Legendary UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma is officially sticking around.

The school announced on Tuesday that it had signed the longtime coach to a five-year contract extension worth $18.7 million. His base salary will be $400,000 per year, with additional compensation for speaking, consulting, and media obligations as well as performance-based incentives, per a UConn press release issued Tuesday.

That additional compensation will start at $2.94 million for the 2024-25 season and increase by $200,000 each year after that.

Auriemma will enter his 40th season at UConn this fall, having led the program to 11 NCAA championships and 15 Final Fours over the last 16 years.

His extension also means that he will likely become the all-time winningest coach in Division I basketball history after Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer announced her retirement in April. She retired with 1,216 total wins, while Auriemma sits just three wins behind her with 1,213 career wins.

"I still find it hard to believe that I've been at UConn for over half my life," Auriemma said. "I feel like there's so much more that can be done, and will be done, and I'm excited to be the one to do it with my staff and my team. I'm probably as excited about these next few years as I've ever been over the last 40."

The Huskies will enter the upcoming season as known contenders, with Paige Bueckers set to return alongside Azzi Fudd and KK Arnold, amongst others. They'll also have Sarah Strong, the No. 1 overall recruit for the class of 2024, alongside the No. 2 recruiting class for that year.

"Geno has been such a mainstay at UConn that it's impossible to overstate his lasting positive influence on our student-athletes, the women's basketball program, and Connecticut as a whole," UConn president Radenka Maric said. "His leadership and nearly 40 years of commitment to our university have brought immeasurable value and name recognition to both UConn and the entire state.

"We know he has even more to demonstrate and teach all of us in the years ahead — not only about leading a world-class basketball program, but also about living a life of conviction, compassion, and service. The university is fortunate to have him continuing in this role, and we look forward to the successes ahead under his strong leadership."

The Commissioner's Cup returns to the WNBA for a fourth season this month, and it arrives with a slightly new look.

The 2023 champion New York Liberty got their repeat quest off to a comfortable start on Sunday with a 104-68 win over Indiana. Joining them are Connecticut, Phoenix and Minnesota who have all gotten off to winning starts, while Indiana is 1-1 in Cup play.

This year’s Cup schedule is slightly condensed, with games taking place from June 1st to the 13th. The final will then be played on June 25th, with the team with the best overall record in Cup play acting as hosts.

While some things about the tournament remain the same — like all games also counting toward the regular season win-loss record — there have been some changes. Previously, teams played 10 qualifying games, but the new format now has teams playing just five throughout the Cup. And during qualifying games, each team plays against in-conference opponents once.

The WNBA also unveiled a new ball specifically designed for the tournament, described in a statement as "a step forward in making our in-season tournament a distinct and recognizable WNBA tentpole."

Similar to past tournaments, Cup teams will play for a $500,000 prize pool, which amounts to around $45,000 per player. The championship game MVP will also receive a bonus.

Each team will also sponsor a nonprofit organization invested in social justice work, with money set to be donated at the conclusion of the Cup. This new charity component is intended to "highlight civic engagement efforts, with an emphasis on the impact of voting on reproductive health matters within communities of color and the LGBTQ+ community."

While the Liberty are looking to capture back-to-back Cups, achieving a repeat is no easy feat. Last year, the 2022 Commissioner's Cup-winning Aces lost in the championship while Seattle, who won the inaugural Cup in 2021, haven’t been back to the championship since.

Commissioner's Cup schedule

Saturday, June 1st

Indiana Fever 71, Chicago Sky 70

Sunday, June 2nd

Connecticut Sun 69, Atlanta Dream 50
Phoenix Mercury 87, Los Angeles Sparks 68
New York Liberty 104, Indiana Fever 68
Minnesota Lynx 87, Dallas Wings 76

Tuesday, June 4th

Washington Mystics at Connecticut Sun — 7 PM ET on League Pass
New York Liberty at Chicago Sky —7 PM ET on NBA TV
Phoenix Mercury at Seattle Storm — 10 PM ET on CBS Sports Network

Wednesday, June 5th

Las Vegas Aces at Dallas Wings — 8 PM ET on NBA TV
Minnesota Lynx at Los Angeles Sparks — 10 PM ET on League Pass

