LOS ANGELES — Two seasons ago, Haley Jones was named the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player after guiding the Stanford women’s basketball team to a national championship. This year, fresh off falling to UConn in the Final Four in April, the rising senior said her offseason has been focused on ball-handling and shooting from the perimeter.

As opposed to switching between playing in the backcourt and frontcourt, as she did her first three years at Stanford, Jones expects to embrace a heavier guard role in 2022-23.

“This year, I’m going to be a guard 90 percent of the time,” the 6-foot-1 Santa Cruz native said.

Last season, Jones led the Cardinal with 3.7 assists per game, despite not being the team’s primary point guard. She also averaged 13.2 points and 7.9 rebounds per contest.

Jones’ ability to play each position on the court led Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer to compare her to NBA legend Magic Johnson. As a kid, Jones’ parents would often encourage her to play all five positions, telling her that if she could do so, there would be more playing time for her. She said continuing to build every aspect of her game will allow her to find a role on the WNBA team that drafts her next year.

Incoming UCLA freshman point guard and 2021-22 Gatorade Women’s Athlete of the Year Kiki Rice, who began watching Jones during her freshman year in college, said she was always drawn to playing with her.

“She’s extremely versatile,” Rice said about Jones. “Her ability to affect the game in so many ways is impressive. I’m really impressed by her passing ability. She has a point guard’s vision and IQ but can also play inside.

“I know there are going to be some fun matchups playing against Stanford this year.”

While the rest of the Cardinal’s schedule has yet to be announced, college basketball fans are in for an early-season treat on Nov. 20 when Stanford takes on reigning champion South Carolina.

Get your popcorn ready.

The 2021 and 2022 National Champions will face off on November 20, 2022 at Maples Pavilion. pic.twitter.com/a6bgDR8heG

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) July 13, 2022

The Cardinal will bring a top-five freshman class to those matchups, a group that includes No. 1 recruit Lauren Betts of Grandview (Colo.). Jones describes them as coachable.

“What I like most about them is they seek help from the older players,” Jones said. “They’re constantly asking, ‘What can I do better? What are the reads you’re making? And can we work extra?’ Them being that way is going to help our team chemistry, but also help them individually down the road.”

This offseason has been Jones’ first running the point full time, and she’s relishing being a mentor to the two incoming point guards, Indya Nivar and Talana Leopolo.

“Now, all of a sudden, I’m in the leadership role, and I’m the old one,” Jones said. “Last year, I still felt like a freshman as a junior. It’s a different role to take on. It’s been really cool to be able to mentor the younger players.”

The newfound mentor is part of one of the strongest senior classes in the history of women’s basketball, partly as a function of some players taking advantage of a fifth year of eligibility due to the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season.

Jones named South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston and Zia Cooke as well as Virginia Tech’s Ashley Owusu as fellow natural seniors she expects to be elite professional prospects next year. As for the fifth-year seniors, Jones acknowledged 6-foot-7 Oregon forward Sedona Prince and Iowa State sharpshooter Ashley Joens.

“Our class is kind of stacked,” Jones said. “There’s a lot of depth in next year’s draft class, a lot of players who can make impacts in the WNBA next year.”

Joshua Fischman is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports covering Angel City FC and the Los Angeles Sparks. He has covered basketball for Vantage Sports and Hoops Rumors and served as co-host of “On the NBA Beat” podcast. Joshua received his master’s in Sports Media from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Follow him on Twitter @SportsCommsJosh.

No. 3 South Carolina basketball suffered a blow this week, as top transfer Ta'Niya Latson exited the Gamecocks' 96-55 win over Providence with a lower leg injury on Sunday.

"She's smiling," South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said of Latson immediately following the game, offering an optimistic injury update. "She got treatment all through the second half."

The star senior guard, who turned 22 years old last Friday, joined South Carolina after leading Division I in scoring with Florida State last season.

This year, Latson's 16.9 points per game trails only sophomore forward Joyce Edwards's 21.4-point average on the Gamecocks' scoresheet.

While the full extent to Latson's injury and her potential time off the court is still unknown, any absence exacerbates the team's injury woes, as South Carolina lost standout forward Chloe Kitts to a season-ending injury before the 2025/26 campaign tipped off — with the Gamecocks battling additional availability limits throughout their roster all month.

That said, with the recent returns of forward Madina Okot and guard Agot Makeer from concussion protocol, the Gamecock bench is significantly less sparse, with both returnees impacting Sunday's South Carolina victory with a double-double.

