The Portland Thorns have achieved what no other NWSL club has in the league’s 10-year history, winning their third NWSL Championship with a 2-0 victory over the Kansas City Current on Saturday night.

Thorns striker and 2022 NWSL MVP Sophia Smith scored in the fourth minute, and Kansas City allowed an own goal right after halftime to complete Portland’s shutout at Audi Field in Washington, D.C.

Smith added to her hardware collection after the game, named Championship MVP for her performance in the Thorns’ attack. As the Thorns celebrate on stage at midfield, captain Christine Sinclair received the championship trophy from commissioner Jessica Berman, nine years after winning her first NWSL title with Portland in the league’s inaugural season.

The Thorns added to their lead in the 56th minute and continued to control possession, keeping Kansas City off the scoreboard until the final whistle despite several dangerous chances by the No. 5 seed.

Ten minutes into the second half, Portland’s Raquel Rodriguez passed the ball down the flank to Yazmeen Ryan — who kickstarted much of the Thorn’s offense on Saturday. Ryan sent a low cross into the box as Smith crashed the net. The forward just missed the ball, but Current goalkeeper Adrianna Franch tipped it off defender Addisyn Merrick and into their own goal.

Portland didn’t let up after taking a 2-0 lead. Thorns striker Morgan Weaver tested Franch in the 57th minute with a flicked header to the left post, which Franch dove to tip over the endline. One minute later, Weaver drilled a shot from outside the 18-yard box that hit off the crossbar and over the net.

In the 70th minute, Franch made her best save of the night, blocking Hinan Sugita’s curving shot with a full-extension dive to maintain the 2-0 scoreline.

Portland put Kansas City in an early hole, forcing a turnover in the midfield and pouncing on a mistake by the Current’s backline in the fourth minute. As center back Elizabeth Ball slid to try to recover a misplayed pass, Smith ran onto the ball and beat Adrianna Franch on a breakaway, cutting to the left and slotting it home.

The goal was Smith’s first of the playoffs and 15th of the season.

The Thorns dominated possession for most of the half, holding a 56 percent advantage over the Current for the first 45 minutes. Smith had another dangerous chance in the 27th minute, splitting two defenders in the box and firing a shot just wide right of the goal.

From there, Kansas City built momentum going into halftime. Forward Kristen Hamilton sent a cross in toward Kate Del Fava at the back post in the 33rd minute, which Del Fava headed just over the crossbar. Six minutes later, Hamilton nearly split Thorns defenders Becky Sauerbrunn and Meghan Klingenberg in the box off a pass from Hailie Mace, but she slipped on the turn and the Thorns recovered.

Portland now holds the all-time record for the most NWSL Championships after winning the title in 2013 and 2017. The Thorns finished the postseason on top after conceding the NWSL Shield to OL Reign in the final weekend of the regular season, with head coach Rhian Wilkinson earning the trophy in her first season at the helm.

FIFA is calling on broadcasters to increase their TV bids for the 2023 Women’s World Cup after rejecting a number of offers for being too low.

Romy Gai, FIFA’s chief partnerships and media officer, said the body has already turned down offers to broadcast the World Cup in Italy, Germany, France and the United Kingdom (and expects Spain to follow) on account of their value. He declined to name the TV providers.

“This is not a case of being priced out, but rather testament to a lack of willingness of broadcasters to pay what the women’s game deserves,” Gai told Bloomberg in an interview published Thursday.

Women’s soccer attendance and viewership records have surged since the 2019 World Cup, which drew a combined 1.12 billion viewers across all platforms. The UEFA Women’s Champions League final in May enjoyed a 56 percent increase in viewership over last year’s final, with 3.6 million fans tuning in to watch Lyon defeat Barcelona. England’s win over Germany in the final of the 2022 UEFA Women’s European Championship set the mark for the most-watched women’s soccer match ever in the UK at 17.4 million viewers.

“Audience figures show that the Women’s World Cup 2019 in France was a catalyst for change in terms of TV audience,” Gai said. “We know the opportunity for women’s football is there. Now, together, we need to capture it.”

The draw for the World Cup, taking place in Australia and New Zealand next summer, will be held this Friday at 7:30 p.m. local time in Auckland.

The United States women’s national team, winners of the 2019 World Cup, qualified for the 2023 tournament during the Concacaf W Championship in July.

For the first time, they will compete in a World Cup under their new collective bargaining agreement, which achieved equal pay between the men’s and women’s teams when it was ratified in May. That includes closing the gap between FIFA prize bonuses, which are substantially different for men’s and women’s tournaments and had been the biggest hold-up in negotiations with U.S. Soccer.

In the U.S., Fox and Telemundo own the broadcast rights to the 2023 Women’s World Cup.

The NWSL has terminated the contracts of Orlando Pride head coach Amanda Cromwell and first assistant coach Sam Greene based on the findings of the NWSL and NWSL Players Association’s joint investigation into allegations of workplace misconduct, the league announced Monday.

