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.

The 2025 NWSL Championship claimed a major viewership milestone on Saturday, as Gotham FC's 1-0 title win over the Washington Spirit became the first-ever league match to record an average of more than one million viewers.

The CBS evening broadcast averaged an impressive 1.184 million fans and peaked at 1.55 million viewers, making it the most-watched NWSL match of all time.

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The 2025 final marked a 22% viewership increase over the 967,900 fans who watched 2024's Orlando Pride victory — the previous NWSL viewership record-holder — and a 45% ratings gain over Gotham's 2023 championship win, which averaged 816,800 viewers.

Saturday's gains both matched the 22% viewership increase the NWSL regular season saw this year and also far exceeded the 2025 postseason's pre-final year-over-year increase of 5%.

Calling the one-million viewer mark "an extraordinary achievement" in Tuesday's league statement, NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman also noted that the "record-setting audience demonstrates the deepening connection fans have with our players, our clubs, and the world-class competition on the field, and it underscores the growing demand for women's soccer on the biggest stages."

"We're incredibly proud of what this moment represents for the NWSL and for everyone who continues to invest in and believe in the future of our game," Berman added.

Incoming offseason league Project B scored more major WNBA signings this week, as the upstart venture continues stacking its roster ahead of a planned November 2026 launch.

Indiana Fever guards Kelsey Mitchell and Sophie Cunningham have both publicly signed on with Project B, joining already announced talent like Seattle Storm star Nneka Ogwumike and Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas, New York Liberty center Jonquel Jones, and Las Vegas Aces guard Jewell Loyd.

Also inking deals to join the inaugural season of Project B are Chicago Sky center Kamilla Cardoso, Golden State Valkyries forward Janelle Salaün, and Li Meng, a former Washington Mystics guard and current player in the Women's Chinese Basketball Association.

The multi-continent, Formula One-style traveling tournament circuit will ultimately sign 66 international stars, as Project B looks to field six 11-player teams in its debut 2026/2027 campaign.

Project B player signings will undoubtedly impact other offseason leagues like Unrivaled and Athletes Unlimited, but the new venture is also looming large over the ongoing WNBA CBA talks.

With negotiations racing toward this Sunday's extended deadline, Project B is putting WNBA compensation offerings under increased pressure, as the new league is reportedly anteing up multimillion-dollar salaries to its signees — far exceeding the 2025 WNBA maximum as well as the $1.1 million-max currently on the negotiating table.

World No. 1 Spain will take aim at a second-straight UEFA Nations League title this week, as La Roja take on No. 5 Germany in the first leg of the 2025 tournament's final at 2:30 PM ET on Friday.

The defending Nations League champions booked their spot in the 2025 final by dismantling No. 3 Sweden 5-0 on aggregate in the semifinal round, while Germany advanced after a tense 3-2 aggregate win over No. 6 France.

Germany must also contend with availability issues during Friday's match, as 28-year-old Bayern Munich forward and senior national team leading scorer Lea Schüller will be out due to family reasons.

To overcome that disadvantage, German head coach Christian Wück is reinforcing the team's back line, adding Athletic Bilbao defender Bibi Schulze Solano to the roster on Wednesday.

Also aiming to shut down Spain's offensive firepower on Friday is new NWSL champion goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger, who joined her German compatriots late following Gotham FC's title celebrations in New York this week.

While Spain and Germany will contend for the 2025 Nations League trophy this week, the pair — along with ousted semifinalists Sweden and France — have already booked spots in the top group of teams battling for tickets to the 2027 World Cup, with UEFA qualifying set to begin in 2026.

A full 19 months removed from their back-to-back Final Four runs, No. 11 Iowa basketball refuses to go away, with the Hawkeyes already notching one Top-25 win in the young 2025/26 NCAA campaign so far.

The still-unbeaten Hawkeyes took down No. 15 Baylor 57-52 last Thursday, with Iowa starting post players Hannah Stuelke and Ava Heiden combining for 28 points while guard Taylor Stremlow added another 12 off the bench in the marquee win.

"We have nice pieces," said Iowa head coach Jan Jensen this week. "But it's knowing when to play which pieces and with whom, and we're six games in."

The Hawkeyes have been finding their new identity under Jensen after a transformative period saw Iowa's longtime head coach Lisa Bluder retire while superstar guard Caitlin Clark joined the WNBA.

"Jan's been amazing," Stuelke told JWS at the Big Ten Media Day in October. "She stepped up like she needed to, and she's been growing every day since she's been the head coach, which it's really cool to see she cares. And it's a great environment for all of us."

"I have a year under my belt," Jensen echoed. "I know what this chair feels like now, and I have a little better of understanding of what that first road trip feels like, what that first big win feels like, or the tough loss feels like."

Iowa's season heats up with a ranked rivalry matchup against No. 10 Iowa State on Wednesday, December 10th.

The state rivals will tip off at 7 PM ET, with live coverage airing on ESPN.