WBB 2K22: THE CARDS

Earlier this week Winners Only released 10 free digital basketball cards in celebration of the upcoming season. Women's basketball has a lot of excitement on the collegiate side. We look forward to possibly releasing more cards but we wanted to start with this group of players that we expect to see big results from in the 2021-22 season. Here are the first five cards that were released.

Diamond Battles

We were just impressed with the grit that Diamond Battles showed during the 2020-21 post-season. She averaged 15 points per game during the American Athletic Conference Tournament, which qualified her for the All-Tournament Team. She also led her team in assists. Why did we choose Battles for card number one? A few years back we went to Florida and saw this stylish and very feminine high school guard excelling in basketball. Not too long ago, people incorrectly believed that you had to "play and look like a boy" to compete in basketball successfully.

For the girls who buy into that concept and succeed, more power to them, but not everybody is the same. Battles is a part of a current generation of women's players on all levels who are showing girls that it's possible to "look, play and dress like a girl" while leading your team to victory. You can also show femininity and be the toughest player on the court. Diamond Battles, like many others, is helping us to expand our mind to what a successful women's basketball player can be.

KeKe McKinney

Back in the 1990s Dennis Rodman brought hair color and multiple tattoos to the world of basketball. While we're aren't sure how many tattoos KeKe McKinney has, her hair color schemes reminds us of the 1990's most colorful character in the NBA. Trading her Kentucky blue hair for Charlotte 49er green hair, McKinney is ready for a fresh start with her new team. We can't wait to see if she is bold enough to rock gold hair. Not just blonde, but gold. Is there a difference? We guess we will have to wait and see.

Sammi Michel

Sammi Michel is the only NCAA Division II player included in this series. She is doing a solid job of promoting herself on social media as most Division II players don't have nearly 20,000 Instagram followers, or do Cameo videos for their fans. Last season she was the South Atlantic Conference's Defensive Player of the Year. This season we can see her being the South Atlantic Conference's Player of the Year.

KK Deans

We had a big decision to make when it came to West Virginia. Last year we went hard showcasing the talent of WVU star Kysre Gondrezick, who is now in the WNBA. This year we know that West Virginia star forward Esmery Martinez is going to have a big time season, but we decided to tell you about a player that could possibly be slept on and her name is KK Deans. Like we said about Diamond Battles, Deans is gritty. There is a chance that she could guide this team to a deep post-season run and some big time wins. With Gondrezick gone, she has the opportunity to be the heartbeat of the team and she has the fire to drive this team to surprising heights.

Alyza Winston

The same as West Virginia, we had a tough choice with choosing a player from Michigan State. Nia Clouden is a big time performer for the Spartans but we went with Alyza Winston. This junior guard is going to be very important to her team's success. If Winston is draining threes on the high level that she is capable of, Michigan State will be one of the most dangerous teams in the Big Ten. She had seven games where she hit three or more triples and in those games she never shot less than 50 percent from beyond the arc. Winston plays the game with love and a fun spirit. It's refreshing in the often tense times that we live.