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A new era: Indiana Fever turn the page with loaded rookie draft class

L-R: NaLyssa Smith, Queen Egbo, Lexie Hull, Emily Engstler and Destanni Henderson (front) pose for a photoshoot during the Fever’s media day. (Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images)

There was a different kind of energy in Gainbridge Fieldhouse during the Indiana Fever’s media day last Wednesday. The atmosphere was relaxed, and loud music, laughter and the sweet anticipation of things to come filled the air.

The WNBA season tips off this Friday, and with it, the Fever embark on a new rebuilding phase in the franchise’s 22-year history. Indiana finished last season with the worst record in the league, winning only six games. After making the playoffs every year from 2005-16, the Fever haven’t had a winning season since 2015 and have missed the last five postseasons, the longest active drought in the WNBA.

This season, the Fever are counting on their youth to help turn the franchise around. With four selections in the first round of the WNBA Draft, the most a team has ever made, Indiana infused its roster with elite college-level talent: NaLyssa Smith, Emily Engstler, Lexie Hull and Queen Egbo. They then scooped up the star of the NCAA championship game, South Carolina point guard Destanni Henderson, in the second round.

“We’re all a group of talented, young women,” Egbo says. “We bring a lot to the game and we know what we’re capable of doing.”

“I’m not even gonna lie, [we] just want to do better than they did last year” adds Egbo’s former Baylor teammate, NaLyssa Smith. “I mean, we have a great group of people that can help get a lot further than they did last year and potentially make a playoff run.”

***

When Lin Dunn first returned to the Fever in mid-February to take over as interim general manager after Tamika Catchings stepped down, she didn’t realize how different the role would be from coaching.

“It’s challenging,” she says. “I think I said this when I took the job — I wouldn’t have done this anywhere else. I have a longtime relationship with the Fever, Pacers Sports and Entertainment, and the connections I have with those people. So when they asked me to help, there was no way I could say no. But now I’m finding the role very challenging, very interesting.”

Dunn, a 50-year coaching veteran who won a WNBA championship during her prior tenure with the Fever from 2004-14, was all in on the opportunity to rebuild the franchise. She made initial changes during free agency, waiving Kysre Gondrezick (the fourth overall pick in 2020) and trading Teaira McCown (third overall in 2019) to the Dallas Wings. Then, Dunn got to work on preparing for the draft. For two months, she focused on the best players available and didn’t get too caught up on position — though it was obvious Indiana needed immediate frontcourt help.

“Of course, we were all over researching Rhyne Howard and NaLyssa Smith, because we agreed with the media that those were the two best picks in the draft,” Dunn says. “We spent time on them because we knew we were going to get one of them.”

As expected, once the Atlanta Dream took Howard with the first pick in the draft, Indiana scooped up Smith with the second.

“I was excited to get drafted to the Fever,” Smith says. “Just because I knew it was a franchise that needed people that could help them. And I knew I could come to this [team] and help it.”

After Smith, Indiana — thanks to multiple offseason trades — had three more first-round draft picks at its disposal. They discussed the next best available players at four and at six, and then looked to fill other holes on the roster as the draft went on. Engstler, the Louisville standout forward who does a little bit of everything on both ends of the floor, was the next pick at four. Then came Stanford’s sharpshooter, Hull, at six. And when media pundits and analysts opined that the pick may have been a reach, Dunn guffawed.

Right after she made the selection, she says, her phone buzzed with a text from another team asking what she wanted for Hull. If the Fever hadn’t grabbed Hull at six, Dunn believes she would have been off the board by the time they picked again at 10.

“So, obviously I made the right decision or we would have lost her,” Dunn says. “I don’t really care what the pundits or the media think. I care about what I think we need, and Lexie is exactly what we needed.”

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Smith and Egbo have reunited on the Fever after playing all four years together at Baylor. (PSE/Matt Kryger)

Egbo (10th pick) and Henderson (20th pick) rounded out the Fever’s first- and second-round class. Dunn walked away from draft night more than content with the results, emphasizing that the Fever not only got the players they wanted, but also the players who can come in and make an immediate impact.

