The Chicago Sky became the final team to clinch a spot in the 2023 WNBA playoffs on Sept. 8.

With a 92-87 win against the Minnesota Lynx, the Sky join the Lynx, Las Vegas Aces, New York Liberty, Connecticut Sun, Dallas Wings, Washington Mystics and Atlanta Dream in the postseason.

The Aces (32-6) are in the midst of a historic run. On Aug. 1, six weeks before the start of the postseason, they punched their ticket. And they have surpassed the 2014 Phoenix Mercury (29-5) for the most wins in WNBA history.

But Las Vegas has faced a setback in the loss of Candace Parker to a broken foot, an absence felt in the Aces’ 82-63 loss to the Liberty in the Commissioner’s Cup final on Aug. 15. And the Sun are solidifying their spot just behind the superteams as the season reaches the home stretch.

The 2023 WNBA playoffs will begin on Sept. 13, with eight teams qualifying for the postseason and the first-round best-of-three series. Just Women’s Sports is keeping track of which teams have clinched playoff spots — and which teams have been eliminated from contention.

Which teams have clinched WNBA playoff spots?

1. Las Vegas Aces

For the second consecutive year, the Aces are looking to clinch the No. 1 seed in the WNBA playoffs. They booked their ticket to the postseason with a 93-72 win over Atlanta on Aug. 1, led by a 24-point performance by Jackie Young and a 20-point, 11-rebound performance from 2022 MVP A’ja Wilson.

2. New York Liberty

The Liberty secured a playoff spot for the third year in a row following losses by the Minnesota Lynx and Atlanta Dream on Aug. 10. In its 27-year history, New York has reached the postseason 18 times.

3. Connecticut Sun

With a 79-73 win against the Chicago Sky on Aug. 20, the Sun clinched their seventh consecutive trip to the postseason, a franchise record.

4. Dallas Wings

With the help of a 40-point night from Satou Sabally, the Wings clinched their spot in the postseason with a 110-100 win over Indiana on Sept. 1. With the loss, the Fever were eliminated from playoff contention, joining the Storm and the Mercury.

5. Minnesota Lynx

The Lynx clinched their spot in the WNBA playoffs with an 86-73 win over the Mercury on Sept. 3. The accomplishment represents a huge turnaround for a team that started the season 0-6 and missed the playoffs last season.

“When you walked in the gym, you wouldn’t know the team was 0-6,” head coach Cheryl Reeve said. “It was a group that felt like we weren’t that far off. And they believed in themselves, and in each other.

“I just told the group, they deserve this. It’s just a step. We wanted to get back to the playoffs, certainly, after missing last year. But this is a team that’s got a belief in themselves.”

6. Washington Mystics

The Mystics secured their berth with a win over the Mercury on Sept. 5, just two days after the Lynx and with two games to og in the regular season. Washington has struggled with injury all season, but they’ve been heating up as the postseason nears.

“A little bit of relief,” head coach Eric Thibault said about securing a playoff spot. “Now we can just focus on being as good as we can be. We’ve got a couple more games that we want to win, that we want to play better. But, you know, bought ourselves a ticket here. We don’t take these opportunities for granted.”

Of course, now seeding comes into play, with the Mystics having the chance to overtake Minnesota.

“We [kept] saying, ‘Oh, we win, we clinch. Oh, we win, we clinch,’” Mystics guard Brittney Sykes said. “I literally looked at everybody and I was like, ‘Let’s just f—ing win.’ Let’s just win, and then everything else on the back end we can figure out. … Now we can talk about seeding.

“But we still need to win those two damn games because we have a chance to finish out even at the end of the year.”

7. Atlanta Dream

With a win against the Storm on Sept. 6, the Dream secured their first postseason appearance since 2018. Just one player remains from that 2018 squad: forward Monique Billings, who finished with a double-double (14 points, 15 rebounds) in the playoff-clinching win against Seattle.

8. Chicago Sky

With two games remaining in the regular season, the Sky and Sparks had matching 16-22 records, but the Sky hold the tiebreaker. So with Chicago’s win Friday and the Sparks’ loss Thursday, the Sky clinched the final postseason berth with one game to spare.

Which teams have been eliminated from playoff contention?

• Indiana Fever
• Los Angeles Sparks
• Phoenix Mercury
• Seattle Storm

The WSL hit some opening day snags over the weekend, with a last-minute media deal causing broadcasts Stateside to generate confusion and widespread technical difficulties as the UK league's big-name US talent pool took the pitch.

