Some of the brightest WNBA stars are packing their bags, as the league's free agency window revs up at breakneck speed, with Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner joining others on the move this week.

After 11 seasons with the Mercury — the team that drafted her No. 1 overall in 2013 — Griner officially jumped ship on Tuesday. The 10-time All-Star will ink a one-year deal with the Atlanta Dream when the official signing period opens on February 1st.

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Griner explained her free agency enthusiasm in a social media post. "I was able to find where I wanted to go," she said.

"It was a hard decision," Griner continued. "You're leaving what you know, what I've known for my whole career. But there's also the exciting factor... I get to show them something different."

Meanwhile, Phoenix is reportedly closing a deal to receive Connecticut Sun superstar Alyssa Thomas. The four-player trade will send Natasha Cloud, Rebecca Allen, and the 12th pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft to Connecticut. In exchange, Phoenix receives five-time All-Star Thomas and veteran guard Ty Harris.

League changes spark WNBA stars to explore new teams

A new CBA is entering negotiations and the WNBA's first expansion team since 2008 — the Golden State Valkyries — tips off this season. Subsequently, players across the league are advocating for their futures with increased sway.

Griner, Thomas, Jewell Loyd, and Kelsey Plum​ are all reportedly leaving the teams that originally drafted them. Most players are signing one-year deals due to the 2026 CBA's anticipated changes — and the deep free agency pool it will create.
 
While Griner and others are exploring first-ever moves, players like Thomas have been outspoken about seeking improved resources. The conversation is fueled in party by Unrivaled's top-of-the-line facilities.

"They have everything you possibly need here," Thomas said from the3×3 league's Miami campus. "They don’t really have a lot of those things in Connecticut. I've been trying to absorb as much knowledge as I can."

Toy titan Mattel is celebrating March 8th's International Women’s Day by launching a new Barbie Role Model line that features two famous athlete duos.

Highlighting the importance of female friendships, the brand has focused this year's campaign on 2024 Olympic gold medal-winning gymnasts Jordan Chiles and Jade Carey as well as Australian tennis icons Evonne Goolagong Cawley and Ash Barty.

Chiles and Carey also repped Team USA at the 2021 Tokyo Games, where Chiles helped the US take silver in the team competition, while Carey earned individual gold in the floor exercise.

"I’ve always been passionate about empowering the next generation of female athletes and I couldn’t be more grateful to be recognized as a Barbie as a Role Model this International Women’s Day with Jordan," said Carey.

"Together, we are so excited to showcase the limitless power of friendship to girls everywhere. I wouldn’t be here today without support and encouragement from great friends like Jordan."

Barbie honors First Nations Australian tennis stars

Former world No. 1 tennis stars and First Nations Australians Evonne Goolagong Cawley and Ash Barty also feature in the Barbie collection.

Barty retired in 2022 with wins in three of the four Grand Slams. Aboriginal sports legend Goolagong Cawley exited the sport in 1985 with 86 WTA Tour singles titles, including seven Grand Slam trophies.

"Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that I would be a Barbie myself," Barty told reporters. "I think it's just such an incredible experience to be a part of."

Another women's sports crossover for Barbie

This isn’t Barbie’s first foray into women’s sports. Past collections gave athletes like WNBA legend Sue Bird, Canadian soccer superstar Christine Sinclair, and tennis trailblazer Venus Williams the iconic doll's treatment.

Barbie also released lines in connection with the 2011 Women's World Cup. Additionally, the toy brand spotlighted women's sports with its 2023 Career of the Year collection. And late last year, Barbie partnered with the PWHL to release branded accessories representing the pro hockey league's teams.

"There’s no power or peace quite like knowing you have a support system of women behind you," remarked Chiles. "I hope that partnering with Barbie to celebrate the power of female friendship reminds the next generation of champions that we are stronger together."

Bay FC released renderings for the 2024 NWSL expansion team’s first-ever dedicated training facility on Wednesday, with award-winning design firm Olson Kundig overseeing the state-of-the-art complex’s development.

"In order to be a global sports franchise, the team needs its own home and dedicated facility," said Bay FC CEO Brady Stewart in the club's statement. "Tom Kundig and the Olson Kundig team understand our priority of player-centricity and also designed an inspirational and stunning space which reflects a sense of home for our players and staff."

"Olson Kundig are true innovators and are helping us future proof the facility and create something uniquely designed for our athletes that will nurture the whole person and unlock maximum potential."

Bay FC’s training facility, which is expected to open before the 2027 NWSL season, prioritizes a seamless experience for athletes, balancing private and communal spaces with an emphasis on wholistic player care.

Located at the center of the Bay on Treasure Island, a man-made island constructed in 1937, the complex will include three training fields and boasts sweeping views of San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge, North Bay, the Bay Bridge, and East Bay.

Even more, the center will provide resources to support long-term off-pitch success, including career development, education, and business training resources.

"Players commit to training together, building relationships, and working as a team every day," remarked Kundig. "The design acknowledges the complexity of that commitment — to the sport, the team, and the place that supports them both."

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Bay FC joins expanding roster of teams with top training centers

As rising professionalization continues to shape women’s sports, top-of-the-line training centers have become a key way for clubs to stand out — even across the West Coast's crowded real estate market.

