CHARLOTTE, NC — When the preseason awards and watchlists started rolling out for women’s college basketball last month, Kenny Brooks just laughed.
The third-year head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats knew what he had in Ajša Sivka, but the rest of the sport was blissfully unaware.
“We just kind of chuckled. I don’t know if she even knows about the watchlists,” Brooks said Sunday inside the Spectrum Center in Charlotte. “But she's definitely one of the best players in the country.”
Women’s basketball fans around the nation were introduced to Sivka on Sunday, Nov. 8, as she scored 32 points on 11-of-17 shooting — 8-of-12 on 3-pointers — in a 93-78 win over NC State at the fourth annual Ally Tip-Off in front of a national TV audience on ESPN2. She also
had five rebounds and three assists.
The versatile 6-foot-5 20-year-old from Slovenia didn’t make the preseason All-SEC team, much less the watchlist for the Wade Trophy. Entering this season, the questions folks around women’s basketball had about Kentucky sounded like this: Sure, All-SEC center Clara Strack is back, but what’s around her?
Sivka provided an answer against Wes Moore’s Wolfpack on a national stage. She drained 3-pointers with ease, rebounded with grit, dished off nifty passes to her teammates and used her length to aggravate opponents on defense. Her eight 3-pointers tied a single-game program record previously set by WNBA All-Star Rhyne Howard.
“She's as advertised,” Brooks said. “This is nothing new to us. We knew she's capable of this.”
If Sivka’s name sounds familiar, it’s because she was a WNBA draft pick nearly two years ago. The Chicago Sky selected her with the 10th overall pick in 2025, but she never signed with the team. The Sky, per WNBA rules, will retain Sivka’s draft rights until a year after she exhausts her collegiate eligibility. A scout for the team was in attendance at the Spectrum Center on Sunday.
Part of the reason Sivka elected not to sign with the Sky was so she could remain in Europe and represent her country in the 2025 EuroBasket Championship. In the tournament Sivka averaged 7.7 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game while shooting 50% from the floor.
Sivka also wanted to sharpen her game and make sure she was physically prepared for the WNBA before entering it.
“I just wanted to be ready and feel confident once I go (to the WNBA). I just saw (Kentucky) and like how they work here,” Sivka said. “Obviously, Coach Brooks, in the individual practices that I have (with him), I think it’s a lot of stuff that I wasn't doing before and it really helped me a lot the whole summer. I think I improved a lot.”
Sivka’s performance against NC State was her third game with Kentucky. She had 12 points and eight assists in her debut against Morehead State, then 11 points and seven rebounds against Northern Kentucky.
Brooks said part of Sivka’s adjustment to the Wildcats is allowing the rest of the team to catch up. In early practices, she “probably hit a couple people in the head," Brooks joked, because they weren’t expecting Sivka’s passes. Against Northern Kentucky, Strack said Sivka yelled at her for passing up a 3-point shot she had set up.
“(Sivka) threw a temper tantrum. I don't know if it was because she wanted Clara to hit it or if it was her assist,” Brooks said with a laugh. “She has great vision. Now the kids are cutting and expecting the basketball.”
And as the season progresses, the Wildcats should expect Sivka to be at the top of their opponents’ scouting reports.
BYU's Delaney Gibb gets triple-double
A season ago, BYU was the last team excluded from the NCAA Tournament field. While it was a disappointment for the Cougars in their first season with Lee Cummard as coach, fans also missed out Delaney Gibb playing against elite competition on a national stage.
BYU’s goal this season is to secure a bid in March Madness. If the Cougars make it, Gibb will likely be a big reason.
On Saturday, Nov. 7, the junior guard seemed to be in midseason form. By totaling 15 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a lopsided 97-53 win over Montana, she notched the first triple-double since 1986 for BYU. Indeed, it had been 40 years since a Cougar had that sort of statistical performance.
“Everybody will kind of catch on to see how good of a player she is,” Cummard told USA TODAY Sports at Big 12 Media Day in Kansas City. “She's a tremendous player. I think the coaches that gameplan for her, have to prepare for her, get to watch her — they know how good of a player she is.”
