Propelled by monster performances from Caitlin Clark and Monika Czinano, No. 4 Iowa women’s basketball escaped an upset in an overtime contest with Drake on Sunday.

And while the Hawkeyes celebrated the 92-86 victory in Clark’s hometown, there was a feeling of déjà vu – and not the good kind.

Because while their comeback was exciting, it also heralded back to many of Iowa’s games last year, and to this common storyline: Clark and Czinano were a dynamic scoring duo, but where were the rest of the Hawkeyes?

When Iowa was bounced by Creighton in the NCAA tournament, the issue that plagued them all season came front and center in their downfall. Clark and Czinano take on too much, and other Hawkeyes need to step up.

Against Creighton, Clark finished with 15 points, while Czinano had 27. No other Iowa player scored more than 6 points.

Against Drake, the scoresheet looked similar, as Clark and Czinano combined for 64 of Iowa’s 92 points. The only other Hawkeye who hit double digits was McKenna Warnock, who finished with 11.

Is this a new season with the same issues for the Hawkeyes?

Iowa has played three games, winning all three, and against Evansville and Southern, Iowa had more offensive contributors. Those teams, though, aren’t on the same level as Drake.

The Bulldogs are getting votes in the AP Top 25 poll, and a game against No. 22 Nebraska on Saturday might give a better indication of how good Drake really is. Led by sophomore Katie Dinnebier with 24 points, all five Bulldog starters finished in the double digits in scoring. They also held Clark to 9-for-28 shooting (32%), well below her 2021-22 average of 45.2%.

By the time the season ends, don’t be surprised if we see Drake with a few upsets to its name and a chance at an NCAA tournament bid. So Drake is a good basketball team, but that just underlines the concern over Iowa’s depth.

Clark and Czinano can’t do it all, and despite the initial look of the box score against Drake, there is potential for a few other players to step up going forward.

McKenna Warnock

The 6-foot-1 senior has made her name over the last three seasons as an elite rebounder, and against Drake, she surpassed Chase Coley to set Iowa’s rebounding record. Warnock also had 11 points, the only other double-digit scorer for Iowa, and she posted that mark while battling foul-trouble.

Last season Warnock averaged 11 points per game, and through three games this season, she’s averaging 10.3. Still, she’s had big scoring bursts, scoring over 20 points four times last season.

If the Hawkeyes can get even a couple more buckets per game from Warnock, taking her average up to around 15 points, that could make a difference. If she’s more of a threat, then opponents will have to devote more defensive resources to Warnock, opening things up for Clark, Czinano and hopefully making way for more scoring from other Hawkeyes.

Gabbie Marshall

The senior guard has never been a big scorer, averaging 6.9 points over her career, but there has been one offensive bright spot for Marshall: 3-point shooting. She’s off to a slow start this year (2-for-12), but the senior is at 40.8% for her career.

Last season she attempted around four 3-pointers per game, a number that hasn’t changed this season. But it should. Marshall needs to be more aggressive in shooting, because good things happen for the Hawkeyes when she’s making 3s. Against Drake, she made two 3s in the third quarter, which is when Iowa mounted its comeback to retake the lead.

Molly Davis

At this point in the season, Davis is a question mark. She transferred to Iowa after three successful seasons at Central Michigan. In the MAC, she had scoring success, leading her team with 18.6 points per game. But so far at Iowa, Davis is averaging 5.3 points per game in 25 minutes of action per contest.

Ideally, Davis will adjust to playing with the Hawkeyes and bring some of the scoring she did for Central Michigan to the court. But so far, that hasn’t happened.

Hannah Stuelke

If you’re an Iowa fan, here’s the player to be most excited about. It’s possible for Warnock and Marshall to increase their scoring averages, but as seniors, who have been averaging similar numbers every season, it’s not likely.

Stuelke, on the other hand, can become a third scoring option for the Hawkeyes. The 6-foot-2 freshman was ranked No. 45 in the nation coming into the season.

Named Miss Iowa Basketball during her senior season at Washington High School, she averaged 29.1 points in her final year, topping the entire state of Iowa. Scoring doesn’t always translate from the high school level to college, but Stuelke brings plenty of promise.

She scored 10 points in the season opener against Southern, then 14 against Evansville. The freshman had a harder time with Drake, finishing with 5 points on 2-for-6 shooting. It might take a while to settle in when it comes to higher-level competition, but Stuelke is playing about 15 minutes per game, and coach Lisa Bluder seems to trust her. Her natural scoring ability should develop as the season goes on, and by the time March Madness arrives, don’t be surprised to see her playing a big offensive role for the Hawkeyes.

The USA women's hockey team came out on top over the weekend, kicking off the four-game 2025 Rivalry Series against Canada by dominating their northern neighbors, outscoring them by an impressive 10-2 margin across the pair's first two games.