Bay FC's new 2025 WNBA neighbor Golden State and the NWSL's LA club Angel City have both recently embraced the dedicated facilities trend, while Portland’s 2026 WNBA expansion team announced last month that it will share a new $150 million sports performance complex with the NWSL’s Portland Thorns.

Dedicated facilities are increasingly becoming the status quo in the NWSL and WNBA, and Bay FC’s thoughtful design should be a selling point for top talent for years to come.

In the brief moment between Sunday's NCAA basketball regular-season finale and Wednesday's tip off of major conference tournaments, Division I (DI) leagues doled out their individual 2024/25 season awards to top performers on Tuesday — raising the temperature of the National Player of the Year debate.

No. 6 Notre Dame sophomore Hannah Hidalgo topped the ACC, with the conference naming her both Player of the Year (POY) and, for the second straight year, Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY).

Top-ranked Texas's Madison Booker took SEC POY honors just one year after becoming the first freshman to book POY in the Longhorns' previous conference, the Big 12.

Meanwhile, No. 12 Kentucky sophomore center Clara Strack snagged DPOY, rising to the top of a stacked SEC field that includes No. 9 LSU’s Aneesah Morrow, No. 5 South Carolina’s Joyce Edwards, and fellow Wildcat standout Georgia Amoore.

Taking over the Big 12 is No. 8 TCU transfer guard Hailey Van Lith, who became the first Horned Frog to earn POY alongside the conference's Newcomer of the Year award. Earning the league's DPOY nod is No. 16 West Virginia senior JJ Quinerly, who booked the honor for the second season in a row.

After leading the No. 2 USC to a regular-season title, sophomore star JuJu Watkins booked Big Ten POY, while fellow conference debutant No. 4 UCLA saw their standout center Lauren Betts take home DPOY honors.

Leaders emerge in National Player of the Year race

An NCAA basketball season defined by surging parity and momentum swings denied the emergence of any clear-cut National Player of the Year (NPOY) favorite, but three headliners managed to separate themselves from the pack entering postseason play.

Thanks to her late-season heroics, Big Ten leader Watkins is the second most prolific DI scorer at 24.4 points per game (PPG), only trailing No. 22 Florida State guard Ta'Niya Latson, who boasts 25.4 PPG.

Fellow NPOY frontrunner Morrow is just the second player to record 100 career double-doubles in NCAA DI history, though LSU’s recent skid could impact her individual award standing.

After becoming the first-ever freshman to win NPOY in 2021, No. 3 UConn star Paige Bueckers’s 53.3 season field goal percentage has the senior guard back in contention for the 2025 title.

With award-worthy performances across the NCAA bringing unprecedented parity to the sport's end-of-season honors, this year's NPOY race is vastly different from last season's back-to-back no-brainer win by Iowa legend Caitlin Clark, as multiple stars make the case for DI's top individual 2024/25 honor.

The 2024/25 NCAA postseason officially tipped off on Wednesday, with top women's college basketball teams battling in conference tournaments in the lead-up to the Big Dance.

Kicking off this week's deluge of tournaments was No. 18 Tennessee, who avenged their season-ending two loss streak by opening the SEC tournament with a dominant 77-37 win over Texas A&M on Wednesday morning.

Shortly thereafter, UCF tipped off the Big 12 tournament by immediately ousting BYU 81-69, fueled in large part by senior guard Kaitlin Peterson's 35-point performance.

The ACC's debut Wednesday matchup will pit Syracuse against Boston College, while Minnesota and Washington have been tasked with kicking off the race to the Big Ten tournament title.

Most ranked squads like No. 10 Oklahoma, No. 14 North Carolina, and No. 20 Kansas State are waiting in the wings ahead of Thursday’s second-round slate, while AP Poll heavy-hitters No. 1 Texas, No. 2 USC, No. 4 UCLA, and No. 5 South Carolina won’t see their respective conference courts until Friday.

Underdogs aim to upend conference tournaments

While higher seeds have a distinct edge when it comes to conference tournament success, this week also provides underdogs one last shot at impressing the NCAA basketball committee.

Each tournament champion will book their conference's lone automatic ticket to March Madness, while the rest of the field's fate will rest in the selection committee's hands.

Top teams earn byes through to later conference competition rounds, which means lower seeds face significantly longer and more grueling schedules through the single-elimination contests.

Plus, the underdogs have arguably more to lose. Without a standout regular-season record, lower seeds must win their conference title to extend their season into the NCAA tournament, as their at-large selection chances grow dimmer the further they finished down the conference standings.

All in all, though NCAA tournament vets often see Champ Week as just another stepping stone to March Madness, bottom-of-the-table teams have much more at stake, as conference tournaments can upend both seasons and brackets.

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How to watch Wednesday's NCAA conference tournament games

ACC debutant Stanford's 36-season March Madness streak is on brink of collapse, with the unranked Cardinal needing a stellar conference tournament run — or an outright title — to make this year's Big Dance.

No. 11-seed Stanford's first hurdle will be No. 14-seed Clemson, with the pair's Wednesday matchup set for 6:30 PM ET on ACCN.

After two straight Final Four appearances, unranked Iowa will begin their Big Ten tournament campaign against also-unranked Wisconsin in Wednesday's highly anticipated first-round matchup.

The No. 14-seed Badgers and No. 11-seed Hawkeyes will tip off in Indianapolis at 8:30 PM ET, with live coverage streaming on Peacock.