Two weeks after Curt Miller departed as head coach of the Connecticut Sun to take the same role with the Las Angeles Sparks, the Sun are still searching for his replacement.

Sun president and former UConn star Jennifer Rizzotti will lead the coaching search in her first major act as president. She joined the Sun in 2021.

Rizzotti is in no rush to secure a coach, she told CT Insider on Tuesday. While signing someone by Thanksgiving would “be ideal,” she wants to focus on finding the right candidate rather than speeding through the process.

Just Women’s Sports suggests three potential candidates that deserve a look.

Shelley Patterson

When it comes to experience and established success, no one is more qualified than Patterson. She’s been an assistant coach in the WNBA since 1999, with stints on eight different staffs. Patterson’s longest tenure was with the Minnesota Lynx from 2010-2019, during which the franchise won all four of its WNBA titles (2011, 2013, 2015, 2017).

Patterson currently is an assistant with the Washington Mystics. She took the position in 2022 and immediately made an impact.

Mystics coach Mike Thibault told Winsider in May that one of Patterson’s biggest strengths is her ability to scout opponents and put together game plans. Several players have commented on Patterson’s overall “wisdom” and basketball knowledge, and rookie Shakira Austin said Patterson is able to point out the “little things” that other people may not notice.

The longtime assistant has been brought up in coaching searches before, most recently in 2021 when both the Phoenix Mercury and New York Liberty were searching for their next head coaches. Her résumé speaks for itself, and Patterson seems like an obvious candidate in any coaching search.

Katie Smith

Rizzotti is interested in candidates who are former WNBA players, she told CT Insider, and Smith fits the bill. The Ohio State graduate played for the Lynx, Shock, Mystics, Storm and Liberty, as well as several overseas teams.

Smith is the lead assistant for the Lynx – who just signed head coach Cheryl Reeve to a multi-year extension – but she also has head coaching experience.

After serving as an assistant for the New York Liberty from 2014-2017, Smith was tabbed to take over the head coaching duties in 2018. She was in charge of the franchise for just two seasons before the Liberty chose not to renew her contract. The team went 17-51 during her short tenure, but Smith did not have the chance to establish any sort of culture or style in that limited time frame.

She deserves another shot at heading up a team, and Smith has been in the conversation. She was rumored to be a finalist for the Indiana Fever job before they hired Christie Sides.

Carla Berube

This is a name that you might not expect to see on this list, and while it’s a long shot, Berube fits the Rizzotti’s criteria. In her search for the next Sun head coach, Rizzotti says she has her eye on former UConn players, and Berube was her teammate with the Huskies for three seasons (1993-1996).

After a short-lived professional career with the New England Blizzard from 1997-1999, Berube took an assistant coaching position with Providence for two seasons before she embarked on a 17-year as the head coach at Division III Tufts. She made four Final Fours during her tenure and was the tournament runner up twice, holding a 384-96 record.

In 2019, Berube headed to Princeton, where she had immediate success. The Tigers went 26-1 in 2019-2020 and won the Ivy league with a 14-0 record. They would have been in the NCAA tournament if COVID-19 hadn’t led to the cancellation of the postseason.

Princeton didn’t play the 2020-21 season due to continued COVID-19 concerns, but the Tigers once again went undefeated in Ivy play last season. They went on to upset Kentucky and future No. 1 draft pick Rhyne Howard in the first round of the NCAA tournament before being narrowly defeated by Indiana.

Berube’s long-term success with Tufts coupled with her immediate success with Princeton — plus her familiarity with the Connecticut basketball scene — make her a good candidate. Plus, after staying with Tufts for so many years, loyalty appears to matter to Berube, which might benefit her former teammate Rizzotti.

The 2025 WNBA season is finally here, with Friday's official tip-off leading an opening weekend full of tough competition and simmering storylines.

The reigning champion New York Liberty enter as odds-on favorites, but results are nearly impossible to predict after a very active offseason across the league.

This weekend's slate features new builds, regional rivalries, and plenty of fresh faces as top 2025 draft picks log their first pro minutes.

• Minnesota Lynx vs. Dallas Wings, Friday at 7:30 PM ET (ION): This year's No. 1 draft pick Paige Bueckers makes her official WNBA debut as revamped Dallas tests itself against a Minnesota team still stinging over last year's title loss.

• Los Angeles Sparks vs. Golden State Valkyries, Friday at 10 PM ET (ION): The Valkyries play their first-ever regular-season game, looking to form an identity against downstate rivals LA, led by new Sparks addition Kelsey Plum.

• Las Vegas Aces vs. New York Liberty, Saturday at 1 PM ET (ABC): The 2023 champs meet the 2024 title-winners in a heavyweight clash that sees 2024 MVP A'ja Wilson take on a confident New York team led by guard Sabrina Ionescu.

• Chicago Sky vs. Indiana Fever, Saturday at 3 PM ET (ABC): Last year's rookie headliners Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese meet again in Indiana, with the regional rivals relying on both incoming vets and young cores to write their next chapters.

