Tianna Hawkins enters Week 3 of Athletes Unlimited basketball as the points leader after a dominant second week in which she rose 14 spots up the leaderboard. As for the other three captains this week, Lexie Brown will look to continue her undefeated streak, while Natasha Cloud and Isabelle Harrison attempt to find some balance.

With games resuming Wednesday, here are three storylines to look out for in Week 3.

Rosters are set and Week 3 is here 🤩

Which team has the best chance of going undefeated? 🤔#BeUnlimited | #AUHoops pic.twitter.com/dH0Ezowvhy

— Athletes Unlimited (@AUProSports) February 6, 2022

Will Tianna Hawkins continue her offensive production?

In the second game against Team Russell last week, Hawkins set a single-game scoring record with 38 points, helping Team Brown to a 98-85 victory. Roughly 24 hours later, she outdid herself, recording 46 points on 20-of-27 shooting from the field. She added 10 rebounds to claim her second MVP 1 honors of the week and lead Team Brown to a 3-0 record.

“It’s just having the hot hand and my teammates did a good job of feeding me the ball both tonight and last night,” Hawkins said.

It was a turnaround from Week 1, in which Hawkins averaged 15.3 points per game. In addition to vaulting from 14th on the AU leaderboard to first, she  now leads the league with 25.2 points per game and is pulling down 8.2 rebounds per game.

But Hawkins’ basketball savvy will be put to the test this week. The lone new captain in Week 3, she will need to prove she can put together a good team to remain the league leader. Outside of standout individual performances, AU places emphasis on team wins, giving out 50 points per quarters won and 100 points per games won.

There’s evidence that she may have done so when drafting her roster on Sunday. Destinee Walker set a single-quarter scoring record this season with 18 points, while Jessica Kuster is well-rounded and currently shooting 44.4 percent from 3-point range. Hawkins also selected veteran Sydney Colson and former captain Mercedes Russell, who currently sits seventh on the leaderboard. Hawkins will have to rely on them as much as herself if she wants to make a splash in Week 3.

Does Lexie Brown have a future as a GM?

Throughout Week 2 of the AU season, Lexie Brown showed that not only can she hoop, but she also might just have a career as a general manager one day.

I know it was only a week, but I truly have a future in being a GM 😂🤗

— Lexie Brown (@Lexiebrown) February 6, 2022

Not many expected the performance that Team Brown turned out in Week 2, but Brown was confident in her team’s abilities from the jump. The squad found a balance that worked for them and helped them go undefeated on the week.

“I drafted them for that exact reason,” Brown said last week. “I played with a team that we were super big, I played with a team that we were kind of big, but I didn’t really have any pick-and-pop players, and I think I play best with that with the attention I draw, to be able to kick out to the shooters. And they just have to have confidence to knock it down.”

Brown will look to repeat that performances in Week 3 with a new team. With eight of 11 players on her roster sitting inside of the top 25 on the individual leaderboard, there will be no shortage of talent.

Team Brown will have to contend with the duo of Natasha Cloud and DiJonai Carrington, who have developed strong chemistry through the first two weeks of the season. Team Cloud has also added Essence Carson, who is averaging 12.5 points per game while shooting 50.8 percent.

Isabelle Harrison will return as a captain this week after going 5-1 through the first two weeks. Notably, she drafted Ty Young and held onto Courtney Williams and Odyssey Sims.

Can Taj Cole make the jump to captain?

Will this be the week that Taj Cole vaults into a captain position? The guard amassed 1,064 points in Week 2 to hold onto the No. 5 spot on the leaderboard.

One of four athletes picked up during the Athletes Unlimited tryouts in Atlanta, Cole has already made a splash in AU. Through the first week of play, she averaged 19.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and five assists per game. Last week, the Connecticut Sun signed her to a training camp contract, indicating that AU can serve as a showcase for WNBA teams looking for roster depth.