Thursday, June 6th

Chicago Sky at Washington Mystics — 7 PM ET on Amazon Prime
New York Liberty at Atlanta Dream — 7:30 PM ET on League Pass

Friday, June 7th

Indiana Fever at Washington Mystics — 7:30 PM ET on ION
Seattle Storm at Las Vegas Aces — 10 PM ET on ION
Dallas Wings at Los Angeles Sparks — 10 PM ET on ION
Minnesota Lynx at Phoenix Mercury — 10 PM ET on- ION

Saturday, June 8th

New York Liberty at Connecticut Sun — 1 PM ET on ABC
Atlanta Dream at Chicago Sky — 5 PM ET on NBA TV

Sunday, June 9th

Washington Mystics at New York Liberty — 3 PM ET on League Pass
Phoenix Mercury at Dallas Wings — 4 PM ET on League Pass
Seattle Storm at Minnesota Lynx — 7 PM ET on League Pass
Las Vegas Aces at Los Angeles Sparks — 9 PM ET on League Pass

Monday, June 10th

Indiana Fever at Connecticut Sun — 7 PM ET on NBA TV

Tuesday, June 11th

Washington Mystics at Atlanta Dream — 7:30 PM ET on League Pass
Minnesota Lynx at Las Vegas Aces — 10 PM ET on NBA TV
Los Angeles Sparks at Seattle Storm — 10 PM ET on League Pass

Wednesday, June 12th

Connecticut Sun at Chicago Sky — 7 PM ET on League Pass

Thursday, June 13th

Atlanta Dream at Indiana Fever — 7 PM ET on ESPN 3
Seattle Storm at Dallas Wings — 7 PM ET on ESPN
Las Vegas Aces at Phoenix Mercury — 10 PM ET on Amazon Prime

The French Open semifinals will feature a familiar battle, with Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek set to square off on Thursday.

Gauff mounted a comeback win against Ons Jabeur in this morning's quarterfinal match, winning 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, while Swiatek easily took care of Marketa Vondrousova 6-0, 6-2.

"She was playing really well the whole match. She was hitting a lot of winners on me, which is something I'm not used to against anybody," Gauff said after the match. "So today I was just trying to just be aggressive toward the end.

"[Ons Jabeur] is a tough opponent and she's well loved on tour," she added. "I could tell by the crowd today — I know you guys wanted her to win. Honestly, whenever she's not playing [me], I cheer for her, too.”

It's Gauff's third semi in three consecutive majors, with Gauff and Swiatek the only two active players under 26 with more than two Grand Slam semifinals under their belts.

Gauff and Swiatek have met at the French Open before, having most recently faced each other in the tournament's 2022 final. But Swiatek has took 10 out of 11 matches against Gauff — including a 6-4, 6-3 win in the semifinals of the Italian Open last month.

"Coco is not easy. She really likes playing on clay, especially here," Swiatek told ESPN after today's quarterfinals. "I'll just focus on myself and I'll prepare tactically and we'll see."

For her part, Swiatek is looking for her fourth French Open title and fifth Grand Slam overall.

Some have started calling the 23-year-old the "Queen of Clay" — a moniker she hasn't been quick to embrace.

"I think it is too early for me… Comparing me to [Rafael Nadal], I don't think I am at that level yet. I still have many things to prove," Swiatek said late last month.

LPGA tour standouts Nelly Korda and Lexi Thompson missed the cut at the US Women’s Open this past weekend as World No. 6 golfer Yuka Saso picked up her second title at the major.

After posting a first-round 80 — which included a 10 on a par-3 — Korda followed it up with a 70 on the second day. The back-to-back disappointments ended the chances for the World No. 1, who had been an overwhelming favorite going into the tournament.

"I knew it was going to be a tough day," Korda told reporters afterwards. "Try to give it my all, you know that’s what I try to do with every round. I had nothing to lose, and that was my mentality — just kind of go for it."

Joining Korda in missing the cut was longtime US front-runner Lexi Thompson. Thompson was competing in her 18th consecutive US Women’s Open, announcing beforehand that this would be her final season competing professionally.

