When Brittney Griner entered the league in 2013, the former-Baylor star quickly delivered on the high expectations that greeted her by bringing a WNBA championship to Phoenix in her second season. Averaging 15.6 points, 8 rebounds and 3.8 blocks per game that year, Griner led the team with 6.8 win shares and was everything Diana Taurasi needed in a running mate.

Most assumed more league titles were sure to follow. But six chances have now come and gone without another Mercury appearance in the Finals.

Taurasi took a full WNBA season off (2015) and has been in and out with injuries, while Griner has been steadily doing her part in the paint. She’s been a WNBA All-Star every single year they’ve held a game; averaging 20-plus points in four of the last five years, she’s also led the Mercury in win shares in four of her eight seasons in Phoenix.

While her rebounding and defensive numbers have stayed consistent, they’ve dipped in recent years after she won back-to-back WNBA Defensive Player of the Year awards in 2014 and 2015. During those years, she set the record for most blocks in a season (2014) and average blocks per game (2015) — records which still stand today.

Given her skill, athleticism and game-changing height (Griner is listed at 6-foot-9), fans have come to expect Griner to dominate in the paint, night in and night out, season after season. Anytime she doesn’t take over a game, there’s a nagging suspicion that some next-level greatness has been left untapped.

During the WNBA’s 2020 “Wubble” season at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., Griner unexpectedly left the WNBA bubble “for personal reasons” after just 13 of the Mercury’s 22 regular-season games. She eventually spoke about her departure several months later while at a USA Basketball camp in preparation for the Tokyo Olympics.

While maintaining a degree of privacy, she made it clear her decision was based on mental health, stating, “With everything I was dealing with, I needed to take that leave. It took a lot for me to make that decision.”

Months before Naomi Osaka pulled out of the French Open, igniting a maelstrom of public debate, Griner quietly sparked her own conversation by departing to take care of herself.

“I definitely used counseling a lot when I left,” she later said. “It’s helped me out tremendously. I think more people should be open to talking about mental health issues and finding that centerpiece with themselves.”

In addition to counseling, Griner was able to spend time camping, off-roading and working on her Jeep back in Phoenix. Given the year-round grind that’s required of WNBA players who also play overseas, those weeks of personal time were a rare opportunity for Griner. And they seem to have paid off.

After returning to the court at the start of 2021 to play once again with her UMMC Ekaterinburg team in Russia, Griner won a third consecutive EuroLeague title and then the Olympic gold medal with Team USA in Tokyo. In Japan, she started all six games and averaged 22.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and nine blocks, all while shooting the highest field goal percentage of anyone on the team.

But the biggest indicator of a refreshed mindset may be Griner’s performance in the WNBA this season. She is currently second in the league in points per game (20.8) and second in field goal percentage. She is leading the league in blocks and averaging a career best 9.5 rebounds per game. And she’s leading the Mercury in win shares. (Not a small feat given the star power of running mates Diana Taurasi and Skylar Diggins-Smith.)

And although WNBA fans aren’t in it for the slam dunks, the fact that Griner has dunked four times already this season, something she hasn’t done since 2014 and 2015, reveals just how fired up she’s feeling. One more and she’ll break her own record for most dunks in a single season.

IT'S THE YEAR OF THE @brittneygriner SLAMS BABYYY 🔥

WATCHHHHH OUT ‼️

💻 https://t.co/fnncD5G4m5 pic.twitter.com/05BN9v07wo

— WNBA (@WNBA) September 12, 2021

 Back at USA Basketball camp early in the year, Griner elaborated on why it was important for her to be open about taking care of her mental health.

“We really don’t talk about our feelings. Just put it in a box and forget about it, push it to the back,” she said. “That’s something that hurts us as a society honestly and is something that’s going to change with more athletes speaking up about it.”

After the Olympic break, Griner and the Mercury went on a 10-game win streak before losing to the top-ranked Connecticut Sun last Saturday. Given that eight of those wins came against the bottom three teams in the league, their upcoming final two games of the season, against the Seattle Storm and Las Vegas Aces, will be a much better test of the team’s playoff readiness.

As of now, they are one win behind the Storm for a top-four regular season finish and a first-round bye in the playoffs.

If they go on a run this WNBA postseason, it will largely be thanks to Griner’s willingness to look after herself last year in the 2020 bubble. She invested in herself by taking a break, and now the Mercury may be the ultimate benefactors.

Tune in: The Phoenix Mercury take on the Seattle Storm this Friday at 10 p.m. ET on NBATV.

No. 7 USC took down No. 4 UConn on Saturday, winning 72-70 in a battle between two bonafide NCAA basketball championship contenders still figuring out a consistent flow of play.

USC led by as many as 18 in the first half. However UConn came storming back, briefly pulling ahead in the fourth quarter before the Trojans outlasted the Huskies to secure the narrow victory.

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JuJu holds on to secure USC win

With UConn superstar Paige Bueckers tight on her heels, USC standout JuJu Watkins registered a game-leading 25 points, alongside six rebounds, five assists, and three blocks.

