Aliyah Boston took two dribbles. She pivoted. She pivoted again. Then, finding a sliver of space, she stepped through and scored.

The intricate move looked like the footwork of a WNBA veteran, not a rookie playing in her fourth professional game. But Boston isn’t like most rookies. She isn’t like most players.

She’s the kind of player that can go up against 2022 Sixth Woman of the Year Brionna Jones and execute a patient, high-level move to score. The kind of player that, so far, has replicated her efficient shooting numbers from college against the top basketball players in the world.

Through four games, Boston is averaging 15.8 points on 66.7% shooting.

“Aliyah is special, man,” Indiana Fever coach Christie Sides said Tuesday.

It’s why the Fever selected her first in the 2023 draft, and why Boston is going to be a key part of Indiana’s growth as the team looks to improve on last season’s 5-31 record.

And it’s not just Boston. The Fever have a core of young stars, including second-year player NaLyssa Smith, who is averaging 14.8 points and 12.0 rebounds through the first four games of the season.

Boston and Smith make for a dynamic duo in the frontcourt. They helped Indiana snap a 20-game losing streak with a 90-87 victory over the Atlanta Dream on Sunday. Then they led the way as the team took the Connecticut Sun to the brink on Tuesday in an 81-78 loss.

Against Atlanta, Smith had 23 points, 13 rebounds and 3 assists, and Boston finished with 13 points and 7 rebounds. In the loss to the Sun, Smith once again recorded a double-double with 14 points and 15 rebounds, while Boston had a season-high 20 points.

The two are learning to lean on each other, and their on-court chemistry is already strong.

“Having someone you can rely on for big buckets at the end of the game, that’s huge,” Smith said. “The more we gel, and the more we play together, it will be harder to guard us and stop us.”

Aliyah Boston with her first 20-point game. 🌟

20 PTS | 4 REB | 4 AST | 2 BLK | 8-12 FG pic.twitter.com/3bBqqmkd6E

— Indiana Fever (@IndianaFever) May 31, 2023

Following the loss to Connecticut, sitting side by side, Smith and Boston remained in good spirits. Playing the Sun so closely, just days after their first win against Atlanta, felt like a big step.

“Just based off us playing them our very first game to now, I think there was a lot of improvement,” Boston said, referencing the Fever’s 70-61 opening day loss to the Sun. “So it feels good. I mean, it would feel better if we came out with a dub, but we look at what we need to improve on and see the areas where we did well.”

Sides agrees with her players. This could be a turning point for the Fever, she said, but they have to keep executing and improving every day.

In her first season as head coach, Sides has the tough task of building up a team that went a combined 17-73 over the last three seasons. Before topping the Dream, Indiana had tied for the longest losing streak in WNBA history.

But Sides, who spent 2022 as an assistant with Atlanta, likes the pieces she has – young players like Boston, Smith, Queen Egbo, Lexie Hull and Grace Berger, plus veterans like Kelsey Mitchell and Erica Wheeler.

Berger also was selected in the 2023 draft at No. 7 overall, and Sides sees her as a key component to the Fever’s future. The Indiana graduate played six minutes in the first half against the Sun, running the offense and recording a bucket on a hesitation blow-by.

“She’s going to be a good player,” Sides said. “But with rookies it just takes time. I have all the confidence in Grace when she goes in. She is going to keep getting better and getting more minutes.”

Grace Berger made the entire defense disappear. 😈 pic.twitter.com/jIiaTslVvj

— Indiana Fever (@IndianaFever) May 30, 2023

Rebuilding the franchise is no easy feat, but it’s one with a clear blueprint. Every game, every practice, every individual workout is a step in the right direction.

“We just go to work,” Sides said. “We stop talking, and we teach, and we go to work. That’s all we can do. And they’ve got to get the experience.”

Tuesday’s game was yet another experience the team needed: A close loss. The Fever kept within striking distance throughout the game, never letting the Sun pull away. It allowed them to have the final possession, down 3, with a chance to go to overtime.

Hull missed the shot, but the play was well-executed, Sides said. That’s something she’s seen major growth on over the first four games. When Sides calls a timeout, the Fever do exactly what she asks when they go back on the court.

That seems like a small thing, but the learning process is about taking those small things and building on them.

“When you’ve lost as much as some of these players have, you have to teach them how to win again,” Sides said. “You have to learn to win. There is a way to win. You have to have a sense of urgency, fight from the beginning, execute, do the little things … So that is what we are working on every day, and they are putting in the work.”

