Defending Finals MVP Breanna Stewart will be out with an injury for the Seattle Storm’s single-elimination playoff game against the Phoenix Mercury on Sunday, but there’s no reason for 2020 champions to panic when they have a weapon like Jewell Loyd.

The All-Star point guard recently had a career-high 37 points against none other than Phoenix in Seattle’s last regular-season game on Sept. 17. The 94-85 win earned the Storm a bye to the second round of WNBA playoffs.

“She really understands who she is as a basketball player and within a game is trying to get to certain spots, trying to create certain space for herself,” said Storm guard Sue Bird. “I think that’s what was on display against Phoenix: just Jewell in her element, Jewell doing what she does best, and for me, when you see a player like Jewell doing that, you’re just trying to get her the ball.”

Loyd was drafted first overall by Seattle in 2015, coming to the league early after three years with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

The 2021 season has been her best one yet, with the 27-year-old averaging 17.9 points, four rebounds and 3.8 assists. In the top WNBA scoring performances of the regular season, Loyd ranked first and third with her 37 points against the Mercury and 35 over the New York Liberty in August. Last week, she was named to Just Women’s Sports All-WNBA first team.

“The evolution of her is like watching her blossom into this beautiful butterfly,” said Seattle coach Noelle Quinn.

Quinn, who played as Loyd’s teammate on the Storm before retiring in 2018, expressed excitement for what’s to come for the young veteran.

“If you understand the evolution of Jewell, we know she can get a bucket,” said Quinn. “Now it’s just the growth in her leadership, the growth of defending on the other side of the floor and putting it all together in a package, and so in games like this, you want to rely on her ability to hit shots – we have to rely on that ability – but also we have to rely on her ability to get stops on the other end of the floor.”

Growth was a common word for both Quinn and Bird when talking about Loyd. The Lincolnwood, Ill. native is always looking for ways to keep building, even as she ascends to the top ranks of the WNBA.

Bird described the Storm’s recent game against the Mercury as a perfect example. After Loyd put up 22 points in the first quarter, there was a lull from both her and Seattle, which allowed Phoenix to cut into the Storm’s once-comfortable lead. In the final minutes of the fourth quarter, Loyd rekindled her spark and showed up with another seven points, including a layup over Mercury star Brittney Griner that solidified Seattle’s win.

“She still was able to bounce right back and make a huge play,” said Bird. “That’s what you want to see in one of your go-to players.”

A gold medalist at the Tokyo Olympics, Loyd’s been a game-changing player for the Storm and national squad all summer, but by competing on teams of so much depth, sometimes the standout moments get overshadowed.

“All of the things that she does within her, within our community, within our team, I think I will continue to vouch for her because I think a lot of times people undervalue her or not show her enough love, and I will always shout from the mountaintop how great she’s been and how she’s continued to grow,” said Quinn.

The Storm play the Mercury at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, with the winner moving on to the semi-finals against the Connecticut Sun or Las Vegas Aces.

Having lost three games to the Chicago Sky since mid-August, there is some relief for Seattle in the fact they are playing the Mercury, who they went 2-1 against through regular season. If No. 8 New York Liberty had defeated No. 5 Phoenix in the first round of playoffs, the Storm, set to play the higher seed, would have been facing the No. 6 Sky again on Sunday.

Longtime USWNT fixture Carli Lloyd took to Instagram Wednesday morning to announce that she’s pregnant with her first child. 

"Baby Hollins coming in October 2024!" she wrote. The caption framed a collaged image of baby clothes, an ultrasound photo, and syringes indicating what she described as a "rollercoaster" fertility journey.

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In a Women’s Health story published in tandem with Lloyd’s post, the Fox Sports analyst and correspondent opened up about her struggles with infertility and the lengthy IVF treatments she kept hidden from the public eye.

"Soccer taught me how to work hard, persevere, be resilient, and never give up. I would do whatever it took to prepare, and usually when I prepared, I got results," Lloyd told Women’s Health’s Amanda Lucci. "But I found out that I didn’t know much about this world. I was very naive to think that we wouldn’t have any issues getting pregnant. And so it began."

Lloyd went on to discuss her road to pregnancy in great detail, sharing the highs and lows of the process and expressing gratitude for the care and support her family and medical team provided along the way. She rounded out the piece with a nod toward others navigating the same challenges, encouraging people to share their own pregnancy journeys, painful as they may be.

"My story is currently a happy one, but I know there are other women who are facing challenges in their pregnancy journey. I see you and I understand your pain," she said. "My hope is that more and more women will speak up about this topic, because their stories helped me. I also wish for more resources, funding, and education around fertility treatments. There is much to be done, and I hope I can play a role in helping."

