Trailing No. 5 Iowa State by 17 points in the second quarter, the No. 8 North Carolina Tar Heels looked like they would finish the Phil Knight Invitational as runners-up.

Cyclones center Stephanie Soares was dominating the paint with 13 points, and the Tar Heels had made just seven field goals. Just three North Carolina players registered a point in the first half as the team shot 21.2% from the field.

In short, it was a disastrous half for the Tar Heels.

But when the game was over, those opening two quarters seemed like a distant memory. 

UNC completed a massive comeback, led by Deja Kelly, who scored 22 of her 29 points in the second half, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out four assists for her best game of the season. It was UNC’s second top-25 win in four days, coming after a victory against No. 18 Oregon on Thursday.

#ACCWBB Player of the Week 🔥

🏀 Deja Kelly, @uncwbb

📰: https://t.co/3ZyJoHYuZm pic.twitter.com/yrucliUxGO

— ACC Women's Basketball (@accwbb) November 28, 2022

Expectations were high for the Tar Heels heading into the season after they reached the Sweet 16 in 2021-22 for the first time since 2015 and hung with eventual national champion South Carolina in a 69-61 loss. So far, they’re living up to the hype.

Yet their last three victories – over James Madison, Oregon and Iowa State – have all been come-from-behind wins. UNC has the grit to win in difficult situations, but do the Tar Heels have staying power?

The team, which has moved up to No. 6 in the latest AP Top 25, is 6-0, with no stumbles against lower or unranked teams and now a statement win over Iowa State.

The next few weeks will provide further opportunity for the Tar Heels to prove themselves, as they play No. 6 Indiana on Thursday and No. 22 Michigan on Dec. 20 before heading into ACC play and taking on No. 11 Virginia Tech on Jan. 1.

So far, the Tar Heels seem like the real deal. Kelly and Alyssa Ustby turned heads last season as an elite scoring duo, but the win over Oregon proved they aren’t the team’s only weapons. UNC’s starting five all finished in double-figures, with Eva Hodgson leading the way.

𝘒𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 ☑️
𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵 ☑️#GoHeels x @dejakelly25 x @coachbanghart pic.twitter.com/1EKEAeLXD3

— Carolina Women's Basketball (@uncwbb) November 28, 2022

The transfer from William and Mary provides UNC with a reliable outside threat, making 45.5% of her attempts from long range. Hodgson came off the bench as a junior, but she’s embracing the starting role, and her point production has gone up from 9.1 ppg to 15.8. She’s also averaging 3.8 assists.

Hodgson’s offensive growth has made a difference for the Tar Heels, as Kelly and Ustby aren’t as reliable from long range as they are from inside the arc. Kennedy Todd-Williams has also provided a lift, shooting 38.5% from 3-point range. 

The long-distance shooters brings balance to the Tar Heel offense, while Kelly thrives off the bounce and Ustby posts up smaller guards and executes from the high-post. 

Defensively, the big question for the Tar Heels heading into the game with Iowa State was how they would defend 6-6 forward Soares. She has a significant height advantage over Tar Heel starting forward Anya Poole (6-2), and the tallest player UNC brings off the bench is 6-4 redshirt freshman Teonni Key, who plays just 10.3 minutes per game. 

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But UNC handled Iowa State by limiting the rest of the Cyclones. Soares finished with 19 points, and Ashley Joens had 18, but the rest of the squad was held to single-digits. North Carolina was also aggressive in its defensive attack, forcing 17 turnovers. 

Teams with multiple post threats or more productive guards are the next challenge for the Tar Heels. Thursday’s matchup with Indiana could be telling, as the Hoosiers have the second-most efficient big in the country in Mackenzie Holmes, who is shooting 76.6% and averaging 20 points per game. 

The Hoosiers will likely be missing Grace Berger (10.3 points per game) who was injured against Auburn on Friday – no update has been provided yet – but they have several other scoring weapons. Sara Scalia, Yarden Garzon and Sydney Parrish all score at least 10 points per game, and Chloe Moore-McNeil sits at 9.7 per game.

If UNC can top Indiana, then it will get that much closer to cementing its status as one of college basketball’s top teams. A difficult ACC slate will also allow the Tar Heels to showcase their talents and answer any lingering questions about their potential to make a deep run in March.

The Chicago Sky made a splash in Monday night’s WNBA draft, taking Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese in the first round. 

South Carolina’s Cardoso, who was the 2024 Final Four Most Outstanding Player, went third to the Sky. The day before, the team had swapped picks with the Minnesota Lynx to land the No. 7 pick as well, which they used on Reese, the 2023 Final Four MOP.

Now, the two will team up in Chicago after battling each other in both college and high school

"She’s a great player, and I’m a great player. Nobody's going to get no rebounds on us," Cardoso joked afterwards, while Reese expressed excitement about playing under new Sky head coach Teresa Weatherspoon.

"Being able to be a Black woman and as a head coach, and everything she's done at the NBA level, I just knew everything they were bringing to the table," Reese said of the Sky. "Player development is something that I was looking for and they looked for in me. I'm super excited for this move."

Former NBA star and Chicago Sky co-owner Dwayne Wade welcomed the pair to Chicago.

“The foundation is set,” he wrote.

