College basketball season is finally here. And after the first day of games, fans have plenty to talk about. From Angel Reese to Hailey Van Lith, here are five things that caught my eye on opening day:

Career-highs

Several players kicked off the 2021-22 season with career-highs, including Reese, who dropped 31 points against Bellarmine in her first game with LSU. She also grabbed 13 rebounds for a double-double.

The Maryland transfer fit right into the Tigers’ offense, and she didn’t need to dominate the ball to put up her huge numbers – a great sign for LSU – as she went 11-for-14 from the floor in the 125-50 win. Reese also was solid on the defensive end, where she had two blocks and a team-high four steals.

Meanwhile, for Virginia Tech, all eyes were on another Maryland transfer in Ashley Owusu, but Cayla King stole the show.

The senior guard set a program record with nine 3-pointers for a career-high 33 points. She went 9-for-16 from beyond the arc (56.3%), leading her team to a 101-45 win over Mount St. Mary’s.

King has been a strong shooter throughout her career with the Hokies, and she made 39.9% of her attempts last season. And while she probably won’t make nine 3s again this year, having her as an outside threat is a great tool alongside Elizabeth Kitley, who dominated in the paint with 18 points, 9 rebounds and 6 blocks.

New additions

Aside from Reese, four more players who are new to their respective squads caught my eye Monday, starting with Abby Meyer at Maryland.

The guard led Princeton last season with 17.9 points per game, guiding the Ivy League Champions past Kentucky in an NCAA tournament first-round upset. She was a leader for the Tigers, and the same seems to be true at Maryland. When Diamond Miller exited the contest with a knee injury, Meyer stepped up and scored 19 points to lead the Terrapins to an 88-51 win over George Mason.

Oregon is coming off a rocky year in 2021-22, and the rough road continued with a season-ending injury to Sedona Prince to start the 2022-23 campaign.

Enter freshmen Grace VanSlooten and Chance Gray. The two started in Oregon’s 100-57 win over Northwestern, and each had a huge impact. VanSlooten led the Ducks with 20 points, going 10-for-16 from the field, and Gray finished with 14. Ducks fans have a lot to be excited for, this season and beyond.

Finally, Iowa State is a team with incredible guards – Ashley Joens, Lexi Donarski and Emily Ryan – but now they have a weapon on the inside to compliment the backcourt.

Stephanie Soares spent the last four years dominating the NAIA level at The Master’s University, where she was the two-time Player of the Year. Her transition to the NCAA Division I level started on a high note as she finished with 15 points, 14 rebounds, 4 blocks, 4 steals and 3 assists in an 87-54 win over Cleveland State.

Creighton vs. South Dakota State

The best game of Day 1 was easily No. 21 Creighton vs. No. 23 South Dakota State. The Blue Jays came away with a 78-69 win, but both squads impressed.

For Creighton, Lauren Jensen built on her 2021-22 Tournament Darling status with a career-high 30-point performance, going 4-for-7 from beyond the arc and adding five assists. The Blue Jays also continued the 3-point shooting prowess they became known for last season, making 46.7% of their attempts as a team.

South Dakota State, last season’s NIT winner, held its own for most of the contest, behind 22 points from Myah Selland. The junior forward is expected to have a big season after leading the team with 14.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per game last season.

The Jackrabbits also got a lift from freshman Brooklyn Meyers, who came off the bench to score 12 points in just 16 minutes of play. She proved herself to be a reliable option in the post.

South Carolina continues to shine

Aliyah Boston recorded yet another double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds as the Gamecocks won their opening contest against East Tennessee State by 70 points, 101-31.

South Carolina also showed off its depth, with six players in double-figures. Among those were sophomores Sania Feagin (15 points) and Raven Johnson (11 points). Johnson slid into the starting point guard role, taking over for Destanni Henderson, who is now in the WNBA with the Indiana Fever. Freshman Ashlyn Watkins also hit double-digits with 11 points of her own.

The Gamecocks proved themselves a well-rounded squad with plenty of weapons. Once again, they are the team to beat this season.

Top guards dominate

Three of the best guards in the country started their seasons off right. Van Lith of Louisville, Caitlin Clark of Iowa and Joens of Iowa State all led their squads to victories.

For Louisville, Van Lith built on a stellar sophomore season where her squad made a run to the Final Four, posting 28 points as her team defeated Cincinnati 87-68.

“I would say it’s impressive, but I think that’s just Hailey,” fifth-year senior guard Mykasa Robinson said. “That’s what Hailey does. So, she’s going to keep doing that day in and day out.”

Clark, who led the country in scoring last year as a sophomore, had 20 points and 9 rebounds as Iowa topped Southern 87-34. And Joens, a senior for the Cyclones, impressed in several categories – something she’s been known for throughout her career – finishing the day with 25 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.

Longtime USWNT fixture Carli Lloyd took to Instagram Wednesday morning to announce that she’s pregnant with her first child. 

"Baby Hollins coming in October 2024!" she wrote. The caption framed a collaged image of baby clothes, an ultrasound photo, and syringes indicating what she described as a "rollercoaster" fertility journey.

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In a Women’s Health story published in tandem with Lloyd’s post, the Fox Sports analyst and correspondent opened up about her struggles with infertility and the lengthy IVF treatments she kept hidden from the public eye.