Bueckers and Huskies freshman Sarah Strong split scoring duties for UConn, notching 22 points each with Strong adding 11 rebounds.

After opening the season at No. 2, this highly touted UConn squad has dropped pivotal games against Notre Dame and now USC to go 0-2 in Top 10 matchups. It's a pattern legendary coach Auriemma will hope to correct before the Huskies face their next ranked opponent in early February.

"I thought the execution part in the first half was just as bad as I've seen in a few years here in Connecticut," Huskies boss Geno Auriemma said after the loss.

"This is a really significant win, and it's a really significant win because of the stature of UConn's program and what Geno Auriemma has done for our sport," commented USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb.

Weekend upsets shake top-ranked NCAA basketball teams

Elsewhere, upsets dominated the NCAA basketball conversation this weekend, with Top 25 contenders falling short as this season's undefeated list continues to shrink.

No. 15 Michigan State saw their first loss on Friday, falling to unranked Alabama 82-67 in a low scoring matchup. Afterwards, No. 9 Duke suffered their own unranked loss on Saturday, ceding a tough defensive battle to USF 65-56.

Seventeenth-ranked Georgia Tech remains undefeated with Saturday's ranked win over No. 23 Nebraska, while No. 14 West Virginia lost to unranked Colorado later that day.

Parity is the name of the game this season, with conference realignment, the transfer portal, and other recent shifts impacting a number of programs across the NCAA. And with conference play looming, teams will rely on regional rivalries and schedule strength to prepare them for heightened competition in the new year.

Penn State won the 2024 NCAA Volleyball Championship on Sunday, rising above Louisville's hometown advantage and a monster second set by the Cardinals to claim the program's eighth all-time title and first in 10 years.

In the victory, Penn State head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley became the first woman head coach in NCAA tournament history to win the championship — all while battling breast cancer.

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Penn State tops Louisville in a back-and-forth matchup

Sunday's championship game drew a sell-out crowd of 21,860 to the KFC Yum Center in downtown Louisville, setting a new NCAA volleyball championship record. It was Louisville's second-ever title match, after finishing second to Texas in 2022.

After suffering an ankle injury in​ Thursday's semifinal upset against Pitt, however, Louisville entered the match without senior outside hitter Anna DeBeer. The absence ultimately proved too great to overcome.

The Nittany Lions won the first set 25-23, before Louisville saved 10 set points to dramatically take the second set 34-32.

But the Nittany Lions roared back, overwhelming the Cardinals to win the third set 25-20 before closing out the deciding set 25-17.

A moving win for Penn State's women's volleyball coach

Penn State coach Schumacher-Cawley, who was diagnosed with cancer last fall, stayed with her team throughout the 2024 season.

"I'm very happy for Katie, and it's a big deal for this sport," Louisville head coach Dani Busboom Kelly said. "I'm thankful… that we can move on and that more women will be in this position in the future."

As for Schumacher-Cawley, she remained ever humble.

"I'm inspired by the young kids that are sick," she said after the win. "If I can be an inspiration, then I take that. But I feel good. I'm fortunate to be surrounded by so many great people."

The new-look New York Sirens continue to impress in the early stages of the 2024/25 PWHL season, most recently notching a big 4-2 win over Toronto in the the team home opener on Wednesday.

All four of New York's goals came in the second period — the most in a single period all season — and all were the first goals of the season by each scorer.

Finland international Noora Tulus opened the game's scoring with her first PWHL goal, with teammates Emmy Fecteau, Micah Zandee-Hart, and Jaime Bourbonnais following suit. Both Fecteau's goal and team captain Zandee-Hart's were the first of their PWHL careers.

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Sirens rookie Sarah Fillier and teammate Alex Carpenter both assisted on Tulus's game-opening goal, with each booking a point in their fourth straight contest. Fillier remains in the PWHL's lead with two goals and five assists for a total of seven points, while Carpenter is just behind with six points — though her three goals make her the league's scoring leader.

As for the Sceptres, forwards Hannah Miller and former Siren Emma Woods each made a dent in the scoresheet with goals of their own in the third period, but it wasn't quite enough as Toronto failed to complete the comeback.

Last-place Toronto has now allowed their opponents to breach the scoresheet first in each of their 2024/25 matchups, ultimately losing their last three games in regulation.

New York Sirens to face Minnesota Frost in top matchup

New York's shifting fortune highlights the second-season league's rapidly growing parity. With only one loss through their first four games, the Sirens sit in second place to stake an early season claim on "most improved" after finishing last in the PWHL's inaugural season.

Just above New York on the league's table are the Minnesota Frost. The reigning Walter Cup champions are holding strong as the team to beat, but New York has already proved that it's possible after handing Minnesota an overtime 4-3 season-opening loss on December 1st.

The Sirens' will officially take aim at the top of the PWHL table on Sunday, when New York will try to gift Minnesota a second season loss in the league's pre-Christmas closer. This time, the Sirens will have the crowd on their side as the Frost visit New York's home ice.

