Several women’s basketball greats earned nominations to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday, with Maya Moore, Sue Bird, and Sylvia Fowles among the Class of 2025’s 17 finalists for first-ballot induction.

After leading UConn to back-to-back undefeated NCAA seasons en route to the 2009 and 2010 national titles, Moore won four WNBA championships across seven seasons with the Minnesota Lynx. The 2014 WNBA MVP and six-time league All-Star also earned a pair of Olympic gold medals in 2012 and 2016 before exiting the game to pursue criminal justice reform in 2018.

Fellow Husky alum Bird also won two NCAA titles at UConn before picking up five Olympic gold medals with Team USA and four WNBA championships in her 21-season career with the Seattle Storm. Despite retiring in 2022, Bird remains the WNBA's career assists leader with 3,234 dimes, and her 13 All-Star nods still sets the league record.

Before joining Moore in leading the Lynx to WNBA championships in 2015 and 2017 — and earning Finals MVP awards during both runs — Fowles helped her alma mater LSU to four straight Final Four appearances. Her 14-year pro career included four Olympic golds, eight All-Star nods, four Defensive Player of the Year awards, plus the 2017 WNBA MVP trophy. When Fowles exited the sport in 2022, she did so as the WNBA's career rebounds leader, with a total of 4,006 boards.

Also on the 2025 Naismith ballot is Stanford standout and 1996 Olympic gold medalist Jennifer Azzi, who spent five years in the WNBA before retiring from play in 2004. Azzi now serves as the chief business development officer for the Las Vegas Aces.

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Naismith committee to decide Hall of Fame class

A 24-member Honors Committee will assess all 17 finalists. Those who garner at least 18 committee votes will earn admittance into the Hall of Fame.

The Class of 2025 will be announced in during the NCAA men’s Final Four in San Antonio, Texas, on Saturday, April 5th, with an official enshrinement ceremony to follow at a later date.

The PWHL Player Safety Committee issued fines to two star players on Tuesday, after reviewing penalties that occurred during Saturday’s matchup between the Montréal Victoire and the New York Sirens.

Victoire forward Marie-Philip Poulin was charged a $500 fine for roughing in the second period. The Committee found that she "exhibited no attempt at playing the puck as she hit her opponent in retaliatory fashion."

Forward Dara Greig also caught a fine for a second-period penalty. There, the PWHL issued a $250 penalty charge for boarding after determining that Greig's check came "from behind and caused her opponent to impact the boards dangerously."

The league-leading Victoire went on to beat the Sirens 6-2.

Poulin pays back-to-back PWHL fines

This week’s ruling marked Greig’s first-ever PWHL fine. However, Victoire captain Poulin has now tallied two, with her first coming less than two weeks ago. That was when she incurred a $250 fine after a major penalty for charging during Montréal's 2-1 win over the Sirens on February 2nd.

In that incident, Poulin avoided an immediate "game misconduct" determination by on-ice referees. As outlined by PWHL rules, it was ruled that the charge did not cause injury to the head or face of her opponent.

Unlike Poulin's first fine, both her second and Greig's initial offense came from incidents that constituted minor penalties during competition.

PWHL monitors player safety in growing pro women's league

Operating under a new set of rules governing both gameplay and disciplinary action, the second-year women’s pro ice hockey league is still navigating how to handle penalties and when to impose fines.

Charting the league's disciplinary course is especially complex in a sport where body checking and other forms of physicality are hallmarks of the game.

When those tactics are deployed strategically, they can intensify the PWHL's already tough competition. However, that's only as long as the league's safety guardrails are clear enough to ensure player protection.

Last week, the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics recommended that all three Divisions should sponsor legislation adding flag football to the collegiate governing body's Emerging Sports for Women program.

The program aims to address gender equity by offering up-and-coming women's sports a sanctioned interim growth period at the varsity level.

Once added to the program, a sport has 10 years in which to establish a minimum of 40 school-sponsored varsity teams. Participating schools must also meet certain competition and regulatory requirements for the sport to ultimately earn official NCAA championship status.

Growth spurs NCAA efforts to elevate flag football

With the announcement that flag football will make its Olympic debut at the 2028 LA Games, the sport has seen increased popularity across the US. That interest has sparked inquiries into upping the sport’s competitive status at the NCAA level — particularly from women athletes.

At least 65 NCAA schools currently offer women's flag football at either the club or varsity level, with more slated to join in 2026, per the NCAA.

Division III's Atlantic East Conference will officially become the first NCAA league to sponsor the sport this year, with seven teams set to kick off their inaugural varsity season next month.

Division II's Conference Carolinas will join the varsity flag football party during the 2025/26 academic year, with at least six programs competing in that inaugural season.

Outside the NCAA, the NAIA — a governing body that oversees collegiate athletics at more than 200 mostly private schools — has been officially sponsoring women's flag football since 2020.

The NFL is also involved in growing the women's game, partnering with Atlantic East's efforts and recently advocating for flag football to become a girl’s high school varsity sport in all 50 states in a 2025 Super Bowl commercial.

Currently, just 14 states sponsor girl's high school flag football at the varsity level, though 18 more have pilot programs to test future state-wide sanctioning.

