo taken from a video released by the administration of Mangystau region, the wreckage of Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 lies on the ground near the airport of Aktau, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024. (The Administration of Mangystau Region via AP)
In this photo taken from a video released by the administration of Mangystau region, the wreckage of Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 lies on the ground near the airport of Aktau, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024. (The Administration of Mangystau Region via AP)