The foundation is set. Welcome Kamilla Cardoso x Angel Reese @chicagosky @WNBA

— DWade (@DwyaneWade) April 16, 2024

The Sky have entered re-building mode after winning a WNBA title in 2021. This offseason, they traded franchise cornerstone Kahleah Copper to the Phoenix Mercury for a package that included the No. 3 picked used on Cardoso.

Now, Cardoso and Reese will be looking to jump-start the team's return to contention.

Caitlin Clark is officially a member of the Indiana Fever, with the Iowa superstar going No. 1 overall in the WNBA draft on Monday night. 

Clark has been the consensus top pick since declaring for the draft on February 29, a few weeks before the onset of Women's March Madness. But for her, the call up was still full of emotions. 

"When you're just sitting at a table waiting for your name to be called, that really allows the emotions to feed you," Clark said. "You're with your family — obviously, playing a basketball game, I'm not out there with my family — so sharing that moment with them and enjoying it, and people that have really had my back and believed in me more than anyone, is super special."

Clark wasn't the only one pausing to take in the moment. As fans and commentators noted during the broadcast, it took a little more time than usual for Indiana to announce their pick — Fever GM Lin Dunn later told the media that she spent 15 to 20 seconds ensuring Clark's card adhered perfectly to league regulations before handing it over. She didn't want anything to get in between her team and a player she calls a "perfect fit."

"She's from the Big Ten, the Midwest — is there any place better for her than Indianapolis, Indiana?" Dunn said. "I think this is the beginning of us getting back on track to win another championship."

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Clark echoed the sentiment.

"That's definitely our goal, is to get back to championship habits," Clark said. "For myself, I can't imagine a more perfect fit, a better place for me to start my professional career, an organization that really just believes in women's basketball and wants to do everything the right way. So I couldn't be more excited to get there."

She’s also particularly excited about linking up with former collegiate rival Aliyah Boston.

"Going to an organization that has, in my eyes, one of the best post players in the entire world, my point guard eyes just light up at that," Clark said of the former South Carolina star. "She's going to make my life easy."

Clark's four-year contract with the Indiana Fever has been reported at $338,000. Kicking off at the league's guaranteed first-year base salary of $76,535, it jumps to $97,582 by 2027.

In the hour following Indiana's official pick, sporting goods brand Fanatics sold out of the superstar player's No. 22 Fever jersey in nearly every available size. Each jersey retails for $99.99.

Caitlin Clark made a surprise appearance on “Saturday Night Live” over the weekend, which quickly went viral.

The Iowa star showed up on the show’s Weekend Update segment to playfully call out Michael Che’s history of making jabs at women’s sports.

It started when Che joked that Iowa should replace Clark’s retired No. 22 “with an apron.” 

When Clark entered, Che said that he was a fan. But Clark wasn’t convinced – especially not when co-host Colin Jost brought the receipts of Che’s jabs.

“Really, Michael? Because I heard that little apron joke you did,” she said, before making him read some jokes of her own in retaliation. Clark finished her segment by shouting out the WNBA greats that came before her. She then got in one final dig – bringing Che a signed apron as a souvenir. 

She’s got jokes 😎@CaitlinClark22 on @nbcsnl #Hawkeyes

pic.twitter.com/54khqQw2MR

— Iowa Women's Basketball (@IowaWBB) April 14, 2024

When Che promised to give it to his girlfriend, Clark delivered her last playful dig of the night.

“You don’t have a girlfriend, Michael,” she said.

Afterward, SNL castmember Bowen Yang told People that the 22-year-old and teammates Gabbie Marshall, Kate Martin and Jada Gyamfi – who joined her at Studio 8H – “were so cool.”

“She's so charming and witty,” Yang said. “They were just the most stunning, noble people.

“Athletes just have this air about them. They know they're amazing. I mean, these are people who have numeric attachments and values to their performance. That's something that comedians never have.”

The Portland Thorns continue to struggle to start the NWSL season, falling 2-0 to the North Carolina Courage over the weekend to remain winless through their first four games. 

It’s uncharted territory for Portland, who has never started the NWSL regular season without a win in four games before.

Following the loss, defender Becky Sauerbrunn voiced her frustrations with the start. 

“It’s hard to find a lot of encouraging things, but what I find encouraging is that people are frustrated,” she said. “People are pissed off that we’re not doing well. We care, and I think that’s really important.” 

She also added that while the team will reflect individually, “there’s going to be no finger pointing.”

“We’re going to look at ourselves and figure out what we should have done, or I should have done better,” she said. “There is a list of things that I could have done better, and I’m going to make sure I know every single thing and watch this game back.”

The Thorns currently sit at the bottom of the league table with just one point, having allowed 10 goals – tied for the worst in the league. They’ve yet to lead in a match. And as questions grow, attention turns to head coach Mike Norris. 

Norris is in his second year as head coach of the club after leading the team to a second-place finish in the regular season last year. When asked about the possibility of pressure growing after the unprecedented start, Norris said that the pressure has been there “from day one.”

“I cannot be driven by my day-to-day and the longer vision of the pressure of the job,” he said. “We’ve got a belief in how we want to play, how we operate. We’ve got to stick with the process of that. While we do it, we have to review and see what is working, what’s not working.

“I’ll be showing up for the team and being there for what they need from me as we approach getting back together as a group next week.”