Posts by Michelle Smith

Michelle Smith has covered women’s basketball nationally for more than three decades. A 2024 inductee into the U.S. Basketball Writer’s Hall of Fame, Smith has worked for ESPN.com, The Athletic, the San Francisco Chronicle, as well as Pac-12.com and WNBA.com. She is the 2017 recipient of the Jake Wade Media Award from the Collegiate Sports Information Directors Association (CoSIDA) and was named the Mel Greenberg Media Award winner by the WBCA in 2019.

Arizona head coach Adia Barnes gives instructions from the sidelines.

Even with double OT loss, Arizona making the case for itself and the Pac-12

March 1, 2024

The Wildcats need a strong finish to seal the NCAA deal

Oregon State's Raegan Beers looks to score in the paint against Utah.

Oregon State back on the radar in a big way

February 13, 2024

Rueck: ‘I don’t think I predicted we’d be here’

UCLA guard Charisma Osborne goes up for a layup against USC in Saturday night's win.

JuJu Watkins, Cameron Brink lead list of Pac-12 Player of the Year candidates

February 7, 2024

Handicapping the race for Pac-12 Player of the Year

Washington State's Charlisse Leger-Walker takes her opponent off the dribble.

Leger-Walker’s Cougar career ends with ACL injury

January 31, 2024

Senior guard Charlisse Leger-Walker, the three-time All-Pac-12 performer and 2023 Honorable Mention All-American, will miss the remainder of the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament

WNBA Golden State President Jess Smith poses with Warriors President Brandon Schneider Tuesday night.

WNBA Golden State’s first president is ready to set a vision

January 30, 2024

Jess Smith: “There is a lot more to come.”

Jess Smith named Golden State WNBA President Tuesday.

Golden State WNBA team gets its president

January 30, 2024

Jess Smith will serve as the franchise’s first team president

Pac-12 action: Kiki Iriafen (44) smiles and claps for her Stanford teammates from the bench, alongside fellow Stanford players and coaches.

Parity hits the top Pac-12 teams hard

January 29, 2024

Through the first four weekends, the drama has been palpable and the upsets plentiful

Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer is covered in confetti as her team celebrates her 1,203 win as head coach.

Stanford celebrates ‘our coach’ VanDerveer on her record-breaking day

January 22, 2024

Sights and sounds from Maples Pavilion on a historic afternoon

Oregon women’s team come together at mid court in a team huddle. They are wearing their white and green home jerseys.

Oregon ‘realistic’ about its up-and-down season

January 19, 2024

Notes from around the Pac-12

Tara VanDerveer smiles during team warmups before a game

The singular figure that is Tara VanDerveer

January 16, 2024

There will be no gender-specific qualifier when the incomparable coach becomes the winningest in college basketball history