The investigative team substantiated claims that Cromwell and Greene engaged in retaliatory behavior against Pride players who they believed had backed misconduct allegations against them. The coaches had been placed on temporary administrative leave in June at the recommendation of the joint investigation.

“Specifically, Cromwell and Greene were found to have engaged in conduct that discouraged reporting and fostered a general fear of retaliation, and to have taken negative actions against certain players, including by seeking to waive or trade them,” the NWSL said in a statement.

As a result of the discipline, Cromwell and Greene are not permitted to work in the NWSL in any capacity unless they are approved for reinstatement by the Commissioner. To do that, they must participate in mandatory training regarding retaliation, discrimination, harassment and bullying as well as in mandatory executive coaching, as determined by the Commissioner. They must also acknowledge wrongdoing and demonstrate a sincere commitment to correcting their behavior.

Pride goalkeeper coach Aline Reis has also been placed on unpaid administrative leave after the investigative team found that Reis did not cooperate fully with the investigation,”including by pressuring players to share favorable information with investigators,” the statement read. Reis must complete the mandatory training, acknowledge wrongdoing and demonstrate a commitment to behavioral reform before she can return to work.

Cromwell and Greene first came under investigation in March 2022 based on allegations of verbal abuse and improper favoritism toward players. Counsel to the Pride conducted the probe with the consent of the NWSL and NWSLPA joint investigative team and founds some of the allegations to be substantiated.

In May, the NWSL and NWSLPA received complaints that Cromwell and Greene were retaliating against players who they believed had participated in and supported the March investigation.

Cromwell, Greene, Reis and Pride assistant coach Michelle Akers reported in June that they were subject to various forms of misconduct. After a third-party investigation into the coaches’ complaints, their claims were found to be unsubstantiated.

Cromwell called the investigation “biased and incomplete” and said she would explore legal options in a statement of her own Monday night.

“As we continue to build a league as elite as the players on the pitch, it is critically important that we foster a culture where individuals can safely come forward with concerns without fear of reprisal,” NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman said. “These retaliation concerns were identified during the NWSL/NWSLPA Joint Investigation and interim measures were put in place due to the ongoing nature of the misconduct.”

The decisions come a week after the release of U.S. Soccer’s findings from a year-long investigation into systemic abuse in the NWSL, as conducted by former U.S. attorney general Sally Yates. The report outlined a pattern of verbal abuse, emotional abuse and sexual misconduct by coaches and a failure by team and league executives to respond appropriately to incidents of misconduct.

The NWSL and NWSLPA’s joint investigation, which spans cases of misconduct since the league’s inception in 2013, is expected to completed by the end of the year.

Two NWSL team sponsors have taken a new stance in the wake of Sally Yates’ findings of systemic abuse in the NWSL, opting to redirect their sponsorship dollars to the players rather than the clubs.

Sherwin-Williams, a sponsor of Racing Louisville FC, suspended its partnership with the club in favor of making a donation to the NWSL Players Association’s emergency fund, the company announced Friday.

In the U.S. Soccer report released last Monday, Yates said that Racing Louisville was one of three clubs that did not cooperate fully with her investigation. Former Louisville coach Christy Holly was a main subject of Yates’ report, which found that he sexually assaulted former player Erin Simon on multiple occasions. Racing Louisville fired Holly last August but did not provide a reason for his exit at the time.

“The Sherwin-Williams company is deeply saddened by the disturbing findings of the Yates report commissioned by the U.S. Soccer Federation,” the company wrote in a statement. “The abuse outlined in the report is reprehensible and we condemn the use of power to systemically harm women. … Any future support will depend on the National Women’s Soccer League creating meaningful change to ensure the health and safety of the players.”

Portland Thorns and Timbers sponsor Alaska Airlines followed suit with an updated statement Sunday. The airline announced it would redirect its sponsorship dollars this quarter to the NWSLPA fund and to youth sports in the Portland community “following calls from the players association to support their emergency fund, listening to the Portland fan community, and speaking with team leaders to understand their progress underway.”

“We will continue to seek input from players and the community to ensure our actions support meaningful change, and will reevaluate our sponsorship based on clear evidence of progress,” their statement read.

Multiple Thorns sponsors have threatened to pull support after the Yates report revealed new details of the club’s cover-up of accusations of sexual abuse and coercion against former coach Paul Riley. Portland fired president of soccer Gavin Wilkinson and president of business operations Mike Golub, and owner Merritt Paulson removed himself from decision-making in the wake of the report. Meanwhile, public pressure has mounted for Paulson to sell his stake in the team.

NWSLPA executive director Meghann Burke has encouraged sponsors and fans to support players through the National Emergency Trust fund to help cover out-of-pocket costs.

“Also, go to games,” Burke wrote on Twitter on Thursday. “Players need to see & hear you.”