Emerging Sports program boosts NCAA gender equity

If the NCAA committee's recommended legislation successfully advances, flag football will join the likes of rugby, stunt, triathlon, acrobatics and tumbling, and equestrian in the Emerging Sports for Women program.

Since its 1994 establishment, the program has seen five women's sports — ice hockey, beach volleyball, rowing, water polo, and bowling — elevate to full NCAA championship status.

With its first championship season slated for 2025/26, women's wrestling will soon graduate from the program to become the NCAA's 91st title-winning sport.

All in all, enthusiasm for both youth and adult flag football is on the rise across the US, with this latest news indicating that the sport will likely join the college fold sooner rather than later.

With the 2025 WNBA season looming, teams have been adding preseason competitions to their upcoming training schedules, offering fans and players alike an early taste of both new squads and revamped rosters.

For those excited about the Golden State Valkyries, preseason will offer a first glimpse of the expansion team in action, with the franchise set to face the LA Sparks and Phoenix Mercury prior to their official WNBA debut.

WNBA returns to school for international exhibitions

Like the Valkyries, most teams will supplement their preseason camps with exhibition games against fellow WNBA squads. Two, however, have booked road tilts against the Brazil national team into their 2025 season prep.

Both Indiana and Chicago are strategically tapping into markets connected to their biggest stars, with the Fever traveling to Caitlin Clark’s alma mater, Iowa, for their May 4th bout with Brazil.

Two days earlier, the international visitors will contend with the Sky at LSU — the collegiate stomping grounds of Chicago star Angel Reese.

Adding even more flavor to the Sky's matchup is Kamila Cardoso. The Chicago center is also a rising star for Brazil, meaning the May 2nd tilt will pit her against her national squad teammates.

This wave of exhibitions at NCAA sites comes on the heels of last year's preseason success, which saw Las Vegas defeat Puerto Rico at Aces superstar A'ja Wilson's college home of South Carolina.

While Unrivaled and NCAA tournaments will keep women’s basketball in the spotlight, the WNBA’s 29th season is fast approaching — and teams appear eager to flex their refreshed rosters well ahead of the league's May 16th opening day.

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Sun deny Mabrey's trade request

One WNBA player who is likely not overly excited to report for training camp on April 27th is guard Marina Mabrey, who asked for a trade from the Connecticut Sun on February 5th. On Tuesday, team president Jennifer Rizzotti told Sportico that the Sun have denied Mabrey’s request.

Mabrey started the 2024 season with Chicago — a team she joined in February 2023 as a restricted free agent from Dallas — before landing in Connecticut last July after filing a midseason trade request.

"We knew at the time that she had already forced her way out of two teams, so it was a bit risky for us to trade for her," said Rizzotti, reflecting on her decision to roster Mabrey despite her trade-request track record. "But we felt like it was worth it."

In this instance, however, Mabrey asked to exit a Sun team that is wildly different from the 2024 WNBA semifinalist squad she joined last July. Head coach Stephanie White left to join the Fever after the 2024 season wrapped, and this offseason has seen Connecticut offload their entire starting playoff roster — including Alyssa Thomas, DiJonai Carrington, DeWanna Bonner, and Brionna Jones — via trades and free agency losses.

"The coach parted ways. No free agents returned and they are doing all they can to try and force Marina to stay when she clearly doesn't want to be there. It's interesting," Mabrey’s agent told ESPN.

As for the Sun, they're hoping to see Mabrey succeed alongside newly added Connecticut players like Tina Charles, Natasha Cloud, and Diamond DeShields.

"The reasons that we have for not trading Marina are rooted in positivity," Rizzotti explained. "It's rooted in a desire to build around her, have her here, have her be the catalyst for what we want to do offensively."

The NWSL dropped its updated 2025 Competition Manual on Tuesday, with the most significant changes impacting the upcoming season’s finances.

Each 22- to 26-player team’s salary cap has increased 20% from $2.75 million in 2024 to $3.3 million for the 2025 season. This does not include the league’s new revenue sharing system, which offers additional benefits to ultimately bring each club's total maximum roster spend to $3.5 million.

Salary cap exceptions will aid NWSL club accounts

With the newly negotiated CBA eliminating the waiver wire and trade windows as well as allowing all out-of-contract players to negotiate as free agents, teams can further supplement their salary cap with any remaining allocation money.

Additionally, to address absences due to injuries, mental health, parental leave, or national team call-ups, clubs can sign athletes to short-term roster relief or salary cap exempt contracts. So long as those deals extend no further than the end of the calendar year, teams will not have to account for those roster additions in their salary cap.

Bonuses will count toward a club's cap, though some will be delayed to a subsequent season.

Individual player performance bonuses will count toward the following season’s cap, regardless of whether or not the team retains that player. On the other hand, one-time boosts like signing bonuses are applicable to a club's current season salary cap.

Official tournament prize money as well as postseason and award bonuses funded directly by the NWSL will not count toward a team's salary cap.

Per the aforementioned new CBA, league-wide caps will continue to grow year-over-year to at least $5.1 million by 2030, with minimum base salaries rising from $48,500 in 2025 to $82,500 over that same timeframe.

In a global economy where record transfer fees and other benefits are luring top contenders away from the NWSL, salary caps will continue to constrain certain elements of the way US clubs do business — but the positive long-term changes ushered in by the NWSL CBA are sure to make their mark far beyond this offseason.