Lynn Williams showed Friday that she should have been on the Olympic team from the outset.

Williams, initially named an alternate for the United States’ Olympic team before rosters expanded, earned her first start of the Olympics on Friday. After the USWNT went down 1-0 to the Netherlands in their quarterfinal meeting, Williams connected with Sam Mewis for the team’s first goal. Three minutes later, the forward scored one of her own to give the USWNT a lead.

Despite Vivianne Miedema’s two goals for the Dutch, the USWNT would eventually win on penalty kicks.

Lynn Williams with a goal and assist in 3 minutes to give the USWNT the lead 💥 @brfootball

(via @NBCOlympics)pic.twitter.com/Ea8dgRpLzA

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) July 30, 2021

With her performance, it’s hard to imagine the USWNT competing in the Olympics without her. Williams’ journey to this point makes her debut game even sweeter.

After narrowly missing the World Cup roster in 2019, Williams was named an alternate for this year’s Olympic team. Later, the Olympic rosters were expanded from 18 to 22 players for COVID-19 reasons, and Williams was officially named to the U.S. team.

It’s crazy to think now that one of the few bright spots on the USWNT’s front line Friday nearly didn’t make the roster.

Starting Lynn Williams wasn't a brave choice by Vlatko lol, leaving her out of the 18 was a brave choice by Vlatko

— Molly Hensley-Clancy (@mollyhc) July 30, 2021

Williams’ run will continue Monday, when the USWNT takes on Canada in the semifinals for a spot in the gold-medal game against the winner of Sweden and Australia.

The mysterious large purple egg stashed inside the Bay Area's Chase Center has hatched, revealing the first-ever mascot for the Golden State Valkyries: a bespectacled raven named Violet.

Violet made her official mascot debut during the No. 7 Valkyries' 74-57 Monday win over the No. 13 Connecticut Sun, with the Golden State crowd welcoming her by singing "Happy Birthday."

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"Ravens are commonly known as Valkyries' helpful and savvy counterparts in Norse mythology," the 2025 WNBA expansion team wrote in Tuesday's press materials, also noting that "because she is near-sighted, she sports gold glasses helping her achieve the excellent eyesight that ravens are known to have."

Nicknamed "Vi," Violet will bring "crucial knowledge [from her daily flights] back for the leaders of Ballhalla to use in battle."

Violet will now join other mascots in the league's spotlight, with teams seeing significant success from the popularity of WNBA-specific characters — sparked by the 2021 debut of New York Liberty icon Ellie the Elephant.

"The cultural phenomenon that Ellie has become today definitely exceeded our expectations," Liberty chief brand officer Shana Stephenson told Andscape last season. "She's become such an integral part of our game-day experience that the energy and atmosphere within our game I don't think would be the same without Ellie."

Chicago has also undergone a mascot revamp recently, replacing the team's old Sky Guy mascot with Skye the Lioness last year.

How to catch Violet the Raven at Golden State

Fans hoping to meet the Valks' new mascot will have a shot on Sunday, when Golden State returns from this week's road trip to host the No. 3 Atlanta Dream in the Chase Center at 8:30 PM ET, airing live on NBA TV.

Currently on a five-game losing streak, the No. 12 Dallas Wings — and star rookie Paige Bueckers — are trusting the process, hunting an upset as they take on the No. 5 Indiana Fever on Tuesday night.

"I think we have a really good young core, we have great pieces to build around, good complementary pieces," Bueckers told reporters on Sunday. "We're all really excited that the front office has doubled down on who we have here right now. I think that's what we're gonna build around."

"We've talked about it enough," the 2025 No. 1 overall draftee continued. "We need to put action behind our words."

First-year Dallas head coach Chris Koclanes has taken much of the heat for the Wings' skid, exiting the court to fans chanting "We want Nola" — a plea for assistant coach Nola Henry to take over the team.

"Stepping into this leadership role, [I'm] being challenged to step outside of character at times and when to hold people accountable in different ways and when to discipline in different ways, so I'm learning," said Koclanes, whose role with the Wings is also his first-ever stint as a head coach — at any level of the game.

"You know we didn't start the season off well, we're not playing how we should be playing. But we need the fans to support us," Dallas forward Myisha Hines-Allen said, directly addressing upset fans after the Wings' Friday loss to the No. 2 New York Liberty.

"At the end of the day, Chris is still our head coach. We still need him."

How to watch the Dallas Wings vs. Indiana Fever on Tuesday

The No. 12 Wings head to Indiana to take on the No. 5 Fever at 7:30 PM ET on Tuesday, airing live on ESPN.

The LA Sparks are hitting their stride, riding an 8-2 record into a Tuesday night home matchup against the reigning WNBA champion New York Liberty.

Despite falling to the No. 7 Golden State Valkyries over the weekend, LA's recent run has lifted the Sparks to No. 9 in the WNBA standings, with four of their last five wins coming against teams above the playoff line — including a 101-99 victory over No. 2 New York on July 26th.

"That's just learning how to win," Sparks head coach Lynne Roberts said on Sunday. "The worst thing you can do is fear losing."

Bolstered by 2024 No. 2 overall draftee Cameron Brink's return from injury, a Tuesday win could launch the Sparks into postseason positioning — but they'll have to top a motivated Liberty side looking to avenge their Sunday home loss to the No. 1 Minnesota Lynx.

"I think the most important part is when it gets hard for us, tough for us, we don't really stay together, and I think we have to do a better job," New York guard Marine Johannes told reporters.

The Liberty will take the court without veteran star forward Breanna Stewart, who is targeting an end-of-August return from a bone bruise in her right knee.

How to watch the LA Sparks vs. New York Liberty on Tuesday

The No. 9 Sparks will tip off against the visiting No. 2 Liberty at 10 PM ET on Tuesday, with live coverage on NBA TV.

Just days after Spain rose to world No. 1 in the most recent FIFA rankings, the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) announced on Monday that head coach Montse Tomé will not see her contract renewed when it expires at the end of August.

"The Board of Directors of the Royal Spanish Football Federation would like to express its gratitude for Montse Tomé's work, professionalism, and dedication in her various roles during her time as a member of the national teams at the RFEF, particularly during her time as senior national team coach," the governing body said in a statement.

Tomé — Spain's first-ever women head coach — took over La Roja in September 2023 following the removal of former manager Jorge Vilda, with both Vilda and then-federation boss Luis Rubiales exiting amid a highly public toxicity scandal.

During her almost two-year tenure at the helm, the 43-year-old led her former national team to the 2024 UEFA Nations League title, but fell short at both the 2024 Olympics and the 2025 Euro.

Expected to win both major tournament titles, Spain exited the 2024 Paris Games in a semifinal upset to Brazil before finishing last month's European Championship as runners-up to repeat champions England.

While critics questioned some of her sideline decisions in those losses, Tomé also reportedly failed to fully earn the respect of the Spain locker room during her tenure — a hurdle that some contend was due in part to her prior role as Vilda's assistant.

The RFEF has tapped their U-23 manager, Sonia Bermúdez, to succeed Tomé.

Prior to her managerial career in Spain's youth program, the 40-year-old former national team captain and attacker scored 34 goals in her 61 appearances for La Roja.