Ben Deihl | sports editor

From the U.S. National women’s soccer team dominating the world scene to the WNBA becoming one of the premier professional sports leagues, women’s sports are finally earning the recognition they deserve.

Yet in some places, women are still not getting a share of the spotlight where they’ve earned it most, even here at Duquesne.

Recently, Hall of Fame analyst Doris Burke got removed from the NBA Finals broadcast team, replaced with former player Tim Legler.  

The move comes as a surprise to most as Burke has been a fan favorite for years and only recently got her NBA Finals nod. Burke was the first woman to serve as an analyst for any of the four major league championship games.

Seeing Burke’s removal for a young former player is frustrating to analysts and fans alike, especially since her replacement recasts an all-male analyst team for the upcoming NBA Finals. ESPN has struggled to fill their analyst positions for the event since their mass layoff campaign in 2023.

Two of their hires, Doc Rivers in 2023 and JJ Reddick in 2024, both left the following year to pursue head coaching careers in the NBA. Replacing Burke with another former NBA player is a head-scratching move, considering ESPN’s tumultuous past.

Duquesne’s student body is made up of 63% women and boasts 13 women’s varsity sports. On those teams, only 45% of all head and assistant coaches are women themselves, with seven of 13 teams having a man as their head coach.

There is only one female coach on all of Duquesne’s men’s teams, and that is track and field assistant coach Shannon Taub.

Taub, a Duquesne alum, has always had her eyes set on teaching and coaching after graduating with an education degree. She’s devoted to her alma mater and has been thrilled with the steps they’ve been taking to further represent women on the Bluff.

The Dukes recently added an acrobatics and tumbling team which saw great success in their inaugural season last year. The university has made it clear that adding more female coaches is something important to the institution.

“I think Duquesne has done a great job adding in more female coaches,” Taub said. “They added acro and tumbling, they added triathlon, they added golf, and all of those have a female coach.

Duquesne women’s soccer head coach Jessica Giegucz has been turning heads in her first year on the Bluff. She got the team off to a blazing 3-0 start, behind Maya Matesa’s record setting performances.

Giegucz is bringing a new philosophy and era to Duquesne women’s soccer, and she couldn’t be more excited to be a leading figure for the university’s women’s teams.

“I take a lot of pride in what I’m capable of getting my athletes to believe in,” Giegucz said. “I ask them to think a lot. I’m pretty big on the problem-solving sides of things. I want my athletes to have autonomy, both on and off the field.”

The WNBA has been a catalyst for women’s sports popularity, finally breaking through to the mainstream media after years of earning no profits and near-empty stadiums. Much of the league’s overnight success can be attributed to exciting new players like Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Paige Bueckers and more.

The rise of these new stars have doubled WNBA attendance since 2022, with the Sports Business Journal reporting WNBA attendance is up 15% since last year. Not only have these young faces of the league brought new viewers to the league, but they’ve strengthened movements.

During the 2025 WNBA All-Star game, many of those star players chose to wear shirts that read ‘pay us what you owe us.’ While women’s sports are finally getting a share of the spotlight, their players aren’t necessarily getting the same piece of the pie for their work. The average WNBA salary is around $130,000, far different from the NBA’s $7 million median.

Now in a modern era of reporting, these stars can use their online platforms to spread awareness about these discrepancies and work towards real change.

Players now have free media access, from posting themselves on Instagram following their most recent movements or uploading a TikTok debating how officiating a game should be treated. Being able to balance the stardom of the major leagues and a media personality is integral for success and progression.

“It’s awesome that there are so many influential figures out there. A lot of female athletes are using their platforms for positivity and change,” Giegucz said. “It’s a privilege and it comes with a lot of responsibility to be able to create a positive influence.”

The work is far from done, though. A violent mixture of familiarity bias and outdated stereotypes continuously cause setbacks and cap the ceiling of any progress. But that’s not a deterrent for anyone.

“People are actually starting to understand that what some of these women out there are doing is pretty incredible,” Taub said. “People are starting to realize women can do some pretty awesome things.”

Ben Deihl can be reached at deihlb1@duq.edu