How to watch New York Sirens vs. Minnesota Frost in PWHL action

The puck is set to drop on New York vs. Minnesota at 12 PM ET on Sunday, with live streaming coverage on YouTube.

Despite being populated by all four No. 1 seeds, Thursday's 2024 NCAA volleyball semifinals served up the bracket's biggest upsets, as heavily favored Nebraska and overall top seed Pitt were sent packing by their conference foes.

In front of 21,726 fans — a new record for college volleyball's postseason — Louisville shocked Pitt with a 3-1 victory before Penn State ousted Nebraska in a five-set instant classic.

Louisville books second national championship ticket

After dropping their first set to Pitt on Thursday night, it seemed the deck was stacked against the Cards, who had already lost twice to the Panthers in the regular season.

However, buoyed by their raucous home crowd, Louisville surged back, sweeping the next three sets to book their first trip to the national championship match since 2022, when they became the first and only ACC team to ever compete in the collegiate final.

As for Pitt, Thursday's loss was just their second all season, and not even 2024 AVCA Player of the Year Olivia Babcock's astounding 33 kills could extend their title chase. Notably, their national semifinal curse continues, with the Panthers now falling in the NCAA tournament's penultimate round for four straight years.

On the other hand, Louisville's victory was a true team effort, with three senior outside hitters — Anna DeBeer, Charitie Luper, and Sofia Maldonado Diaz — leading the offensive charge with 14 kills each.

The Cardinals' roster was also required to step up in unexpected ways. Just two points into the fourth set, Louisville star DeBeer crumbled to the court with an ankle injury and did not return to the match. The visibly shocked Cards looked to freshman Payton Petersen, who made a massive statement by recording two kills and four clutch digs to help seal the win.

"I wanted to do this for her," Petersen said of DeBeer. "She's meant so much to me."

Penn State roars back to top Nebraska

In Thursday's battle between two Big Ten titans, the message was clear: Never count out the Nittany Lions.

After falling behind the Cornhuskers 2-0 in what increasingly looked like an inevitable Nebraska victory, Penn State emerged from the brink of defeat to pull off the first reverse sweep of the Huskers in the NCAA tournament since 1982.

Following a 5-0 run that helped the Nittany Lions stay alive with a third set win, they flipped a 22-16 deficit into a match-point battle that ended the fourth set 28-26 in Penn State's favor. With the match now equalized, Penn State took control in the fifth, holding off Nebraska 15-13 to clinch their first championship trip since winning their seventh title in 2014.

Star Jess Mruzik led the Nittany Lions' charge with a 26-kill, 12-dig double-double, putting together what Nebraska head coach John Cook called "one of the best performances [he's] ever seen by an outside hitter." 

Like Louisville's Petersen, freshmen also stepped up for Penn State, with Izzy Starck recording six key blocks and redshirt freshman Caroline Jurevicius hammering 20 kills against her former team, having transferred from Nebraska in December 2023.

As for the Huskers, their stacked roster showed out, with outside hitter Harper Murray leading the charge with a 20-kill, 15-dig double-double, plus three aces — the most by any player in either match on Thursday. Middle blocker Andi Jackson also had a standout night, putting together a near-errorless performance to finish with 19 kills.

Four-time All-American libero Lexi Rodriguez added program history to Thursday's mix, closing out her NCAA career as the Huskers' all-time digs leader with 1,896.

Sunday's court will make NCAA history

Louisville and Penn State's semifinal victories have guaranteed that Sunday's 44th NCAA volleyball championship match will go down in the history books.

With Dani Busboom Kelly leading the Cardinals and Katie Schumacher-Cawley coaching the Nittany Lions, a woman head coach will lift the national championship trophy for the first time.

Only two women have ever coached their teams into the college volleyball final, with Florida's Mary Wise doing so in 2003 and 2017 before Busboom Kelly followed in 2022.

For context, the last seven Division I basketball trophies came under women head coaches.

The fact that this glass ceiling still exists is partially due to volleyball having less women in head coaching positions than other NCAA sports. Less than half of Division I's 334 teams are led by a woman, while basketball boasts nearly 68% female leadership and softball claims almost 74%.

Busboom Kelly's ACC exceeds that 50% stat, but the Schumacher-Cawley remains one of only six women leading the Big Ten's 18 teams.

Both of Sunday's sideline leaders know what it takes to win the national championship, with Schumacher-Cawley taking the 1999 title while playing for Penn State and Busboom Kelly doing the same with Nebraska in 2006.

Even so, in some ways, this year's title will mean even more, as the coaches pave the way for future generations of volleyball leaders.

"[There’s] just honestly no better feeling than being led by a female because that could be me someday, that could be one of my teammates someday," Mruzik noted. 

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How to watch the 2024 NCAA volleyball championship match

Sunday's final won't just make women's coaching history, it could see Louisville earn the ACC's first-ever NCAA volleyball title. But to do so, the Cardinals, who fell to Penn State 3-0 in early September, will have to deny the Nittany Lions an eighth national championship.

NCAA volleyball will crown its Division I champion in Sunday's 3 PM ET match, with live coverage on ABC.