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For Caitlin Clark and Iowa fans, this moment is too special to miss

Caitlin Clark acknowledges the crowd after Iowa’s upset win over South Carolina in the Final Four. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

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.”

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.

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.

Phoenix Mercury, Golden State Valkyries Ride Upset Wins into the WNBA Weekend

Phoenix Mercury players including Satou Sabally huddle during a 2025 WNBA game against the New York Liberty.
Phoenix rose to No. 3 in the WNBA standings with Thursday's win over New York. (Catalina Fragoso/NBAE via Getty Images)

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.

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.

Las Vegas Aces Aim to Stop Skid Ahead of Tough WNBA Weekend Matchups

Las Vegas's A'ja Wilson tries to defend a lay-up from Seattle's Gabby Williams during a 2025 WNBA game.
The Las Vegas Aces will face both Seattle and Indiana this weekend. (Rio Giancarlo/Getty Images)

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.

NWSL Kicks Off Final Gameday Slate Ahead of Summer Break

The San Diego Wave celebrate a goal by María Sánchez during a 2025 NWSL match.
The San Diego Wave will take on 2024 runners-up Washington on Sunday. (Marcus Ingram/Getty Images)

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.

KPMG Women’s PGA Championship Ups Purse to $12 Million, Ties LPGA Tour Record

Thailand's Jeeno Thitikul hits a shot during the 2025 KPMG Women's PGA Championship.
Thai golfer Jeeno Thitikul is in the lead after one round at the 2025 KPMG Women's PGA Championship. (Sam Hodde/Getty Images)

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.

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