Icy and spicy
From The GIST (hi@thegistsports.com)
Finally Friday!
Did this week dunk harder on you than Portland Trailblazer Shaedon Sharpe dunked on the Washington Wizards on Wednesday? Same. Have no fear, though — no posters here, just some sports news to start the weekend off right.
— Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, shaking off the haters ahead of his 19th Formula 1 (F1) season. Not only is Hamilton a seven-time champ and the first and only Black driver in the sport, he’s also a vocal advocate for equity on the track and beyond. Iconic doesn’t begin to cover it.
NCAA women’s basketball
🎓🏀 March, is that you?
The GIST: The calendar still says February, but NCAA women’s basketball is giving March. And while No. 3 Notre Dame’s 86–81 loss to No. 24 Florida State was the biggest upset of a wild Thursday, last night featured all sorts of bizarre scorelines as teams careen towards the postseason.
- Speaking of, this weekend marks the last regular-season women’s games before conference tourneys begin, where squads have a shot at clinching automatic bids to March Madness. Hooping right in.
Huge blowouts dominate the night: A stunning eight games featuring top-25 teams ended in landslides last night. Both No. 15 Kentucky and No. 16 Duke notched big upsets over No. 11 Tennessee and No. 8 UNC respectively, but it was No. 13 Oklahoma who ran up the score the most in their 89–65 spanking of unranked Florida. Holy moly.
- Surprisingly, one of the few games that wasn’t a smackdown was No. 1 Texas’ distressingly narrow 68–64 win over Mississippi State, which was neck-and-neck until the very end.
- Toss in No. 7 LSU’s 88–85 overtime loss to No. 20 Alabama, and you have one weird night on the hardwood.
Two winner-take-all matchups ahead: Tomorrow holds a rematch made for Hollywood as No. 2 UCLA seeks redemption against crosstown rival No. 4 USC at 9 p.m. ET. The Trojans handed UCLA their only loss of the season back on Galentine’s Day, but it’s not just revenge on the line: The winner will also clinch the Big Ten regular-season ’ship. And the winner for Best Drama is…
- And in the Big 12, No. 10 TCU (where Sedona Prince is still a starter, BTW…) and No. 17 Baylor will duke it out to break their tie for the regular-season title Sunday at 6:30 p.m. ET. Clear your cal now, you’re booked and busy all weekend.
🏎️ McLaren, Ferrari poised for strong start after F1 preseason testing in Bahrain
There’s still two weeks to go until all 20 drivers are on the grid for the first race of the 2025 season, but with the final day of testing (the first opportunity for drivers to test this year’s cars) nearly in the books, the last three days have offered a glimpse of who to watch this season — and it’s the aforementioned Hamilton, who impressed in his Ferrari debut. So back.
- And it’s not just Hamilton, there’s been plenty of other movement on the grid — and in the regulations — over the last few months: Four additional drivers are donning new threads this season while five others will hit the circuit for the first time. Chaos, loading.
🔥 NBA’s Detroit Pistons extend impressive win streak while NHL’s Winnipeg Jets see theirs snapped
No, that’s not a typo — the Pistons, who won an abysmal 14 games total last season, snagged their eighth straight dub on Wednesday, marking the franchise’s longest win streak in 17 years. Now sporting a 33-26 record, Detroit’s won more games this year than in the last two seasons combined. Wild.
- The same can’t be said for the Jets, who had strung together a franchise-record 11 wins before falling 2–1 to the lowly Nashville Predators last night. Smile because it happened.
⚽ USWNT suffer first loss of head coach Emma Hayes era
A sixth straight SheBelieves Cup win wasn’t in the cards for the No. 1 USWNT, who lost 2 –1 to No. 8 Japan on Wednesday. While it’s certainly not how the squad wanted to cap off the annual tournament, there are a lot of positives to take away as the lead up to the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup begins.
