When Liz Cambage tied the game with a turnaround 9-footer and headed to the free-throw line with 15.1 seconds left in the Sparks’ home opener against the Minnesota Lynx, it appeared she may be the hero in her Crypto.com Arena debut. The 6-foot-8 Aussie missed the freebie, however, to keep the score deadlocked.

On the ensuing possession, Kayle McBride completed a three-point play with 2.1 seconds remaining after getting fouled on a reverse layup. It proved to be the game-winner, as Jordin Canada missed a desperation 3-pointer with time expiring and the Sparks lost their third straight game, 87-84.

McBride, who landed in Los Angeles from Turkey around 2 p.m. on Monday, poured in a game-high 24 points for the Lynx, hitting four of seven 3-pointers she attempted. Fifteen of the guard’s points came in the first quarter, including nine in the final 50.1 seconds of the frame.

KAYLA MCBRIDE CALLED GAME 😳 pic.twitter.com/oqC6CRiSxS

— Minnesota Lynx (@minnesotalynx) May 18, 2022

Sparks guard Katie Lou Samuelson also came a long way to make her 2022 WNBA season debut Tuesday night, enduring an eight-hour bus ride Friday and a 12-plus-hour flight on Saturday to return from overseas. After winning the Spanish league championship last Thursday, Samuelson tied her career high with three 3-pointers made for Los Angeles on Tuesday.

The former fourth overall draft pick first entered the game at the 5:33 mark of the first quarter, promptly nailing back-to-back 3s and drawing an offensive foul by taking an elbow to her chin.

“For them to make that commitment and play right off the plane, that’s remarkable,” Nneka Ogwumike said of McBride and Samuelson. “And not just play, show out. They both hooped tonight.”

Ogwumike showed out herself, leading L.A. with a season-high 22 points on 9-for-16 shooting from the floor, along with eight rebounds, three assists and zero turnovers.

In the paint, Cambage had her hands full with Minnesota center Sylvia Fowles, who contributed 20 points and 12 rebounds in a game-high 39 minutes before fouling out. Cambage, limited to just 25 minutes due to foul trouble, finished with 12 points, seven boards, three assists and three blocks.

After the Lynx went ahead 51-44 with 6:20 to go in the third, Lexie Brown led the Sparks on an 11-2 run to give them a 55-53 advantage. Making her home debut, Brown sank three 3-pointers and recorded an assist, a block and a steal in the last 5:44 of the quarter. The 27-year-old also forced another Lynx turnover by deflecting McBride’s dribble out of bounds off the Minnesota guard.

Brown hit four of six 3-pointers Tuesday night, with her most important shot of the night evening the score at 82 with 53.3 seconds left in the game.

“My confidence is through the roof,” said Brown, who played for the Lynx from 2019-20.

🎥🎥 pic.twitter.com/OgCsd4B8Hm

— Los Angeles Sparks (@LASparks) May 18, 2022

Two other Sparks newcomers provided boosts in their home debuts. Chennedy Carter, after scoring a combined two points on 1-for-12 shooting in the previous two contests, picked up eight points in 11 minutes, going 4-for-5 from the floor. Jordin Canada, meanwhile, contributed eight points, six assists and three steals.

“My favorite part about playing (at Crypto.com Arena) is seeing new teammates play here for the first time on the Sparks,” Ogwumike said. “It’s intoxicating. We have to honor that and protect home court.”

The Sparks will have to wait until next Wednesday’s matchup with the Phoenix Mercury to get their first win at home, rebranded as Crypto.com Arena from the Staples Center late last year.

In the meantime, the Sparks have their latest disappointing result to digest: a loss to previously winless Minnesota, who got 64 of its 87 points from three players (McBride, Fowles and Moriah Jefferson).

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 @JJTheJuggernaut.

With half of the Elite Eight now set, a few Big Ten underdogs still have a shot at disrupting the No. 1 seed stronghold at the 2025 NCAA volleyball tournament this weekend.

The No. 3-seed Purdue Boilermakers are through to the quarterfinals after defeating No. 2-seed SMU 3-1 on Thursday, while the No. 4-seed Indiana Hoosiers, No. 3 seed-Wisconsin Badgers, and the still-undefeated overall No. 1 seed Nebraska Cornhuskers all face stiff Sweet Sixteen competition on Friday afternoon.

Coming off a strong regular season, the Big Ten could still field half of the quarterfinal round — though that would require the first No. 1-seed upset of the 2025 national tournament in the form of an Indiana victory over top-seeded Texas.

