U.S. women’s national team forward Trinity Rodman milly rocked in front of China’s net in the first friendly of two friendlies between the squads. And her celebratory dance was well deserved.

In the 77th minute, Rodman found herself wide open in front of China’s net, where she tapped in a cross from Jaedyn Shaw for the USWNT’s third goal of the match. Her “dancey dance,” as she called it, served as the cherry on top of a standout performance for the 21-year-old in Saturday’s 3-0 win at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Along with her goal, Rodman contributed two assists, becoming the second-youngest player in fifteen years to log three goal contributions in a single game — Mallory Swanson clocked the same achievement in 2018 in a match against Denmark.

Rodman is one of the faces of the youth movement on the USWNT roster. The team entered its final matches of 2023 in a state of flux, with a new head coach in Emma Hayes incoming and the next generation of stars taking the reins.

“This camp is, we’ve been saying ‘starting fresh,’ just with the World Cup and everything, and Emma, being able to meet her, and obviously having new faces and being able to pay off younger faces,” Rodman said to TNT after the match.

There is still some veteran presence on the current USWNT roster, and the youth and the vets are already working together — Rodman assisted on goals from Lindsey Horan, 29, and Sophia Smith, 23, both staples of the starting lineup. And after a woman of the match-worthy performance, Rodman may become one too.

“In Trin’s words, she’s got a different level of focus,” USWNT interim head coach Twila Kilgore said. “She’s just been really intentional. We see that in training. We see that in games, and she’s starting to play more and more with the people around her as well. She’s obviously a very gifted individual player, and she’s looking to play more with her teammates.”

The USWNT will close out the year with another friendly against China at 8 p.m. ET Tuesday in Frisco, Texas.

Two Jamaica women’s national team members have said that “a number of players” still have not been paid their 2023 World Cup dues in full, in contrast to a statement given by the Jamaica Football Federation in October.

Jamaica goalkeeper Rebecca Spencer and forward Khadija “Bunny” Shaw claimed that some of the Reggae Girlz were still awaiting payments from the JFF in an interview with the Jamaican TV station SportsMax on Dec. 2.

“I can say that we haven’t [been fully compensated,] even up until now. I think that a number of players are missing payments back from February time,” Spencer said on “SportzMax Zone.”

Spencer’s statement contradicts a press release released by the JFF on Oct. 27, in which the federation states that it has indeed paid its World Cup team in full. Jamaica’s World Cup run included a number of firsts for the team: its first point, its first win and its first appearance in the knockout stage.

“The Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) is pleased to advise that, as committed, we have now paid in full balances due to the Women’s World Cup Team,” the JFF said in the statement. “We will also start processing payments to all players who played in the qualifying rounds but were not in the final World Cup squad.”

Just three days before the JFF announced its completed payments, the organization said in a statement that it did not have the funds necessary to pay the players what they were owed. The federation had received just $1.2 million of its $1.8 million in prize money from FIFA, per the statement, and would not be able “to afford to pay out funds we have not received.”

In the space of three days, though, the JFF claimed to have distributed the outstanding payments to players.

Jamaican players have spoken out against the JFF on multiple occasions, citing poor communication from the federation, a general lack of support and insufficient compensation for their work, among other things.

On June 15, many Reggae Girlz players, including Spencer, posted a letter to social media outlining grievances against the JFF.

“On multiple occasions, we have sat down with the federation to respectfully express concerns resulting from subpar planning, transportation, accommodations, training conditions, compensation, communication, nutrition, and accessibility to proper resources. We have also showed up repeatedly without receiving contractually agreed upon compensation. We were told that all our requests and concerns would be resolved in a timely manner,” the letter states.

Still, more than a month after the JFF claimed to have paid the “full balances” due to the Reggae Girlz, players are saying that is not the case.

“I think it’s just very unfortunate because it’s not even about the money. I think it’s about having good communication,” Shaw said on “SportsMax Zone.”

Spencer believes that communication breakdown could be at the root of the issues between the JFF and the women’s national team.