Opportunity: Secured ✅

After an impressive @AUProSports debut, @TCOLE_0 will be heading to the @ConnecticutSun this season on a training camp contract, sources tell @RachGall. pic.twitter.com/Gup1xoWly5

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) February 2, 2022

Cole followed up Week 1 with an equally productive Week 2, scoring 23 points against Team Russell and dishing out a game-high 12 assists against Team Cloud. Brown and Cole have been a dynamic duo this season, so it came as no surprise that Brown drafted Cole with her first pick on Sunday.

Cole sits 333 points behind Harrison for the fourth and final captain spot, but making the jump is not entirely out of the question. The AU format rewards good performances and consistency, and Cole brings both.

Emma Hruby is an associate editor at Just Women’s Sports.

US runner Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has done it again, winning the Women's World Athlete of the Year for the second time at the 2025 World Athletics Awards on Sunday.

In a pivot from her historic 400-meter hurdles dominance, McLaughlin-Levrone chose to master its flat counterpart this year, racing to an undefeated season in the 400-meter flat event in 2025.

"For me, 2025 was a year of stepping outside of the comfort zone and pushing the bounds of what was mentally and physically possible," the four-time US Olympic gold medalist said in a Sunday press release. "I want to continue pushing boundaries in 2026."

Already a winner of the 2018 World Athletics Rising Star Award, McLaughlin-Levrone snagged her first Women's World Athlete of the Year honor in 2022 following a first-ever individual world title in her signature 400-meter hurdles.

This year, the 26-year-old claimed a second individual world trophy in record-breaking fashion, winning the 400-meter with a Championships and North American record-shattering time of 47.78 seconds — the second-fastest of all time — at September's 2025 World Championships in Tokyo.

The victory cemented her as the first athlete to claim world titles in both the 400-meter hurdles and 400-meter flat, ultimately earning her Sunday's World Athlete of the Year honor.

"The culmination of the season in Tokyo was a really special moment. I'm so thankful for everyone who supported, watched, voted, and who was there throughout this whole process," McLaughlin-Levrone added.

The  world No. 2 USWNT ended 2025 with a bang on Monday night, shutting out No. 12 Italy yet again behind first-half goals from young stars Catarina Macario and Jaedyn Shaw.

Macario's masterful 20th-minute chip shot continued a scoring tear for the 26-year-old, marking her fifth US goal in the last three matches while bringing her 2025 tally to a team-leading eight.

"[I'm] finally finding some consistency," Macario said after Monday's 2-0 win, commenting on her history of lingering knee injuries. "Considering everything that I've been through for the past three years, that is definitely the thing I'm most proud of."

Shaw then capped the match's scoring in the 41st minute, when the 21-year-old blasted a bullet from the top of the box to double the US lead.

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The USWNT officially ends 2025 with 12 wins, three losses, and zero draws, tying the team record for most home defeats in a calendar year while shaking up the player pool and honing their style of play.

"I watched the product in the last two games, and I'm like '[Italy] was a team that nearly made the [2025] Euro final,'" USWNT manager Emma Hayes said postmatch. "We've got patience, we could control the game in the right moments, we can attack in a variety of different ways…for me the pride is in all of it."

"It's what we're striving for every game," said 19-year-old midfielder Claire Hutton, one of three teenagers to start Monday's friendly. "We want to put more goals up — two isn't enough for us — but if we can end in a shutout and with a win, it puts us on the front foot going into January."

How to watch the USWNT in 2026

After a brief break, the USWNT will return to action with a pair of friendlies next month, kicking off their 2026 campaign against No. 41 Paraguay on Saturday, January 24th, before taking on a still-unknown opponent on Tuesday, January 27th.

The US's first match of 2026 will kick off at 5:30 PM ET, airing live on TNT and HBO Max.

The USWNT is eyeing another 2025 victory, with US Soccer announcing the finalists for the federation's end-of-year awards on Monday, including the five women nominated for US Soccer Female Player of the Year.

After stellar runs for both club and country, Arsenal defender Emily Fox, Portland Thorns midfielder Sam Coffey, Gotham FC midfielder Rose Lavelle, and Chelsea FC forwards Alyssa Thompson and Catarina Macario headline the 2025 shortlist.