The 41-year-old New Jersey native retired from professional soccer in 2021, closing out her decorated career with 316 international appearances, the second-most in USWNT history, in addition to 134 international goals. A legend on the field, Lloyd walked away from the game with two World Cups, two Olympic gold medals, and two FIFA Player of the Year awards.

On Tuesday, FIFPRO announced the launch of Project ACL, a three-year research initiative designed to address a steep uptick in ACL injuries across women's professional football.

Project ACL is a joint venture between FIFPRO, England’s Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), Nike, and Leeds Beckett University. While the central case study will focus on England’s top-flight Women's Super League, the findings will be distributed around the world.

ACL tears are between two- and six-times more likely to occur in women footballers than men, according to The Guardian. And with both domestic and international programming on the rise for the women’s game, we’ve seen some of the sport's biggest names moved to the season-ending injury list with ACL-related knocks.

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Soccer superstars like Vivianne Miedema, Beth Mead, Catarina Macario, Marta, and England captain Leah Williamson have all struggled with their ACLs in recent years, though all have since returned to the field. In January, Chelsea and Australia forward Sam Kerr was herself sidelined with the injury, kicking off a year of similar cases across women’s professional leagues. And just yesterday, the Spirit announced defender Anna Heilferty would miss the rest of the NWSL season with a torn ACL. The news comes less than two weeks after Bay FC captain Alex Loera went down with the same injury. 

Project ACL will closely study players in the WSL, monitoring travel, training, and recovery practices to look for trends that could be used to prevent the injury in the future. Availability of sports science and medical resources within individual clubs will be taken into account throughout the process.

ACL injuries in women's football have long outpaced the same injury in the men's game, but resources for specialized prevention and treatment still lag behind. Investment in achieving a deeper, more specialized understanding of the problem should hopefully alleviate the issue both on and off the field.

With recent transfers Talia von Oelhoffen and Kiki Iriafen joining first-team All-American JuJu Watkins and the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class at USC next season, the Trojans look to transition from an up-and-coming squad to a legitimate title contender. 

Former Oregon State graduate student von Oelhoffen is the latest collegiate talent to commit to the program, announcing her transfer Monday via ESPN. She follows ex-Stanford leading-scorer Iriafen in the jump to the pair’s one-time Pac-12 rival.

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The 5-foot-11 Washington native was a two-time All-Pac-12 guard during her time at Oregon State. But after the recent dissolution of the Pac-12, the Corvallis side found themselves without a permanent home conference going forward. Many big name players opted to take their skill elsewhere as a result, with von Oelhoffen’s fellow ex-Beaver Raegan Beers announcing her own departure to Oklahoma on Monday.

According to DraftKings, USC is now tied with UConn for the second-best betting odds to win the 2025 NCAA women’s tournament. Dawn Staley’s tested South Carolina side, poised for a repeat performance, holds down the number one spot.

Last year, LSU loaded up in the transfer portal after beating Iowa to win the 2023 national championship. The Tigers were clear favorites coming into the 2023-24 season, but were bounced in the Elite Eight by Caitlin Clark’s Hawkeyes. Shortly thereafter, star transfer Hailey Van Lith opted to transfer a second time, this time signing with TCU. 

Yet while history proves that an excess of star power doesn’t always translate to on-court chemistry, on paper, USC sure looks ready to hold their own — in 2025 and beyond.

The United States and Mexico have withdrawn their joint bid to host the 2027 Women’s World Cup, per a Monday afternoon release from U.S. Soccer and the Mexican Football Federation.

According to the statement, they will instead focus on developing a "more equitable" bid for the 2031 tournament, with the ultimate goal of "eliminating investment disparities" between the men’s and women’s tournaments.

The federations went on to cite the upcoming 2026 Men’s World Cup in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico as an opportunity to build support for local infrastructure, improve audience engagement, and scale up media and partnership deals in preparation to "host a record-breaking tournament in 2031."

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"Hosting a World Cup tournament is a huge undertaking — and having additional time to prepare allows us to maximize its impact across the globe," said U.S. Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone. "Shifting our bid will enable us to host a record-breaking Women’s World Cup in 2031 that will help to grow and raise the level of the women’s game both here at home as well as across the globe."

The decision leaves just Brazil and a joint bid from Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands in the running for the 2027 host spot. Brazil — the rumored frontrunner — has never hosted a Women’s World Cup, while Germany hosted the 2011 tournament as a solo venture. 

Furthermore, this postponement doesn’t mean the U.S. is a shoo-in for 2031, as it's been previously reported that 2022 UEFA Women's EURO host England is considering their own Women's World Cup bid. FIFA is scheduled to confirm the winning bid after the FIFA Congress votes on May 17th.