“I think as a group of players that we deserve honesty and respect in every angle,” Spencer said. “When you’re left with no communication for months or for weeks about what’s happening, it makes it really difficult for a group of players to want to show up and to want to keep going and going through this each and every time if nothing ever changes.

“We’re sitting here on this and we speak the truth and we just wish that they could do the same in return.”

Korbin Albert received her first-career call-up to the U.S. women’s national team in November.

And, according to USWNT interim head coach Twila Kilgore, the Paris Saint-Germain FC midfielder and former Notre Dame player is fitting in well with her new teammates. 

“I don’t think it’s easy to fly in, coming off the games that she’s come off of. She’s playing a bigger and bigger role at her club,” Kilgore told reporters on Dec. 1. “So she’s come in, she’s acclimated really well on a physical level. She’s integrated with the group really well. She’s taking information. She’s very, very studious.”

Albert, 20, has been a part of U.S. Soccer for years. She has played on the national futsal team, and she made appearances as a midfielder in the 2022 U-20 World Cup on behalf of the U.S.

While Albert is a midfielder through and through, the USWNT has been known to shuffle players’ positions. And Kilgore is making no exception of Albert. 

“We have been integrating her in training in multiple positions, and we’ll decide shortly how we’ll use her in the games,” Kilgore said.

Albert is versatile enough to play any midfield position. And while Kilgore did not reveal which positions Albert is playing in camp, she and incoming coach Emma Hayes could stretch Albert’s versatility even further.

For example, USWNT veteran Crystal Dunn, who was not named to the December roster, plays as a midfielder in the NWSL but defense for the USWNT. And Jenna Nighswonger played defense for Gotham FC in her rookie season but has been called up the USWNT as a midfielder.

Regardless of where she will be playing, Albert is a young player who likely has a long future with the USWNT.

“It’s been excellent, she’s in a great space to be able to functionally perform her job with understanding of the people around her, what her exact role within the subgroup in her line that she’d be playing with,” Kilgore said.

Angel Reese’s basketball superstardom earned her a lot of attention during her four-game absence from No. 7 LSU’s lineup. 

Her celebrity has also secured her a multi-year NIL deal with Reebok. Shaquille O’Neal is the new president of basketball for the brand, as well as a mentor of Reese’s, and he’s been helping Reese throughout her absence.

“I talked to Shaq every day. We FaceTimed, he called, he checked on me every single day to make sure I was good,” Reese said. “He told me every day, ‘This too shall pass.’ He’s been here before and he knows what it takes.”

Reese made a triumphant return to the court for the Tigers in Thursday’s 82-64 win against Virginia Tech. After the game, she did not go into any detail about the nature of her absence, continuing the precedent she and Tigers head coach Kim Mulkey set while she was gone. But some of the comments Reese made about speaking with Shaq may shed some light on the situation.

“Being able to have somebody like that was something that was really good for me. He told me when I was right, when I was wrong and told me what I needed to do to get back. And I know he’s probably going to call me after this game,” Reese said. 

Reese recorded 19 points and 9 rebounds against the Hokies. After the game, she shouted out her support system — likely including Shaq — for getting her through the intense scrutiny she endured during her time away from the team. Before Thursday, she had last played on Nov. 14.

“I want people to realize that I’m not just an athlete, I’m a human. I go through things, we all go through things. Being able to have so many people that are super supportive to me over this past week-and-a-half really showed me a lot and who really cares for me,” Reese said.

“When you’re up, everybody loves you. And when you’re down is when you see who really loves you. Being able to have such supportive people for me here through a tough time for me was really important.”

South Africa withdrew its bid to host the 2027 World Cup on Friday, citing issues with the time frame for preparation for the event. 

“The time frame for developing the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup bid has been challenging. This does not diminish our commitment to women’s football, and has instead strengthened our commitment to produce a strong South African women’s team for 2031, and a compelling bid for the same tournament,” the South African Football Association said in a statement. 

The remaining countries in the race to host the tournament include Brazil, a joint bid from Belgium, Germany, and The Netherlands, and a joint bid from the United States and Mexico. 

The U.S. hosted World Cups in 1999 and 2003 — the 2003 tournament was supposed to take place in China, but the SARS outbreak forced FIFA to move the games out of the country. 