- Hayes’ roster selection was intentional: She wanted to provide experience to the next generation of players, like forward Ally Sentnor, who netted two goals in three games. Mission accomplished — and all eyes on the future.
🏈 NFL to replace first down chains with virtual measurements in 2025
The tech takeover has reached the gridiron. The first down chains (the orange sideline sticks that mark the distance a team needs to travel to achieve a first down) will still exist, but the virtual measurement system, aptly named Hawk-Eye, will be the primary way to determine a team’s forward progress starting this fall.
- And the chain gang isn’t the only thing sticking around despite all odds: Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce is officially returning for another year of football. Who are we to fight the alchemy?
Together With Zenni Optical
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⛳ LPGA: HSBC Women’s World Championship — Ongoing — Golf Channel
- There’s a logjam atop the leaderboard heading into the third of four rounds in Singapore. Both World No. 2 Lydia Ko and World No. 34 A Lim Kim have looked sharp, but watch for plenty of jostling as the Tour’s top players vie for a piece of the $2.4M purse.
🏀 Unrivaled: Vinyl vs. Laces — Tonight at 7:15 p.m. ET — TNT
- It’s the penultimate weekend of regular-season action, meaning squads will be contending to punch one of three remaining playoff tickets. No clinching can be done tonight, but a dub would bolster the odds for these middling squads.
🏆 Athletes Unlimited: Championship weekend — Tomorrow through Sunday — ESPN
- It all comes down to this: AU’s fourth champ will be crowned this weekend. There’s plenty of hoops still to be played, but after three stellar weeks of action, all signs point towards a two-horse race between Maddy Seigrist and Odyssey Sims.
🏒 PWHL: Boston Fleet vs. Montréal Victoire — Tomorrow at 2 p.m. ET — YouTube
- Expect the third regular-season meeting between these two sides to be decided between the pipes: Montréal’s Ann-Renée “brick wall” Desbiens boasts the best save percentage in the league, only slightly better than the masonry of Boston’s Aerin Frankel.
Together With Indiana Office of Tourism
The best way to beat the winter blues? Endorphins, baby — and nothing screams adrenaline rush like chasing adventure on a freshly groomed ski trail. Thankfully, you don’t have to catch a flight to the alps to make it happen — just hit the slopes IN Indiana.
- Southern Indiana is home to not one but two awesome skiing destinations: Paoli Peaks IN Paoli and Perfect North Slopes IN Lawrenceburg.
- And if tearing up the mountain isn’t your jam, no sweat. There’s plenty of tubing, hiking, and other winter fun to be found IN Indiana. Plan your Midwest adventure today.
Celebrate Black History Month with these recs:
🎬 What to watch
“Black Girls Play.” This short film dives into the hand games that Black girls made famous, tracing their impact on music, style, and culture from jazz to TikTok. Pure joy, pure history. Stream on ESPN+.
✨ What to wear
STRIPT Official. Ari Davis’ brand is built for bold baddies and will take you from the gym to a night out.
🏀 Who to know
Carolyn Peck, the first Black woman to coach an NCAA Division I women’s basketball championship team. A true trailblazer.
Question of the Day
LA Laker Luka Dončić has put up video game–like numbers throughout his career, but especially in his last three games, where he even recorded a triple-double against his former team, the Dallas Mavericks, earlier this week.
- Inspired by Luka’s jaw-dropping stats, we want to know: what’s your exposure to gaming?
Today’s email was brought to you by Lisa Minutillo, Lauren Tuiskula, Katie Kehoe Foster, Marga Sison, Megan Murray, Monica Schrock, and Briana Ekanem. Editing by Laura Pastore. Fact-checking by Marga Sison, Rachel Fuenzalida, and Mikaela Perez. Ops by Briana Ekanem and Marga Sison. Ads by Katie Kehoe Foster, Alessandra Puccio, and Lisa Minutillo. Managing edits by Lauren Tuiskula. Head of content Ellen Hyslop.