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Cindy Brunson, Sheryl Swoopes’ AU partnership a ‘dream come true’

Cindy Brunson and Sheryl Swoopes (Jade Hewitt/Athletes Unlimited)

When Athletes Unlimited basketball began five weeks ago, it wasn’t just the players who made history. Cindy Brunson and Sheryl Swoopes, AU’s broadcasting team for the inaugural season, became the first female commentary duo of color to lead a professional sports league.

“If you’d have told me, tapped me on the shoulder 20 years ago when I was at ESPN and said, ‘Hey, this is coming,’ I would’ve been, ‘Yeah, right, I’ll believe it when I see it,’” Brunson told Just Women’s Sports. “But now that it’s happened and I actually get to be a part of it, it’s so freaking amazing.”

Brunson has sat in history-making seats before. Two years after starting at ESPN in 1999, Brunson became the first biracial woman to host “SportsCenter.” She was there for 13 years before leaving to join the Pac-12 Network and work other sportscasting gigs.

Then last year, Ilene Hauser, Athletes Unlimited’s senior advisor of operations and the former manager of marketing at Nike, approached Brunson with the opportunity to serve as the play-by-play voice of AU’s debut basketball season. The chance to serve in a front-facing broadcast role for a major professional sports league was too good for Brunson to pass up. And the possibility of having Swoopes join her as color commentator made it feel like a winning lottery ticket.

Swoopes, the first player to sign with the WNBA in 1997, ended her career as a four-time WNBA champion and three-time MVP, and is still considered one of the best women’s basketball players of all time. While she’s worked in the booth periodically since her retirement, Athletes Unlimited gave Swoopes her first full-time color commentary gig at the professional level.

“I’ve had the great luxury of working alongside some really fantastic people in my career,” Brunson said, shouting out fellow “SportsCenter” hosts Neil Everett and Stan Verrett, but she noted that her chemistry with Swoopes has been off-the-charts since the beginning.

“It has blown me away,” she said. “I’ve never gotten into a rhythm that quickly with an analyst in my career.”

Swoopes said Brunson is “a big reason why” she has enjoyed the five-week gig with Athletes Unlimited and hopes to work with her again in the future.

“She has taught me so much about being an analyst,” Swoopes said. “She is such an amazing broadcaster but an even better person. Her knowledge, passion and excitement for the game is what’s missing in the women’s game today.”

Brunson and Swoopes both recognize that the existence of a league like Athletes Unlimited only contributes to the growth of women’s sports. For a long time, people who played and worked in women’s sports operated with the attitude that they were “just happy to be here,” grateful for whatever scraps they were given. Brunson believes that narrative is a thing of the past.

“Athletes Unlimited has said that, not only do we not want to be adjacent, we want a seat at the table,” Brunson said. “In fact, we want to be at the head of the table. And I love that about this league.”

While AU was founded in early 2020 by two men, Jonathan Soros and Jon Patricof, the women who have taken a chance on the burgeoning league are united in their efforts to forge their own path. Beyond the founders, everyone Brunson has worked with at AU has been a woman.

“I think women have gotten to the point where they are tired of waiting for men to do the right thing,” she said. “They have built a bridge, they have gotten over it, and they are taking the reins to make things happen for themselves.”

Part of the generation that “did a lot of going along to get along” in order to make strides earlier in her career, Brunson has been glad to see a shifting of the tides. Now, she can prioritize Athletes Unlimited rather than call games for other networks just to maintain her standing in the male-dominated industry.

Brunson knows she has the responsibility of being a standard-bearer for women in sports. When the COVID-19 pandemic halted and then slowed sports down in 2020, she gained a new understanding of how much of an impact she has on those watching at home.

“It’s not just me driving down the road in my career anymore,” she said. “I’ve got a bunch of younger, Black and brown people in the backseat, so what I do, what exit I take has to be as good for them as it is for me. That’s why it was a no-brainer for me to do Athletes Unlimited.”

It’s also why the emotions rushed in after she and Swoopes finished their first AU game in late January. The magnitude of what they had accomplished as trailblazers in the women’s sports broadcast booth was finally starting to set in.

“When I took off the headset after that first game, my eyes were wet,” Brunson said. “I just thought, this is how I dreamed it would be. And my dream came true.”

Emma Hruby is an associate editor at Just Women’s Sports.