There are still some obstacles in the way of a World Cup being played in the U.S. and Mexico, though. The World Cup has never been hosted by a South American country, making Brazil a high-quality bidder for the tournament. Germany hosted a World Cup in 2011 and splitting the games between three countries would provide the infrastructure needed for the tournament. 

The 2023 World Cup hosted by Australia and New Zealand was the first of the women’s tournaments to be held in two countries. The United States and Mexico would be pulling for a similar bid. And with a new head coach at the helm and a new-look team, the U.S. could host a new generation of national and international talent.

Emma Hayes has been officially named as the new head coach of the U.S. women’s national team. However, her duties as head coach do not begin until May — just two months before the U.S. women will be competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

In the meantime, Twila Kilgore remains the interim head coach of the U.S. squad. And Hayes and Kilgore have plans to collaborate on team decisions until Hayes takes over. 

“I have the ability to reach out to her at any time she will make time for me at any point and vice versa. We are very collaborative. We’re sharing information, knowledge sharing, in terms of the roster,” Kilgore said. 

Hayes and Kilgore collaborated on the USWNT’s December camp roster that was released on Nov. 20. According to Kilgore, she made a roster and Hayes offered her thoughts. 

“So there’s a provisional roster that comes out first, which I prepared,” Kilgore said. “I was able to share my ideas with Emma, [Emma was] able to share her ideas with me and we picked this roster collaboratively and we will do so moving forward.”

Hayes and Kilgore will continue to collaborate even after Hayes assumes her position as head coach as Kilgore will remain an assistant coach for the USWNT. And they have a lot in common when it comes to their visions for the team. 

The December roster left off a notable quantity of USWNT veterans because Hayes and Kilgore have a similar idea; the team needs to be more creative when it comes to scoring chances. 

“I think obviously both Emma and Twila have got their ideas around creativity of the team,” said Matt Crocker, the sporting director of the U.S. Soccer Federation. “And you know, what I will say is that the conversations that they’ve had already, there’s a huge amount of alignment.”

Until May, though, Kilgore is still the interim head coach who handles much of the daily work of maintaining the team. But Kilgore has made it clear that the roster could change at any moment, either in her or Hayes’ hands. 

“I’m handling all the day to day and working within the group. So yes, I did call all the players that were in the previous camp that aren’t on the roster and explain to them why,” Kilgore said. “Those conversations are between coach and player but I will say that each and every one of them are professionals. They responded as professionals would they understand that we’re watching everything they do, everything matters, that they’re not out of the mix, and that there’s equal opportunity moving forward to make this roster.”

No.7 LSU topped Virginia at the Cayman Islands Classic, 76-73, with help from its transfers and younger players. 

With two starters out of their lineup — Angel Reese and Sa’Myah Smith — head coach Kim Mulkey and the Tigers had to look elsewhere for scoring production. And Aneesah Morrow delivered. 

Morrow knocked down 37 points and grabbed 16 rebounds in her biggest game at LSU yet. 

“That’s one of my prouder victories in all of my coaching career,” LSU head coach Kim Mulkey said to nola.com. “Under the circumstances this team has had to deal with, to win that game and have players playing out of position and ask them to do things that they’re not comfortable with, just a gutsy performance.”

The transfer from DePaul notched her second-consecutive double-double in a Tigers uniform after she collected 28 points and 10 rebounds against Niagara on Friday. Morrow is used to earning double-doubles — she only had 53 in her two seasons with DePaul.

Hailey Van Lith, a transfer from Louisville, also had a successful night for LSU. She was the only other Tiger to score in double-digits, scoring 12 points for her squad. 

“Aneesah and Hailey bring experience to our team right now,” Mulkey said to Tiger Rag. “They’re experience having played at the college level is helping us right now. What they don’t know about our system, they know about the toughness of the game at this level.”

No. 1 South Carolina only allowed 19 points in its rout of Mississippi Valley State on Friday, setting a program record for the fewest points allowed in a game. 

