While Athletes Unlimited basketball is making an impact on its own, the new domestic league also gives players a platform to showcase themselves for WNBA coaches. Some have yet to crack a roster in the competitive WNBA, and others might be trying to get back into the league’s ranks.

Through three weeks of the inaugural AU basketball season, two players have already benefited from the arrangement. Guard Taj Cole signed a training camp contract with the Connecticut Sun early in the season, and on Tuesday, Kalani Brown did the same with the Las Vegas Aces.

As Week 4 gets underway Wednesday night, here are three players making their case for a WNBA contract of their own.

Essence Carson

Carson, a 13-year WNBA veteran, signed on with AU after taking a year off from basketball. During her career with five WNBA teams, she’s averaged 7.2 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists and won a championship with the Los Angeles Sparks in 2016. The former No. 7 overall pick is currently a free agent, having last played for Connecticut in 2020.

Despite the year off, Carson made a seamless transition into AU basketball. Through nine games, she’s averaging 10.7 points, four rebounds and 2.3 assists and is currently 14th on the AU leaderboard with 2,350 points. The guard shined in Week 2, accumulating a season-high 573 points against Team Harrison on Feb. 2 and helping Team Brown to a 3-0 record.

Carson will be on Team Hawkins this week, reuniting with Tianna Hawkins for the first time since her standout performance in Week 2.

Lauren Manis

The Week 3 draft produced some fireworks when Lexie Brown picked Lauren Manis ahead of Natasha Cloud, who protested the selection over the live stream. Cloud had reason to do so: Through nine games this season, Manis is averaging 9.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 22.2 minutes per game, earning MVP 3 honors in Game 13.

“She’s a dog,” Cloud said. “Her motor constantly goes. She does all the little things that won’t necessarily show up on the stat sheet.”

At Holy Cross, Manis was the first player, male or female, to reach 2,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds. She holds the Patriot League record with 1,188 rebounds for her college career.

The Las Vegas Aces selected Manis 33rd overall in the 2020 WNBA Draft and invited her to training camp last year, but she was waived and wound up overseas, playing for Cegledi in Hungary. While there, she averaged 16 points, 10.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists in eight games.

To back up the production, she has one key WNBA player in her corner.

“Someone’s gonna pick her up, and if they don’t, that’s a huge mistake,” said Cloud, a 2019 champion with the Washington Mystics. “I think that she can come in. Clearly, she is ready to play in the W. She spent that year overseas, she got better, she came back and she’s proving herself in this league.”

Destinee Walker

Walker has come into her own over the past four games and risen steeply up the AU leaderboard as a result. After scoring 22 points for Team Cloud at the end of Week 2, Tianna Hawkins picked her up in Week 3 and she flourished, averaging 14 points, three assists and 2.7 rebounds. In the six games prior to that, Walker averaged 6.8 points, 1.5 rebounds and one assist.

In the final game of the week against Team Brown, Walker recorded 21 points (on 3-for-4 shooting from 3-point range), six rebounds and five assists, vaulting up the leaderboard with an additional 592 points. She’s currently in 16th place on the AU leaderboard with 2,277 total points.

After transferring from North Carolina and playing her fifth and sixth years at Notre Dame, Walker went undrafted in 2021 and was picked up by the Dallas Wings on a training camp contract. She was later cut and made her way overseas, where she played for Niki Lefkadas in Greece.

Walker will be back on Team Hawkins this week, with the potential to make an even greater impact.

Others to watch

• Ty Young (13th on AU leaderboard): 8.7 points, 3.8 assists, 62.7% field goal shooting
• Jessica Kuster (15th): 7.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 44.4% 3-point shooting
• Sydney Colson (18th): 11.3 points, 5.8 assists, 2.2 rebounds

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

Two key upsets headlined Thursday's WNBA bill, sending the Phoenix Mercury soaring into third place in the league standings while the No. 6 Golden State Valkyries continued to outwit opponents.

The red-hot Mercury snagged their fourth straight win by taking down the No. 2 New York Liberty 89-81 on Thursday night, overcoming an 35-point performance from two-time MVP Breanna Stewart with five double-digit Phoenix scorers.

Meanwhile out West, the Valkyries stifled a surging No. 7 Fever, downing Indiana 88-77 in part by holding star guard Caitlin Clark to just 3-for-14 from the field — and 0-for-7 from behind the arc.

"We were being disruptive, we know that she doesn't like physicality, we know that she wants to get to that left step-back," Golden State head coach Natalie Nakase said about the Valkyries' strategy to effectively contain Clark.

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Though the No. 1 Minnesota Lynx and 2024 WNBA champions New York still hold court atop the table, Thursday's actions proves that other squads are making some unexpected in-roads.

