Connecticut Sun coach Stephanie White sat before media members and declared Alyssa Thomas the most underrated superstar in the WNBA.

That was a month ago.

Since then, Thomas has put up three triple-doubles in the span of seven days to set a new WNBA record. She’s averaging an MVP-worthy stat line of 14.4 points, 10.1 rebounds, 8.2 assists and 2.1 steals per game while leading the Sun to a 12-5 record and third in the WNBA standings.

“She is a superstar,” White said. “She does so many things for our team, and she puts up huge numbers.”

ALYSSA THOMAS CAN'T BE HUMAN 🤯@athomas_25 is the 1st player in WNBA history to record back-to-back triple-doubles, Thomas is also the 1st player in WNBA history to reach 5 career triple-doubles#MoreThanGame pic.twitter.com/Bqhc5Tmz2i

— WNBA (@WNBA) June 28, 2023

Being under two assists shy of averaging a triple-double is a superstar stat line, and having a WNBA-leading seven career triple-doubles gives you superstar status. That’s difficult to argue with. It’s also difficult to argue with Thomas’ merit when it comes to being an All-Star, and yet it took the player and media vote to get her onto the 2023 roster as a reserve. When it comes to snubs, Thomas’ exclusion from the fan vote and the group of All-Star starters was easily the most egregious.

But as the face of the Connecticut Sun, it’s not exactly surprising. In many ways, Thomas not being an All-Star starter is fitting because she represents a team that is constantly overlooked.

“Maybe it is small market, maybe it’s because it’s not flashy,” White said in June about the franchise. “The great thing is they don’t care. They just want to come out, they want to play, they want to compete, and they want to win.”

The Sun were WNBA finalists a year ago, and have made it as far as the semifinals in each of the last four WNBA postseasons. Yet when this season began, they were left out of most conversations surrounding the top teams in the league. The defending champion Aces entered 2023 as the expected favorites; after them, the Liberty dominated headlines and conversation after stocking up on talent in the offseason.

Less than a year after finishing as WNBA runners-up, the Sun were seemingly forgotten.

It makes sense in theory. Connecticut lost 2021 MVP Jonquel Jones in a trade to New York, and coach Curt Miller left to take over the Sparks. But the Sun are resilient, a quality that wasn’t necessarily accounted for. And the catalyst for that resilience is Alyssa Thomas.

The 31-year-old forward recorded a triple-double in Game 3 of the 2022 WNBA Finals to keep her team afloat after going down 2-0 to Las Vegas. Days later, she registered another, doing everything she could to keep the Sun from being eliminated in what ended up being the Aces’ championship-clinching victory.

This season, in Jonquel Jones’ absence, Thomas has increased her production in every category except turnovers, as she maintains an incredible 4.1-to-1.4 assist-to-turnover ratio. Since her teammate — and the Sun’s second-leading scorer after DeWanna Bonner — Brionna Jones suffered a season-ending injury, Thomas recorded two of her triple-doubles. Those performances also came after the All-Star snub.

While triple-doubles have become a normal part of Thomas’ game, her teammates want to make sure it doesn’t become yet another thing that is overlooked.

“I don’t want any of y’all to get used to and normalize what she’s doing out there, for real,” DiJonai Carrington said after a loss to New York on June 27. “Like, that’s not normal, especially from a four player. I think people are downplaying it. This woman has had three triple-doubles in the last 10 days. That’s insane.”

Bonner believes that Thomas’ selection as an All-Star starter should have been a “simple” decision. Teammates continue to praise her work ethic, grit and talent, and White continues to hold her up as the league’s underrated superstar.

Because the Sun, at least, know what they have in Thomas.

“Seeing her every day, you know why she is as good as she is,” White said. “Because if you don’t see her every day and you watch her, you’re like, ‘How in the heck does she continue to put up these numbers?’ And it’s because she’s a relentless worker and competitor.”

Thomas may have been snubbed as an All-Star starter, and she may get overlooked, but that doesn’t change the numbers, and it doesn’t change the record books.

“When you have a player that has that will to win, that competitive fire, that just plays their ass off all the time, and knows how to play, too? That’s what you get [from Thomas],” White said. “It’s really incredible that she’s accomplished what she’s accomplished with this triple-double record, and she’s really still young in her career.”

Eden Laase is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @eden_laase.

Wisconsin volleyball is off to the attendance races, with the No. 7 college squad averaging 8,620 fans per match this season to become this NCAA's best-attended program — narrowly beating Big Ten rival No. 1 Nebraska's 8,602 current average.

Other than the Badgers and Cornhuskers, no other college volleyball team has surpassed 6,000 fans per match this year, but Wisconsin is well on track to surpass even their own dominant attendance history in the sport.

If they finish the season in the top attendance spot, the Badgers will snap a six season streak logging the second-best average crowds per year.

Even more, Wisconsin is on their way to blasting through their program-best mark, set when 7,761 fans per match filled the bleachers in 2022.

