Noelle Quinn lives for March.
It's crunch time for college basketball players, the time of year that reveals character, she said.
"Because it's one-and-done, there's legit no tomorrow," said Quinn, the new assistant coach of Canada's women's team.
"Being on this national platform, you have a lot of eyes on you, and it's very telling about the heart of the player, the mindset of the player. All the work that has been put in for the entire year, now this is the moment, and what do you do with the moment? Do you crumble, or do you excel? I love March."
Quinn scouts the NCAA women's tournament as head coach of the WNBA's Seattle Storm, but in her new role with the national team, she'll watch the Canadian women with a particularly keen eye this year.
"It's very exciting," Quinn said. "I have a more vested interest now in watching them as a coach of the senior women's team, and cheering on our Canadian players. I think it makes for a different way to watch the game -- actually cheering for players as opposed to just evaluating players."
Quinn is sure even her mom Golden will grow to be a big fan of Canadian players. Golden Quinn has had season tickets for the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks since their inaugural season. Quinn sent her mom a link to watch Canada's World Cup qualifying tournament in February in Osaka, which marked the Canadian debut of Quinn and head coach Victor Lapena. Canada booked its berth in the World Cup in Sydney, in September.
"My mom will definitely be watching (March Madness), and I'll probably have to highlight some (Canadian) players for her so she can kind of connect ... but by World Cup, she'll know," Quinn laughed.
There are 20 women -- including three on top-seeded teams -- among the record 50 Canadians on March Madness rosters.
Laeticia Amihere of Mississauga, Ont., and the South Carolina Gamecocks are a No. 1 seed in the Greensboro Region. Alyssa Jerome of Toronto and defending champion Stanford Cardinal are the No. 1 seed in the Spokane region, while Merissah Russell of Ottawa and the Louisville Cardinals are the No. 1 seed in the Wichita region.
In the Bridgeport region, Aaliyah Edwards of Kingston, Ont., and the UConn Huskies will be a No. 2 seed, while Shaina Pellington of Toronto and the Arizona Wildcats will be a No. 4 seed in the Greensboro region.
Amihere, Edwards and Pellington played for Canada at last summer's Tokyo Olympics, while Russell was an alternate.
The young Canadians have talked about the growth they experienced spending two-and-a-half months with the Olympic team last summer. Conversely, Denise Dignard said their experience gained on the college stage over the next couple of weeks will be hugely valuable when they return to the national team fold.
"Totally," said Dignard, the high performance director of Canada's women's program. "Because if they don't get that meaningful performance-on-demand type thing, then they lose out, right? It really helps when they're in that position, last year Laeticia was called upon, so was Aaliyah -- they played meaningful minutes -- and then Shaina in that last game (Arizona lost 54-53 to Stanford), boy, she was like lockdown defender."
Quinn, who grew up in Los Angeles, played for UCLA and went fourth overall to Minnesota in the 2007 WNBA draft. She played for five WNBA teams before retiring as a player in 2018 with Seattle.
Beyond cheering for the Canadians in March Madness, Quinn said she'll also be evaluating players and "thinking about ways I can help them as it relates to growing their game and how they can really impact the national team."
Last season's NCAA tournaments highlighted the discrepancy between the men's and women's events, when Oregon player Sedona Prince's video of the paltry women's weight room went viral.
Despite an external review commissioned by the NCAA last summer about the inequities, the tournament opened with plenty of complaints about the women's event. Three congressional lawmakers wrote to NCAA president Mark Emmert accusing the organization of making "inadequate progress" in addressing the disparate treatment.
Some changes were made, including using the phrase "March Madness" -- finally -- in branding the women's tournament, and expanding it to 68 teams from 64, to match the men.
Looming issues include a TV deal for the women, who drew big viewing numbers last season.
"There needs to be more intentionality around supporting women in sport," Quinn said. "But also, the key thing to remember is (there is a market for it), the statistics showed these college games garnered so much interest.
"Just continue to push the envelope and invest in women, and invest in our game, I think people will see and understand that there is a want for us to be on TV. And we all become better, everybody eats, everybody is successful. That’s life, you want everybody to have an opportunity to be great, and have the resources necessary for that.
"It's a work in progress, but I'm glad that there's been a little bit of change."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 18, 2022.
Lori Ewing, The Canadian Press