“If you’ve done any research on our roster, these people are gonna play,” Dunn says. “It’s not like some of the other teams that are drafting people to play backup roles or limited minute roles. We drafted people to play. And so, even though we were the last-place team, if I was a prospect, I’d want to go to Indiana because I want to play.”

***

After commissioner Cathy Engelbert called Engstler’s name for Indiana, Smith sent her a text right away. And as Engstler made her way through the media gauntlet on the draft floor in New York City, she kept a close eye on the stage.

“I saw Lexie get drafted and I was like, ‘Oh snap!’ Like, Stanford, Baylor, Louisville, South Carolina. These are the top, top players you can get,” Engstler says, beaming. “I had just played against Destanni, and she was killing it in the tournament. [I’m] super excited to get a chance to play with her. I knew Queen and ‘Lyss, so I was excited to get to see Queen again. So, old friendships, making new friends, and just great people.”

The rigors of a WNBA training camp are challenging, especially for rookies. The women’s college basketball season is long, and for teams that make it far into the NCAA Tournament, it’s even longer. For players like Engstler, Hull and Henderson, whose teams competed in the Final Four in Minneapolis, they had just over a week to transition from March Madness, to the draft and to a whole new city with a fresh set of teammates. That’s why, for this group, entering the next phase of their basketball careers together is unique.

“I don’t think a lot of players get that opportunity, to really get drafted with a bunch of other draftees and kind of restart with such a young group,” Engstler says. “People might think that’s an issue, but I think that’s going to set us apart from a lot of teams. We’re gonna be fast, eager to learn and be educated, and I think that’s exactly what we’ve been doing since we’ve gotten here.”

That sentiment is shared among the whole draft class. Each rookie is not only excited to be in Indiana and to be a part of the rebuild, but they are also all relishing the opportunity to do it together.

“I feel like we all bring something different, but we all mesh together really well,” Egbo says.

“Lexie can shoot the s–t out of the ball. So can ‘Lyss. They’re amazing scorers. You have Emily who can do a little bit of everything. I take a lot of pride in defense and taking that defensive game to the floor. And Destanni’s just a true point guard. She looks to get other people open, she looks to make the right play and the right read, and she’s very selfless.”

“We can rely on each other coming from the collegiate level, and just all learning and growing at the same time,” adds Henderson. “Joining all of our styles of play together, being able to play a little bit freely, just making it happen on and off the court, whatever the case may be.”

The talent level of the Fever’s rookie class is off the charts. But chemistry is also an important part of any roster, and this core group seems to have plenty of it. As they prepare for their season opener against the Washington Mystics on Friday, the Fever have had very little downtime during the three-week preseason, but the rookies have tried to bring levity to the locker room and team meals.

“I love being around them,” Egbo says. “They always make me laugh. I could be sad, I could be mad, and once they come around, it’s just nothing but giggles. They’re all so funny. We just gel really well together.”

“It’s been awesome. We’ve hung out outside of basketball and everyone’s just great people, so it’s a great place to be, great people to be around and I’m excited for the next few months,” Hull adds.

The immediate goal for this group is to win more than six games. It’s something they all agree on, but they also don’t want to just stop there.

“All of the rookies and I were talking and we’ve never been on a losing team,” Hull says. “We want to win and win games — as many of those as we can, that’s our goal. And if we can make the playoffs, that’d be great.”

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Engstler, Henderson and Hull were drafted to the Indiana a week after playing in the Final Four with their college teams. (PSE/Matt Kryger)

There’s a lot of talk of surprising people, moving up in the standings, making the playoffs and even putting together a championship run. The latter might seem like a stretch for a young team with so many rookies, and no one expects it to happen overnight, least of all Dunn.

Between Dunn, 74, and head coach Marianne Stanley, in her 21st year coaching in the WNBA, the Fever are not focused on wins this season as much as they are on marked improvement in certain areas — notably hitting more 3s, increasing their 3-point percentage and playing better defense.

“What we’re gonna do, we’re gonna play these young players and we’re gonna let them play through their mistakes and we’re gonna let them grow up,” Dunn says. “Just like a child, they’re gonna crawl and walk and run. And hopefully by the end of the season, they will have continued to get better and realize what it takes to be a pro.”

