It’s the little things that make Brea Beal special.

It’s also the big things.

It’s the small action of taking two steps down the block to aid Aliyah Boston in a triple team. And the big commotion caused by blocking not one, but two Hailey Van Lith jump shots in the first quarter.

It’s the blink-and-you-might-miss-it impact Beal has had all season for South Carolina.

Against Louisville on Friday night, Beal made her mark in every way imaginable, finishing with 12 points, three rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals to help the Gamecocks to a 72-59 win and a place in the national championship game Sunday.

“She’s so underestimated,” coach Dawn Staley said. “She’s so unassuming. Her personality makes it easy for people to overlook her. Except the people who know what she does every single day.”

A lot more people know now.

Going into the Final Four game, Van Lith, Louisville’s star guard, was averaging 21.5 points in the tournament. Beal, who often draws South Carolina’s most difficult defensive assignment, was tasked with guarding her.

Down 5-0 to start the game, Van Lith started to work on Beal, setting her up for a stepback jumper. The South Carolina junior blocked the shot, and then fielded a pass on the other end from Aliyah Boston for a layup.

Beal was able to limit Van Lith to nine points on 4-for-11 shooting with her relentless defense.

“It’s just the mentality to have every single game,” she said. “You can’t just turn it on and turn it off when you choose to.”

Brea Beal with the block and bucket 😤 #WFinalFour pic.twitter.com/TKVY1N6KzU

— ESPN (@espn) April 1, 2022

Beal blocked another Van Lith jumper before the quarter ended, but the Louisville sophomore still found ways to make an impact. With 1:50 left in the first, Van Lith drove and dished to Olivia Chochran, who finished a layup and was fouled. She missed the free throw, but Van Lith came up with the rebound and Emily Engstler scored on a layup to cut the South Carolina lead down to 15-10.

It was that kind of game. South Carolina would create distance, and Louisville would string together high-energy plays to ensure the Gamecocks were never too far out of reach.

“Louisville did an extremely great job just competing,” Staley said. “We could never put them away because of their fight and their competitiveness, and their ability to hang in there and score and turn us over.”

With 25 seconds left in the first half, Louisville’s fight was apparent. The Cardinals had been down nine, then ahead three, then tied. Going into the final possession, they trailed South Carolina 32-28.

Boston caught the ball in the paint and was swarmed by three Louisville defenders. She faked the shot, and then the ever unassuming Beal stepped to the hoop. Boston dumped the ball to her, and Beal finished to give the Gamecocks a six-point lead going into the half.

While Beal was a quiet impact player, Boston’s performance was much, much louder. The National Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year finished with 23 points, 18 rebounds and four assists.

“She’s really good,” Louisville coach Jeff Walz said of Boston. “I mean, it doesn’t take me to tell you what she’s good at. I’ve got a 6-year-old at home that can sit here and watch the game and be like, ‘Damn, she’s good.’”

Engstler was the catalyst for Louisville, keeping the Cardinals within striking distance. When she fouled out with 4:56 left in the game, and her team trailed by nine points, the deficit only grew.

A few minutes later, with the victory sealed, Boston and Beal subbed out and were met with cheers from the South Carolina crowd. No doubt they were cheering for Boston’s monster performance. But they were also cheering for Beal because, as Staley says, those who watch her every day know what she does for the Gamecocks.

South Carolina is one game away from a national title, in no small part because of Brea Beal.

Eden Laase is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports. She previously ran her own high school sports website in Michigan after covering college hockey and interning at Sports Illustrated. Follow her on Twitter @eden_laase.

Hailey Van Lith is reportedly on her way to TCU, says Talia Goodman of The Next Hoops.

The former Louisville star joined LSU for the 2023-24 season, but a disappointing run in Baton Rouge saw her enter the transfer portal once again at the season’s end. Van Lith opted to use her fifth year of eligibility versus declaring for the WNBA draft.

Van Lith was admittedly less effective as a Tiger. Her field goal percentage decreased from .411 in 2022-23 with Louisville to .388 at LSU. She also went from averaging 19.7 points per game to just 11.6, due in part to a change of position from shooting guard to more of a point guard role.

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At an end-of-season banquet last week, LSU coach Kim Mulkey used her speech to wish Van Lith well, calling her "one of the hardest working players that I’ve ever coached."

"Her aspirations were to get drafted this year," Mulkey said, according to NOLA.com. "And she realized, 'I need another year, and I need to go back to a place where I can relax and get back to my normal position.'

"And what do you do? You hug her, and you wish her well."

The decision to commit to TCU may come as a surprise after Van Lith paid a visit to Mississippi State last weekend. The Horned Frogs finished out the 2023-24 season 21-12 overall, coming in 9th in the Big 12 and scoring an average of 69.5 points per game. The program also made headlines in January when they held mid-season open tryouts in response to an onslaught of sidelining injuries.