Bolstered by their defensive leader, senior middle blocker Madi Sell, the Hoosiers booked just their second-ever Sweet Sixteen trip with last week's win over No. 5 Colorado, with Indiana now hoping their lucky run continues against the 2022 and 2023 champion Longhorns.

Meanwhile, the No. 1 Huskers will look to keep rolling against No. 4-seed Kansas while the No. 3 Badgers aim to snag another Big Ten spot in the Elite Eight by ousting No. 2-seed Stanford on Friday.

How to watch the 2025 NCAA volleyball tournament this weekend

The NCAA volleyball tournament's Sweet Sixteen action will wrap with four games on Friday, starting with No. 1 Texas vs. No. 4 Indiana at 12 PM ET.

The Elite Eight will then meet at the net on Saturday and Sunday to determine the last-standing teams heading to next week's Final Four in Kansas City.

All of this weekend's NCAA tournament games will air live across ESPN platforms.

Team USA is on a roll, officially taking the four-game 2025 Rivalry Series against Canada before the slate of friendlies is even over, with the US collecting three consecutive wins so far — and one shot left at making it a clean sweep.

The US downed their northern neighbors by a commanding 10-4 scoreline in Edmonton on Wednesday, marking Team USA's first-ever 10-goal victory against the reigning Olympic champs — all while upping the 2025 series' goal tally to 20-6.

While each team fine-tunes rosters ahead of the 2026 Olympics, one test remains for both international hockey titans before the Winter Games take the ice in February.

"The work doesn't stop. Our Olympic team is not named. There's still one more game to go," said USA captain Kendall Coyne Schofield, acknowledging that her squad is not taking their foot off the gas despite the recent lopsided results.

"We have one more game against them before the Olympics," echoed Canada captain Marie-Philip Poulin. "We're all aware of that."

How to watch Team USA vs. Canada in the 2025 Rivalry Series

The puck drops on the final match of the sixth annual hockey Rivalry Series between the USA and Canada in Edmonton, Alberta, on Saturday.

Live coverage of the clash will begin at 9 PM ET on the NHL Network.

The latest FIFA women's soccer rankings dropped on Thursday, with Spain widening their lead at No. 1 after winning a second consecutive UEFA Nations League title earlier this month.

The USWNT held steady at No. 2, ceding 7.48 points after losing an October friendly to No. 22 Portugal before going on to secure four straight wins over Portugal, No. 35 New Zealand, and No. 13 Italy to close out 2025.

Elsewhere in the FIFA Top 10, No. 3 Germany and No. 6 Brazil both saw boosts after successful fall runs, while Canada skidded to No. 10 amid a recent five-match winless streak, with Les Rouges's last victory coming against No. 43 Costa Rica last June.

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The biggest changes, however, occurred outside the top ranks, as No. 96 Nicaragua, No. 118 Burkina Faso, and No. 137 American Samoa all rose by 16 spots.

Notably, upcoming USWNT opponent Paraguay saw the largest drop in this month's Top 50, sliding five spots to No. 46.

Ultimately, as the USWNT battled to keep pace in a year of roster experimentation — and without a major competition on the team's 2025 docket — the many international competitions in Europe benefitted victors and challenged losers in this week's FIFA rankings update.

The No. 16 USC Trojans are gearing up for another top-ranked test, hosting the reigning national champion No. 1 UConn Huskies in the weekend's flashiest NCAA women's basketball matchup on Saturday.

Coming off their second ranked win of the season, USC topped No. 20 Washington 59-50 last Sunday, with 22 points and 12 rebounds from freshman Jazzy Davidson helping pull the Trojans to a 7-2 record.

"I saw a resolve in our team," said head coach Lindsay Gottlieb afterwards. "I knew we could get the next stop, I knew we could get the next play."

USC will face a particularly familiar foe against the Huskies — this time without sidelined star junior JuJu Watkins — after UConn knocked the Trojans out of the NCAA tournament two years in a row.

Notably, sophomore guard Kayleigh Heckel departed USC over the summer for the Huskies, with the former Trojan averaging 7.7 points per game entering Saturday's clash with her old team.

"I just try to take one game at a time, but I'm excited to go back," Heckel said ahead of her first trip back to LA since transferring. "I had a great freshman year there, and I learned a lot, and it was a great experience, a lot of fond memories. So I'm looking forward to it."

How to watch No. 1 UConn vs. No. 16 USC on Saturday

The Trojans will host the Huskies with tip-off set for 5:30 PM ET on Saturday.

Live coverage of the clash will air on FOX.