The NWSL playoffs begin with a two-game quarterfinal round on Oct. 16.

NEW YORK — Cathy Engelbert spent her Monday in an unfamiliar position.

After overseeing the last two WNBA Drafts from her home in New Jersey amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the WNBA commissioner traversed New York City with the prospects and their families Monday morning before calling players’ names and greeting them live on stage in a bustling, intimate draft room. As the selections were made from Spring Studios in TriBeCa, the top of the Empire State Building shone bright orange in honor of the WNBA’s signature color and courtesy of a lighting ceremony with Engelbert and New York Liberty forward Betnijah Laney earlier in the day.

Engelbert, entering her third full season as commissioner, embraced the opportunity to send the players into the next phase of their basketball careers with an in-person celebration.

“I get to see and shake hands and hug these players who, as I call them to have them attend the draft tonight, you hear things like, ‘You’re making my dreams come true,’ and you hear things like, ‘It’s an honor. It’s a real honor,’” she said.

“I can see a lot of really powerhouse marketing storytelling opportunities amongst this group. They really have personality.”

Not everyone who heard their name called early in the draft had the chance to shake Engelbert’s hand. The surprises began as early as the sixth pick of the night, when the Indiana Fever selected Stanford guard Lexie Hull, a player many mock drafts had going in the second or third round. Hull was not in attendance Monday, as one of seven players taken before all the prospects who were invited to New York City came off the board.

The draft shake-ups are especially notable this season, when even fewer draftees are expected to make WNBA rosters due to salary cap limitations. The Minnesota Lynx got out ahead of their current roster restrictions Sunday, trading two picks to the Las Vegas Aces in favor of future selections.

From the risers to the fallers, we break down the biggest surprises of draft night.

Lexie Hull: Indiana Fever, No. 6

Given the trades and draft-board maneuvering that ensued in the days leading up to the draft, there were bound to be a few shockers on Monday night. I’m not sure anyone, however, expected it to come this early and this forcefully.

Hull was a standout four-year player at Stanford, helping them win a national championship her junior year and playing some of her best basketball this past year as a senior. She is a lengthy guard at 6-foot-1 and brings scrappy defense and efficient 3-point shooting, but there are questions as to how her game will translate to the speed and physicality of the WNBA.

The Fever had four picks in the first round and seven overall. Could they have waited and scooped up Hull at No. 10 or No. 20? It’s possible — JWS analyst Rachel Galligan had Hull going 16th to the Los Angeles Sparks in her mock draft — but if the Fever wanted her that badly, they avoided the risk by taking her early and still managed to get a potential steal in South Carolina guard Destanni Henderson at No. 20.

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The Aces were not expecting Kierstan Bell to fall to them at No. 11. (Evan Yu/Just Women's Sports)

Mya Hollingshed: Las Vegas Aces, No. 8
Kierstan Bell: Las Vegas Aces, No. 11

For as long as the odds seemed for Hull to go off the board in the first round, the chances (based on projections) were slimmer for Hollingshed. A third-round pick on JWS’ mock draft, the Colorado scoring star appealed to Aces general manager Natalie Williams because of her ceiling and her fit in first-year head coach Becky Hammon’s offense.

Hammon has said she wants to stretch the floor with a high-pace and high-volume shooting attack. So, after acquiring the No. 8 and No. 13 picks from the Lynx on Sunday, the Aces went out to add length, athleticism and shooting ability to their roster. They liked Hollingshed enough to avoid the risk that she might not fall to them at No. 11.

“Mya Hollingshed is not only an incredible athlete, but her 3-point shooting is hard to come by,” Williams said. “The coaches, the staff, everybody’s super happy.”

The Aces got a bit of a surprise themselves when the draft came back around to them and Florida Gulf Coast guard Kierstan Bell, who was a projected top-five pick in many mock drafts, was still available with the 11th pick. Bell said afterward that she, too, was surprised she was heading to Las Vegas since she hadn’t talked to the team’s staff during the pre-draft process.

Christyn Williams: Washington Mystics, No. 14

The Mystics have a case for being the ultimate winners of the draft. After trading away the No. 1 pick for the third and 14th selections and a 2023 first-round pick, the Mystics took Ole Miss center/forward Shakira Austin, a player they believed was good enough to go No. 1, and Williams in the second round.

Washington coach and general manager Mike Thibault didn’t hide his excitement after the draft, indicating that the Mystics believe they got a steal in Williams. The 5-foot-11 guard was a top scorer at UConn during her four-year career and has traits — speed in transition, ball-handling and long-range shooting — that should translate immediately to the pro level.

“Christyn Williams is the kind of player that we were hoping would be at the 14th pick when we made the trade,” Thibault said. “She is an effective offensive player both on and off the ball. She can create her own shot and get good shots for her teammates. She can also defend all three perimeter positions. This is an exciting pick for us.”

