Two rising stars made the biggest moves in the NWSL Golden Boot race over the weekend. North Carolina Courage forward Kerolin moved into a tie with Ashley Hatch for second place with her ninth goal, while Portland Thorns forward Morgan Weaver added to her tally.

Weaver now has six goals on the season, tying her with Messiah Bright and Debinha, while Lynn Williams remains behind Hatch and Kerolin with seven goals. Sophia Smith holds onto the top spot with 11 goals, though she may lose ground as she continues to nurse a week-to-week MCL sprain.

Jaedyn Shaw and Jordyn Huitema also scored over the weekend, bringing their season totals to five goals each.

Trending upward: Kerolin (9 goals)

At one point this season, Kerolin was neck-and-neck with Smith for the Golden Boot award, and she appears to be heading back in that direction after scoring in North Carolina’s 3-3 draw with Gotham on Saturday. After an outstanding June in the NWSL, the 23-year-old Brazilian has returned from the World Cup in form.

It's the Kero show📽️🪄 pic.twitter.com/o8nMNwkSkv

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) September 3, 2023

Kerolin has been particularly efficient in front of net, with her nine goals coming on just 40 shots and 15 on target. That gives her a 60 percent success rate on converting shots on target into goals. In comparison, Smith has converted 29 percent of her 38 shots on target. If Kerolin continues to make the most of her chances, she could overtake Smith in the final four games of the regular season.

Staying put: Sophia Smith (11 goals)

The good news is that Smith avoided a worst-case scenario, and instead is considered week-to-week with a mild MCL sprain in her right knee.

But there’s no clear timetable for Smith’s return. With four games remaining, including Portland’s rivalry match against OL Reign on Sept. 16, Smith’s injury has come at a less-than-ideal time for both her and the Thorns.

NWSL leaderboard

• 11 goals
  • Sophia Smith, Portland Thorns
• 9 goals
  • Ashley Hatch, Washington Spirit
  • Kerolin, North Carolina Courage
• 7 goals
  • Lynn Williams, Gotham FC
• 6 goals
  • Messiah Bright, Orlando Pride
  • Debinha, Kansas City Current
  • Morgan Weaver, Portland Thorns
• 5 goals
  • Bethany Balcer, OL Reign
  • Savannah DeMelo, Racing Louisville
  • Crystal Dunn, Portland Thorns
  • Cece Kizer, Kansas City Current
  • Tyler Lussi, North Carolina Courage
  • Alex Morgan, San Diego Wave
  • Ashley Sanchez, Washington Spirit
  • Jordyn Huitema, OL Reign
  • Jaedyn Shaw, San Diego Wave

Charter flights are on the horizon for the WNBA, with commissioner Cathy Engelbert saying on Tuesday that the league will provide teams with full-time private travel services beginning as soon as this season. 

The move is set to address years of player safety concerns, among other issues. Engelbert told AP Sports Editors that the league aims to launch the program "as soon as we can logistically get planes in place."

The initiative is projected to cost around $25 million per year over the next two seasons.

The WNBA has previously provided charter flights on a limited basis, including during the postseason and when teams were scheduled to play back-to-back regular season games. Individual owners seeking to independently provide their teams with private travel — such as the New York Liberty’s Joe and Clara Wu Tsai back in 2022 — faced significant fines for using unauthorized charters.

While players and team staff have been calling for league-wide charters even before Caitlin Clark and other high profile rookies joined the league, Engelbert has routinely cited steep year-to-year costs as the reasoning behind sticking to commercial flights. 

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However, the WNBA's surging popularity means increased visibility, and a subsequent uptick in security concerns — especially when it comes to big name newcomers like Clark — has Englebert reconsidering her previous decision. 

WNBA Players Association president Nneka Ogwumike called the move "transformational," and credited the WNBPA as well as the league for its implementation. 

"Our league is growing, the demand for women's basketball is growing," Ogwumike told ESPN. "That means more eyes on us, which is what we want, but that means more protection from the organization that we play for, the whole W that we play for.

"Chartering flights not only is a safety measure, the biggest thing, and then obviously what it means to be able to play a game and go home and rest and recover and be the elite athletes that we try to be every single night when we step out onto this court."

Aces coach Becky Hammon called the immediate response to the charter announcement "great" but noted that there are still kinks to be worked out. 

"What it all looks like, we’re still gathering information, we don’t know," she said Tuesday.

Several players emphasized the importance of safety, highlighting how last season the Phoenix Mercury’s Brittney Griner was harassed in an airport while traveling commercial.

"All these players and these faces are becoming so popular that it really is about that as much as it as about recovery," Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier said.

"Above everything else, I think it's the safety of our players," Mercury player Natasha Cloud added. "We have a prime example with BG on our team that needs to be safe. At airports, it's like a madhouse. You see Caitlin Clark walking through airports, people following her, people trying to touch her, get pictures with her. It's just a safety measure, through and through. You would never have an NBA team walk through an airport."

