Aneesah Morrow’s numbers are astounding.

The sophomore forward is averaging a double-double per game. She leads her team in points per game (26.1) and rebounds per game (12.1). She paces the team in steals (33) and blocks (12) so far this season.

Morrow has posted two 40-plus point games and one 35-point game. She has scored less than 22 points just twice in 11 contests.

Those numbers place her among the best in the country – her points average is fourth in the NCAA, while her rebound mark is sixth. On paper, Morrow is a clear player of the year candidate. In reality, she looks like one, too.

Also important: Aneesah Morrow is the #BIGEAST Player of the Week for the fourth time in her career!

Two big-time performances in a pair of wins last week#DePaulBall x #BlueGrit pic.twitter.com/rIKc9RjRsA

— DePaul Women's Basketball (@DePaulWBBHoops) December 12, 2022

But Morrow finds herself overshadowed by players like Aliyah Boston of South Carolina and Caitlin Clark of Iowa.

Last season, her numbers were similar, and she led the country in rebounds. But her problem then is her problem now. The Bostons, Clarks, Cameron Brinks and Azzi Fudds of the world – all of whom have a shot at the POY award – play for national powerhouses, or at least programs who are in the spotlight.

Morrow plays for DePaul. And that is why her name is rarely brought up as a legitimate contender for the ultimate college basketball award. Fair or not, that is the reality of the basketball landscape.

Just look at the last 10 Naismith winners. UConn appears four times, South Carolina twice, and Oregon, Baylor and Iowa once each. The only school that may come as a surprise is Washington, thanks to 2017 winner and Huskies great Kelsey Plum.

An incredible performance now etched in the record books#DePaulBall x @AneesahMorrow24 pic.twitter.com/KhYuCYcNA0

— DePaul Women's Basketball (@DePaulWBBHoops) December 11, 2022

Circumstances would have to align in a very specific way for Morrow to win the award, but there is a path. Morrow is good enough, but her circumstances may not be – at least not right now.

For starters, each winner since the trophy’s creation in 1983 has come from a ranked team – generally one in at least the top 10. The same is true of the Associated Press POY award, which was first handed out in 1995.

The path for Morrow to gain traction in the POY race starts in the team rankings. 

No matter how strong a player may be – even if they are 26.1 points and 12.1 rebounds per game good – if their team isn’t winning against top competition, then they will not secure major awards. And that’s fair. The objective of basketball, after all, is to win games.

DePaul is not in the AP Top 25, and the Blue Demons received just two votes in the most recent poll. The team did creep into the national conversation with a win over Maryland on Nov. 25, in which Morrow recorded 22 points and 10 rebounds to lead her team to victory.

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But the Blue Demons followed that game with a loss to Towson. And making matters worse for Morrow, the sophomore finished with just 16 points, fouling out and committing six turnovers, though she did still grab 16 rebounds for a double-double.

Luckily for DePaul, and for the Morrow for POY campaign, the Blue Demons have plenty of big-name opponents on their schedule. They play a struggling Louisville on Dec. 21, and though unranked, the Cardinals have name recognition, which DePaul needs. Then comes Big East play, where the Blue Demons will have cracks at No. 16 Creighton, Marquette, No. 9 UConn and No. 25 Villanova. 

For Morrow to have a real shot at the POY award, she will have to continue at her current pace – posting double-doubles game after game.

The Blue Demon star went down with an injury against Howard on Dec. 12, which could impact her chances. But if she returns quickly and has a few big games – one of those 40-pointers would do the trick – against some of those teams, and DePaul is able to secure upsets, then she would transform from a long shot to a true POY contender.

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.