Naz Hillmon: Atlanta Dream, No. 15

Hillmon heard the knocks on her size and offensive skill set as a post player entering the draft. One of the all-time greats at Michigan, Hillmon didn’t let the criticisms or the outcome faze her as she fell out of the first round and to Atlanta with the third pick of the second round.

“This has been a dream of mine for a very long time. So just being picked up by a team, for somebody to believe in me, first round, third round, I’m excited to be where I’m at,” she said from the podium in New York.

Hillmon acknowledged that while she can’t change her 6-foot-2 height, she will continue to expand her game to be able to compete with physical bigs in the WNBA. She worked on her footwork and outside shooting during her four years at Michigan, where she became the first player in program history — men’s or women’s — to record 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in her career. Hillmon’s motor and tenacity on the boards are unquestioned, and the rebuilding Dream walked away Monday night feeling pretty good about their selections of Hillmon and top pick Rhyne Howard.

“Everything is motivation. I could have been picked No. 1 and I still would have been motivated to get better, to perfect my craft,” Hillmon said. “I wouldn’t say disappointed, but always ready to work.”

Hannah Withiam is the Managing Editor at Just Women’s Sports. She previously served as an editor at The Athletic and a reporter at the New York Post. Follow her on Twitter @HannahWithiam.

MINNEAPOLIS — Aliyah Boston was in high demand after the buzzer sounded and hordes of people rushed the court to celebrate South Carolina’s triumph Sunday night. The towering, smiling junior danced around with her teammates at center court, stopped for television interviews, shouted across the crowd to her idol, Candace Parker, and shared a moment with 2017 South Carolina champion A’ja Wilson.

There were more people who wanted to catch a glimpse or a soundbite of Boston than the star player had time for. Then, Dawn Staley found her in the crowd.

“That’s it right there!” Staley said, as she cupped her hands around Boston’s face and pointed at the cameras to catch her smile.

The lasting image from South Carolina’s run to the Final Four last year was of Boston’s face, tears welling up in her eyes and cascading down her cheeks as soon as her game-winning putback attempt against Stanford bounced off the rim. The Gamecocks walked away two points away from the national championship game, while Stanford went on to win it all.

One year later, South Carolina didn’t leave any question as to who was the best team in the country, jumping out to a 14-point lead over UConn in the first quarter and never trailing in the 64-49 win. Boston, in a fashion that has become almost automatic, finished with a double-double of 11 points and 16 rebounds to win her first national championship and the program’s second.

“God has blessed us, blessed us with great teammates who made the decision to trust Coach Staley, trust the process, and we’re victorious tonight,” Boston said after the trophy ceremony, off to the side of the celebration.

As Boston made her rounds through the fallen confetti and the feeling sunk in, there were tears. But this time through the tears, her eyes sparkled and her lips turned up into a smile, showing the mouth full of braces everyone has come to see this season.

That’s the image Staley wanted remembered.

“I think a player like Aliyah doesn’t realize her power. I think she’s really a nice young lady, and she wants everything to be smooth, smooth sailing. She doesn’t want any conflict. She’s not confrontational,” Staley said later on. “When you are like that, you don’t really understand the power of being dominant.”

Dominance was the theme for South Carolina and Boston all season long. The No. 1 team in the nation from the AP preseason poll through the NCAA Tournament, the Gamecocks lost just two games while rolling through the rest of their SEC schedule and tough non-conference slate. Boston was the biggest reason why, averaging a double-double for the Gamecocks (that at one point reached a streak of 27 straight) and finishing the season as the National Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.

But there were many times, especially during Boston’s first two seasons under Staley, that the coach had to be hard on the 6-foot-5 forward because she shied away from her greatness. It wasn’t Boston’s nature to demand the ball and step into the spotlight, so she needed a nudge.

“I’ve been around a lot of great basketball players who have been dominant, and I saw it in her, and I would not allow her to be anything less than that, even if I had to hurt her,” said Staley, the National Coach of the Year. “From a basketball standpoint, I think I’m the perfect coach for her because I recognize what her gifts are and how to walk into that.”

With Staley’s help, Boston emerged as South Carolina’s leader this year and infused her teammates with confidence along the way.

Whenever Boston got the ball Sunday night, she was swarmed by at least two UConn defenders. So, she kicked it out to Destanni Henderson, who had a career-high 26 points on 9-for-20 shooting, and Zia Cooke, who had 11. And she did the grunt work in the paint, helping South Carolina haul in 49 rebounds (including 21 offensive) to UConn’s 24 and making two key blocks in the fourth quarter to prevent the Huskies from regaining any momentum.

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(Bri Lewerke/Just Women's Sports)

A’ja Wilson watched Boston with pride from her front-row seat behind the Gamecocks’ bench. When South Carolina was last cutting down the nets in 2017, Wilson was in a similar position to Boston, a junior who overcame two short-lived tournament runs to capitalize finally on the promise of Staley’s program.

