Basketball icon wants women's domination to be more than a 'moment'

If anybody deserves to celebrate the surge of excitement hovering over women's basketball, it's Lisa Thomaidis, an iconic part of basketball history both in Canada and abroad.

During her current tenure as head coach for the University of Saskatchewan women's basketball team, the program has been a perennial power, capturing multiple national championships. She also led the Canadian national team for more than a decade and recently led Germany to that country's first ever Olympic berth.

She also starred as a player.

Thomaidis says this "moment" the women's game is having should be savoured, but reminds it comes after decades of hard work. 

"The whole term, moment, I don't like that because it refers to something that's fleeting. That kind of comes and goes and it's just for this, you know, period of time," Thomaidis told CBC.

"I think for those of us who've been in women's basketball, you recognize this for many years that this has been going on, there's been no shortage of talent or exciting personalities or dynamic teams or players."

What has changed is the availability and interest in the women's game, especially the college game south of the border. (Thomaidis points out only a handful of Canadian university games are televised.) 

The women's edition of the annual NCAA March Madness tournament has generated unprecedented interest.

"It wasn't that long ago that we had to fight or try to find a TV station that would play a women's game, " Thomaidis said. This year, You didn't have to hunt for it. It was just there."

Thomaidis was one of more than 12.3 million people watching the tournament's quarterfinal between Louisiana State University (LSU) and Iowa.

More people watched the game than any game of the men's