Gotham, Portland Gear Up for Concacaf W Champions Cup Semifinals

Gotham goalie Cassie Miller makes a save during a 2024 Concacaf W Champions Cup group-stage match.
Gotham played Tigres UANL to a 4-4 draw in last October’s Champions Cup group stage match. (Ira L. Black - Corbis/Getty Images)

The battle for continental soccer glory continues on Wednesday, as the Portland Thorns and Gotham FC land in Mexico for the 2024/25 Concacaf W Champions Cup semifinals.

After advancing past last fall's group-stage play, both NWSL sides now face Liga MX standouts in the knockout rounds with a ticket to Saturday's Champions Cup Final on the line.

The back-to-back semifinals will take place on Wednesday in Nuevo León, Mexico, with live coverage streaming on Paramount+:

  • Club América vs. Gotham FC, 7:30 PM ET: Both the Bats and this year's Liga MX regular season champions are looking to bounce back, as Gotham attempts to shake off a recent NWSL skid while América seeks redemption after stumbling in their season-ending league tournament earlier this month.
  • Tigres UANL vs. Portland Thorns, 10:30 PM ET: Expect a high-energy clash between the three-time NWSL champs and six-time Liga MX title-winners, with the Thorns coming off a five-match undefeated streak and the Tigres shooting to impress in front of their home crowd at Estadio Universitario.

It's not just hardware and continental bragging rights on the line, though.

Saturday's 2024/25 Concacaf W Champions Cup victors will also earn automatic qualification into FIFA's 2026 Champions Cup — a six-team tournament between confederation winners — and the first-ever Club World Cup, which will kick off in 2028.

National Seeds Fall as NCAA Softball Storms into Super Regionals

Ole Miss pitcher Aliyah Binford winds up during a 2025 NCAA softball postseason game.
Ole Miss is one of four unseeded teams to make the 2025 NCAA softball Super Regionals. (Mady Mertens-Imagn Images)

After a first-round weekend of pitcher's duels and red-hot bats, the 2025 NCAA softball tournament's best-of-three Super Regionals field is set — and it's missing four of the 16 national seeds.

No. 10 LSU fell on Saturday after two upset losses to unseeded SE Louisiana, before Sunday saw No. 13 Arizona and No. 14 Duke follow suit while unseeded Ole Miss, Georgia, and Nebraska all punched second-round tickets.

Eventually ousting SE Louisiana in the winners' bracket to advance to their first Super Regionals in 11 years, the Huskers rode in on the back of two-time All-American pitcher Jordy Bahl, with the Oklahoma transfer throwing 12 innings and hitting four home runs across Nebraska's three Regional games.

Elsewhere, unseeded Liberty booked a program-first trip to the Supers by eliminating top-seed Texas A&M — the first time the NCAA bracket's overall No. 1 seed failed to advance from Regionals.

Should they similarly bounce No. 16 Oregon this weekend, Liberty will become just the second mid-major team to make the Women's College World Series (WCWS) since 2014, joining James Madison's 2021 Cinderella run.

Rounding out the rest of the Super Regional round's 16 teams are No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 Florida, No. 4 Arkansas, No. 5 Florida State, No. 6 Texas, No. 7 Tennessee, and No. 8 South Carolina, as well as No. 9 UCLA, No. 11 Clemson, No. 12 Texas Tech, No. 15 Alabama, and the aforementioned No. 16 Ducks.

Oklahoma's Ailana Agbayani celebrates her three-run homer with her team during the 2025 NCAA softball tournament.
Four-time defending champs Oklahoma will face Alabama in this weekend's Super Regionals. (BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

Super Regional weekend to feature blockbuster matchups

The 16 contenders will battle head-to-head for eight available WCWS berths, with the four-time defending champion Sooners now leading the field.

To advance, however, Oklahoma must first outlast Alabama, a team with which the Sooners have a long, contentious postseason history — the pair have faced off in five of the last 12 NCAA tournaments.

After Oklahoma bounced Alabama from the 2019 WCWS semifinals — the last time the pair squared off before becoming SEC rivals — the Tide enacted revenge by narrowly beating the Sooners in April's conference play, teeing up a tense weekend Super Regional series.

After narrowly missing this weekend's hosting rights as the No. 9 seed — UCLA's lowest seeding since 2016 — the Bruins proved why they are the sport's winningest program, run-ruling ever Regional game while allowing just two runs all weekend.