The Devils actually opened the game with a lead. They sank the first basket, and then the Gamecocks came to life. They went on to win, 101-19 — an 82-point margin. 

Seven South Carolina players registered double-digit numbers on the scoresheet, including Kamilla Cardoso, who put up a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Cardoso has four double-doubles in the Gamecocks’ five games. MiLaysia Fulwiley led her squad in the score column with 17 points. 

Cardoso’s stifling defense no doubt played a part in South Carolina’s victory. The six-foot-seven senior batted down five blocks, a third of her team’s total. The Gamecocks forced 19 turnovers and collected 20 points off the takeaways.

Te-Hina PaoPao returned to South Carolina’s lineup against Mississippi Valley and she contributed significantly to her team’s success. She is one of the seven players that reached double-digit scoring numbers with 10 points on the night and she grabbed 8 rebounds. 

“It makes a big difference to have someone like Pao who’s always cool, calm and collected,” South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said to Greenville News. “You have to guard her, and she doesn’t take bad shots. It was great to have her back on the floor.”

Sh’Diamond McKnight led the Devils in scoring with eight points. Her squad shot just 12% from the field and they scored just seven points in the second half.

No. 2 UCLA beat No. 6 UConn basketball for the first time in the history of the program on Friday night, 78-67 — not for Paige Bueckers’ lack of trying. 

Despite the Huskies receiving their second loss of the season at the Cayman Islands Classic, Bueckers performed exceedingly well. But even with her multiple team-leading outings, UConn has earned its second double-digit loss this season, its most in its first five games since the 1991-92 slate. 

The Huskies’ struggles are best summed up by their head coach Geno Auriemma: “You can’t beat a really good team with one player.”

Bueckers’ 31 points against the Bruins came in at just under half of her squad’s total on the night. The senior guard is a consistent high-scorer, but without Azzi Fudd and Caroline Ducharme in the lineup, UConn is going to need more. 

“It was disappointing that we didn’t get more contributions from more people. Our combinations are all screwed up right now, so that’s got to get sorted out. We struggled, we had our runs, we just didn’t have enough,” Auriemma said. 

Aubrey Griffin went off on a few runs to register a good performance for the Huskies. She clocked 11 points, seven rebounds, four steals and a block. 

“The way Aubrey played for long stretches in that game, that’s how she’s got to start the game,” Auriemma said. “Aubrey needs to do it before we get down 15 points. That’s the issue with some of our players, they just take a long time to get going.”

No other UConn players had notable performances against the Bruins. Even Aaliyah Edwards, the Huskies highest scorer last season, struggled in the Cayman Islands. She went 2-12 before fouling out late in the game. 

“Basically, UCLA defended one player and was content to let anyone else have any shot they wanted and they didn’t make any,” Auriemma said. “… Other people are going to have to step up and have to make shots. We have to find a way to get some sort of cohesiveness on offense, we look disjointed a lot of times. I’ve got to fix that.”

No. 2 UCLA basketball remains undefeated this season, in no small part due to Kiki Rice’s contributions against No. 6 UConn. 

The sophomore guard dropped 24 points en route to her program’s first-ever win against the Huskies. She also grabbed 11 rebounds and eight assists. She led her squad to its fifth win of the season in its toughest match so far, 78-67. 

“We wanted her to come out with an attack mentality,” UCLA head coach Cori Close said to Michael Voepel. “She has put so much work in. She’s just been a rock star for us.” 

Charisma Osborne and Lauren Betts also showed out at  the Cayman Islands Classic with 18 and 13 points, respectively. 

“We really were confident that if we executed the game plan, that we were going to win,” Close said to the Associated Press. “I say that with great respect (for UConn) but I really believe in what this team is building.”

Paige Bueckers had a standout night for the Huskies, leading all scorers with her 31 points — almost half of UConn’s total. But no one else on the team scored more than 11 points. And head coach Geno Auriemma does not believe that is enough to win games. 

“You can’t beat a really good team with one player,” Auriemma said. “It was disappointing that we didn’t get more contributions from more people. Our combinations are all screwed up right now, so that’s got to get sorted out.. We struggled, we had our runs, we just didn’t have enough.”