Women’s basketball cites unequal treatment at NCAA tournament compared to men’s team

When the difference between the men’s and women’s NCAA tournament conditions became public, Cori Close was not surprised.

“We’re not blown away by this, this is not a surprise – it’s just that it’s way more public to everybody else,” the UCLA women’s basketball coach said. “We still have a long ways to go. These women are elite athletes mastering their crafts at the highest level. … I think it’s important that we respond, that we don’t keep going in this direction. This is really saddening to me.”

As the men’s tournament tipped off in Indiana on Thursday, pictures from the women’s NCAA tournament “controlled environment” in Texas came to light.

In one image – shared by Oregon forward Sedona Prince via TikTok – the women’s weight room is shown as just a single rack of dumbells juxtaposed with the men’s fully serviced weight room.

“We don’t want to feel like we’re an afterthought, and that’s kind of how it felt with the whole weight room situation,” said senior forward Michaela Onyenwere. “We might be different than the next team in how we’re going to use that weight room. But we didn’t really even have a choice because we didn’t have the resources because we were an afterthought compared to the men.”

In another post, pictures of the “swag bags” given to the student-athletes show the men getting more free NCAA tournament gear, including towels, books, hats, toiletries and more. The women got a shirt, a puzzle and little else.

Pictures of the food served also made national attention.

“When I saw the photos, I was shocked – but again, not surprised, because being a female athlete, that is just the reality,” Onyenwere said. “It just kind of was a little disheartening that just from the NCAA, what was communicated to us was we really weren’t as valued as the male athletes. … It just reaffirmed for me that’s the kind of the world we’re living in as female athletes.”

Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma described the difference in testing between the two tournaments. The 11-time national champion head coach said the men get daily PCR testing while the women have only daily Antigen testing, which is less accurate.

Current WNBA and NBA players have called out the conditions, ranging from former Pac-12 Player of the Year and 2020 WNBA No. 1 pick Sabrina Ionescu to NBA All-Star Kyrie Irving.

According to the NCAA rulebook, Title IX requires that female and male student-athletes receive equal treatment in terms of equipment, competitive facilities, training facilities and dining facilities, among other provisions.

In response to the backlash, NCAA Vice President of women’s basketball Lynn Holzman acknowledged the discrepancies between the conditions, but said it was because of limited space in the controlled environment.

“We acknowledge that some of the amenities teams would typically have access to have not been as available inside the controlled environment,” Holzman said. “In part, this is due to the limited space and the original plan was to expand the workout area once additional space was available later in the tournament. However, we want to be responsible to the needs of our participating teams, and we are actively working to enhance existing resources at practice courts, including additional weight training equipment.”

Holzman added that there was a call with team administrators to discuss the facilities and that the facilities will be upgraded.

Close said she was not part of the discussions, but the director of operations Pam Walker was able to contribute. Close also mentioned the two main issues raised were related to the food and weight room situations.

“The logistics of food was a big thing – the weight room discrepancy was also discussed,” Close said. “I’m so grateful for the pivots and adjustments and what has gone into even making this possible. I also am thankful that they were saying, ‘OK, what do we need to fix? We want to hear from you.’ I’m very hopeful moving forward that some adjustments will be made.”

For freshman guard Dominique Darius making her first NCAA tournament appearance, she said she was disappointed the issues were abundant during her inaugural experience, but is happy to see them being highlighted before it was too late.

“It’s my first time ever being here, and you want to be thankful, and then it’s kind of like, ‘Wow,’ because I’m excited to be here,” Darius said. “That kind of makes you take a step back. And I think it kind of takes away from the excitement of what this tournament really means for women’s basketball and the coverage that we get. So I’m glad that happened, I’m glad that it was exposed, but at the same time, it’s kind of hurtful because we put in the same work everybody else puts in.”