The WNBA regular season begins tonight, with eight of the league’s teams squaring off across four matchups.

Indiana Fever vs. Washington Mystics

7 p.m. ET, Facebook

Friday’s season opener marks the return of a healthy Elena Delle Donne to the court. Delle Donne has played just 52 minutes of WNBA basketball since winning a championship with the Mystics in 2019.

She had a great showing in the team’s preseason game against the Lynx, scoring 21 points on 9-for-13 field goal shooting.

Elizabeth Williams has yet to rejoin the team from overseas, leaving room for rookies like Shakira Austin to get some playing time and potentially carve out a significant role later on in the season.

“She’s one of the rare young players who can make an immediate impact on the defensive end of the court,” Mystics coach Mike Thibault said of Austin.

The Fever, meanwhile, will take the court with five rookies, the most of any WNBA team – and four of them could crack the starting lineup. NaLyssa Smith, the No. 2 overall pick, should be one of them.

Los Angeles Sparks vs. Chicago Sky

8 p.m. ET, NBA TV

Liz Cambage will make her LA debut against Candace Parker and the Chicago Sky, who will begin their title defense in the season opener.

Despite losing key player Diamond DeShields, the Sky have kept most of their core together. The team added the 2019 WNBA Finals MVP in Emma Meesseman.

On Friday, though, the team will be without Allie Quigley, who was ruled out for the first game with a knee injury. The decision is precautionary, with Sky head coach James Wade saying the team wants “to make sure we’re very careful with her” and that she’s at 100 percent before returning.

The Sky expect to have her back by their third game, a road matchup against the Minnesota Lynx on May 14.

In addition to Cambage, the Sparks added Jordin Canada and Katie Lou Samuelson from Seattle as well as Chennedy Carter from Atlanta. With better depth and scoring, Cambage expects the Sparks to compete this season, saying that it’ll be a wild summer in the WNBA and that “we’re gonna have a ring at the end of it.” The quest to back up that verbiage begins Friday.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Los Angeles Sparks (@la_sparks)

Las Vegas Aces vs. Phoenix Mercury

10 p.m. ET, NBA TV

The time has arrived for Becky Hammon’s first regular-season game as a WNBA head coach and it could not come in a bigger matchup – a rematch of last year’s conference finals, which the Mercury won 3-2.

Phoenix is expected to contend for the WNBA title after finishing as the runner-up last season. The Mercury have added Diamond DeShields – who was a part of the title-winning opposition – as well as 2021 WNBA scoring leader Tina Charles. Look for the Mercury to come out firing.

The team will be without Brittney Griner, who remains detained in Russia.

The Aces also have some unfinished business this season after finishing first in the West but losing in the conference finals to the Mercury. Despite losing Cambage to the Sparks, A’ja Wilson returns, as well as Dearica Hamby and Riquna Williams. All three will look to factor into Friday night’s game.

“There’s definitely unfinished business,” Williams said. “We’re going to get it done. Some way we’re going to figure it out.”

Minnesota Lynx vs. Seattle Storm

10 p.m. ET, Twitter

The Minnesota Lynx and Seattle Storm will face off in a clash of titans between Sylvia Fowles and Sue Bird. Both are likely in their final seasons in the WNBA.

Alongside Kayla McBride, Fowles will attempt to fill the hole left by Napheesa Collier, who is expecting her first child later this month. Fowles, the WNBA’s career leader in rebounds and a four-time Defensive Player of the Year, will factor in both offensively and defensively.

The Storm are led by Bird, Breanna Stewart and Jewell Loyd. Stewart is coming back from foot surgery but has had a strong preseason and looks to be fully healthy in Noelle Quinn’s first full season as head coach.

Neither team has any rookies gracing their rosters and bring significant veteran presence to the court.

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.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

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.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

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.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

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."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

"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.