Wilson, too, credits much of her growth as a player to her former coach.

“This team is so special,” Wilson said. “When you’re real, when you’re loyal, when you speak the truth, people buy in.”

Boston bought into what Staley was building four years ago. Having narrowed her college choices down to four schools — UConn, Ohio State, Notre Dame and South Carolina — and grappling with the final decision, she called Staley in November 2018. She felt a special connection with the coach, a former player she could learn from, a Black woman she could look up to and, as she calls Staley today, a “second mom off the court.”

Since the day she committed to the program, Boston has taken all the lessons Staley’s given her and evolved into the best player in college basketball and now a champion.

Among the people who wanted a moment with Boston on Sunday night were young girls who stuck around for an hour after the final whistle blew. Hearing her name, Boston stepped away from the noise and made her way from one endline of the court to the other, stopping every few feet to sign hats and sheets of paper and take selfies with fans.

A superstar and a champion, Boston is the pride of South Carolina. A torchbearer of the game, Boston is ever the student of Dawn Staley.

Hannah Withiam is the Managing Editor at Just Women’s Sports. She previously served as an editor at The Athletic and a reporter at the New York Post. Follow her on Twitter @HannahWithiam.

MINNEAPOLIS — Before UConn’s two games in Bridgeport, the ones they needed to win to earn a 14th straight trip to the Final Four, the players took time to ruminate on the season they’d had.

There were injuries up and down the roster, including the three-month absence of star guard Paige Bueckers. There were humiliating losses to unranked teams. And on Monday, they’d lost key bench contributor Dorka Juhász to a gruesome wrist fracture.

Even for UConn, the 11-time national champion powerhouse, the odds of them making a run at the national championship seemed long during the low points. And this week, few pundits had them beating the reigning champion Stanford Cardinal on Friday without Juhász.

The players, and head coach Geno Auriemma, knew all of this. Instead of letting the adversity break them, they entered Friday night’s game stronger for it and outlasted Stanford in a defensive-minded battle, 63-58, to advance to the national championship game against South Carolina on Sunday, UConn’s first appearance there since 2016.

“So many years that we’ve come here, we’ve been a No. 1 seed, we had the best team going in. Everybody knew it, and it was, let’s just go do our thing and I don’t think anybody is going to be able to beat us if we play our A game,” Auriemma said.

“This year, I didn’t think any of that.”

UConn led Stanford for most of the game Friday night, but the advantage never felt safe.

Azzi Fudd and Aaliyah Edwards got into foul trouble in the second quarter, forcing Auriemma to dip into his reserves earlier than expected. Christyn Williams struggled to get into a shooting rhythm, going just 3-for-13 from the floor. Olivia Nelson-Ododa didn’t convert her first field goal until late in the third quarter, the result of a physical battle with Stanford’s Cameron Brink. And Paige Bueckers, UConn’s de-facto closer, was subbed out with 5:07 remaining in the game and later returned walking gingerly on her leg.

So, when Stanford started to cut into UConn’s lead with under two minutes to play, it still seemed like anyone’s game. That was especially true after UConn, up 58-54 with 34 seconds left, beat Stanford’s press and Evina Westbrook inexplicably threw an errant pass out of bounds, giving the ball right back to the Cardinal.

In that moment, as Haley Jones hit a jumper at the other end, UConn could have caved. But this type of challenge was nothing they hadn’t seen before.

“We’re still not complete. We’re still missing Dorka and Aubrey [Griffin],” Nika Mühl said after the game. “We just stuck together, like every other time. I don’t think there was ever a doubt in ourselves.”

Fittingly, Fudd and Williams, who combined to shoot 24 percent from the floor Friday, sealed the win for UConn with clutch free throws down the stretch. Bueckers finished with a team-high 14 points, and Nelson-Ododa and Edwards had near double-doubles to help the Huskies out-rebound Stanford 46-37, but no player’s stat line jumped off the page.

Throughout UConn’s season, when one player went down, another stepped up. On Friday night, the recipe was the same, just more resolute after months of bending but not breaking.

Auriemma won’t think his team is the better of the two taking the floor Sunday night in the national championship game. South Carolina, the No. 1-ranked squad all season long, beat the Huskies (with Bueckers) by 16 points back in November.

UConn was a different team then. They were more complete, as the injuries hadn’t set in yet, but they were also more fallible. They hadn’t yet weathered the punches and come out better for it on the other side.

That other side, now, could very well include an NCAA trophy.

“Sometimes you don’t have to have the best team to win this game,” Auriemma said. “Sometimes you just have to play the best that night, and you have to make some big plays in big moments, and you do just enough with what you have.”

Hannah Withiam is the Managing Editor at Just Women’s Sports. She previously served as an editor at The Athletic and a reporter at the New York Post. Follow her on Twitter @HannahWithiam.

