DALLAS — Emma and Abigail Lehl had never been to an Iowa basketball game. They’d also never been on a road trip.

The girls, ages 8 and 6, knocked both out with one epic adventure, as their mom Haley piled them into a car and made the 12 hour, 34 minute drive from Cedar Falls, Iowa to Dallas for the Final Four.

After a season of watching the Hawkeyes on TV, the family decided this moment was too good to pass up.

“This could only happen once,” Haley said. “You never know.”

She’s right. The Final Four has eluded the Iowa women’s basketball team since 1993, so Lehl wasn’t going to risk her daughters missing out.

And she’s not the only one.

As Iowa defeated South Carolina on Friday for a spot in Sunday’s national championship game against LSU, the crowd at American Airlines Center had a noticeable contingent of Hawkeyes fans. In addition to their designated section, the stands were peppered with yellow shirts, hats, jerseys, and even a few pairs of striped overalls.

“That was super cool,” Iowa guard Kate Martin said. “We are like 16 hours away from home and we still had that many fans show up for us. It just really shows that we have the best fans in the country, and I wouldn’t be surprised if more Hawk fans showed up for Sunday.”

With seconds remaining on the clock in Friday’s semifinal game, it became clear that Iowa was going to pull off the upset of undefeated South Carolina. That’s when Abigail Lehl, who accessorized her Iowa gear with sparkly pink crocs, adorned with the letters “I O W A”, realized her team was going to win.

“That was my favorite part,” she said. “When Caitlin Clark threw the ball up and came to celebrate with the crowd.”

We get it 👏#WFinalFour x @IowaWBB pic.twitter.com/g2M6oX0wpc

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessWBB) April 1, 2023

Clark dazzled the arena with a 41-point performance that included eight assists and six rebounds. The game between the Player of the Year and the undefeated defending champions generated a lot of buzz and had the turnout to match. It was a sold-out crowd, and tickets were hard to come by. The game also drew 5.5 million viewers on ESPN platforms, making it the most-viewed NCAA Women’s Tournament semifinal game on record.

Josh and Meg Rife started talking to their kids about going to the Final Four back at the start of the season. Then, Josh says, it was a joke. But as Iowa continued to win games and the Rifes continued to follow their run, it became clear that the joke was becoming a reality.

“After they won on Sunday (against Lousiville in the Elite Eight), I looked at the tickets and I was like, ‘These seem kind of expensive,’ but we promised the kids so we are going to do it,” Josh Rife said. “Then I woke up the next day and those tickets that I thought were expensive were all gone. I looked at what was left and I was like, ‘Well, I don’t perceive these getting any cheaper, so let’s just pull the trigger.”

In total, they spent $3,400 on tickets for the Final Four and the national title game.

The Rife kids, 10-year-old Holden and 8-year-old Cecilia, are fans of all Hawkeye sports, but this team has made a special kind of impact on them. Cecilia’s favorite player is Gabbie Marshall, while Holden marvels at the playmaking of Clark.

“He never differentiates between the men’s and women’s teams,” Josh said of Holden. “He loves the Hawks. And I don’t think there is a player he finds more engrossing and more fun to watch than Caitlin Clark.”

Rife grew up in Iowa and watched the 1993 team until, as he says “Ohio State and Katie Smith tore us up in the semifinal game.” Smith, who was a freshman at the time, went on to have a successful career in the WNBA and now serves as an assistant coach for the Minnesota Lynx.

Despite the loss, Rife remembers the run well, and he wants that for his kids.

“This is going to be a core memory for them,” he said. “They were so engrossed in the game, you know, sitting forward on the chairs, and it was just really special for them to be in the same arena with a team that we have followed closely.”

It made the drive and the money spent well worth it, something that Ralna McVinua understands well. Her family lives in Storm Lake, Iowa, which is a three-hour and 40-minute drive from Carver Hawkeye Arena. Despite the distance, the McVinuas are season ticket holders, and she took her two daughters to seven Iowa home games this season before deciding to attend the Final Four.

Logan McVinua (9) and her mom Ralna drove from Storm Lake, Iowa to Dallas to watch the Hawkeyes. That’s a 12 hour drive. Logan says she did homework and took “like five naps” to pass the time.

Her favorite player is Gabbie Marshall. pic.twitter.com/7MByfm180S

— Eden Laase-Derouin (@eden_laase) April 1, 2023

McVinua is a life-long Iowa resident. She was 17 the last time the Hawkeyes were in the Final Four, but she couldn’t see the games on TV. Instead, McVinua read what she could about the team in her hometown newspaper.

Now, the Hawkeyes get all kinds of coverage, a shift McVinua credits to the team’s star player.

“Taking my daughters to see this is amazing,” she said. “And we feel that Caitlin Clark has really grown the game. A lot of people are tuning in just to see her. We feel really fortunate that she is from Iowa and that she stayed in Iowa.”

Eden Laase is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @eden_laase.

USWNT stalwart Alex Morgan will miss at least one week of NWSL action after suffering a left ankle knock in her last club appearance, Wave manager Casey Stoney said on Thursday.

Morgan was helped off the field after rolling her ankle in the later stages of the Wave’s 1-0 loss to the Orlando Pride last weekend, despite the San Diego side being out of available substitutes.

“She's got an ankle injury and she's out for this weekend, and then it'll be week by week from there,” Stoney said, confirming that Morgan’s been ruled out for Saturday’s showdown with NWSL newcomer Bay FC.