"Minus the golf, it was amazing," Thompson said of her recent US Women's Open performance. "It wasn’t the golf that I wanted to play, obviously… to see all the fans out there, just to hear their chants, made me smile, every single shot even though I kept on bogeying."

"It’s meant the world to me," she added. "I’m so blessed and grateful for the family that I have… Going into the week I knew it was going to be a big week. To have my family and friends and the amount of fans that were out there this week, that’s what we want."

Fellow American Rose Zhang, ranked No. 6 in the world, was another big name on the cut list.

For Saso, however, the week was a banner one. At just 22 years old, the Philippine-born Japan national is a two-time major champion, winning both titles at the US Women’s Open. She’s the youngest two-time champion in the event's history.

"I definitely had a little doubt if I can win again," she told reporters following the victory. "It just makes it special because after a long wait — I wasn't expecting to win the US Women's Open. Every time, last time, too, I wasn't expecting it, and this time, too, I wasn't expecting it."

Simone Biles took home a ninth All-Around title at the US Championships this weekend, extending her own record and setting the scene for a possibly dominant Olympics run.

Biles also won all four individual apparatus events she competed in: Floor, Beam, Vault, and Uneven Bars. Following the meet, Biles said she "couldn’t be more proud."

"I couldn’t be more proud of how I’m doing this time in the year and just gaining that confidence over and over, getting myself back in front of a crowd and just doing what I do in practice," Biles told the NBC broadcast on Sunday.

A 37-time world and Olympic medalist, Biles automatically qualified for the Olympic trials with her win. A third-straight Summer Games is now firmly within sight for Biles, who suffered from a mental block at the Tokyo Olympics that pulled her from the All-Around competition.

Biles took two years off from gymnastics after the Tokyo Games, emphasizing her ability to have fun as an essential component of her success.

"It took a lot mentally and physically to just trust my gymnastics again and most importantly trust myself," Biles said at a news conference after Sunday's competition. "I think that was the hardest part after Tokyo is I didn't trust myself to do gymnastics.

"Everyone says I look like I’m having fun, so that’s good because I feel like most of the time if I’m not stressing or having anxiety, I do feel like I’m having fun."

The reigning World Champion, the 27-year-old is once again looking like a front-runner to win the All-Around gold medal.

"Now, having gone to two Olympics, each one gets a little bit more stressful because I know exactly what to expect," she said. "I know exactly what I expect from myself."

Even amidst her dominance, Biles took the time to encourage her fellow competitors. Following a fall by Suni Lee, Biles offered up words of support to her former Olympic teammate, saying she knew exactly what Lee was going through.

"I dealt with that in Tokyo," Biles said Sunday. "I just knew that she needed some encouragement and somebody to trust her gymnastics for her and to believe in her, so that’s exactly what I did."

"I don’t think I could have done it without her," Lee said about Biles after the meet. "She’s been one of my biggest inspirations for a long time. I know that we’re kind of teammates and competitors, but she’s somebody that I look up to."

The Indiana Fever got their second win of the season on Saturday, topping the Chicago Sky 71-70 in Indianapolis — but it didn't come without controversy.

In the third quarter, Chicago guard Chennedy Carter committed an away-from-the ball foul on Caitlin Clark that saw Clark tumbling to the ground before an inbound pass. During the game, the officials ruled the contact a common foul and did not review the play.

The following day, the WNBA upgraded the foul to a flagrant-1 violation upon further review. The change in ruling allots Carter one tally in an accrual system that counts towards a future suspension. (Should it have been upgraded during the game, Clark would have been awarded one additional free throw.) The organization determined that Carter will not receive a fine.

Interviewed during the game, Clark called called Carter's actions "not a basketball play."

"I wasn't expecting [the foul]," Clark told reporters in the postgame press conference. "But it's just like, respond, calm down and let your play do the talking, it is what it is. It's a physical game, go make the free throw and then execute on offense. I feel like that's what we did."

Earlier last week, Clark expressed her frustrations over what she views is a double standard when it comes to receiving contact from opponents.

