When South Carolina sophomore Aliyah Boston’s last second put-back took an unfriendly bounce off the back rim, giving Stanford the Final Four win and a ticket to the championship game last April, the immediate outpouring of devastation on Boston’s face was both endearing and heartbreaking.

Aliyah Boston’s putback was inches away from going in. An absolute heartbreaker for South Carolina. 💔

(🎥: @espn) pic.twitter.com/p6haNSyLBq

— theScore (@theScore) April 3, 2021

Even though her first two seasons at South Carolina, as the centerpiece of 2019’s top recruiting class, were significantly thwarted by Covid-19, Boston’s production on the court has been a steadying force. Now entering her junior year, the 6’5” forward is averaging 13.1 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks per game through her college career, having led the nation in rebounds last season, when she was named the best center in the country for the second year in a row. 

Head Coach Dawn Staley, coming off a gold medal summer with USA Basketball, is no doubt looking forward to seeing what Boston can do as a junior. But she also has ten other reasons to feel optimistic about the 2021-22 season. All of Boston’s ten teammates from last season’s Final Four, including starters Destanni Henderson, Zia Cooke, Brea Beal, and Victaria Saxton, are back on campus, now with invaluable Final Four experience under their belts.

As if a sequel with the entire starring cast isn’t enough, Staley has once again demonstrated her keen ability to connect with the elite youngsters of the game and will be adding the top 2021 recruiting class to her squad this season. 

Incoming freshmen Raven Johnson, Saniya Rivers, and Sania Feagin are ranked two, three, and four in the nation for their class, and will be joined by the fourteenth overall prospect Bree Hall. Whether senior point guard Henderson will have a season to take newbie Johnson under her wing, or the freshman works her way past Henderson into the starting role, the Gamecocks are in strong hands with those two options at the helm. Don’t be surprised if Rivers, 2021’s Gatorade National Player of the Year, also earns a starting spot by year’s end.

Dawn Staley said she asked each player to give her a "selfish" goal they had for the season.

She says one of the freshmen told her -- "I just wanna win a national championship. I don't even know about those other awards they're talking about."

— Augusta Stone (@augustalstone) October 27, 2021

The four freshmen aren’t the only newcomers coming to campus in Columbia this fall. While some see the transfer portal as a fickle two-headed monster, the portal gods shined on Staley this off-season when things fell apart at Syracuse and she signed Kamilla Cardoso, a 6’7” transfer who earned ACC Freshman of the year and ACC co-Defensive Player of the Year last season while playing for the Orange.

Clearly, things look exceptionally good on paper for Staley and her team. But a loaded roster in October is miles and mountains away from a National Championship in April. Being ranked No. 1 in the AP’s preseason poll is nice, but it won’t mean anything if the season ends in heartbreak once again. 

Luckily for South Carolina, Staley isn’t the type of coach to put her cart before the horse, as she endeavors to bring a second national title home for the Gamecocks.

South Carolina begins their season with an exhibition game against Benedict, Monday, Nov. 1st. The Gamecocks’ first regular season game is against No. 5 NC State on Tuesday, Nov. 9th.

USWNT stalwart Alex Morgan will miss at least one week of NWSL action after suffering a left ankle knock in her last club appearance, Wave manager Casey Stoney said on Thursday.

Morgan was helped off the field after rolling her ankle in the later stages of the Wave’s 1-0 loss to the Orlando Pride last weekend, despite the San Diego side being out of available substitutes.

“She's got an ankle injury and she's out for this weekend, and then it'll be week by week from there,” Stoney said, confirming that Morgan’s been ruled out for Saturday’s showdown with NWSL newcomer Bay FC.

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Depending on its severity, Morgan’s ankle issue might have larger ramifications than missing a few weeks of NSWL play. Morgan was added to the team's Gold Cup roster after an ACL injury sidelined young striker Mia Fishel, and she's since made a number of USWNT starts in the team's Gold Cup and SheBelieves wins. A long-term injury could potentially derail the center forward’s Olympic plans.

With her return timeline uncertain, it's possible the injury could also impact Morgan's ability to participate in new head coach Emma Hayes' first U.S. friendlies in June and July.

Morgan's injury concerns aren't uncommon in the U.S. player pool, but add a sense of urgency as Hayes eyes the NWSL for top-performing players in the upcoming weeks. Gotham's Tierna Davidson and Rose Lavelle have also been dealing with injuries: Lavelle has yet to appear for Gotham, while Davidson exited last weekend's match early with a hamstring injury.

Gotham has yet to issue an update concerning Davidson's status.

This week, legendary Brazilian superstar Marta announced that she’ll retire from the national team at the end of 2024.