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — In the days after Paige Bueckers went down with a tibial plateau fracture in her knee in early December, and it was determined she would need surgery to repair it, Geno Auriemma tried to keep a level head. The coach has pretty much seen it all during his 37 years of coaching at UConn, and he knew there were more benefits to taking the long-term approach with Bueckers’ recovery than rushing her back.

Auriemma stuck to that plan as his star sophomore guard returned to the court late last month, limiting her minutes and easing her back into the leading role everyone came to expect of her as a freshman. Even after the Huskies’ Sweet 16 win over Indiana on Saturday, Auriemma said Bueckers was “not quite” back to her old self.

So on Monday night, when Buckers took over the game in overtime, scoring 15 of UConn’s 30 points in the two extra periods to lead her team to a 91-87 win over NC State and a berth in its 14th straight Final Four, Auriemma could only shake his head.

When a player like Bueckers steps into the bright lights of an NCAA Tournament game, there’s only so much you can predict.

“There was a point in time during the season where I really said to the team, ‘I don’t know if you guys are all walking around in practice every day going, that’s OK, it doesn’t matter how bad we are, Paige is coming back and she’ll fix everything. I said, ‘I’m not counting on it,’” Auriemma recalled from the podium, trying to put words to what he called “one of the best games I’ve ever been a part of” at UConn.

“But when it was evident that there was a chance, by that time a lot of other players on our team had gotten a lot better. I think if Paige had come back to the exact same team, we probably wouldn’t be in this game, given what happened.”

In the 19 games Bueckers missed while recovering from her injury, Auriemma needed other players to step up. The same was true when freshman Azzi Fudd was sidelined for over two months with a foot injury. Freshman Caroline Ducharme and sophomore Nika Mühl suddenly were playing more minutes and, though they might not have realized it at the time, earning valuable experience for March.

That evolution has turned UConn into a well-rounded and fearsome team after an uncharacteristic season in which it lost to multiple unranked teams. It was just No. 1 seed NC State’s luck to draw the Huskies into their quarter of the bracket when they were peaking at the right time.

Where Fudd steadied UConn’s offense throughout the game Monday, scoring 17 of her 19 points in regulation and making critical free throws down the stretch, Bueckers played the part of closer. Jakia Brown-Turner’s improbable 3-pointer with 0.3 seconds left to send the game to double overtime and keep NC State’s hopes alive was just the fuel Bueckers needed.

“I mean, that whole game she was amazing,” said Fudd, “but I think NC State hitting that big shot to put us into that second overtime on her was the best thing they could do, but the worst thing they could do.”

NC State knew it, too. Coach Wes Moore said that they focused on getting the ball out of Bueckers’ hands late in the game — just like they did against Notre Dame freshman Olivia Miles in the fourth quarter on Saturday — but this time, the effort was fruitless.

It had been a while since the reigning National Player of the Year had tapped into her magic, but in overtime Monday, Paige Bueckers became Paige Bueckers.

“Just my teammates and my coaches just instilling that confidence in me that they trust me in these moments and they trust me with the ball and they trust me to do the right thing,” Bueckers said. “I just wanted to continue to play, and Coach is always huge on me about just making sure just to find a way to win. So I think that was the key tonight.”

UConn’s Final Four streak was far from Auriemma’s mind when Bueckers went down nearly four months ago. He knew he’d need her healthy for whenever UConn made a run at its 12th national championship.

He just didn’t realize that moment would be now. There’s only so much you can predict with your players, but then again, this player was made for these moments.

“It could end tomorrow. It could end next week. It could end next year, like everything else ends,” Auriemma said. “But kids like Paige won’t let it end, and there has to be that kind of kid.”

Hannah Withiam is the Managing Editor at Just Women’s Sports. She previously served as an editor at The Athletic and a reporter at the New York Post. Follow her on Twitter @HannahWithiam.

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — Niele Ivey doesn’t like to waste time.

It took her four days after being named the new head coach of Notre Dame women’s basketball in August 2020 to land two of the top recruits in the nation. Those freshmen, guards Olivia Miles and Sonia Citron, have quickly evolved into two of the top scorers and playmakers on the roster.

Then it took her one season to lead Notre Dame back to the Sweet 16, a place the program has become familiar with after two championships and four runner-up finishes under Muffet McGraw, Ivey’s former coach and predecessor.

And after Notre Dame’s heartbreaking 66-63 loss to NC State in the Sweet 16 on Saturday, Ivey said it wouldn’t take long for her to turn the page and begin preparing for next season.

“I’m excited to get back to work. Maybe I’ll take 24 hours off, and then I’m going to start watching film and get back to work because that’s what it is. This is a grind,” she said.

For nearly three quarters on Saturday, Notre Dame played like it didn’t want to waste any time, either. After going down 16-12 in the first quarter, Miles led the Fighting Irish on a 24-10 run in the second, scoring eight of her team-high 21 points during that stretch.

