After stellar performances for both club and country, Orlando Pride star striker Barbra Banda is the 2024 BBC Women's Footballer of the Year, becoming the eighth player across the annual award's 10 editions to earn the trophy ​on Tuesday.

At just 24 years old, Banda became the highest-scoring African player in Olympic history this past summer, registering four goals — including her third Olympic hat trick — despite Zambia's group-stage elimination.

In her first season in the league, Banda finished the 2024 NWSL season second in scoring with 13 regular-season goals. She led the Pride to their first-ever Shield and Championship wins, claiming the Championship MVP trophy with her title-winning goal. Plus, with four postseason goals, Banda set a new NWSL playoff scoring record.

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The fans' favorite footballer

Fans ultimately select the annual BBC Footballer of the Year award by voting on a five-player shortlist. That shortlist is determined by a large panel of international soccer experts, including coaches, players, administrators, and independent journalists. The panel chose this year's nominees based on their performances from September 2023 to August 2024.

Though usually heavy with UK-based athletes, this year's field lacked any club or country connection with the nation. To claim the award, Banda beat out fellow finalists Aitana Bonmatí and Caroline Graham Hansen of Barcelona FC, and fellow NWSL standouts Sophia Smith (Portland) and Naomi Girma (San Diego).

Banda is now just the second winner in the award's decade-long history without a connection to England. She joins two-time victor Ada Hegerberg, a Norwegian national and striker for Lyon, in that elite club.

A surprised Banda was quick to share credit with her Orlando teammates upon hearing the news, telling the Pride, "I'm just dedicating this award to every one of you guys who has been there for me."

Unrivaled Basketball and trading card manufacturer Panini America are teaming up, bringing the 3×3 league's first officially licensed trading cards to market on Friday.

As part of a multi-year agreement between the two parties, Panini will debut the Instant Cards just hours before the first full weekend of play in the 2026 Unrivaled season tips off on Friday.

Panini also plans to launch a Rewind set of trading cards celebrating the 2025 inaugural Unrivaled season, among other future drops.

"Our partnership with Unrivaled is a great way to reinforce and showcase our support of the women's game and female athletes," said Panini America SVP of marketing Jason Howarth in the pair's Thursday announcement. "Unrivaled's 3-on-3 format makes for exciting and compelling game play and continuing to work with the best players in the world in this format made this partnership make perfect sense."

Following Monday's Season 2 tip-off, Unrivaled is continuing to form strategic partnerships as the offseason pro league grows in popularity.

"We want to meet fans where they are, and Panini's history in this space makes them an ideal partner to highlight the biggest moments for women's basketball's biggest stars," said Unrivaled president Alex Bazzell.

How to purchase Unrivaled Instant Cards

The full Unrivaled Instant Card set will release online at 3:08 PM ET on Friday at PaniniAmerica.net.

US women are lighting up the ice, performing record-breaking short programs at the US Figure Skating Championships on Wednesday as the nation's top skaters compete to represent Team USA at the 2026 Winter Olympics in February.

Currently atop the field is 26-year-old Amber Glenn, with the reigning back-to-back national champion posting the highest short program score in event history on Wednesday.

Glenn's 83.05-point performance surpassed the 81.11-point previous record set just minutes before by her 20-year-old teammate, reigning world champion Alysa Liu.

"I think that was one of my most enjoyable experiences competing ever," Glenn said afterwards.

With Liu and Glenn leading the charge, the US is aiming to end a 20-year Olympic medal drought in women's singles figure skating in Milan, Italy, this winter — and Team USA has even more depth on their side.

A full six of the world's Top-17 skaters hail from the US, with 18-year-old Isabeau Levito — who claimed third in Wednesday's short program competition — joining Glenn and Liu in the Top 5.

Team USA can send only three singles skaters to next month's Winter Games, with the national selection committee assessing each athlete's full season — not just their performances at this week's championships — before announcing the Olympic-bound trio on Sunday.

How to watch the 2026 US Figure Skating Championships

The women's singles competition will conclude with Friday's free skate, which kicks off at 3 PM ET before the top skaters in the standings take the ice at 8 PM ET on NBC and Peacock.

The 2026 US Olympic Figure Skating Team will then be announced at 2 PM ET on Sunday, live on NBC.

This month's USWNT roster featured one notable gap, as the absence of Portland Thorns midfielder Sam Coffey stirred up rumors that the 27-year-old is finalizing a move to the WSL to join the top-tier UK league's frontrunners, Manchester City.

First reported by The Guardian, ESPN added on Thursday that Manchester City will ante up a base transfer fee around $800,000 to add Coffey to the Citizens' roster — though the number could rise as negotiations continue and parties finalize a deal.

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The national team stalwart will reportedly travel to Manchester in the near future to ink a potential contract, but Coffey currently remains under contract with Portland until 2027, having signed an extension with the Thorns in 2024.

Coffey has been a mainstay for her NWSL club since Portland drafted the Penn State alum in 2021, but the UK league's pull could persuade her to join her USWNT teammates Alyssa Thompson (Chelsea), Emily Fox (Arsenal), Phallon Tullis-Joyce (Manchester United), and Naomi Girma (Chelsea) in making the leap to the WSL.

Currently sitting six points clear of six-time reigning champion Chelsea atop the 2025/26 WSL table, Manchester City has reportedly been searching for "the right defensive midfield option" as they pursue their first league title since 2016.

This weekend's SEC slate brings the heat, as the stacked NCAA basketball conference gears up for more than one high-profile ranked matchup on Sunday.

Undefeated No. 2 Texas will visit Baton Rouge to take on No. 12 LSU, with the Tigers looking to add to their 80-59 Thursday win over unranked Georgia as they continue battling back from a dismal 0-2 start in 2025/26 conference play.

"We think we're just going to go in there and out-jump, out-leap somebody," said LSU boss Kim Mulkey following last Sunday's loss to No. 7 Vanderbilt. "You're not going to do that in this league."

"This year, the [SEC] is every bit as good as last year — when you really think about it, it's probably way better," Longhorns head coach Vic Schaefer told the Austin American-Statesman on Thursday. "The big thing right now is we've got to get better."

Texas's clash with LSU opens a tough stretch for the Longhorns, as they face AP Poll headliners No. 3 South Carolina, No. 5 Oklahoma, No. 6 Kentucky, and No. 7 Vanderbilt in the coming weeks.

Sunday's other SEC blockbuster between the Sooners and the Wildcats is all about redemption, as Oklahoma aims to bounce back from their 74-69 upset loss to No. 18 Ole Miss on Thursday while Kentucky looks to put their 64-51 Thursday loss to unranked Alabama in the rearview mirror.

How to watch ranked SEC basketball on Sunday

No. 2 Texas will tip off Sunday's ranked SEC slate against No. 12 LSU at 3 PM ET, airing live on ESPN.

Then at 4 PM ET, No. 5 Oklahoma will visit No. 6 Kentucky, with live coverage on the SEC Network.