First, in Friday's 2025/26 season kick-off match, ESPN+ served fans an error screen during the first 15 minutes of six-time defending WSL champion Chelsea's 2-1 win over Manchester City.

Then on Saturday morning, skips and lags continuously interrupted Arsenal's 4-1 victory over the recently promoted London City Lionesses.

Notably, the WSL media rights extension deal with ESPN+ — the 2024/25 US carrier of the top-flight UK league —came together at the very last minute.

As such, the WSL left fans in the dark by omitting US coverage details from all promotions in the lead-up to the 2025/26 season's opening weekend — possibly missing out on a big Stateside moment as USWNT stars like Naomi Girma, Catarina Macario, Emily Fox, and Alyssa Thompson kick off their club campaigns in the UK.

"The delays weren't about lack of interest so much as the sheer number of changes the league has been managing," former head of broadcast at WSL Football Andrea Ekblad told The Athletic this week.

"Of course, nobody wants a broadcast deal announced only hours before kickoff. That's not ideal," she continued. "But continuing the [ESPN] partnership makes great sense."

USWNT prospect Jaedyn Shaw is on her way to New York City, with ESPN reporting late Monday that the No. 11 North Carolina Courage is sending the rising NWSL star to No. 6 Gotham FC in an intra-league-record $1.25 million trade deal.

North Carolina's return nearly doubles the NWSL's previous $600,000 transfer record, set when the No. 1 Kansas City Current acquired forward Ally Sentnor from the last-place Utah Royals in early August.

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As for Shaw, this will be her second major move this year, after the attacker requested a trade to the Courage from the San Diego Wave last January — a deal in which the Wave received a combined $450,000 in allocation money and fees.

During her time in San Diego, Shaw shattered the NWSL record for most goals scored by a teenager, but the now-20-year-old has only logged three in her 10 starts for North Carolina this season.

With this trade to Gotham, Shaw will exit a Courage side sitting three spots below the postseason line as North Carolina regroups following the abrupt firing of head coach Sean Nahas.

She instead will join a NJ/NY side in the midst of a serious playoff push, with ESPN reporting that Gotham is going all in on Shaw with plans to sign the young talent through the 2029 season.

The No. 8 Seattle Storm are only one win away from making the 2025 WNBA Playoffs, shooting to oust the No. 9 LA Sparks from the postseason race by claiming a victory over the No. 6 Golden State Valkyries on Tuesday night.

"Our team has changed from the beginning of the season until now," Seattle head coach Noelle Quinn said earlier this week. "Part of that is finding some consistency with one another: minutes, reps, all of those things."

Should the Storm lose to the already-clinched Valkyries in their final 2025 regular-season game, Seattle will still have a shot at the playoffs: The Sparks must still win both of their remaining two games to secure a playoff berth and bounce Seattle from the postseason — starting with their own Tuesday night matchup against the No. 4 Phoenix Mercury.

"[We're] not talking about things we can't control," Sparks head coach Lynne Roberts said over the weekend. "Whether Indiana wins or loses or Seattle, we can't control that. We just have to focus on what we're doing and see how it all shakes out."

How to watch the Storm and Sparks on Tuesday

Both No. 8 Seattle and No. 9 LA will take the court at 10 PM ET on Tuesday, with the Storm battling No. 6 Golden State on WNBA League Pass while the Sparks face No. 4 Phoenix on NBA TV.

Bay FC is shifting gears as the NWSL's 12th-place team's postseason hopes slip away, with the 2024 expansion side announcing a plan to part ways with inaugural head coach Albertin Montoya at the end of the 2025 season.

"I have so much love for these players, staff, and fans," Montoya said in Monday's club release. "We've built a culture and a style of play that I believe will compete for championships for years to come."

Brought on in 2023, Montoya led Bay FC to 11 victories in 2024, setting a league record for wins by an expansion team in its debut season.

Under Montoya, Bay FC also became just the second expansion club to qualify for the NWSL Playoffs in their inaugural campaign, but the team has fallen down the table this year amid accusations of fostering a toxic work environment.

The team also recently lost a high-profile player in Nigerian star Asisat Oshoala, who signed with Saudi Premier League side Al Hilal last week.

Bay Collective CEO Kay Cossington and club sporting director Matt Potter stated that they will work together to hire a replacement for Montoya prior to the 2026 NWSL season.

"Bay FC's startup phase is ending and we're moving to our next phase of growth," Bay FC chair Alan Waxman added in the team's statement.