March is Women’s History Month. To celebrate, BetCalifornia.com ranked the top female athletes in U.S history. Based on ESPN and SemRush results, BetCalifornia.com – your home for California sports betting updates – found the search volume of the top 15 female U.S. athletes, then we ranked their home states based on search volume.
Here is what we found out:
States with Most Female Sports Legends
Abundance Of Top Women From California
California has 33% of the most famous American women in sports according to search volume – five of the 15 athletes on our list – but Michigan takes the crown thanks to the iconic tennis sisters, Serena and Venus Williams. Serena Williams was born in Michigan and Venus in California; both spent some years in California in their youth but both count under Michigan in our list. Their combined search volume is 569,000.
The Golden State has a wealth of female professional and college athletes to choose from, but these are the five the comprise the state component of the list at a combined search of 289,600.
The overall top pick in the 2004 WNBA Draft out of Connecticut, Diana Taurasi has spent the past 20 seasons with the Phoenix Mercury. The guard, born in Glendale, is considered to be one of the greatest players in WNBA history. Taurasi has totaled 8,143 points (draining 1,122 3-pointers), 1,664 rebounds and has earned three WNBA titles (2007, 2009, 2014). She was the league MVP in 2009 and was a two-time WNBA Finals MVP (2009 and 2014).
She also has garnered 10 WNBA All-Star and 10 WNBA First-Team selections. The five-time Olympic champion was also selected on Sunday, March 3 to be a part of the U.S. national team that will play in a pre-Olympic qualifying tournament in Belgium this week. Phoenix heads into the season with +2000 odds to win the 2024 WNBA title at BetMGM Sportsbook in Arizona; that’s the closest sportsbook because there are no legal California sportsbook apps.
Soccer Players From California Make List
Current San Diego Wave FC striker and captain Alex Morgan has played for the U.S. National Team since 2010. The native of Diamond Bar has made 219 appearances, and her 123 goals place her fifth on the all-time USWNT list.
Another soccer player, Michelle Akers, is regarded as one of the greatest female players ever. Born in Santa Clara, Akers played for the U.S. National team from 1985 to 2000, making 185 appearances and scoring 105 goals (sixth all-time).
Ranked No. 5 on ESPN.com’s 2021 list of the WNBA’s greatest players of all time, former Los Angeles Sparks center Lisa Leslie was a two-time WNBA champion and two-time WNBA Finals MVP (2001, 2002). The Compton native was the league MVP three times (2001, 2004, 2006), an eight-time WNBA All-Star and a three-time WNBA All-Star Game MVP.
Tennis great Billie Jean King won 39 Grand Slam titles (12 singles, 16 women's doubles and 11 mixed doubles) but her greater legacy is that of a gender equality advocate and a pioneer for equality and social justice. King’s off-the-court accolades are endless and historic, 80 years after she was born in Long Beach.
The five female athletes from California on our list combined for nearly 290,000 searches, according to ESPN and SemRush results.