Unrivaled basketball hits the court for the first time on Friday and, according to ESPN, the debut league's style of play will look a little different from the 3×3 Olympic game's rules.

Unlike the half-court version currently played in major international 3x3 basketball competitions, Unrivaled's full-court edition uses slightly smaller court dimensions from a traditional 5×5 setup.

Similarly, the inaugural league's format follows a four-quarter setup, but opts for seven-minute periods rather than the WNBA's 10-minute quarters. The shot clock will also be a speedier 18 seconds versus the professional 5×5 game's 24 seconds.

Unrivaled victories, however, rest solely in fourth-quarter play. This "winning score" quarter denotes that the win goes to the first team to score 11 more points than the highest final third-quarter score. For example, if a game's third quarter ends with a 45-43 scoreline, the first team to post the target score of 56 points in the final period walks away with the victory.

This system essentially eliminates the possibility of overtime. League organizers also hope it deters the late-game fouls used strategically and prolifically in 5×5 contests.

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Unrivaled 3×3 format revamps fouls

Speaking of fouls, Unrivaled is also condensing the free throw system to keep the game moving. Each player has six fouls to give, but each shooting foul will earn a single free throw at the line.

Those awarded free throws, however, will contain different point opportunities depending on the foul incurred. Fouled two-point shots grant a single free throw worth two points, while a free throw awarded from a three-point attempt will be worth three. All and-ones are worth one point.

With six players rostered on each of Unrivaled's six teams, the league also tweaked the traditional rule of fouling out to ensure games can be completed should they become especially chippy. If an athlete fouls out with only three available players left on their team, that player can continue competing. She will instead incur a technical foul — resulting in one opponent free throw — for each additional foul.

The new league's rules all point to Unrivaled's efforts to put an engaging, fast product on the court.

"This game is rooted in how you would play basketball as a kid on a black top," Unrivaled president of basketball operations Luke Cooper told ESPN's Kendra Andrews on Tuesday. "There's flow, there's pace. When you are watching, it feels like you are watching basketball... it's not a gimmick."

The WNBA free agency carousel started spinning this week, with teams evaluating rosters and coring athletes to either retain talent or trade players for a return.

Thus far, cored players include Las Vegas Aces guard Kelsey Plum, New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart, Dallas Wings forward Satou Sabally, and Seattle Storm forward Gabby Williams.

Squads employ single-use coring on WNBA stars

Each of the WNBA's teams can core one unrestricted free agent on their roster, ensuring them exclusive rights to that cored athlete. Cored players receive an offer for a one-year, supermax salary contract, along with the option to negotiate different terms.

Cored athletes are unable to directly sign with another franchise, but they can be part of a trade offer by their coring team.

New York cored Stewart after she expressed interest in remaining with her 2024 WNBA Championship-winning squad. Sabally, on the other hand, will likely be part of a sign-and-trade deal after telling media late last week that she is looking to leave Dallas in 2025.

Plum's situation with the Aces is less clear-cut: The two-time WNBA champion could re-sign with her team, though Las Vegas could be exploring opportunities to cash in should she want to compete elsewhere.

Other offers spark WNBA free agent negotiations

In addition to coring, WNBA teams have also begun sending qualifying offers to certain restricted free agents, allowing them to initiate negotiations with those players.

Most notably, despite making Monday offers to three players — guard Dana Evans, forward Michaela Onyenwere, and forward Nikolina Milić — Chicago has yet to extend a qualifying offer to the Sky's 2024 points-leader Chennedy Carter.

Ultimately, while negotiations kick off next week, WNBA contracts cannot be finalized until free agency revs up in February, meaning more shuffling is on deck as teams gear up for the longest and most competitive roster-building season in recent memory.

Behind a string of stellar performances, PWHL standouts Marie-Philip Poulin (Montréal), Corinne Schroeder (New York), and Sidney Morin (Boston) emerged as Monday's Stars of the Week.

After scoring two goals — including the superhero-style game-winner — in Wednesday's sold-out Takeover Tour win, Victoire captain Poulin registered an assist in front a record-breaking Denver crowd on Sunday to claim a three-point week.

Saturday belonged to Fleet defender Morin, who recorded a career-high five shots and notched both goals in Boston's 2-1 overtime win over Ottawa, doubling her single-goal scoring record last season.

The puck stops with Sirens goalie Corinne Schroeder

Sirens goaltender Schroeder made PWHL history on Sunday, becoming the first-ever goalie to record back-to-back regular-season shutouts.