Putting together an impressive road record are the Mercury, who will ride a 4-2 away record into their Saturday matchup against the No. 11 Chicago Sky — the last stop on a four-game road trip that's been perfect for Phoenix thus far.

Already flipping the script on expectations is Golden State, with the 2025 expansion team rising despite relying on a hodgepodge roster as several players compete at EuroBasket 2025. The Valkyries will aim to keep their winning momentum in their Sunday clash with the No. 12 Connecticut Sun.

How to watch the Mercury, Valkyries this weekend

Both of Thursday's victors will be back in action this weekend, with Phoenix facing Chicago at 1 PM ET on Saturday, airing live on ABC.

Then on Sunday, Golden State will host Connecticut at 8:30 PM ET, with live coverage on WNBA League Pass.

In another weekend full of WNBA action, all eyes are on Las Vegas, as the No. 8 Aces will try to curb a two-game losing streak against two formidable opponents.

A successful weekend for Las Vegas could hinge on three-time WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson's potential return from injury, with the star forward recently upgraded to "questionable" after landing in concussion protocol last week.

Overall, the margin for error has narrowed in the middle of the WNBA pack, as talented teams continue to translate quality performances into consistency.

• No. 5 Seattle Storm vs. No. 8 Las Vegas Aces, Friday at 10 PM ET (ION): The Aces will try to end their free fall in Friday's head-to-head battle with a Seattle side that can beat anybody at their best.

• No. 7 Indiana Fever vs. No. 8 Las Vegas Aces, Sunday at 3 PM ET (ESPN): Las Vegas next faces a Fever team still smarting from Thursday's away loss to the Golden State Valkyries, with both teams narrowly clinging to positions above the playoff line.

• No. 2 New York Liberty vs. No. 5 Seattle Storm, Sunday at 7 PM ET (WNBA League Pass): The Liberty have a comfortable hold on second place, but with two losses in their last three games, New York is flirting with danger entering their Sunday game with Seattle — particularly if star big Jonquel Jones is out after suffering a knock to the ankle on Thursday.

Ultimately, there's no rest for the weary in the WNBA, as a series of difficult matchups can see a single error quickly slide into a losing streak.

The final NWSL weekend heading into the league's six-week summer break has arrived, giving teams one more chance to prove themselves before regular-season play pauses to make way for major international tournaments.

With a five-point gap separating No. 1 Kansas City from No. 2 Orlando in the NWSL standings, the Current will enter the break as the 2025 Shield frontrunners regardless of this weekend's results.

Despite Kansas City's grip atop the table, there's still plenty of room for movement both above and below the postseason cutoff line, as clubs across the NWSL look to wrap their midseason finales on a high note:

• No. 1 Kansas City Current vs. No. 10 Angel City FC, Friday at 8 PM ET (Prime): Angel City has a shot at launching themselves above the cutoff line on Friday, but they'll have to snap the Current's five-game winning streak to make it happen.

• No. 8 Gotham FC vs. No. 9 Bay FC, Saturday at 7:30 PM ET (ION): Gotham and Bay FC enter the weekend tied on points while staring at each other from on opposite sides of the playoff line — meaning a Saturday win for either club could set the tone for the rest of the 2025 season.

• No. 3 San Diego Wave FC vs. No. 4 Washington Spirit, Sunday at 10 PM ET (CBS Sports): The weekend's only top-table clash could see San Diego sprint back into second place — unless Washington leapfrogs the upstart Wave to claim the third-place spot.

The LPGA Tour has turned its attention to Texas, with the 2025 KPMG Women's PGA Championship — the third major of the pro golf season — teeing off in Frisco to a flurry of first-round action on Thursday.

All of the sport's Top 100 athletes are participating in this week's event, including No. 1 Nelly Korda, who sits in a 14th-place tie with an even-par first-round performance, and surging US dark horse No. 50 Lexi Thompson, who tied for 10th in her Thursday return from a brief retirement.

However, leading the pack heading into Friday's second round is Thailand's world No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul, who finished the first day of competition atop the leaderboard with a score of 4-under-par.

Australia's No. 24 Minjee Lee also posted a strong start, capping Thursday at 3-under to sit in second place.

While the sport's best chase victory on the links, the 2025 KPMG Women's PGA Championship is already making history off the green.

Not only is it the first-ever women's major to tee off at Frisco's Fields Ranch East, the tournament also increased its purse to $12 million on Tuesday — nearly tripling the $4.5 million prize pool from just four years ago and tying the US Women's Open for the LPGA Tour's highest payout in the process.

How to watch the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship

The third LPGA Grand Slam of 2025 continues through Sunday.

Friday's second round will air live on the Golf Channel, while coverage of Saturday and Sunday's final rounds will air across NBC and Peacock.