The U.S. women’s national team is still waiting on several players to return from injuries in the run up to the 2023 World Cup.

After the release of the roster for February’s SheBelieves Cup, which will serve as a tune-up for this summer’s main event, USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski provided updates on the status of many of the injured and absent players.

Catarina Macario

Andonovski described the forward/midfielder, who reaching the end of her rehab for an ACL injury, as being available for selection in April. She also is preparing to rejoin her club Olympique Lyonnais.

“She’s started training on the field, started training with the ball,” Andonovski said. “She’s still in Qatar in the center for rehab. She’s doing well, and she’s going back to Lyon to start training to start team training middle of February, and then hopefully we can see her starting playing for her club team sometime in the second half of March. It takes about five to six weeks in team training before she starts playing games. So we expect to see her back, or eligible for selection, for April camp.”

Sophia Smith

The Portland Thorns forward missed the January USWNT camp while rehabbing a lingering injury. Smith is still building up fitness to be available for selection in April, Andonovski said.

“Both [Macario and Smith] are in return to play protocols. Soph actually is looking good. She’s back on the field running, and I think that if we rushed it a little bit, we could have got some minutes from her. But I didn’t feel like this was a situation where we rushed to get it back. Our goal is not just to get her back, but to stay back, and that’s why she’s not in this camp.”

Tobin Heath

The free agent forward also was listed as a possibility for selection in April, and Andonovski said Heath is “absolutely” still under consideration for selection for the 2023 World Cup.

“Tobin is one of those players that has tremendous experience with the national team playing against top level teams, and she’s a born leader and born winner. She has won World Cups. She has won championships in club, college, everywhere. So anyone that is, you know, healthy and ready and in good form and can help this team be successful, is gonna be looked at and selected for the roster for the World Cup.”

Jaelin Howell

The 23-year-old midfielder hasn’t seen USWNT minutes since April 2022, but Andonovski says she is still in the conversation for the World Cup as she works with her club Racing Louisville.

“Jaelin and I had a really good conversation before we sent out the invites, and the conversation pretty much was that Jaelin is certainly not out of the picture. She does have something that, or she is good at something that probably not another No. 6 in the league is now with Julie Ertz absent so we want to see that from her in the league. We want to see it on a consistent basis. And that’s what is going to get her back on the team. We’re excited about Jae, she’s not someone that we have given up on just because she’s not on the roster. We are in constant communication with her and analyzing everything that she’s doing.”

Christen Press

The 34-year-old forward, back in training with Angel City FC as she finishes rehabbing an ACL injury, could be available for selection in April, Andonovski said.

“Christen Press, who I think is very similar to Tobin, just very experienced, has been in two World Cups, won two World Cups, and we know that can be an asset on any team.”

Sam Coffey

The Thorns midfielder was left off the 2023 SheBelieves roster after earning a roster spot in January, though she did not see time in two games against New Zealand.

“Obviously she’s not on this roster in this camp, but that doesn’t mean that she’s out by any means. Anytime someone makes the roster, someone else has to be off the roster. And there was something else that we wanted to see in this camp, in these games, and Sam is very much in the pool. She’s someone that we’re still evaluating and analyzing and is someone that we consider as a player that can have a spot in the World Cup roster.”

Julie Ertz

Andonovski did not have an update on Ertz’s plans for 2023, though he did provide insight into her likelihood for the World Cup. She is a free agent, and she has not played since the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

“Another person that hasn’t been in camp for a while, Julie Ertz, is someone that, obviously we see that she hasn’t committed to any training [or] team in the league so far. And the time is running out pretty much for her as well, and she’s someone that we’re probably not going to be able to count on in the World Cup.”

Sam Mewis

The Kansas City Current midfielder will not be available for selection for the 2023 World Cup due to a progressive knee injury, which has required a second surgery, Andonovski confirmed.

“That’s something that we’ve known for a while. We just wanted to allow Sam to make a decision on when to make this public.”

Kelley O’Hara

The newly minted Gotham FC defender was mentioned as a player who could be available for April selection.

O’Hara told reporters earlier this week that she is still in the rehab process for the hip injury that sidelined her in 2022, but she is confident she will be ready by her club’s first regular season match in March.

Tierna Davidson

The Chicago Red Stars defender “is in the final stages of her recovery from an ACL injury and will participate in the first part of the BioSteel Training Camp in Orlando but will not be on the tournament roster,” according to a U.S. Soccer press release.

Davidson should be available for team selection in April.

The final 2025 WNBA regular-season slate tips off on Thursday night, with crucial playoff seeding still on the line for the league's top postseason contenders.

While the No. 1 Minnesota Lynx have the first overall seed on lock, Thursday could see the No. 3 Las Vegas Aces leap the No. 2 Atlanta Dream to claim the second seed with a win over the now-eliminated No. 9 LA Sparks.

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The No. 4 Phoenix Mercury and No. 5 New York Liberty have also settled their seedings, but the No. 7 Golden State Valkyries' Thursday matchup against the Lynx could see them either steal sixth from the No. 6 Indiana Fever with a win, or fall to eighth behind the No. 8 Seattle Storm with a loss.

The Aces' potential rise to No. 2 comes on the wings of a 15-game winning streak dating back to Las Vegas's August 2nd blowout loss to Minnesota — with the hottest team in the league recently receiving a significant boost off the bench.