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The youth national teams' Young Female Player of the Year award also tapped top finalists in Angel City forward Riley Tiernan, Chicago Stars forward Micayla Johnson, Seattle Reign defender Jordyn Bugg, Gotham FC defender Lilly Reale, and University of Virginia freshman defender Pearl Cecil.

The USWNT also earned a Game of the Year nomination, with US Soccer recognizing the team's dominant 3-0 victory over North American rival Canada in July.

While national team play is paramount in determining the honorees, club performances also factor into the awards, with several Player of the Year nominees significantly adding to their resumes away from the international pitch in 2025.

In May, Fox helped Arsenal to the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League title and Macario lifted the WSL trophy with Chelsea, while Gotham stars Lavelle and Reale finished their NWSL season as league champions late last month — with Reale also taking home the 2025 NWSL Rookie of the Year trophy.

How to vote for the 2025 US Soccer Player of the Year Awards

Players, coaches, media, the US Soccer board, and fans will determine the ultimate winners, with fan picks making up 15% of the final tally.

Fans can submit their votes online now through Friday, December 12th, with US Soccer slated to announce the winners in January.

Monday's AP Top 25 women's college basketball poll has a new No. 2, as Texas jumped two spots up the ladder after taking down then-No. 2 South Carolina and then-No. 3 UCLA at last week's Players Era Championship in Las Vegas.

With the Longhorns knocking off two Top 3 programs in the shortest time frame in 25 years, the 32-member media panel rewarded Texas with 10 first-place votes on Monday.

Despite their losses, the No. 3 Gamecocks and No. 4 Bruins fell just one spot each, with UCLA bouncing back against then-No. 14 Tennessee on Sunday — a 99-77 victory that sent the Vols tumbling five spots to No. 19 in the week's biggest rankings drop.

Meanwhile, Nos. 5 through 10 held steady this week, as No. 5 LSU, No. 6 Michigan, No. 7 Maryland, No. 8 TCU, No. 9 Oklahoma, and No. 10 Iowa State all managed to avoid upsets.

The Big Ten and SEC are now neck-and-neck atop NCAA basketball, with both conferences featuring eight Top 25 teams after a narrow win over No. 25 West Virginia last Wednesday saw No. 23 Ohio State enter the AP Poll for the first time this season.

How to watch Top 25 NCAA basketball this week

The ranked action will continue with a trio of Top 25 matchups on the second day of the annual ACC/SEC Challenge on Thursday.

First at 7 PM ET, No. 11 UNC will visit No. 2 Texas on ESPN2 while No. 3 South Carolina faces No. 22 Louisville on ESPN.

No. 18 Notre Dame will close out the night against No. 13 Ole Miss at 9 PM ET, airing live on ESPN2.

2025/26 AP Top 25 Women’s College Basketball Poll: Week 5

1. UConn (7-0, Big East)
2. Texas (8-0, SEC)
3. South Carolina (7-1, SEC)
4. UCLA (8-1, Big Ten)
5. LSU (8-0, SEC)
6. Michigan (6-1, Big Ten)
7. Maryland (9-0, Big Ten)
8. TCU (8-0, Big 12)
9. Oklahoma (7-1, SEC)
10. Iowa State (9-0, Big 12)
11. UNC (8-1, ACC)
12. Iowa (8-0, Big Ten)
13. Ole Miss (7-0, SEC)
14. Baylor (7-1, Big 12)
15. Vanderbilt (8-0, SEC)
16. USC (5-2, Big Ten)
17. Kentucky (8-1, SEC)
18. Notre Dame (5-1, ACC)
19. Tennessee (5-2, SEC)
20. Michigan State (8-0, Big Ten)
21. Washington (8-0, Big Ten)
22. Louisville (7-2, ACC)
23. Ohio State (6-1, Big Ten)
24. Oklahoma State (8-1, Big 12)
25. West Virginia (6-2, Big 12)