March Madness: Brits in the 2023 Women’s NCAA Basketball Tournament

It’s that time of year again and there is British representation to get behind in this year’s NCAA Tournament.

Esther Little, Hannah Jump and Ella Doherty – who have all represented British national teams – will be flying the flag during March Madness.

Here’s a closer look at the trio of Brits in the Big Dance:

Hannah Jump – Stanford [1]

Friday, March 17th vs Southern / Sacred Heart [16] – 11:30pm (UK time) – Stanford, California

2021 champions Stanford are the number-1 seed in the Seattle Regional 4, despite failing to retain their Pac-12 title. The Cardinal had to settle for a share of the regular season title after a loss to Utah before losing to UCLA in the semi-finals of the post-season tourney.

Jump has proved to be one of the nation’s best shooters once again with 94 three-point makes on the season with a shooting percentage of 43.5. The senior – who won a silver medal with England at the Commonwealth Games in 2022 – averaged 11.3 points per game with a best of 24 points on two occasions along with seven games with at least five made threes, whilst surpassing 1000 career points.

Esther Little – Gonzaga [9]

Saturday, March 18th vs Ole Miss [8] – 2am (UK time) – Stanford, California

Gonzaga were the WCC regular season champions before losing out to Portland in the Championship game as they have a 28-4 record on the season. Little has seen an increase in playing time in a sophomore year with four starts in 30 appearances.

From just 71 minutes last season to 471 in the current campaign, Little has shown glimpses of her undoubted talent with season bests of 12 points and nine rebounds against Portland in January. The former Ipswich standout also recorded 16 blocks and was 19-of-32 from the floor.

Note: We could have a potential Jump-Little matchup in the second round, if both teams win.

Ella Doherty – Toledo [12]

Saturday, March 18th vs Iowa State [5] – 7:30pm (UK time) – Knoxville, Tennessee

Another successful year for the Rockets as they went back-to-back as MAC champions as well as winning the Conference title. Toledo also have a 28-4 record on the season including 16-2 in conference play as they take a 16-game win streak into the NCAA Tournament – with their last defeat coming back in January.

Doherty has not seen much playing time with just 11 minutes spread across four appearances in the New Year, but it will be a new experience being part of March Madness. The talented Scottish youngster now has 11 appearances across the first two years at Toledo.

Where to Watch in the UK

Selected games will be shown live on BT Sport, while you can also sign up to ESPNPlayer for all of the action throughout the tournament with a 7-day free trial available to new customers.

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