Veteran forward and recent Aces signee Cheyenne Parker-Tyus returned from maternity leave in style on Tuesday, putting up eight points in eight minutes against the No. 12 Chicago Sky just two months after giving birth.

"It is not easy to get out there," head coach Becky Hammon said of Parker-Tyus's feat. "She was pumping [breast milk] at halftime. It's remarkable for her to be out there right now, almost miraculous."

"Just putting my jersey on, being with my teammates, being able to be in those huddles, it meant the world today," Parker-Tyus said after the 92-61 win.

How to watch the final 2025 WNBA regular-season games

Three of the four final 2025 games will tip off at 8 PM ET on Thursday, with defending champion No. 5 New York taking on No. 12 Chicago on WNBA League Pass while No. 7 Golden State visits No. 1 Minnesota on NBA TV and No. 13 Dallas hosts No. 4 Phoenix — also streaming live on WNBA League Pass.

Capping the season — and settling the seeding for the 2025 WNBA Playoffs — will be No. 3 Las Vegas vs. No. 9 LA at 10 PM ET, airing live on NBA TV.

The 2025 NCAA volleyball season is heating up, with a pair of Top 10 matchups headlining the first annual ACC-SEC "Showdown at the Net" event on Wednesday.

Recent conference realignment has seen the SEC and ACC emerge as volleyball strongholds alongside the Big Ten, with the two Power Four rivals laying claim to seven of the current Top 10 teams.

Putting their reputations to the test, the conferences launched the two-day "Showdown at the Net" series this season, with 14 SEC vs. ACC games taking place at campuses nationwide while the four top contenders face off in the event's two-game spotlight showcase in Fort Worth, Texas.

The Wednesday doubleheader will first pair the SEC's No. 3 Kentucky Wildcats against the ACC's No. 7 Pitt Panthers before their respective conference standouts take the court as the No. 2 Texas Longhorns face the No. 4 Louisville Cardinals.

The battle between the Longhorns and Cardinals — a rematch of the 2022 national championship game — will be particularly tense, as both squads enter the match without a single loss on the young 2025 season.

How to watch "Showdown at the Net" NCAA volleyball tournament

No. 3 Kentucky and No. 7 Pitt will kick off Wednesday's top-tier college volleyball clashes at 6:30 PM ET before No. 2 Texas and No. 4 Louisville square off at 9 PM ET.

Both games will air live on ESPN.

Atlanta head coach Karl Smesko made WNBA history on Monday, becoming the winningest first-year manager on record after the No. 3 Dream earned their 29th victory of the season by defeating the No. 11 Connecticut Sun 87-62.

With Monday's result, Smesko surpassed the previous 28-win record set by former LA Sparks head coach Michael Cooper in 2000 — and boosted his position in the 2025 WNBA Coach of the Year race in the process.

Notably, while coaches like Cooper spent years as an assistant in the pros before leading a team, Smesko entered the 2025 WNBA season without any experience on the professional sidelines, with the Atlanta Dream hiring the 54-year-old following Smesko's 22 years helming the college team at Florida Gulf Coast University.

Smesko is now one of several new coaches seeing quick success at the sport's top level — with even more WNBA milestones looming on the horizon.

"It's nice that we're winning and that we're in a good position for the playoffs," Smesko said following Monday's victory. "Those types of [records] don't have a lot of meaning for me. The meaningful part is coming up: Are we going to be the best prepared for the playoffs?"

How to watch the Atlanta Dream on Wednesday

While it might not matter too much to Smesko, with one game left in the Atlanta Dream's 2025 regular season, he has the opportunity to pad his new record even more and finish the year with an even 30 wins on Wednesday.

The Dream will close out their 2025 regular season with a rematch against the Sun at 7 PM ET, with live coverage of the game airing on WNBA League Pass.

Sky star Angel Reese watched from the sidelines as No. 12 Chicago fell 92-61 to the No. 2 Las Vegas Aces on Tuesday night, ruled out with a back injury after serving a half-game suspension on Sunday for making "statements detrimental to the team" last week.

Back pain that has troubled the forward throughout the second half of the 2025 WNBA season, with Reese opting to sit out Tuesday's clash despite earlier expectations that she would take the court.

"After warm-ups, she communicated that she just wasn't feeling it physically," Chicago Sky head coach Tyler Marsh said, after previously telling reporters he expected Reese to play. "She reported that pain, and so we wanted to hold her back."

Reese's relationship with the organization has been under a microscope since the 23-year-old criticized team leadership in last week's Chicago Tribune interview, prompting high-profile reactions from both within the league and beyond.

"Chicago is probably the worst-run organization in the league. You're gonna suspend your best player just because she's putting pressure on you to get better? That was embarrassing to see," an anonymous WNBA exec told the Dallas Hoops Journal in response.

"She got in trouble for telling the truth. And I feel like women, especially Black women, are over-policed in this league," Sports Are Fun guest co-host Greydy Diaz said on this week's episode. "If you really look at Chicago and its history, ownership, front office — it's been a disaster for years. You've had star players leave over and over…. I think they need to clean house in Chicago."

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How to watch the final 2025 game for the Chicago Sky

Should her pain subside, Reese will suit up for the Chicago Sky's season finale on Thursday — though the league sophomore has already hit the requisite minimum number of game appearances to officially qualify as the WNBA's rebounds-per-game leader this year.

The No. 12 Sky will close out their 2025 campaign against the No. 5 New York Liberty at 8 PM ET on Thursday, with live coverage airing on WNBA League Pass.