Regardless of where Indiana ends up in the standings at the end of the season, the organization is confident in the foundation it’s building. After all, there’s never been a rookie draft class quite like this before.

“We’re just going to come in and make the best of it, showcase ourselves and show people the great things we can do,” Henderson says. “We can lean on each other when things get hard, ask questions and grow together.”

Lyndsey D’Arcangelo is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports, covering the WNBA and college basketball. She also contributes to The Athletic and is the co-author of “Hail Mary: The Rise and Fall of the National Women’s Football League.” Follow Lyndsey on Twitter @darcangel21.

First-time LPGA Tour Champion Yealimi Noh Wins Founders Cup

US golfer Yealimi Noh poses with her 2025 Founders Cup trophy.
Yealimi Noh earned her first LPGA win at the Founders Cup on Sunday. (James Gilbert/Getty Image)

After four days of stiff competition, the 2025 Founders Cup yielded a first-time LPGA Tour winner on Sunday as US golfer Yealimi Noh surged to victory on strong back-nine play in Bradenton, Florida.

The world No. 32-ranked Noh kicked off her sixth season with the LPGA by lifting her first trophy in her 111th start.

In just two holes on Sunday, the 23-year-old flipped a one-shot deficit into a three-shot lead, eventually claiming the $300,000 championship check with an overall 21-under-par performance.

"I always knew it would happen and it was a matter of time," Noh told reporters after her win. "To really get it done, and especially in the first tournament of the year, is really nice."

Noh, who earned a captain's nod in the 2021 Solheim Cup, is officially on an upswing. After less successful 2022 and 2023 seasons, she made 21 cuts across her 25 LPGA starts in 2024, helping fuel last weekend's blockbuster 2025 debut.

"Having a lot of better results and getting my confidence back and contending a few times last season really helped me carry that out through the winter and just really prepare for this week," she explained. "[I] just felt really ready — this was going to be my year and week."

South Korea's Jin Young Ko plays a shot during the 2025 Founders Cup's final round.
Jin Young Ko made bogeys on Sunday's 13th and the 14th hole to finish the Founders Cup in second place. (James Gilbert/Getty Images)

Founders Cup sees additional standout performances

Just behind Noh on last weekend's leaderboard is No. 7 Jin Young Ko. The South Korean star's narrow lead fell when she made her first bogeys of the competition, logging two back-to-back on Sunday.

The 15-time LPGA title-winner capped her tournament four strokes back from Noh, with US golfer and world No. 17 Megan Khang one stroke behind Ko in third place.

World No. 1 Nelly Korda finished tied for seventh place after capping her Founders Cup outing nine shots behind Noh.

The US star will next take a seven-week break, opting to sit out the upcoming trio of LPGA Tour stops in Asia. Korda will instead continue to search for her first victory of 2025 at the end of March, when she tees off at the Ford Championship in Chandler, Arizona.

Unrivaled Cancels Game, Shortens 1v1 Tournament Due to Player Injuries

Rose BC's Angel Reese and Mist BC's Aaliyah Edwards stand on the Unrivaled court during a 3x3 game.
Injuries forced Unrivaled to shorten this week's 1v1 tournament. (Rich Storry/Getty Images)

Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball hit an injury wall this weekend, forcing the inaugural offseason league to cancel one regular-season game and truncate this week's 1v1 tournament.

With multiple Laces players sidelined, the league called off the team's Saturday night matchup against Vinyl BC.

Similarly, after seven participants had to pull out of Unrivaled's hotly anticipated 30-player 1v1 tournament, the league responded by shortening the contest's first round.

With all teams camped together on Unrivaled's Miami campus, specific details concerning player availability as well as injury type and severity have been tough to come by.

Laces stars Alyssa Thomas (knee) and Tiffany Hayes (concussion) both exited the 1v1 tournament after suffering injuries in previous Unrivaled matchups, putting their fitness statuses in question as the 2025 WNBA season looms.

Fellow Laces standouts Kayla McBride and Kate Martin, plus Rose BC's Brittney Sykes and Phantom stars Natasha Cloud and Marina Mabrey, will not participate. The withdrawal is "due to lingering injuries and to prioritize player wellbeing for regular-season games," per Unrivaled.