US forward Abbey Murphy emerged as a series star, scoring a natural hat trick in the team's 4-1 win in Cleveland on Thursday — the first three-goal turn by a USA player against Canada since team captain Hilary Knight did so at the 2023 IIHF Women's World Championship.

"I told [Murphy], 'You set the bar pretty high,'" said Knight, who added her own hat trick to the mix in Saturday's 6-1 victory in Buffalo.

"I love how we showed up," the 36-year-old continued. "We've been working like dogs since August and to get rewarded for our work, and see situations that we need to work on."

Notably, while the USA brought their entire 2025 world championship-winning roster to the first two Rivalry Series games, Canada chose to evaluate some fresh faces while resting a number of standout veterans, including their No. 1 goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens — a fact that should temper the sting of adding two big losses to their now four-game skid against the US.

With women's hockey taking over Milan at the 2026 Winter Olympics in February, the last two 2025 Rivalry Series matchups will more likely see both sides testing their final rosters for Italy.

How to watch the final games in the 2025 Rivalry Series

Canada will welcome the USA for the last two matchups in the 2025 Rivalry Series, with the puck dropping in Edmonton, Alberta, at 9 PM ET for both the December 10th and 13th clashes.

Both games will air live on the NHL Network.

The LPGA is bringing star power to Florida this week, as a wealth of women's golf talent — and one basketball superstar — tee off at the 2025 edition of The ANNIKA.

Kicking off the event on Wednesday was the annual Pro-Am, with Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark headlining the field for the second straight year.

World No. 2 golfer Nelly Korda once again joined Clark through her first nine holes, as Fever teammates Sophie Cunningham and Lexie Hull served as guest caddies.

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The four-day professional tournament will then tee off on Thursday, though current world No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul will not be in attendance for the second year in a row.

Korda, however, will lead the charge to both defend her 2024 title and secure her first win of the 2025 LPGA season — as well as add to her full trio of trophies collected at The ANNIKA.

Four other Top-10 players will look to upend Korda's back-to-back bid, including No. 3 Miyu Yamashita, No. 6 Charley Hull, No. 9 Mao Saigo, and No. 10 Lottie Woad.

With the 2025 CMA Group Tour Championship capping the LPGA season later this month, The ANNIKA will also see golfers on the bubble — like US stars Rose Zhang and 2023 champion Lilia Vu — try to snag enough points to make the end-of-year tournament's final 60-player cut.

How to watch The ANNIKA 2025 LPGA tournament

Coverage of the fifth edition of The ANNIKA continues through Sunday, airing live on the Golf Channel.

The No. 3 UCLA Bruins rose to the occasion on Monday, looking like 2025/26 NCAA basketball championship contenders as they took down the No. 6 Oklahoma Sooners 73-59 in Sacramento.

Utah transfer Gianna Kneepkens made the difference for the Bruins, leading all scorers with 20 points while opposing defenses limited both UCLA center Lauren Betts and Oklahoma big Raegan Beers to single digits.

Bruins forward Angela Dugalić also put up a standout performance, coming off the bench to score 16 points and snag 15 rebounds on Monday.

"There are so many weapons that I feel like it's hard for the defense to choose what to take away," Kneepkens said ahead of Monday's matchup. "What makes this team special is that any night could be someone's night."

Monday's clash with UCLA also served as the national broadcast debut of Oklahoma freshman guard Aaliyah Chavez, with the No. 1 high school basketball recruit seeing her first Top 10 NCAA matchup as a Sooner.

Chavez had a slow start against the experienced Bruins, registering 11 points, three assists, and two rebounds across her 32 minutes on the court.

How to watch UCLA basketball this week

The heat continues for No. 3 UCLA on Thursday, when the Bruins will host the No. 11 North Carolina Tar Heels at 9 PM ET, airing live on ESPN.

Newly formed offseason league Project B is stocking up, with Phoenix Mercury star forward Alyssa Thomas becoming the second big-name WNBA player to sign with the overseas venture ahead of its anticipated November 2026 debut.

Thomas follows Seattle Storm forward Nneka Ogwumike in joining Project B, a traveling tournament-style competition reportedly offering players significant pay raises into the seven- and even eight-figure echelon — as well as equity stakes in the league.

Thomas will still feature in the 2026 season of Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball this January, with the launch of Project B expected to conflict with Unrivaled's third season in 2027.

With salaries reportedly topping both Unrivaled and the WNBA, Project B's funding sources came into question after Ogwumike's announcement last week.

In February, The Financial Times named Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund as a league investor, though Project B co-founder Grady Burnett denied those claims to Front Office Sports last week.

However, the league is working with event partner Sela, a known subsidiary of the Saudi Public Investment Fund, though Burnett was quick to qualify that "Sela is one event partner that we pay money to. We do not have any dollars coming from them."

With the first season of Project B set to field 66 players, expect more high-profile signings to continue as the new venture adds to the increasingly crowded WNBA offseason space.