"Soccer taught me how to work hard, persevere, be resilient, and never give up. I would do whatever it took to prepare, and usually when I prepared, I got results," Lloyd told Women’s Health’s Amanda Lucci. "But I found out that I didn’t know much about this world. I was very naive to think that we wouldn’t have any issues getting pregnant. And so it began."

Lloyd went on to discuss her road to pregnancy in great detail, sharing the highs and lows of the process and expressing gratitude for the care and support her family and medical team provided along the way. She rounded out the piece with a nod toward others navigating the same challenges, encouraging people to share their own pregnancy journeys, painful as they may be.

"My story is currently a happy one, but I know there are other women who are facing challenges in their pregnancy journey. I see you and I understand your pain," she said. "My hope is that more and more women will speak up about this topic, because their stories helped me. I also wish for more resources, funding, and education around fertility treatments. There is much to be done, and I hope I can play a role in helping."

The 41-year-old New Jersey native retired from professional soccer in 2021, closing out her decorated career with 316 international appearances, the second-most in USWNT history, in addition to 134 international goals. A legend on the field, Lloyd walked away from the game with two World Cups, two Olympic gold medals, and two FIFA Player of the Year awards.

On Tuesday, FIFPRO announced the launch of Project ACL, a three-year research initiative designed to address a steep uptick in ACL injuries across women's professional football.

Project ACL is a joint venture between FIFPRO, England’s Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), Nike, and Leeds Beckett University. While the central case study will focus on England’s top-flight Women's Super League, the findings will be distributed around the world.

ACL tears are between two- and six-times more likely to occur in women footballers than men, according to The Guardian. And with both domestic and international programming on the rise for the women’s game, we’ve seen some of the sport's biggest names moved to the season-ending injury list with ACL-related knocks.

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Soccer superstars like Vivianne Miedema, Beth Mead, Catarina Macario, Marta, and England captain Leah Williamson have all struggled with their ACLs in recent years, though all have since returned to the field. In January, Chelsea and Australia forward Sam Kerr was herself sidelined with the injury, kicking off a year of similar cases across women’s professional leagues. And just yesterday, the Spirit announced defender Anna Heilferty would miss the rest of the NWSL season with a torn ACL. The news comes less than two weeks after Bay FC captain Alex Loera went down with the same injury. 

Project ACL will closely study players in the WSL, monitoring travel, training, and recovery practices to look for trends that could be used to prevent the injury in the future. Availability of sports science and medical resources within individual clubs will be taken into account throughout the process.

ACL injuries in women's football have long outpaced the same injury in the men's game, but resources for specialized prevention and treatment still lag behind. Investment in achieving a deeper, more specialized understanding of the problem should hopefully alleviate the issue both on and off the field.

With recent transfers Talia von Oelhoffen and Kiki Iriafen joining first-team All-American JuJu Watkins and the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class at USC next season, the Trojans look to transition from an up-and-coming squad to a legitimate title contender. 

Former Oregon State graduate student von Oelhoffen is the latest collegiate talent to commit to the program, announcing her transfer Monday via ESPN. She follows ex-Stanford leading-scorer Iriafen in the jump to the pair’s one-time Pac-12 rival.

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The 5-foot-11 Washington native was a two-time All-Pac-12 guard during her time at Oregon State. But after the recent dissolution of the Pac-12, the Corvallis side found themselves without a permanent home conference going forward. Many big name players opted to take their skill elsewhere as a result, with von Oelhoffen’s fellow ex-Beaver Raegan Beers announcing her own departure to Oklahoma on Monday.

According to DraftKings, USC is now tied with UConn for the second-best betting odds to win the 2025 NCAA women’s tournament. Dawn Staley’s tested South Carolina side, poised for a repeat performance, holds down the number one spot.

Last year, LSU loaded up in the transfer portal after beating Iowa to win the 2023 national championship. The Tigers were clear favorites coming into the 2023-24 season, but were bounced in the Elite Eight by Caitlin Clark’s Hawkeyes. Shortly thereafter, star transfer Hailey Van Lith opted to transfer a second time, this time signing with TCU. 

Yet while history proves that an excess of star power doesn’t always translate to on-court chemistry, on paper, USC sure looks ready to hold their own — in 2025 and beyond.

The United States and Mexico have withdrawn their joint bid to host the 2027 Women’s World Cup, per a Monday afternoon release from U.S. Soccer and the Mexican Football Federation.

According to the statement, they will instead focus on developing a "more equitable" bid for the 2031 tournament, with the ultimate goal of "eliminating investment disparities" between the men’s and women’s tournaments.

The federations went on to cite the upcoming 2026 Men’s World Cup in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico as an opportunity to build support for local infrastructure, improve audience engagement, and scale up media and partnership deals in preparation to "host a record-breaking tournament in 2031."

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"Hosting a World Cup tournament is a huge undertaking — and having additional time to prepare allows us to maximize its impact across the globe," said U.S. Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone. "Shifting our bid will enable us to host a record-breaking Women’s World Cup in 2031 that will help to grow and raise the level of the women’s game both here at home as well as across the globe."

The decision leaves just Brazil and a joint bid from Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands in the running for the 2027 host spot. Brazil — the rumored frontrunner — has never hosted a Women’s World Cup, while Germany hosted the 2011 tournament as a solo venture. 

Furthermore, this postponement doesn’t mean the U.S. is a shoo-in for 2031, as it's been previously reported that 2022 UEFA Women's EURO host England is considering their own Women's World Cup bid. FIFA is scheduled to confirm the winning bid after the FIFA Congress votes on May 17th.