The 12-time champions will now travel to Gamecock territory, where No. 8 South Carolina will try to boost the Bruins and book their first WCWS ticket in 28 years.

Powerhouses still rule the diamond, but parity has never been higher in college softball, with this year's NCAA tournament already delivering whiplash results.

Texas Tech pitcher NiJaree Canady celebrates a 2025 NCAA softball postseason win.
2024 National Player of the Year NiJaree Canady led Texas Tech to a program-first Super Regional. (Nathan Giese/Avalanche-Journal/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

How to watch the 2025 NCAA softball Super Regionals

The best-of three NCAA softball Super Regionals kick off on Thursday and run through the weekend, with possible winner-take-all clashes finalizing the WCWS slate on Sunday.

First games are as follows:

  • No. 12 Texas Tech at No. 5 Florida State, 7 PM ET on Thursday (ESPN2)
  • No. 11 Clemson at No. 6 Texas, 9 PM ET on Thursday (ESPN2)
  • Georgia at No. 3 Florida, 11 AM ET on Friday (ESPN2)
  • No. 9 UCLA at No. 8 South Carolina, 1 PM ET on Friday (ESPN2)
  • No. 15 Alabama at No. 2 Oklahoma, 5 PM ET on Friday (ESPN2)
  • Nebraska at No. 7 Tennessee, 7 PM ET on Friday (ESPN2)
  • Ole Miss at No. 4 Arkansas, 8 PM ET on Friday (ESPNU)
  • Liberty at No. 16 Oregon, 10 PM ET on Friday (ESPNU)

PWHL Details 2025/26 Expansion Plan, Outlines Draft Rules

A close-up of the PWHL logo patch on the sleeve of a jersey.
The PWHL will expand to eight teams in the league's third season. (Rich Graessle/Getty Images)

With the 2025 PWHL Finals in full swing and new franchises on the horizon, the league rolled out a detailed expansion plan to build its two new teams on Monday.

The expansion process will see 24 current PWHL players — four from each of the six founding teams — join either Vancouver or Seattle next month.

To be eligible for selection, athletes must be either under contract or have rights held by a current team for the 2025/26 season. 

Each original team can protect three eligible athletes at the outset, with squads reserving the right to protect one additional player should the incoming clubs select two players off the same roster.

In the lead-up to June 9th's expansion draft, Vancouver and Seattle will have five days to sign up to five unprotected players each.

After that window closes, Seattle and Vancouver will increase their rosters to a required total of 12 players via expansion draft selections, with the number of picks for each team determined by how many athletes the new franchises choose to sign.

Finally, the West Coast squads will then complete their 23-athlete lineups alongside the other six teams during the PWHL's June 24th entry draft.

With such a broad unprotected player pool, about half of the PWHL's current athletes — including some of its brightest stars — will be up for grabs, ensuring a very different landscape when the league takes the ice for its third season.

USA Hockey Star Hilary Knight Says 2026 Olympics Will Be Her Last

USA hockey forward Hilary Knight skates with the puck.
Team USA captain Hilary Knight will make her international exit after the 2026 Olympics. (Steven Bisig/Imagn Images)


Team USA hockey titan Hilary Knight is hanging up her international skates, with the record-10-time world champion announcing Tuesday that the 2026 Winter Games in Milan, Italy, will be her fifth and final Olympic run.

"It's time," Knight told USA Today. "I'm at peace. I just have this feeling that it’s time."

Going out on her own terms is top-of-mind for the USA hockey great, with Knight acknowledging "That is such a privilege that only a handful of competitors get."

Making her national team debut at 17, the now-35-year-old is one of the sport's most decorated athletes, winning Olympic gold in 2018 to complement three silver medals in 2010, 2014, and 2022.

Just last month, Knight led the US to victory at the IIHF Women's World Championship, and currently sits as the tournament's all-time leader in goals (67), points (120), and assists (50).

Despite her impending step off the international ice, Knight, who currently captains the PWHL's Boston Fleet, plans to continue playing for the second-year league — a pro venture she helped bring to life in 2023.

"I understood what the sport gave me and I wanted to give that to other people," Knight said. "Obviously, there's tons of work that always needs to be done, but I think we now have a career path."
 
 
 
 

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