Injuries shrink Unrivaled 1v1 tournament's first round

Instead of a planned 14 games split across an afternoon session and an evening set on Monday, the now eight-game opening round of the league's 1v1 contest will occur in a single night of competition.

In an effort to maintain the original bracket as much as possible, Unrivaled decided against making any changes to its first-round matchups.

Because of this, five additional athletes will join the previously announced Jewell Loyd and Arike Ogunbowale in snagging first-round byes, with Courtney Williams, DiJonai Carrington, Satou Sabally, Rae Burrell, and Azurá Stevens now also set to tip off their 1v1 journeys during Tuesday's second round.

Unrivaled's reliance on short, elite rosters has spelled heated competition on a star-stacked court, but the strategy is now revealing its shortcomings. Such slim margins leave the league scrambling whenever one of their players — all of whom plan to return to the WNBA in mid-May — needs a break to prioritize rest and recovery.

Mist BC's DiJonai Carrington dribbles the ball during an Unrivaled 3x3 game.
DiJonai Carrington is one of five players who now have 1v1 tournament byes because of league injuries. (Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)

How to watch Unrivaled's 1v1 tournament

The three-day competition tips off its eight-game first round at 7 PM ET on Monday. Both the second round and quarterfinals are set to begin at 7 PM ET on Tuesday, with the semifinals and finals slated for Friday at 7:30 PM ET.

All games will air live on truTV, with TNT also broadcasting Monday's and Friday's sessions.

Texas Snaps South Carolina’s SEC Streak in NCAA Weekend Action

South Carolina's Joyce Edwards tried to defend a shot from Texas guard Madison Booker on Sunday.
Texas handed South Carolina their first SEC loss since 2021. (Adam Davis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

No. 4 Texas basketball claimed their revenge over No. 2 South Carolina on Sunday, taking down the reigning NCAA champs 66-62 to even the pair's regular-season series at 1-1.

In the process, the Longhorns snapped South Carolina's 57-game regular-season SEC winning streak — a victory chain dating back to December 2021.

Texas star sophomore Madison Booker led all scorers with 20 points and 11 rebounds, prompting South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley to levy high praise by calling her "a beast on the boards" after the game.

Texas basketball players celebrate their victory over South Carolina on Sunday.
Texas could claim the SEC's top spot outright by defeating LSU on Sunday. (Scott Wachter/Imagn Images)

Strength of SEC sets up fight for NCAA tournament positioning

This weekend's results ultimately bottlenecked Texas, South Carolina, and LSU into a three-way regular-season tie for first-place in the SEC — one of the NCAA's toughest leagues.

The No. 6 Tigers earned their own marquee win on Sunday, downing No. 19 Tennessee 82-77.

With that result, all three teams now have 10-1 conference records, though LSU and Texas could break from the line during their possible winner-take-all date this Sunday.

All in all, the Southeast's depth is both a blessing and a curse.

On one hand, the conference's elite teams are gearing up to take March Madness by storm: Each of the SEC's top trio is likely to finish the season as an AP Top-10 team, ultimately earning a strong seeding throughout the postseason.

Other strong squads, however, must grapple with under-seeding due to disappointing conference records suffered in the gauntlet of the SEC.

For example, despite last week's big win over No. 5 UConn, Tennessee's string of slim conference losses have them sitting 4-6 in SEC play. This means that the Vols will likely face an uphill battle to claim beneficial seeding in March's NCAA tournament, giving them a disproportionately difficult road to the Final Four.

Lauren Betts isn't done with the NCAA

Already looking beyond the 2024/25 NCAA postseason, star center Lauren Betts will return to UCLA next season and forego the 2025 WNBA Draft, the National Player of the Year candidate confirmed on Friday.

Ranked No. 1 out of high school, the 6-foot-7 junior transferred to the Bruins from Stanford after her freshman year, making the 21-year-old eligible to pass up her senior season and instead turn pro this spring.

"College is the best years of your life, and so I don't think I'd ever give that up," Betts told ESPN. "Why not be spoiled for a whole another year?"

