New York kick-started women’s history month by being home to two historic women’s basketball events. The St. John’s Red Storm hosted the UConn Huskies at Madison Square Garden for the first standalone women’s college basketball game at “The World’s Most Famous Arena.”
Just 24 hours later, the Barclays Center was home to Unrivaled, the 3 v 3 professional women’s basketball league co-founded by Napheesa Collier and the New York Liberty’s Breanna Stewart.
The Johnnies finished their regular season at home against the No. 1 Huskies in front of a crowd of 9,612 people. This is record attendance for the St. John’s women’s basketball program.
The Red Storm came up short against UConn (85-49). They finished the season with a 21-10 record and entered the Big East Tournament as the sixth seed, facing 11th-seeded Xavier.
St. John’s head coach Joe Tartamella spoke about the audience showing up and the honor of playing at MSG after the tough loss.
“Great atmosphere today, really pleased that we had a crowd like we did. It’s a great opportunity for our program, ” Tartamella said in the press conference. “In terms of exposure of the game, our administration and our University backing it, I think it’s a big step for us,” Tartamella concluded in his post-game speech.
Junior guard Brooke Moore spoke to the team’s feelings going into such a monumental night.
“We were really excited going into it, just to play in a very historic arena. It was very surreal just playing on that court,” Moore said. “It was fun going out there just playing with my teammates. I am glad we had the opportunity,” she exclaimed.
UConn secured an undefeated season with their win at the Garden, but the program is able to boast another victory as Husky alumni Stewart and Collier’s Unrivaled made its way to Brooklyn on Monday night.
The 3 v 3 basketball league has served as a way for WNBA stars to play domestically during the off-season rather than abroad. The inaugural season, which took place last year in Miami, Fla., was so successful that the league has been able to bring games to different locations this year.
In January, the league set a record for the most-attended women’s basketball game when it played in Philadelphia. Now the league is hosting games in New York City.
Fans got to see both semifinal matchups of the 2026 season, with the winners returning to Miami to play in the final on Wednesday.
The first game of the night was Kelsey Plum and the New York Liberty’s Natasha Cloud’s Phantom versus the Vinyl, who were coached by former Liberty All-Star and WNBA Hall of Famer Teresa Weatherspoon.
Plum’s game-winner sent the Phantom to the finals.
The night’s finale was Stewart’s Mist up against Paige Beuckers’ Breeze. The Mist was able to put together a comeback and win in front of Stewart’s hometown fans.
Stewart spoke to a sold-out Barclays crowd of 18,261 people, including other prominent women in sports such as WNBA Hall of Famer Lisa Leslie, UConn’s Azzi Fudd, soccer stars Alex Morgan and Kelley O’Hara and USA Olympians Hillary Knight and Brittany Bowe.
“Thank you for supporting us in the beginning, in the middle, right now. Thank you so much,” Stewart said. “It’s incredible to be here,” she added.
Women’s basketball continues to grow in the United States. People came out in the thousands to show support for the sport in New York this week.
