ESPN's Beth Mowins will become first woman to call NBA play-by-play on network

Beth Mowins is breaking another barrier.

The veteran play-by-play announcer will call Friday's game between the Atlanta Hawks and Philadelphia 76ers on ESPN alongside color commentator Jeff Van Gundy and sideline reporter Cassidy Hubbarth. In the process, she'll become the first woman to call play-by-play for a regular-season NBA game on ESPN.

Mowins has worked at ESPN since 1994 and has called college football games at the network since 2005 in addition to her work covering other men's and women's college sports. In 2017, she became the first woman to call a national broadcast of an NFL game when she did play-by-play for a Denver Broncos-Los Angeles Chargers "Monday Night Football" matchup alongside commentator Rex Ryan.

Mowins joins colleague Doris Burke in breaking down broadcast barriers at the network. Burke became the first woman to work as a full-time NBA in-game analyst at ESPN during the 2017-18 season.

Mowins also joins regional broadcasters who are changing the landscape of NBA game coverage in 2021. The Milwaukee Bucks hired Lisa Byington in September as the first woman to work as a full-time play-by-play announcer for a major American men's sports team. Days later, the Philadelphia 76ers announced that Kate Scott was taking over full-time for retiring 27-year play-by-play veteran Marc Zumoff.