"I feel like I’m just at the point where you accept it and don’t retaliate. Just let them hit you, be what it is, don’t let it get inside your head and know it’s coming," she said. "I think at this point I know I’m going to take a couple of hard shots a game and that’s what it is. I’m trying not to let it bother me and just stay in the game and stay in what’s important because usually it’s the second person that gets caught if you retaliate."

After Saturday's win, Fever coach Christie Sides took to social media to demand the WNBA take action, calling the officiating "unacceptable."

"When will the consistent complaints be heard?!? Something has to be done!" she wrote.

Carter, meanwhile, would not address the foul postgame, telling reporters she would not be answering "any Caitlin Clark questions." However, she later spoke out against Clark on social media, tweeting "beside three point shooting what does she bring to the table."

In response to the scuffle, Sky head coach Teresa Weatherspoon released a statement on Monday morning saying that she had discussed the incident with her player and that Carter — along with the rest of the team — will learn from the situation.

"As a team, we will grow together and continue to work hard to display strong leadership and set a positive example for our competitors, fans, and partners," Weatherspoon concluded.

The USWNT’s first match of the Emma Hayes era went off with a bang as the team beat South Korea 4-0 on Saturday at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado.

In the game, forward Mallory Swanson had a brace, scoring her first two goals for the US since returning from a torn patellar tendon suffered last April. Defender Tierna Davidson also found the back of the net twice, with both goals coming off set pieces.

"Thirty percent of all tournament goals are scored from (set pieces), so it was an opportunity," Hayes told reporters after the game. "I’ve seen, historically, this program be good at it. I want to return to that, so we have to excel. And for me, that demand won’t decline."

The match also saw the return of Catarina Macario to the starting lineup for the first time since 2022. Macario has slowly been returning to action following an ACL tear, and had a hand in one of Davidson’s set piece goals on Saturday.

Despite the USWNT's success, there was one glaring omission from Saturday's lineup: Alex Morgan remained on the bench, with Hayes noting that she chose to rest the decorated forward as a precaution.

"[Morgan] felt yesterday — this is an important issue to raise — maybe stretching a little bit her pelvic area," she said. "I told her yesterday I'm not going to take any risks today, because I want her to play Tuesday."

As the team looks to cut the roster down to 18 players in preparation for July's Paris Olympics, a lot will have to be decided. But with her first game as head coach in the books, Hayes is looking confidently to the future.

"I don’t feel relief. I feel re-energized," Hayes said. "I want to coach this group and they want to be coached. You can see we’re building something.

"There’s lots of work to do. There’s lots of holes in our play, no question, but it was a good start."

The Women's College World Series began on Thursday, as eight teams vie for the 2024 NCAA championship title.

UCLA, Oklahoma, Texas, and Florida have already moved on to the winners' bracket, emerging from Thursday's first round victorious. Meanwhile Alabama, Duke, Stanford, and Oklahoma State will face elimination tonight after all suffering first-round losses.

Texas and Oklahoma enter the final week of the postseason as top seeds, with the Longhorns winning the regular season and the Sooners taking the Big 12 Tournament Championship. Oklahoma is currently eyeing their fourth-straight title, having won every NCAA softball championship since the suspended season in 2020.

Despite an excellent regular season, Texas is still on the hunt for its first softball championship. And in yesterday's decisive win 4-0 over Stanford, Texas freshman Teagan Kavan became the first freshman in college history to throw a complete game shutout.

"I knew I was prepared and had been in front of a big stage before," Kavan said of her performance on Thursday.

The Blue Devils are also making NCAA history this week. Duke's Marissa Young — the first Black head coach in WCWS history — will lead the Blue Devils to their first visit to the final round of the softball playoffs Friday as they face off against Alabama.

Thursday’s session brought in 12,566 fans — a new session attendance record for the WCWS. All games will be broadcast live across ABC and ESPN networks.

Don't miss a moment of the action:

Game 5: Alabama vs. Duke — Friday, May 31st at 7 PM ET on ESPN2
Game 6: Stanford vs. Oklahoma State — Friday, May 31st at 9:30 PM ET on ESPN2
Game 7: UCLA vs. Oklahoma — Saturday, June 1st at 3 PM ET on ABC
Game 8: Texas vs. Florida — Saturday, June 1st at 7 PM ET on ESPN

The USWNT officially kicks off the Emma Hayes era in style this weekend, going up against South Korea in the first of two pre-Olympic friendlies.