Prior to Tuesday's announcement, the league had said it would charter flights for the playoffs and back-to-back games via a program introduced last year. The latest news, however, promises that teams will also be provided charters to and from all regular season games.

"Our safety is being taken seriously now, finally. In no world should our security not be a priority," Griner told ESPN. "If we want to be the league that we want to be and have the respect that we have, it comes with some risks. Sometimes people want to get close to you and it's not people you want, so I'm just glad that we don't have to deal with that anymore."

Deja Kelly has landed on her final destination, with the former North Carolina star announcing her commitment to Oregon on Monday. 

A three-time All-ACC guard, Kelly averaged 15.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game in her four years in Chapel Hill. She led the team in scoring in each of the last three seasons, but opted to transfer elsewhere for her fifth and final year of NCAA eligibility.

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The 5-foot-8 Texas native finishes her UNC career eighth on the team’s scoring list, having helped carry the Tar Heels to a Sweet 16 in 2022. 

Kelly is the seventh new addition for Oregon Ducks coach Kelly Graves this offseason, as the program faced a number of big name departures at the close of the 2023 NCAA tournament. She will join Texas' Amina Muhammad, Arizona's Salimatou Kourouma, Washington's Ari Long, BYU's Nani Falatea, UC Santa Barbara's Alexis Whitfield, and Siena's Elisa Mevius in Eugene this fall.

Kelly wasn't the only noteworthy transfer shaking up women's college hoops this week, with Marquette's Liza Karlen and Pitt's Liatu King both announcing their commitments to Notre Dame within a span of roughly 18 hours.

The San Diego Wave are without some key players, and they don’t expect to get them back anytime soon. 

Alex Morgan, Sofia Jakobsson, Melanie Barcenas, Abby Dahlkemper, and Naomi Girma are all currently on the team’s injury list. On Monday, head coach Casey Stoney was asked if she expected any of them to return to the pitch in the near future. 

"No, unfortunately not," was her response. The Wave is set to play Utah on Wednesday.

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While Stoney hasn't yet provided anything else definitive, absences from Morgan and Girma leave behind a pretty big hole in the team roster, particularly with the Olympics — not to mention the preceding USWNT send-off friendlies — just around the corner. Morgan has been sidelined with ankle trouble since the team's late April match against Orlando, while Girma’s first game on the injury list was against Seattle. 

Stoney, however, has said that the Wave doesn’t play any differently with or without the missing players.

"It doesn’t really affect the way we play," she said following the team’s recent loss to Seattle. "We just needed to have more patience. We still had some senior players out there tonight that could have impacted that and needed to impact that and did in the second half."

San Diego currently sits in 10th place with seven points, having won two games in their last five matches.

Angel Reese celebrated her 22nd birthday in style, turning out for the Met Gala. 

The Chicago Sky rookie wore a custom dress by British label 16Arlington. Reese is just the second WNBA player to ever grace the Met Gala carpet, following Brittney Griner's appearance last year.

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"I’m just excited to see everyone’s outfits. Everyone looks amazing in here. Being here on my 22nd birthday is amazing," Reese told WWD ahead of the event. "I feel beautiful and I feel sexy."

She later took to Twitter, writing that "being able to play the game I love & live my dream in the fashion world all on my 22nd birthday is a blessing."

Wow! God is so good! Being able to play the game I love & live my dream in the fashion world all on my 22nd birthday is a blessing. 🥺😭🥳

— Angel Reese (@Reese10Angel) May 7, 2024

Reese wasn’t the only women's sports athlete to grace the Met Gala this year. Rolex Women's World Golf Ranking No. 1 Nelly Korda arrived as a guest of Wasserman Media Group chairperson Casey Wasserman, making her the first LPGA golfer to attend the event. Korda wore Oscar de la Renta. 

Icon ✨@NellyKorda at the 2024 #MetGala pic.twitter.com/nziEROYb5V

— LPGA (@LPGA) May 7, 2024

Former host and red carpet regular Serena Williams showed up in a gold Balenciaga gown. She reunited with tennis great Maria Sharapova at the event, while sister Venus Williams was also in attendance.

Gold and @serenawilliams just go together 🥇

The 4x Olympic gold medalist showed out at the #MetGala. pic.twitter.com/ZsNHxu1DSg

— Team USA (@TeamUSA) May 7, 2024

Maria Sharapova arrives at the Met Gala.

Stunning. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/zZzAcR35V6

— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) May 7, 2024

#MetGala with @MarcJacobs 🌟 #ReawakeningFashion

📷 @GettyImages pic.twitter.com/JEepMkjgU8

— Venus Williams (@Venuseswilliams) May 7, 2024

This year's Met Gala theme was "Garden of Time."