Notre Dame maintained its lead all the way into the fourth quarter, not letting NC State get within more than four points for nearly 15 minutes. Citron and Maddy Westbeld, the other two underclassmen in Notre Dame’s starting lineup, were key offensive catalysts, combining for 21 points and 13 steals in the game.

Notre Dame’s offense was so potent, five days after scoring 108 points in their win over Oklahoma, that NC State coach Wes Moore switched things up at the start of the fourth quarter. The Wolfpack started pressing Notre Dame higher up the floor, forcing Miles as the ball-handler into making tough decisions.

From there, NC State methodically clawed its way back into the game, exploiting Notre Dame’s 16 turnovers for 22 total points. Raina Perez sealed the comeback with under 30 seconds to go, stripping Dara Mabrey of the ball at halfcourt and hitting the layup at the other end to put NC State up 64-63. She then closed out the win with two made free throws.

“I could have done a way better job of getting my team more organized,” Miles said after the game. “I was kind of quiet because I was trying to figure it out for myself, figure out the spots that I can go and get the ball up the floor. That caused some of my team to create turnovers, and I take the blame for that.”

Ivey spoke before practice on Friday about Miles’ leadership being the next step in her career evolution. Being vocal isn’t something that comes naturally to the freshman, so she’s had to push herself into uncomfortable situations to help her team.

“Coach Ivey is a national champion point guard, so she’s seen the worst of it, and she knows and she helps me,” Miles said.

A game like Saturday’s, though demoralizing for the way it ended, only strengthens that bond between a coach and her star player.

From now until the start of preseason next fall, Ivey can mull over Miles’ performance and the fact her team was 30 seconds away from upsetting No. 1 seed NC State and advancing to the Elite Eight. But she won’t be thinking about it that way.

Niele Ivey doesn’t have time to dwell on the past when her present and future are so bright.

“I was told, oh, you’re going to need three to four years. Well, I needed one,” Ivey said. “I’m hoping that what we showed as a program and as a team, I hope that attracts even more talented players to want to play for this family.”

Hannah Withiam is the Managing Editor at Just Women’s Sports. She previously served as an editor at The Athletic and a reporter at the New York Post. Follow her on Twitter @HannahWithiam.

Hilary Knight hasn’t given much thought to whether the Beijing Games will be her last. The only player on Team USA making her fourth Olympic appearance, Knight, 32, takes the ice with the same childlike excitement as she did 12 years ago, for her first Olympics in Vancouver.

Only when she feels like she’s no longer making an impact on the team will she hang up the skates, Knight explained in a phone conversation the night before departing for Beijing. And based on the way she has been playing so far, that point seems far away.

Through four games at the 2022 Olympics, Knight is tied for second on the team with five points. She contributed three goals and two assists as the U.S. went 3-1 in group play to enter the quarterfinals as the No. 2 seed. The Americans will face Czechia on Friday (Thursday, 11:10 p.m. ET) for a spot in the semifinals and their fourth straight gold-medal game, likely setting up a chance for redemption against rival Canada, who beat them 4-2 on Tuesday.

For Knight, who was a part of the U.S. team that took down Canada in PyeongChang four years ago, the opportunity is golden.

Knight spoke with Just Women’s Sports ahead of the Olympics about preparations for Beijing, the rising parity in women’s hockey and what’s next in her illustrious hockey career.

Since the last three games of the Rivalry Series were canceled, you spent over a month practicing instead of getting final tune-ups in. What was that like?

Oh boy, the ups-and-downs of the COVID world. I think what people don’t necessarily understand and what sort of strikes the fear in athletes is if you catch COVID, you essentially can’t compete in the Olympic Games. It’s been really hard to try and keep safe, especially in a normal population that doesn’t necessarily understand what you’re going through and you don’t have enough time to explain it to a stranger while you’re wearing a mask outside. But outside of that, it’s been unique and interesting and a lot of fun at the same time. I think what’s exciting about our group is our uncanny ability to address and adapt all the time. I think it’s really become a strength of ours.

What did that look like, trying to weather the COVID precautions while practicing and staying ready?

Getting creative for training. With scrimmages, we sort of had to trail off doing those just because of the potential risk of contracting COVID. What’s so great about our team sport is you go through these challenges with one another, and I have 22 other family members to navigate it with. But at the same time, if one of those family members goes down for the count, it affects us tremendously as we look to compete in probably the most competitive Olympics for hockey yet.

These are your fourth Olympics. Thinking back on those first three, do you feel like you have a different perspective of these Games?