In an interview with CNN Esportes published Thursday, the iconic footballer confirmed that she would be hanging up her boots regardless of whether or not she ends up making Brazil's 18-player roster for the 2024 Paris Olympics. 

“If I go to the Olympics, I will enjoy every moment, because regardless of whether I go to the Olympics or not, this is my last year with the national team,” she said. “There is no longer Marta in the national team as an athlete from 2025 onwards.”

Marta will retire as a giant of the women's game, having appeared in five Olympics and multiple World Cups. When discussing her retirement, she stressed confidence in the rising generation of Brazilian players, noting that she was, “very calm about this, because I see with great optimism this development that we are having in relation to young athletes." 

The statement echoes back to a plea she made during the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup after Brazil lost to France 2-1 in the Round of 16. “It's wanting more. It's training more. It's taking care of yourself more. It's being ready to play 90 plus 30 minutes. This is what I ask of the girls,” she said then, addressing the young players following in her footsteps. 

In 2023, she signaled a farewell to World Cup competition with the same sentiment, telling media, “We ask the new generation to continue where we left off.”

If selected for the 2024 Olympic team, Marta has a shot at extending her own consecutive-scoring record with the ability to score in an unbelievable sixth-straight Olympic Games. She currently stands as Brazil’s top goalscorer, racking up 116 career goals in 175 matches, as well as the leading goalscorer in any World Cup, women’s or men’s, with 17 to her name. 

Marta will continue to play for the NWSL’s Orlando Pride through at least the end of 2024. The longtime forward and club captain has already contributed to multiple goals this season.

U.S. Soccer announced Tuesday that the USWNT will play their last home game on July 16th in the lead-up to the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.

The 2024 Send-Off Match against Costa Rica will take place at Washington, DC’s Audi Field — home to both the Washington Spirit and DC United — at 7:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 16th. The friendly rounds out a four-game Olympic run-up campaign under incoming head coach Emma Hayes’ side, with the last two set to feature the finalized 2024 U.S. Olympic Women’s Soccer Team roster.

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Hayes will appear on the USWNT sideline for the first time this June, helming the team as they embark on a two-game series against Korea Republic hosted by Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado on June 1st followed by Allianz Stadium in St. Paul, Minnesota on June 4th. 

The team is then scheduled to meet a talented Mexico squad on July 13th at Gotham FC’s Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, where the Olympic-bound lineup will attempt to rewrite February’s shocking 2-0 loss to El Tri Femenil in the group stages of this year’s Concacaf W Gold Cup. And while clear roster favorites have emerged from both of this year’s Gold Cup and SheBelives Cup rosters, a spate of recent and recurring injuries means making it to the Olympics is still largely anyone’s game.

Broadcast and streaming channels for the USWNT's final July 16th friendly at Audi Field include TNT, truTV, Universo, Max, and Peacock.

The USA Basketball Women's National Team is still considering Caitlin Clark for a spot on the Paris Olympics squad, says selection committee chair Jennifer Rizzotti. 

On Monday, Rizzotti told the AP that the committee will be evaluating the college phenom’s Olympic prospects by keeping a close eye on her first few weeks of WNBA play with Indiana.

The move is somewhat unconventional. While Clark was invited to participate in the 14-player national team training camp held earlier this month — the last camp before Team USA’s roster drops — she was unable to attend due to it coinciding with Iowa’s trip to the NCAA Women’s Final Four.

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Judging by the immense talent spread throughout the league in what might be their most hyped season to date, competition for a piece of the Olympic pie could be fiercer than ever before.

"You always want to introduce new players into the pool whether it's for now or the future," said Rizzotti. "We stick to our principles of talent, obviously, positional fit, loyalty and experience. It's got to be a combination of an entire body of work. It's still not going to be fair to some people."

Of course, Clark isn’t the first rookie the committee has made exceptions for. Coming off an exceptional college season that saw her averaging 19.4 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 4 assists per game for UConn, Breanna Stewart was tapped to represent the U.S. at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil less than two weeks after being drafted No. 1 overall by the Seattle Storm. Eight years prior, fellow No. 1 pick Candace Parker punched her ticket to the 2008 Games in Beijing just two weeks after making her first appearance for the L.A. Sparks.

In the lead-up to Paris’ Opening Ceremony on July 26th, USA Basketball Women’s National Team is scheduled to play a pair of exhibition games. They'll first go up against the WNBA's finest at the July 20th WNBA All-Star Game in Phoenix before facing Germany in London on July 23rd.

While an official roster announcement date hasn’t yet been issued, players won’t find out if they’ve made this year’s Olympic cut until at least June 1st.