On Tuesday, it was Vote Warnock and Vote Carter. The Atlanta Dream — and numerous other teams — made a statement with their t-shirts. Chennedy Carter made a statement with her play.

In just her fifth game in the league, Carter came away with a career-high 26 points. A score-first guard from her three years at Texas A&M, where she averaged over 19 field goal attempts per game, Carter has reached double digits in all five of her WNBA games. This time, however, she also knocked down 11-of-21 shots, marking her second straight game shooting above 50%.

Heading into the game, the rookie had the second highest usage rate in the league — 31.6% — and she only saw that number increase. Down the stretch in a tight game, Carter was the go-to option for the Dream. Going right at Diana Taurasi with under five minutes left in the fourth quarter, Carter went high off the glass unfazed. About two minutes later, she coolly answered Taurasi’s 3-pointer with one of her own.

Our Rookie putting up the numbers pic.twitter.com/h6TwhVOADe

— Atlanta Dream (@AtlantaDream) August 5, 2020

Carter’s game looked smooth and clean. It is clear that she has improved, even from her final college game in March. The end result is a rookie who’s making it look unusually easy.

In her first professional game, Carter dropped 18 points, with 8 assists and 5 rebounds — and the Dream won. Although Carter has not reached that number of assists since, she still has the eighth most among all players, including four against Phoenix.

And even with the eighth most field goal attempts in the WNBA, Carter still ranks 34th in the league in efficiency, though granted it’s a small sample size.

Carter’s name was mentioned in the now-infamous Instagram Live “A Touch More” episode in which Taurasi and Sue Bird debated which rookie would have the best career. Carter’s Tuesday rival, Taurasi, chose Sabrina Ionescu. On the other hand, Bird picked the No. 4 draft pick — Carter.

Ionescu will miss significant time with a sprain of her left ankle. Before her injury, Ionescu was the only rookie averaging more points per game than Carter. Compared to the entire league, Carter’s 17.4 point per game stacks up at 11th. And while she likely won’t get a chance to match up with Ionescu again, Carter’s play so far has proven the league has a lot to look forward to as the 2020 draft class continues to grow.

In the end, Atlanta wasn’t able to pull out the win against a Phoenix team. While expected for a young team with almost all new faces, 23 turnovers was too much to overcome. Carter committed five of those turnovers, which surprisingly did not even lead the team — Elizabeth Williams had six.

Still, things are looking up. Coming off an eight-win season, the Dream already have their first two of 2020. The ceiling for this team is wherever Carter will take them. As such, fans might want to buckle up now, because this rookie looks ready for lift-off.

Sidelined Phoenix Mercury star Satou Sabally is still down for the count, with the 27-year-old set to miss the 2026 season tip-off of Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball as she continues to recover from lingering concussion symptoms.

Sabally suffered the head injury in the fourth quarter of Game 3 of the 2025 WNBA Finals on October 8th, requiring assistance in exiting the matchup after visibly swaying upon standing.

The concussion forced Sabally to sit out the remainder of the postseason series against the eventual 2025 WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces.

Both Sabally and Unrivaled planned her return to Phantom BC for the league's second season, with the German national impressing in the offseason venture's debut run by averaging 15.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game.

Sabally is under a multi-year contract with the upstart, with Unrivaled promising that while the forward will be out "indefinitely," medical personnel will reevaluate her fitness "at a later date" as both parties hope to see her on the 3×3 court this season.

In her stead, Golden State Valkyries guard Tiffany Hayes — who suited up for Unrivaled's Laces BC last season — will join Phantom BC as Sabally's replacement.

The second season of Unrivaled 3x3 Basketball will tip off in Miami on January 5th, 2026.

Chicago Sky star Angel Reese is running it back, with the 23-year-old confirming plans to return to the Windy City for the 2026 WNBA season while participating in a USA Basketball training camp over the weekend.

"I'm under contract, so yes, I plan on returning to the Sky," Reese told reporters. "[I'm] continuing to talk to [head coach] Tyler [Marsh], and building that relationship with [GM] Jeff [Pagliocca] and Tyler."

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Her future with the Sky came into question in September, after the front office suspended Reese for half a game for making comments deemed "detrimental to the team" in a Chicago Tribune interview — comments she later apologized for, both publicly and privately.

Drafted by the Sky as the overall No. 7 pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, the LSU alum remains under a rookie contract through 2026, with an option to extend through the 2027 season.

After leading the WNBA in both double-doubles (23) rebounds-per-game (12.6) in the 2025 season, Reese's late-season availability waned due to a back injury — though the forward now reports a full recovery from the knock.

"Angel is an ascending young talent in this league who's had two very, very good seasons here in Chicago," said Pagliocca after September's suspension. "Obviously, we went through what we did. I feel like we closed the chapter on it."

Overall No. 1-seed Nebraska's perfect season is officially over, after No. 3-seed Texas A&M volleyball ousted the Huskers in a five-set Elite Eight thriller on Sunday, booking the Aggies a program-first trip to the Final Four.

Undaunted by Nebraska's 33-0 record, the Aggies jumped out to a 2-0 lead before the Huskers stormed back to force a fifth-set tiebreaker — which A&M won 15-13, stunning a home crowd that hasn't seen a Cornhusker loss in Lincoln in more than three years.

"A lot of us are seniors, and we've been doing this for a really long time," said Aggie senior opposite Logan Lednicky. "And I think all the newbies came in ready to work, ready to grind."

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Though Nebraska boasts five national titles — good for third on the all-time NCAA volleyball championship list — the Huskers haven't won an NCAA volleyball tournament since 2017, falling three times in the final and once in the semifinals in recent years.

With fellow No. 3-seed Wisconsin's Sunday Elite Eight upset win over four-time champ No. 1 Texas, the 2025 Final Four will now feature two squads — A&M and No. 1-seed Pitt — hunting a first-ever title.

Meanwhile, No. 1-seed Kentucky and the Badgers will be aiming for a second national trophy after earning their debut Division I championships in 2020 and 2021, respectively.

How to watch the 2025 NCAA volleyball Final Four

Texas A&M will kick off the 2025 Final Four against Pitt at 6:30 PM ET on Thursday, before Kentucky takes on Wisconsin at 9 PM ET.

Both semifinals will air live on ESPN.

The WSL appears to have a serious 2025/26 title race on its hands, after No. 1 Manchester City cemented their six-point lead on six-time reigning champs No. 2 Chelsea with Sunday's lopsided 6-1 win over No. 8 Aston Villa.

City striker Bunny Shaw scored four times in the victory, bringing her all-time club tally to 103 goals — and becoming the first woman to reach the century scoring mark in the team's modern era.

"Coming into this game, I knew that if I scored it would have been a really good milestone for me," she told BBC Radio.

Manchester City have been perfect since dropping their 2025/26 season opener — a 2-1 loss to six-time champions Chelsea — with the Citizens now carrying a 10-match WSL winning streak into 2026.

While Chelsea and No. 3 Arsenal have ample ground to make up on the WSL table, both managed to keep pace by snagging their own multi-goal wins over the weekend.

After No. 10 Everton snapped the Blues' 34-game WSL unbeaten streak last week, goals by France international Sandy Baltimore and USWNT star Alyssa Thompson shot Chelsea past No. 7 Brighton 3-0 on Sunday.

Arsenal is also back to their winning ways, taking down Everton 3-1 on Saturday to hold off No. 4 Manchester United as captain Leah Williamson returned from injury.

How to watch the WSL in 2026

Now on holiday break, the WSL will return at 7:30 AM ET on January 10th, when Arsenal will kick off 2026 play against Manchester United at Emirates Stadium, airing live on ESPN+.