Not necessarily. I think what’s cool for me is I have experience. That’s obviously special and I don’t want to minimize that in any way, because to make it to four is extremely hard and remarkable in its own right. And yes, it’s my success, but there are others who equally share in that with all the sacrifices they’ve made, and all my partners who helped get me here. So I understand that, but at the same time, each Olympic Games is so different and that’s what’s exciting. In many ways, you still feel like it’s your first time and I think you have to have that childlike mentality of being excited because it’s so unique and so special and so extraordinary. That’s what I feel, the beauty in being able to experience that not once, not twice, not three, but four times now.

I don’t think you could have asked for a more extraordinary Olympic experience than the last one in 2018. When you came back from PyeongChang as gold medalists, I’m sure it was a whirlwind. How long did you let yourself celebrate before refocusing on the next thing and looking ahead to Beijing?

I think at least a few months. Like, I stopped skating for a little bit just to give my hips a break. But it was interesting. For me, that Olympic residency period leading up to the actual Olympics was extremely challenging and taxing, mentally and emotionally. So I needed to kind of recharge those batteries. But it’s such a special group, so it’s hard not to get up and to get ready for this group. I didn’t really want to miss a beat or take too much time off because I definitely wanted to join the squad and earn a spot again.

You finally got over the hump in 2018, winning Team USA’s first gold since 1998. Is there anything you learned from that experience that you’re applying to these Olympics?

Not really. It’s funny because I get a lot of questions about defending a gold. It’s like, that was four years ago. It feels like a lifetime. And that was a different team and this is a different team now, and we still have to go through a tournament. We don’t get a pass until the final. I think people kind of forget about that. It’s like, well this is a completely new squad and we have a great squad. I’m really excited to put ourselves in a position and have an opportunity to compete in that final.

You lost some mainstays from 2018, like the Lamoureux twins and Meghan Duggan, but you returned 15 Olympians and then you have some new newcomers. How would you describe this group overall?

We’ve always had a really great mixture of players. I think what’s important for us and part of our culture is realizing it doesn’t matter if it’s your 99th Olympics or your first — when that opportunity comes, you just be you and do your thing. Like, you’re here for a reason. Embracing that and making sure everybody feels empowered to go out there and perform at her best is something that we stress and something that we hold in high importance.

You mentioned that this is probably going to be the most competitive Olympics yet, and to repeat as gold medalists, you’ll likely have to go through Canada, your biggest rivals. How are you viewing that team in 2022?

It’s one of those rivalries where it’s just so beautiful. It’s one of the most competitive rivalries in sports, and we could play 365 days of the year, and it would still be that special. I think it’s a tribute to the level of respect we have for one another, whether we like to admit it or not. We’re going to bring our best game. I think that’s what makes those games so Disney-like in a way. You get these crazy momentum shifts in a game and all of these talented players just gutting it out, and it really makes for some great hockey that always goes down — I feel like — in the history books.

Do you feel like this Canada team has changed since 2018? Obviously they have some different players.

Yeah, they have different players, like we have different players. They’re a good team. But it’s funny, I don’t even really need to look at their roster. I just know that they’re going to be good, and they feel similarly about us. It’s just one of those things that we’re both going to be really strong, and what’s really unique and cool about the sport right now is that it’s so competitive and the level of skill and talent that’s coming up in the next generation is incredible. What’s really exciting to see are those young women showcasing their abilities and taking their game to the next level.

What other teams have you had your eye on in the years in between the PyeongChang and Beijing Games?

You can tell who’s been putting money and resources into their program. It’s by no mistake that Finland was in a world championship final in 2019. They’re a great team. Russia’s another great team. The Swiss are good. You really can’t underestimate any team. Japan’s great, too. We want to win, but when you take a step back, it’s encouraging to see hockey at this level.

Entering such a competitive Games, do you have any advice for the first-timers on the team about how to approach it and the right mindset to have?

Honestly, it’s just have fun. I think the moment sometimes can really eat people up because it’s the Olympics and here’s all this extra pressure, there’s media, there’s all this stuff. You feel like the entire world’s watching, which they are, but you can never lose sight of why you signed up and what makes you great. Just trying to emphasize that as we go through the tournament.

I know you’re focusing on the present, but have you given any thought to whether this might be your last Olympics?

Not really. I’ve been fortunate enough to just have two feet in this experience and really embrace that in the day to day. But my brothers were joking around — they’re like, “Well, we can’t go to Beijing, so can you do another four?” I’m like, “Yeah, hold on, let me just sign up for another four.”

I mean, I think my biggest thing is, one, I have to love it. And I know that sounds silly because obviously there’s hard work that’s involved, but you can’t do this for this long if you don’t love it. It’s not easy. And then, two is to be able to contribute to this team. I’m never fond of seeing players kind of hold on just to hold on. I really want to have an impact on this team. And if I can check enough boxes, then yeah, I’m still game. I’m still going.

Hannah Withiam is the Managing Editor at Just Women’s Sports. She previously served as an editor at The Athletic and a reporter at the New York Post. Follow her on Twitter @HannahWithiam.