"The way the coaches take care of us in this program, like, how comfortable I am here, and I think that the friendships I've created -- I'd want to do that for another year," she added.

She also cited the opportunity to play with her sister, incoming UCLA freshman forward Sienna Betts, as a factor in her decision to remain in the NCAA.

"I think that I would be crazy if I gave up the opportunity to play with my sister, so obviously, I'm going to come back next year," Betts said.

NCAA basketball UConn Huskies guard Paige Bueckers (5) pose for pictures with UConn Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma honoring 1,000 career point prior to the women's college basketball game between Louisville Cardinals and UConn Huskies.
UConn star Paige Bueckers is expected to go pro this year. (BM. Anthony Nesmith/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

WNBA teams eye draft-eligible college athletes

Betts isn't the only top college player weighing her options. A number of factors are impacting the decision NCAA standouts currently face in deciding when to turn pro, from NIL money to the new CBA expected to reshape the WNBA in 2026.

Lottery locks like UConn's Paige Bueckers and Notre Dame's Olivia Miles could technically also opt to stay in school for another year. However, neither has indicated any plans to do so.

Accordingly, WNBA franchises eyeing the upcoming draft have noted that the volatility of the market is affecting first-round pick trades. Teams would be unwise to place their bets on every top NCAA prospect making the leap this April.

UEFA Draw Sets Champions League Quarterfinals

The UEFA Champions League trophy sits on display before the 2024/25 quarterfinals draw.
Eight teams' paths to May's Champions League final in Lisbon were determined in Friday's draw. (Kristian Skeie - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

The 2024/25 Champions League quarterfinals are officially set, with UEFA drawing the remaining eight teams into the field early Friday morning.

The annual season-long competition pits Europe's top leagues against each other. This season, 72 clubs across 50 different leagues qualified for the contest. From the UK to Ukraine, all teams have been vying for the continent's top-dog status amidst a cutthroat atmosphere and a growing sense of parity in the sport.

Two qualifying rounds narrowed the initial teams down to the 16 contending in the tournament's official group stage. Each played six group-stage matches from October through December to determine the eight clubs that advanced to Friday's final draw.

A screen shows the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League quarterfinal pairings at Friday's draw.
Four previous champions made the 2024/25 Champions League quarterfinals. (Kristian Skeie - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

The road to Champions League glory in Lisbon

All remaining clubs are now eyeing the May 24th final in Lisbon, Portugal, and Friday's draw mapped each team's path to that championship match. The 2024/25 quarterfinals will feature four former champions and four seeking a first-ever trophy, with both familiar fights and rarely tested toss-ups on deck.

Both the March quarterfinals and April semifinals employ a two-leg format, offering teams who suffer narrow first losses a shot at second-match redemption.

Friday's draw determined that WSL contenders Arsenal will kick off the tournament's quarterfinals against Real Madrid on March 18th, with Germany's Bayern Munich taking on France's 2024 UWCL runners-up Olympique Lyonnais shortly afterwards.

The following day, Bayern's Frauen-Bundesliga foes Wolfsburg will face Spain's 2024 UWCL champs FC Barcelona. Closing out the initial tilts is a WSL standoff between Manchester City and the UK league's undefeated titans Chelsea FC.

Lyon's Michele Kang, president of the winningest Champions League team in history, speaks to the media after Friday's UEFA draw.
Backed by club president Michele Kang, Lyon will seek its record ninth UWCL title this year. (Kristian Skeie - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

Increased global parity to test UWCL dynasties

With eight of the tournament's 23 titles under their belts, Lyon is the winningest team in UWCL history. Meanwhile, current back-to-back champions Barcelona claimed three of the last four trophies.

Despite the recent two-team domination, capturing this season's title will be a challenge. Hoping to spoil Lyon's and Barcelona's dynastic runs is four first-time title-hunters, plus two-time winners Wolfsburg and early champion Arsenal — who won the trophy in 2007, when the tournament was called the UEFA Women's Cup.

All in all, the European crown has never been tougher to claim, with leagues across the continent increasingly stocking up on standout — and potentially game-changing — players from beyond their borders.

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