One goal.

That was the difference that made Alex Morgan the talk of the NWSL over Sophia Smith at the end of the 2022 regular season. Smith finished with 14 goals for the Portland Thorns, while the San Diego Wave’s Morgan won the Golden Boot with 15. Smith and Morgan were each nominated for this year’s NWSL MVP award, along with Mallory Pugh (Chicago Red Stars), Debinha (North Carolina Courage) and Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave).

In a pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday’s semifinal between Smith and Morgan’s teams, Thorns head coach Rhian Wilkinson said Smith has not gotten enough praise for her production this season.

“I mean, Alex Morgan is an incredible, incredible athlete, and has won the Golden Boot,” she said. “Sophia has taken up so much bandwidth from opposition backlines that it has allowed our team to have a scoring profile that has broken records this season. And it’s not by chance. Her movement — they probably have training sessions that opposition have to do to just get all over her. It takes three people to stop Soph.”

This year, Smith set a new single-season scoring record for Portland with 14 goals, passing Lindsey Horan’s 13. Smith’s count includes four braces, tying her with Naho Kawasumi and Sam Kerr for the most braces in an NWSL season.

Smith’s ability to draw in opposing backlines with her speed and scoring touch opens up space for other Thorns attackers, such as Morgan Weaver and Hina Sugita, and that’s shown up on the scoresheet. Sugita enters the playoffs with five goals and four assists, while Weaver has seven goals and three assists.

Smith, Sugita and Weaver are three of five players to record at least three assists for the Thorns this season, along with Yazmeen Ryan and Olivia Moultrie.

With Smith playing 1,452 minutes across 18 games this year, Portland scored a total of 49 goals, the third-most in a single season in league history.

“I don’t think people recognize that off-the-ball work that [Smith’s] doing, the assists she’s creating,” said Wilkinson. “I recognize I’m biased, but when you say MVP, that is what sets her apart.

“Definitely a Golden Boot would have been amazing for her. But if you look at how many players have had really prolific goal-scoring seasons, and why that is, it’s because of the spaces she’s created. I think that hasn’t been spoken about enough, what she’s doing off the ball in the spaces she’s creating for her teammates.”

The Thorns and Wave kick off at 5 p.m. ET on Sunday at Providence Park in Portland, Ore. (CBS Sports, Twitch). The winner advances to the championship game on Oct. 29 and will play either No. 1 OL Reign or No. 5 Kansas City Current, who go head-to-head in Sunday’s other semifinal at 7:30 p.m. ET in Seattle (CBSSN, Twitch).

Jessa Braun is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports covering the NWSL and USWNT. Follow her on Twitter @jessabraun.

Women's college basketball star and Notre Dame guard Olivia Miles recorded ​her second-straight triple-double on Sunday, becoming the first ACC player to hit the tally in back-to-back NCAA games.

Miles notched a career-high 14 assists in Notre Dame's 95-54 win over Virginia, complementing the feat with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

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The 21-year-old now has six career triple-doubles, tying WNBA mainstay and Maryland alum Alyssa Thomas for the most in ACC history.

"It's even more special coming off a year where I just sat on my butt," Miles told reporters​, referencing last season's sidelining ACL tear.

"It's definitely not an easy thing to do, to sit out, but I learned so much, and it's enabled me to come and do what I do."

NCAA conference play tips off with Top 10 matchups

With non-conference fireworks smoldering, college basketball is transitioning to conference play​ as tournament contenders enter the regular-season gauntlet hoping to peak at just the right time.

Subsequently, top NCAA basketball teams held court in two ranked Big Ten matchups over the weekend. No. 8 Maryland edged out No. 19 Michigan State 72-66 while No. 4 USC took down No. 23 Michigan 78-58.

This week's lone Top 10 matchup revives a longtime rivalry, when SEC newcomers and former Big 12 foes No. 5 Texas and No. 9 Oklahoma tip off in Norman on Thursday.

Star Texas sophomore Madison Booker and senior point guard Rori Harmon will face big name Oregon State transfer Reagan Beers. Since joining the Sooners, Beers has emerged as Oklahoma's leading scorer this season.

The Sooners won't see much rest after their clash with the Longhorns, as Oklahoma then gears up for Sunday's date with No. 15 Tennessee.

How to watch Texas vs. Oklahoma college basketball this week

Oklahoma hosts Texas on Thursday at 9 PM ET, with live coverage on ESPN2.

The WNBA coaching carousel has come to a standstill, with the Dallas Wings and Washington Mystics both finalizing head coaching hires earlier this week.

Dallas GM Curt Miller brought on former Sun, Sparks, and USC assistant coach Chris Koclanes as head coach of the Wings.

"We are thrilled to welcome Chris Koclanes as the new head coach of the Dallas Wings," said Miller in a team statement. "Throughout our extensive search and interview process, Chris continued to rise to the top and check the boxes of our important pillars. He is a servant leader who places a high value on connection, collaboration, and a positive and consistent communication style with all those he coaches."

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Mystics fill leadership vacancies

The Washington Mystics also made two key hires this week. The team appointed Jamila Wideman to GM and ex-Sky assistant Sydney Johnson​ to head coach.