The matches will serve as the final two opportunities to impress before Hayes names her 18-player roster for the 2024 Paris Olympics. After formally taking over late last week, the ex-Chelsea coach has gotten nothing but praise from the American side.

"Anyone in the soccer world knows Emma Hayes," forward Sophia Smith told reporters at USWNT training camp. "She's a legend and her resume speaks for itself. We all just trust her. Obviously trust is something you build. What she's done for the game and for the sport, we all trust her and are excited about her. I'm sure we'll learn a lot in the next week. We already have learned a lot in the first few days."

Of course, the USWNT has carried a chip on their shoulder following a disappointing World Cup last year. And as they look to the Olympics, Smith says it’s a good thing that the team is operating that way.

"If a team going into the Olympics doesn't have a chip on their shoulder, there's a problem there," Smith continued. "This team for so many years has set the standard, has been the best in the world, and that's what we want to continue on. We want to honor what this team has done before us, but we also want to set new standards and just be a different version of this team and be the best in the world."

Hayes appears to be the right person to propel that standard forward. And the goal, according to Smith, is to win a gold medal.

"The goal is to win a gold medal, but right now we have a new coach, we have a new system," she added. "The main goal and priority is the process and just learning and adapting and growing and taking each day as a chance to get better and grow with this group.”

"I think for me, it's just [having] the leader again, and the voice and when you get on field it's awesome," echoed USWNT captain Lindsey Horan. "You get some jokes here and there but [Hayes is also] just demanding a lot out of us and keeping the standard, but also the positive encouragement feedback as well and giving voices to us as well."

Hayes will have a short runway to manage the high expectations of the job, with the US looking to put their previous performances behind them as quickly as possible. And the stacked Olympic lineup will be no easy challenge for the 2019 World Cup Champions as they vie for their first gold medal since 2012.

Speaking with media on Friday, Hayes said that it’s been "such a joy" to be back in the States, saying that her aim is to protect the team's long legacy going forward.

"We all know the main ingredients of the American DNA," she said. "That will not change under my stewardship."

She also noted that the team has come along nicely under interim coach's Twila Kilgore's leadership, comparing the players to sponges for their ability to take in a lot of information quickly.

"I think the tactical understanding is there more than I anticipated," she said, while also saying she anticipates some "tired brains."

Luckily, a few fitness concerns appear to have subsided, as a number of recently injured call-ups returned to the pitch in last weekend's NWSL games. Alex Morgan, Jaedyn Shaw, and Naomi Girma all made appearances for San Diego last Thursday after dealing with lingering knocks, while defender Tierna Davidson and club and country teammate Rose Lavelle have consistently been working their way back onto the field with Gotham.

The biggest question mark going into Saturday's match will be Smith, who missed Portland's showdown with Orlando due to a leg injury last Friday.

World No. 1 Nelly Korda got off to a career-worst start at the US Women’s Open on Thursday, shooting a 10-over 80.

A mere three holes into the tournament, the LPGA star carded a 10 on a par-3, watching as her ball rolled into the water three consecutive times.

"Making a 10 on a par-3 will definitely not do you any good at a US Open," Korda told reporters afterwards. "Just a bad day in the office."

With 15 holes to go, Korda said her hope was to keep her score below 80. Instead, she finished with three birdies and six bogeys on the remaining holes. The round marked her second-straight round of 80 in the US Women’s Open after she shot 80 in the final round at Pebble Beach last summer.

Korda finished the day 12 shots out of the lead, despite entering the tournament as a favorite. She’s won six of her last seven tournaments, including an LPGA record-tying five wins in a row.

"I just didn't really want to shoot 80," Korda said. "And I just kept making bogeys. My last two rounds in the US Women’s Open have not been good."

And the oft unbeatable Korda had no answers on Thursday. With a projected cut line of +4, she has a lot of ground to make up on Friday should she want to advance to the weekend.

"I’m human. I’m going to have bad days. I played some really solid golf up to this point," she added. "Today was just a bad day. That’s all I can say."