The growing demand for Badger volleyball is also translating into significant revenue boosts for school.

"We're really, really excited; we're going to exceed $2 million in volleyball ticket sales for the first time ever," Wisconsin deputy athletic director Mitchell Pinta told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel earlier this week. "And we're largely sold out for the rest of our matches at the Field House for the remainder of the season."

Should the Badgers reach that $2 million mark, they will see a massive 25% increase over the $1.6 million the team garnered just two seasons ago, and a near 18-fold growth from the $111,809 in volleyball ticket sales that Wisconsin logged in 2013.

Ultimately, the sky's the limit for both Wisconsin volleyball — and the sport at-large.

"If there's a saturation point on the demand for Wisconsin volleyball, we certainly have not seen it yet," said Pinta.

How to watch Wisconsin volleyball in action

With conference play kicking off this weekend, No. 7 Wisconsin will host unranked Big Ten foe Rutgers at 8 PM ET on Friday, before paying a visit to also-unranked Iowa at 3 PM ET on Sunday.

Both Big Ten battles will stream live on B1G+.

WSL side Liverpool opened their 2025/26 League Cup campaign with an emotional 5-0 win over WSL2 club Sunderland on Wednesday, dedicating the shutout victory to former manager Matt Beard after the 47-year-old's sudden passing last Saturday.

The match marked the Reds' return to the pitch following the postponement of their Sunday regular-season game against Aston Villa due to Beard's passing.

"It's a good win for Matt. We played with a lot of emotion," Liverpool defender Jenna Clark said afterwards, calling Wednesday "a really emotional night and an emotional few days for everyone involved with the club."

"We have pulled through together as a team the best we could and you saw that on the pitch tonight," Clark added.

Beard won back-to-back WSL titles with Liverpool in 2013 and 2014, departing the Reds in 2015 for a two-year stint with the NWSL's Boston Breakers.

He made his return to Liverpool in 2021, lifting the club back into the top-flight WSL by earning promotion his first season back at the helm.

"Matt will leave a huge void in the women's game," USWNT head coach and former Chelsea boss Emma Hayes said in a statement earlier this week. "He was one of a kind, and his loss will be felt by all. My heart goes out to his family, but I want to take the time to acknowledge what a special man he really was."​

How to watch Liverpool this weekend

Liverpool will continue their 2025/26 WSL campaign against Manchester United this Sunday, kicking off live at 7 AM ET on ESPN+.

The 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup culminates on Saturday, when host nation England battles for their first tournament title in more than a decade in a top-tier final against Canada, who are hunting their first-ever world championship trophy.

The Red Roses' long dominance on the Rugby World Cup pitch has led them to eight finals in the competition's nine editions, with England emerging victorious twice — in 1994 and 2014.

On the other hand, Canada will make just their second-ever appearance in the World Cup final this Saturday, as the Maple Leafs aim for a decidedly different outcome from their 21-9 loss to England in the 2014 championship game.

The top-ranked Red Roses will also be looking to avenge their narrow 34-31 loss to New Zealand in the tournament's most recent 2022 edition when they square off against No. 2 Canada in front of an sold-out crowd inside London's Twickenham Stadium — with another women's rugby attendance record on the line.

"You feed off of that energy, especially knowing what this game is going to be," England defense coach Sarah Hunter said. "It's a cliché, but [the crowd] almost becomes the 16th person in those moments where you need them."

How to watch the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup final

England and Canada will battle in the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup final at 11 AM ET on Saturday, with live coverage airing on Paramount+.

While the No. 1 Kansas City Current have officially run away with the 2025 NWSL Shield, the race for top playoff seeding rages on, as the No. 2 Washington Spirit fights to hold their ground against an unpredictable No. 9 Houston Dash this Sunday.

Bolstered by star Trinity Rodman's return from injury, the Spirit enter the weekend on a nine-game unbeaten streak, going up against a motivated Dash side sitting just two points outside of postseason contention.

"Every game we just need to be a lot more clinical in the final third," Rodman said after last weekend's 2-2 draw with No. 11 Angel City. "We're doing all the hard stuff and then it's [lacking] quality at the end."

Washington isn't without top-table challengers, with No. 3 Gotham FC riding their own five-game unbeaten streak into a Friday night match against the No. 4 Portland Thorns, who sit tied for points with both the Bats and the No. 5 San Diego Wave in the NWSL standings.

"At this stage, almost everyone still has a real chance to make the playoffs, which is great for the league," said Gotham manager Juan Carlos Amorós after the Bats' 1-1 draw with Bay FC last Sunday. "But it also means nothing can be taken for granted."

How to watch the Washington Spirit and Gotham FC this weekend

No. 3 Gotham FC kicks off this weekend's NWSL action when they host the No. 4 Portland Thorns at 8 PM ET on Friday, with live coverage on NWSL+.

Then in Sunday's NWSL action, the No. 9 Houston Dash will visit the No. 2 Washington Spirit at 1 PM ET, airing live on Paramount+.