"I have strong roots in the WNBA and have had the privilege of playing with, working alongside, and witnessing the incredible people who are the athletes at the center of the game," said Wideman afterwards. "The very best I have seen share some core qualities — curiosity, humility, and imagination. I look forward to building a Mystics team in partnership with the players, coaches, and staff that reflects this core."

WNBA teams enter 2025 with full staffs

Barring any unexpected twists, all 13 teams will now have head coaches in place going into the 2025 WNBA Draft and preseason.

Eight teams — including expansion side Golden State — enter 2025 armed with new bosses. Subsequently, seven of those candidates will be making their WNBA head coaching debuts.

Furthermore, Koclanes and Johnson are the third and fourth ex-assistants to get a shot at head coaching next season. The pair follows Natalie Nakase (Golden State) and Tyler Marsh (Chicago).

"Being named the head coach of the Golden State Valkyries is a lifelong dream come true," said Nakase. "We will strive to improve, compete, and ultimately bring home a championship for our fans and this organization."

After finishing 2024 in last place, the Houston Dash have been raising eyebrows with a series of offseason moves primed to make a splash next NWSL season.

Houston's top-tier transaction period continued on Thursday, landing Gotham and USWNT forward Yazmeen Ryan for a league-record $400,000 in allocation money plus a 2025 international roster spot.

On Thursday, Gotham confirmed that Ryan had requested the trade, saying the club "worked tirelessly to honor her request." As part of the deal, Gotham also traded $80,000 in intra-league transfer funds to Houston.
 
Ryan joins a growing roster of savvy Dash pick-ups, including fellow Gotham standout Delanie Sheehan and San Diego defender Christen Westphal.

Subsequently, while they've yet to announce a new head coach, Houston has solidified their front office by bringing on ex-Angel City GM Angela Hucles Mangano as president of women's soccer.

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Gotham FC sees mass NWSL exodus

For Gotham, Ryan's departure is just the latest in a high-profile exodus. Sheehan, forward Lynn Williams, goalkeeper Cassie Miller, and defenders Sam Hiatt and Maitane Lopez have all left the one-time superteam.

"I don't want to get into everything with the end of Gotham, but I am really excited to be a part of a team that looks like they're just enjoying each other and having fun," Lynn Williams told The Women's Game after her trade to Seattle was made public.

Jonas Eidevall enters NWSL as San Diego boss

The San Diego Wave hired ex-Arsenal manager​ Jonas Eidevall as the NWSL team's new head coach, according to multiple reports released earlier this week. 

Eidevall finished his tenure at Arsenal with an overall record of 80-24-16. However, he stepped down after failing to resign star forward Vivianne Miedema ahead of a sputtering 1-1-2 start to the 2024/25 WSL season​.

Eidevall will be the fourth coach to take the reins in San Diego this year, after Casey Stoney's mid-season firing led to interim stints from Paul Buckle and former USMNT mainstay Landon Donovan​.

San Diego's 2024 tumult wasn't limited to staffing. Founding members like Alex Morgan retired while impact players like Abby Dahlkemper and Sofia Jakobsson departed the club for other opportunities.

Embattled Wave president Jill Ellis also left the team, accepting a new role at FIFA earlier this month.

The Wave and Eidevall will kick off this new chapter seeking stability after a rollercoaster year. As such, both club and coach will bank on a strong 2025 to chart a new course.

No. 7 USC took down No. 4 UConn on Saturday, winning 72-70 in a battle between two bonafide NCAA basketball championship contenders still figuring out a consistent flow of play.

USC led by as many as 18 in the first half. However UConn came storming back, briefly pulling ahead in the fourth quarter before the Trojans outlasted the Huskies to secure the narrow victory.

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JuJu holds on to secure USC win

With UConn superstar Paige Bueckers tight on her heels, USC standout JuJu Watkins registered a game-leading 25 points, alongside six rebounds, five assists, and three blocks.

Bueckers and Huskies freshman Sarah Strong split scoring duties for UConn, notching 22 points each with Strong adding 11 rebounds.

After opening the season at No. 2, this highly touted UConn squad has dropped pivotal games against Notre Dame and now USC to go 0-2 in Top 10 matchups. It's a pattern legendary coach Auriemma will hope to correct before the Huskies face their next ranked opponent in early February.

"I thought the execution part in the first half was just as bad as I've seen in a few years here in Connecticut," Huskies boss Geno Auriemma said after the loss.

"This is a really significant win, and it's a really significant win because of the stature of UConn's program and what Geno Auriemma has done for our sport," commented USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb.

Weekend upsets shake top-ranked NCAA basketball teams

Elsewhere, upsets dominated the NCAA basketball conversation this weekend, with Top 25 contenders falling short as this season's undefeated list continues to shrink.

No. 15 Michigan State saw their first loss on Friday, falling to unranked Alabama 82-67 in a low scoring matchup. Afterwards, No. 9 Duke suffered their own unranked loss on Saturday, ceding a tough defensive battle to USF 65-56.

Seventeenth-ranked Georgia Tech remains undefeated with Saturday's ranked win over No. 23 Nebraska, while No. 14 West Virginia lost to unranked Colorado later that day.

Parity is the name of the game this season, with conference realignment, the transfer portal, and other recent shifts impacting a number of programs across the NCAA. And with conference play looming, teams will rely on regional rivalries and schedule strength to prepare them for heightened competition in the new year.