Packed with great matchups, this weekend is the ideal tip-off for a 2025 season that promises to be a wild ride — no matter which WNBA team you follow.

The NWSL is back in action this weekend with a top-table match, a bicoastal battle, and some middle-of-the-pack clashes as the 2025 season enters its ninth matchday.

Parity is riding high these days, with just three points dividing the No. 1 Kansas City Current and No. 3 Washington Spirit in the NWSL standings — while only three more separate the No. 4 San Diego Wave from the No. 8 Seattle Reign.

With competition remaining tough as nails, don't expect much more daylight between teams following this weekend's tense lineup:

• No. 7 Gotham FC vs. No. 4 San Diego Wave, Friday at 7:30 PM ET (NWSL+): Coming off a two-game winless streak, Gotham is still searching for consistency as they take on a confident San Diego side that hasn't lost in four games.

• No. 9 Racing Louisville vs. No. 8 Seattle Reign, Friday at 7:30 PM ET (NWSL+): All tied up with 11 points each, Seattle will look to hold off Louisville as Racing continues to hunt the club's first-ever playoff berth.

• No. 2 Orlando Pride vs. No. 1 Kansas City Current, Friday at 8 PM ET (Prime): There's little love lost between these NWSL titans, as the reigning champion Pride takes on hosting duties in an attempt to leapfrog current top-dog Kansas City in Friday's marquee match.

In a season dominated by topsy-turvy results, the pressure to secure points week-over-week weighs heaviest on the teams who know they have the talent to rise above the rest.

This season's NWSL Golden Boot leader Esther González is sticking with Gotham, with the Spanish international extending her contract with the NJ/NY club through 2027.

After helping Gotham to a first-ever NWSL championship in 2023, González earned the league's Best XI Second Team honors last year before launching a red-hot campaign this season.

The 2023 World Cup winner has tallied seven goals in nine games for Gotham in 2025, showcasing a blistering rush of form that has her sitting two goals ahead of the next Golden Boot race contender.

"Above all, it's about how I've felt during these two and a half years with Gotham FC," González said in Thursday's team announcement. "Continuing to be happy both on and off the field is really important. To keep enjoying myself and representing Gotham's colors, which I truly identify with, is something really incredible."

Gotham's continued investment underlines the 32-year-old's case for 2025 MVP candidacy, as award frontrunners start to emerge one-third of the way through the 2025 NWSL season.

González leads the NWSL in shots on target while sitting fourth in expected goals per 90 minutes, with her scoring outpacing many of her peers.

Other players crafting strong 2025 NWSL MVP resumes include Kansas City's 2024 MVP Temwa Chawinga and comeback star Debinha, Angel City wunderkind Alyssa Thompson, and Orlando sharpshooter Barbra Banda.

Following a dominant 2024/25 campaign, Chelsea FC will look to cap their historic run by completing a domestic treble on Sunday, when they'll battle Manchester United for a third season trophy in the 2025 FA Cup final.

After securing the 2024/25 League Cup in March amidst an unbeaten run to a sixth-straight WSL title, the Blues will close out their season against the league's third-place finishers, the Red Devils, in London's iconic Wembley Stadium.

Should Chelsea secure the 2025 FA Cup, they will add a second domestic treble to their resume after clinching their first trio of trophies in the 2020/21 season. This time, however, they could do so in undefeated fashion.

"We are in a really good place, just the fact that we won the league being unbeaten," said first-year Blues manager Sonia Bompastor. "To end the season with an FA Cup final at Wembley against Man United is maybe the perfect way to end the season."

Manchester United hunts second straight FA Cup trophy

Standing between Chelsea and the treble are 2024 FA Cup champions Manchester United, who will take aim at their only trophy of the season partly behind the play of 2024/25 WSL Golden Glove winner and USWNT goalkeeper prospect Phallon Tullis-Joyce.

Man United enter as the game's undisputed underdogs, having dropped both their WSL regular-season matches against Chelsea in narrow 1-0 defeats.

Even more, the Red Devils must overcome a particular tough stretch of play, facing more than a month without a victory on their schedule.

Man United's last win was their 2-0 FA Cup semifinal victory over Manchester City on April 13th, with the Red Devils suffering a pair of losses and recording two draws to close out WSL play.

That said, United has experience downing the Blues on the FA Cup stage, ousting Chelsea from last year's semifinals en route to a club-first FA title.

Remarking that Manchester United "are a really strong team," Bompastor pointed out that the Red Devils "don't concede a lot of goals, and we need to remember that."

"You only get the trophy if you win, so we need to make sure going into the game we have the best preparation and we perform on the day."

How to watch Chelsea play Manchester United at the FA Cup final

The 2025 FA Cup final between Chelsea FC and Manchester United will kick off at 8:30 AM ET on Sunday.

Live coverage of the match will begin at 8:20 AM ET on ESPN+.