For the first time in the NWSL's 12-year history, fans can now buy their own goalkeeper jerseys. And while replica goalkeeper jerseys representing all 14 NWSL teams hit the market on Wednesday, some didn't stick around for long. 

Fans across women's soccer have long vocalized their discontent over the position's lack of availability on social media, often comparing the shortcoming to the widespread availability of men’s goalkeeper jerseys. And as the NWSL has grown, so has demand — and not just from those in the stands. 

"To have goalkeeper kits available for fans in the women’s game as they have been for so long in the men’s game is not only a long-awaited move in the right direction, it’s just good business," said Washington Spirit goalie Aubrey Kingsbury in an team press release. "I can’t wait to see fans representing me, Barnie [Barnhart], and Lyza in the stands at Audi!"

just went looking at #nwsl goalkeeper kit stock out of curiosity — Alyssa Naeher's $145 kit already sold out S-XL (league announced GK jerseys on sale 3 hours ago)https://t.co/8bYA7tlwcx

— Meg Linehan (@itsmeglinehan) April 17, 2024

Business does, in fact, appear to be booming. Alyssa Naeher’s Chicago Red Stars kit sold out less than three hours after the league's announcement. Jerseys for other keepers like DiDi Haračić, Abby Smith, Michelle Betos, Katelyn Rowland, and Bella Bixby aren’t currently available via the Official NWSL Shop, though blank goalkeeper jerseys can be customized through some individual team sites. Jerseys start at $110 each.

"This should be the benchmark," said Spirit Chief Operations Officer Theresa McDonnell. "The expectation is that all players’ jerseys are available to fans. Keepers are inspiring leaders and mentors with their own unique fan base who want to represent them... I can’t wait to see them all over the city."

Decorated gymnast Simone Biles took to the popular Call Her Daddy podcast this week to open up about her experience at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, revealing she thought she was going to be "banned from America" for her performance.

After Biles botched her vault routine due to a bout of the "twisties," she withdrew from the team final as well as the all-around final in order to focus on her mental health. She later reentered the competition to win bronze in the individual balance beam final.

In her interview with podcast host Alex Cooper, Biles admitted to feeling like she let the entire country down by failing her vault attempt.

"As soon as I landed I was like 'Oh, America hates me. The world is going to hate me. I can only see what they’re saying on Twitter right now,'" she recalled thinking. "I was like, ‘Holy s---, what are they gonna say about me?'"

"I thought I was going to be banned from America," she continued. "That’s what they tell you: Don’t come back if not gold. Gold or bust. Don’t come back."

Widely regarded as the greatest gymnast of all time, Biles has hinted at a desire to join her third Olympic team in Paris, though her participation won't be confirmed until after the gymnastics trials in late June. She holds over 30 medals from the Olympic Games and World Artistic Gymnastics Championships combined, and if qualified, would be a sure favorite heading into this summer’s games.

Caitlin Clark is reportedly close to cementing a hefty endorsement deal with Nike.

The Athletic was the first to break the news Wednesday evening, commenting that the deal would be worth "eight figures" and include her own signature shoe. On Thursday afternoon, the publication tweeted that the deal would top $20 million, according to lead NBA Insider Shams Charania. Both Under Armour and Adidas are said to have also made sizable offers to the college phenom and expected future WNBA star.

The new agreement comes after Clark's previous Nike partnership ended with the conclusion of the college basketball season. She was one of five NCAA athletes to sign an NIL deal with the brand back in October, 2022. 

Considering Clark's overwhelming popularity and Nike's deep pockets, the signing's purported value doesn't exactly come as a shock. New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu’s deal with the brand is reportedly worth $24 million, while NBA rookie and No. 1 overall pick Victor Wembanyama’s deal is rumored to weigh in at $100 million. And in 2003, LeBron James famously earned $90 million off his own Nike deal. 

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Clark’s star power continues to skyrocket, with the NCAA championship averaging 18.9 million viewers and the 2024 WNBA Draft more than doubling its previous viewership record. Following the draft, Fanatics stated that Clark's Indiana Fever jersey — which sold out within an hour — was the top seller for any draft night pick in the company’s history, with droves of unlucky fans now being forced to wait until August to get their hands on some official No. 22 gear.

In Wednesday's Indiana Fever introductory press conference, the unfailingly cool, calm, and collected Clark said that turning pro hasn’t made a huge impact on how she’s conducting her deals.

"If I’m being completely honest, I feel like it doesn’t change a ton from how I lived my life over the course of the last year," she said. "Sponsorships stay the same. The people around me, agents and whatnot, have been able to help me and guide me through the course of the last year. I don’t know if I would be in this moment if it wasn’t for a lot of them."