New York's 1-0 victory over Toronto also made a mark, becoming the PWHL's first-ever scoreless game in regulation before New York's Jessie Eldridge found the back of the net in overtime.

Schroeder, who tops the league in average goals against (1.86) while sharing the lead in wins (5) and save percentage (0.935), hasn't conceded a goal in over 156 minutes of play.

"I think Schroeder has been our number one goalie for a long time," said Sirens coach Greg Fargo after the game. "She's been demonstrating the level of her play since day one, but there's a calmness to her game and a competitiveness that we really like right now."

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How to watch PWHL games this week

While teams jockey for points one-third of the way through the PWHL's second season, individual athletes are separating themselves from the pack by tearing up the stat sheet.

The PWHL's stars are back on the ice in midweek action. First, the Toronto Sceptres visit the Ottawa Charge on Tuesday at 7 PM ET.

Then, Schroeder will try to add a third shutout to her record-setting goaltending streak when the New York Sirens host the league-leading Minnesota Frost at 7 PM ET on Wednesday.

Both games will stream live on YouTube.

An unfazed No. 2 South Carolina isn't letting injury​ slow them down, earning their season's first Top 5 NCAA basketball win with a dominant 67-50 victory over No. 5 Texas on Sunday.

The Gamecocks' trademark lock-down defense was in full force, holding the Longhorns to a field goal percentage of 27.8 despite Texas's 22 forced turnovers.

"I would say with our team, they seem to really focus in when there's a number beside our opponent, they practice a little better," South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said of her squad's tough ranked schedule. "They’re more focused, they talk less. They knew the intangibles of this game would play a huge role in us winning or losing."

Coming off an undefeated championship season, South Carolina has taken their knocks while also proving just how capable they are of a repeat win.

The Gamecocks saw their 43-game winning streak snapped by No. 1 UCLA in November before losing key contributor Ashlyn Watkins to an ACL tear earlier this month.

At the same time, South Carolina has now tallied five ranked wins on the season — four of them over Top 10 teams. The Gamecocks are looking comfortable as they enter a particularly grueling stretch of conference play, with No. 19 Alabama and No. 13 Oklahoma waiting to try and topple the current champs later this week.

Ranked losses fuel AP basketball poll movement

Today's AP poll update saw significant shifts throughout Division I basketball's Top 25, with elite teams cooling off as the NCAA season heats up.

While No. 1 UCLA, No. 2 South Carolina, No. 3 Notre Dame, and No. 4 USC held steady, the Longhorns' loss to the Gamecocks earned them a two-spot dip to No. 7.

Elsewhere in the Top 10, LSU's still-undefeated campaign saw the Tigers rise one notch into the No. 5 position, as UConn also capitalized on Texas's misfortune, coming in one spot higher than last week at No. 6.

Deeper into the Top 25, Georgia Tech and Iowa suffered some of the week's biggest tumbles. After adding Sunday defeats to their Thursday losses, the once-unbeaten Yellow Jackets fell four spots to No. 17, while Iowa joined fellow Big Ten member Michigan in being ousted from Monday's rankings entirely.

Snagging the largest leaps in Monday's poll were No. 14 UNC and No. 18 Cal, whose ranked upset wins boosted them five and six spots, respectively.

Two teams also joined the AP party, as two-loss Oklahoma State and one-loss Minnesota enter tied at No. 24. Both teams are making their poll debuts for the first time in years: The last time the Cowgirls were ranked was in 2018, and the Golden Gophers's last Top 25 appearance was in 2019.

Week 11 AP college basketball poll

1. UCLA (16-0, Big Ten)
2. South Carolina (16-1, SEC)
3. Notre Dame (14-2, ACC)
4. USC (16-1, Big Ten)
5. LSU (19-0, SEC)
6. UConn (15-2, Big East)
7. Texas (16-2, SEC)
8. Maryland (15-1, Big Ten)
9. Ohio State (16-0, Big Ten)
10. TCU (17-1, Big 12)
11. Kansas State (17-1, Big 12)
12. Kentucky (15-1, SEC)
13. Oklahoma (14-3, SEC)
14. UNC (15-3, ACC)
15. Tennessee (14-2, SEC)
16. Duke (13-4, ACC)
17. Georgia Tech (15-2, ACC)
18. Cal (16-2, ACC)
19. Alabama (16-2, SEC)
20. West Virginia (13-3, Big 12)
21. NC State (12-4, ACC)
22. Michigan State (13-3, Big Ten)
23. Utah (13-3, Big 12)
T24. Minnesota (16-1, Big Ten)
T24. Oklahoma State (14-2, Big 12)