Even more, Staley's squad will see additional roster relief when 18-year-old French center Alicia Tournebize joins the team midseason.

How to watch South Carolina basketball this week

The No. 3 Gamecocks will open the new year by tipping off their SEC slate on Thursday, when South Carolina hosts unranked Alabama at 2 PM ET.

The clash with the Crimson Tide will air live on SEC+.

The world's tennis stars are preparing to open 2026 play in Australia this weekend, with top WTA and ATP leaders on Team USA gearing up to defend their United Cup title starting this Friday.

The two-time champion US enters as the No. 1 seed in the fourth edition of the hard-court tournament, bolstered by the return of world No. 3 Coco Gauff to lead Team USA's six-player United Cup contingent.

With each tournament bout consisting of one WTA singles match, one ATP singles clash, and one mixed-doubles competition, Gauff notably claimed a straight-sets victory over Polish phenom No. 2 Iga Świątek to secure the 2025 title for the US.

"I'm super excited," the 21-year-old star said prior to this year's United Cup. "I had such a good time in my first year playing with the team, and I'm looking forward to going back."

With the 2026 Australian Open beginning in less than two weeks, the United Cup pits 18 national teams against each other as players from both the women's and men's tours tune up for next year's Slams.

Fellow WTA Top-10 stars Świątek and Italy's No. 8 Jasmine Paolini will join Gauff on the 2026 United Cup court, while fan favorite No. 16 Naomi Osaka will feature for tournament debutant Japan.

Also battling for national pride will be two winners of last season's WTA awards, with 2025 Newcomer of the Year No. 18 Vicky Mboko joining Team Canada and 2025 Comeback Player of the Year No. 11 Belinda Bencic competing for Switzerland.

How to watch the 2026 United Cup

The 2026 United Cup runs January 2nd through 11th, with live coverage airing on the Tennis Channel.

The No. 3 Minnesota Frost are looking to skate up the PWHL table, as the reigning back-to-back champs hope to make up ground before the third-year league breaks for the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Eight games into the 2025/26 season, the Boston Fleet top the PWHL standings with 19 points, trailed by the No. 2 Toronto Sceptres with 14, while the No. 4 Montréal Victoire sit one point behind the Frost with 11.

"Our league is good. Every game is going to be close," Minnesota head coach Ken Klee said last week. "It's just about getting better and keep accumulating points."

With the league's original six teams largely off to a hot start, there's only a few weeks left before players hang up their PWHL jerseys for February's Winter Games.

Teams outside the current playoff chase are also making a statement, as New York Sirens forward Casey O'Brien scored her first pro goals to power the sixth-place squad past the No. 5 Seattle Torrent 4-3 on Sunday — becoming the first rookie to record a hat trick in PWHL history in the process.

"We've been putting in a lot of work in practice and video, focusing on the little things," O'Brien said postgame. "Tonight felt like the payoff."

How to watch this week's PWHL action

The puck drops on the final 2025 PWHL matches on Tuesday, when the No. 3 Minnesota Frost visit the No. 2 Toronto Sceptres at 7 PM ET, airing live on Prime.

Closing out the year on Wednesday, the No. 6 New York Sirens will host the No. 7 Vancouver Goldeneyes at 1 PM ET, with live coverage airing on MSG Network.

San Diego made roster waves this week, as the 2022 NWSL expansion team announced on Monday that founding goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan is leaving the franchise in a mutual contract termination.

Sheridan joined the Wave ahead of the club's inaugural year, making 87 appearances over four seasons while registering nine shutouts in the team's 2023 Shield-winning campaign.

"Kailen has been an integral part of this Club since day one," Wave sporting director Camille Ashton said in a Monday statement. "We thank her for the contributions to this Club and this city and wish her the best in the next chapter of her career."

While San Diego hunts for a new starting keeper, they pointed to the future by also announcing the signing of Florida State defender Mimi Van Zanten on Monday.

Van Zanten is fresh off her second NCAA championship in three seasons, building youth experience with the USWNT before joining the Jamaica senior women's national team.

"Her championship experience and ability to contribute on both sides of the ball make her a strong addition to the Wave," Ashton remarked about the 20-year-old.

Ultimately, while San Diego has long had an aggressive transfer market approach, the move away from their 2023 Shield-winning core raises questions about the future of the Wave roster.