A 5-foot-11 guard from Alberta, Canada, Gibb was a first-team All-Big 12 selection last season as a sophomore. As a rookie, she was named Big 12 Freshman of the Year. She’s also featured for the Canadian senior national team, leading them to a bronze medal at the 2025 FIBA AmeriCup.
Last season, Gibb was one of three players nationally to average 18 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals per game. The others were Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo and Liv McGill, who transferred from Florida to Oklahoma State.
Should Gibb be talked about as one of the best guards in the country?
“Oh, that's a hard question,” Gibb said with a laugh. “I really don't think about that too often. Those are great players to be in company with. I want to improve in every part of my game. I've talked a lot about being more of a leader on this team. I want to be a player that's super efficient and also someone that can make my teammates better, and be more of a playmaker. Obviously, I've scored a lot, but I want to make other players better as well.”
Through BYU’s 3-0 start, Gibb is averaging 13.7 points, nine rebounds and five assists per game.
Why Gabe Lazo sees Jose Fernandez as ‘an inspiration’
When UCF opened its season with an 85-56 win over Florida A&M, the result was meaningful on multiple levels.
Not only was it the beginning of a fresh start for the program under coach Gabe Lazo, but it made Lazo the first Latino to coach a Division I women’s basketball game at the Power 4 level.
Lazo has spent nearly two decades grinding his way up the coaching ladder, from AAU circuits and the high school ranks in Florida, all the way to becoming an assistant at SEC programs like Mississippi State and Tennessee. While the milestone is a significant achievement, Lazo has been quick to point to those who paved the way before him, like Mississippi State assistant Fred Castro and UMass men's coach Frank Martin.
Specifically, Lazo often references his friend, Jose Fernandez.
“He’s the godfather,” Lazo told USA TODAY Sports. “People consider the American Conference to be a mid-major league, and I just happen to be at a Power 4, but Jose is a big inspiration. We have the same background, you know? We're both Cuban, we're both from Miami. We were both high school coaches, we both coached travel ball. He's a great mentor to me. He's always feeding me knowledge and I'm always listening.”
Before becoming the head coach of the WNBA’s Dallas Wings, Fernandez led USF from 2000 through 2025, turning them into a consistent power as they traversed conferences from Conference USA to the Big East and the American. Fernandez won 485 games at USF, took the Bulls to 10 NCAA Tournaments and captured a WNIT championship in 2009.
In his debut season with the Wings, Fernandez led Dallas to a franchise-record 27 wins and pushed the eventual champions, the Golden State Valkyries, to a winner-take-all Game 3 in the first round of the playoffs.
Lazo is following in Fernandez’s footsteps and hopes that his journey at UCF will uplift others in the same way.
“It’s a proud moment,” Lazo said of getting hired at UCF. “But to me, it’s just an opportunity to inspire others, all kinds of minorities or anyone, to give life to the idea that anything can be done.”
Tip-ins
- Idaho beat Gonzaga 86-75 on Friday to snap a 17-game losing streak against the Bulldogs. In the Vandals first victory over Gonzaga since 2005, Hope Hassmann scored a career-high 28 points while Ana Pinheiro scored a career-best 26 points. Last season, coach Arthur Moreira guided the Vandals to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in a decade.
- Columbia went 3-0 during head coach Megan Griffith’s suspension, notching victories over Davidson, Rhode Island and Belmont. With associate coach Tyler Cordell calling the plays, Riley Weiss averaged 19 points per game. Griffith will return to the sidelines for the Lions’ game this Thursday against Michigan.
- Florida is 3-0 under first-year coach Tammi Reiss. In their second win of the season over UCF, Kiyomi McMiller scored a career-high 42 points.
- Avery Koenen, the reigning Summit League Player of the Year for North Dakota State, suffered a lower leg injury in the Bison’s season-opener against Gonzaga and will be out “for the foreseeable future,” coach Jory Collins said in a statement. Last season, she ranked fifth nationally in field goal percentage (63.8%) and 10th in defensive rebounds per game (8.3).
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ajša Sivka skipped the WNBA for Kentucky. Her decision is already paying off