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Depending on its severity, Morgan’s ankle issue might have larger ramifications than missing a few weeks of NSWL play. Morgan was added to the team's Gold Cup roster after an ACL injury sidelined young striker Mia Fishel, and she's since made a number of USWNT starts in the team's Gold Cup and SheBelieves wins. A long-term injury could potentially derail the center forward’s Olympic plans.

With her return timeline uncertain, it's possible the injury could also impact Morgan's ability to participate in new head coach Emma Hayes' first U.S. friendlies in June and July.

Morgan's injury concerns aren't uncommon in the U.S. player pool, but add a sense of urgency as Hayes eyes the NWSL for top-performing players in the upcoming weeks. Gotham's Tierna Davidson and Rose Lavelle have also been dealing with injuries: Lavelle has yet to appear for Gotham, while Davidson exited last weekend's match early with a hamstring injury.

Gotham has yet to issue an update concerning Davidson's status.

This week, legendary Brazilian superstar Marta announced that she’ll retire from the national team at the end of 2024.

In an interview with CNN Esportes published Thursday, the iconic footballer confirmed that she would be hanging up her boots regardless of whether or not she ends up making Brazil's 18-player roster for the 2024 Paris Olympics. 

“If I go to the Olympics, I will enjoy every moment, because regardless of whether I go to the Olympics or not, this is my last year with the national team,” she said. “There is no longer Marta in the national team as an athlete from 2025 onwards.”

Marta will retire as a giant of the women's game, having appeared in five Olympics and multiple World Cups. When discussing her retirement, she stressed confidence in the rising generation of Brazilian players, noting that she was, “very calm about this, because I see with great optimism this development that we are having in relation to young athletes." 

The statement echoes back to a plea she made during the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup after Brazil lost to France 2-1 in the Round of 16. “It's wanting more. It's training more. It's taking care of yourself more. It's being ready to play 90 plus 30 minutes. This is what I ask of the girls,” she said then, addressing the young players following in her footsteps. 

In 2023, she signaled a farewell to World Cup competition with the same sentiment, telling media, “We ask the new generation to continue where we left off.”

If selected for the 2024 Olympic team, Marta has a shot at extending her own consecutive-scoring record with the ability to score in an unbelievable sixth-straight Olympic Games. She currently stands as Brazil’s top goalscorer, racking up 116 career goals in 175 matches, as well as the leading goalscorer in any World Cup, women’s or men’s, with 17 to her name. 

Marta will continue to play for the NWSL’s Orlando Pride through at least the end of 2024. The longtime forward and club captain has already contributed to multiple goals this season.

U.S. Soccer announced Tuesday that the USWNT will play their last home game on July 16th in the lead-up to the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.

The 2024 Send-Off Match against Costa Rica will take place at Washington, DC’s Audi Field — home to both the Washington Spirit and DC United — at 7:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 16th. The friendly rounds out a four-game Olympic run-up campaign under incoming head coach Emma Hayes’ side, with the last two set to feature the finalized 2024 U.S. Olympic Women’s Soccer Team roster.

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Hayes will appear on the USWNT sideline for the first time this June, helming the team as they embark on a two-game series against Korea Republic hosted by Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado on June 1st followed by Allianz Stadium in St. Paul, Minnesota on June 4th. 

The team is then scheduled to meet a talented Mexico squad on July 13th at Gotham FC’s Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, where the Olympic-bound lineup will attempt to rewrite February’s shocking 2-0 loss to El Tri Femenil in the group stages of this year’s Concacaf W Gold Cup. And while clear roster favorites have emerged from both of this year’s Gold Cup and SheBelives Cup rosters, a spate of recent and recurring injuries means making it to the Olympics is still largely anyone’s game.

Broadcast and streaming channels for the USWNT's final July 16th friendly at Audi Field include TNT, truTV, Universo, Max, and Peacock.

The USA Basketball Women's National Team is still considering Caitlin Clark for a spot on the Paris Olympics squad, says selection committee chair Jennifer Rizzotti. 

On Monday, Rizzotti told the AP that the committee will be evaluating the college phenom’s Olympic prospects by keeping a close eye on her first few weeks of WNBA play with Indiana.

The move is somewhat unconventional. While Clark was invited to participate in the 14-player national team training camp held earlier this month — the last camp before Team USA’s roster drops — she was unable to attend due to it coinciding with Iowa’s trip to the NCAA Women’s Final Four.

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Judging by the immense talent spread throughout the league in what might be their most hyped season to date, competition for a piece of the Olympic pie could be fiercer than ever before.

"You always want to introduce new players into the pool whether it's for now or the future," said Rizzotti. "We stick to our principles of talent, obviously, positional fit, loyalty and experience. It's got to be a combination of an entire body of work. It's still not going to be fair to some people."

Of course, Clark isn’t the first rookie the committee has made exceptions for. Coming off an exceptional college season that saw her averaging 19.4 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 4 assists per game for UConn, Breanna Stewart was tapped to represent the U.S. at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil less than two weeks after being drafted No. 1 overall by the Seattle Storm. Eight years prior, fellow No. 1 pick Candace Parker punched her ticket to the 2008 Games in Beijing just two weeks after making her first appearance for the L.A. Sparks.

In the lead-up to Paris’ Opening Ceremony on July 26th, USA Basketball Women’s National Team is scheduled to play a pair of exhibition games. They'll first go up against the WNBA's finest at the July 20th WNBA All-Star Game in Phoenix before facing Germany in London on July 23rd.

While an official roster announcement date hasn’t yet been issued, players won’t find out if they’ve made this year’s Olympic cut until at least June 1st.