All Scores

Crystal Dunn the ‘epitome of a leader’ for NWSL final-bound Thorns

Crystal Dunn celebrates scoring the game-winning goal for Portland in the NWSL semifinals Sunday. (Amanda Loman/Getty Images)

Crystal Dunn gave birth to her son 156 days ago. Portland head coach Rhian Wilkinson has food in her fridge older than that.

And yet, there Dunn was in front of 22,035 fans at Providence Park on Sunday evening, scoring the winning goal to send the Portland Thorns through to Saturday’s NWSL championship game with a 2-1 win over the San Diego Wave. Portland will play the Kansas City Current for the trophy on Saturday, Oct. 29 in Washington, D.C.

Dunn’s goal wasn’t the result of just any shot. It was a volleyed bullet into the top left corner, sealing the comeback she’s made to professional soccer in the last five months.

“What Crystal Dunn did, it is incredible what she did,” Wilkinson said of Dunn’s journey.

The 2021 Concacaf Player of the Year, who played her first NWSL game back at the beginning of September, just three months and 20 days after giving birth to Marcel Soubrier, was never pressured by her club to return to the field. She also wasn’t gifted minutes when she was ready to play. The goal to be on the pitch by the fall was her own, and the minutes she’s played in the five games since then, she’s earned in training.

To fight for minutes on one of the winningest teams in the NWSL is not easy for any player. That never slowed the World Cup champion, who, even before becoming a mother, was on the field passing balls until she was nine months pregnant.

Dunn subbed into Sunday’s match at the attacking midfield position in the 62nd minute, taking off Rocky Rodriguez, who had evened the scoreline 1-1 in the first half with a top-shelf screamer of her own. Registering 30 touches and completing 83 percent of her passes, Dunn was joined on the field by subs Christine Sinclair and Janine Beckie. They outworked a tired San Diego backline, creating endless scoring opportunities as the second half wore on.

And in the third minute of stoppage time, on just her second shot of the game, Dunn finally broke the tie.

“They won the game for us,” Wilkinson said of the three subs. “The players that start, there’s ego attached to that, but they’re not the ones who finish the game. The players that come on win us the game, and that’s something that I keep trying to highlight because it’s outside people who put a lot of emphasis on who starts. It’s actually the players on the field at the end of the game that have the biggest impact, and we saw that today.”

Dunn’s contributions came at the right time, not just in this game or any game, but in her leadership off the field, where she’s had a noticeable effect on the team in the second half of the season.

While Dunn was on maternity leave, veteran players Sinclair, Becky Sauerbrunn and Meghan Klingenberg led the Thorns to the No. 2 seed in the NWSL playoffs. But to Wilkinson, it’s clear the team has missed Dunn’s flair.

“She should be the poster woman for everything,” the coach said. “The way she leads, the energy she brings to training, how she connects the team.”

“I’m not in [the locker room], so I don’t know what she does,” Wilkinson later added. “But I do see how everyone respects her and comes to talk to her. I see how she talks to people or notices when people don’t look like they’re enjoying something. She’s very active in that.”

When Dunn isn’t socializing or checking in on teammates, she is naturally introverted and quiet. She prefers to do her own thing, but not until everyone else feels taken care of.

“That is the epitome of a leader,” said Wilkinson. “She knows what’s needed, and she gives it as much as she can.

“I can only speak for myself. She lifts my spirits. I think she’s great. And it seems we have a good team. They like each other. What a great thing to have a team that likes each other. They want to spend time together and they like when she’s there.”

Outside of the Thorns’ locker room, soccer fans everywhere saw that for themselves on Sunday.

“Oh my god, that was just an explosion of emotions for the whole stadium, the whole city,” Rodriguez said after the game. “And the fact that it was Crystal, I mean, we got on the field, she came and celebrated with the whole team. Everybody came together. So it was really emotional and just the perfect way to end.”

Jessa Braun is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports covering the NWSL and USWNT. Follow her on Twitter @jessabraun.

WNBA Drops 2025 Draft Details, Invites Fans for Second Straight Year

South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley greets fans at the 2024 WNBA Draft.
The 2025 WNBA Draft will be open to the public for the second year in a row. (Mariel Tyler/NBAE via Getty Images)

The WNBA released details about the league's 2025 Draft on Wednesday, dropping timing, venue, broadcast, and ticketing information ahead of the event's April 14th return to New York.

Following last year’s success in which the league included an audience of fans for the first time in the Draft's history, the 2025 edition will once again be open to the public.

To include more fans in this year's iteration, the WNBA is relocating the event from the Brooklyn Academy of Music to the higher-capacity The Shed at Hudson Yards, located on the west side of midtown Manhattan.

For fans who can’t attend, the 2025 WNBA Draft will air on ESPN starting at 7:30 PM ET, after the 7 PM ET WNBA Countdown.

"At a time when the passion and excitement surrounding the WNBA has never been higher, we continue to focus on creating elevated events that WNBA fans won’t want to miss," said WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert in the league's statement. "The tremendous fan engagement we enjoyed at draft last year was a precursor to a season in which we ultimately set records for viewership, attendance, digital consumption and merchandise sales."

"We look forward to welcoming in a new set of WNBA rookies in a memorable way."

UConn players Azzi Fudd, Caroline Ducharme, Paige Bueckers, and Aubrey Griffin pose for a photo at the 2024 WNBA Draft.
UConn star Paige Bueckers will likely exit April's draft as the 2025 WNBA No. 1 pick. (Kees Kees/NBAE via Getty Images)

First the Orange Carpet, then the rush to make a WNBA roster

As is tradition, top prospects like expected overall No. 1 pick Paige Bueckers will attend a celebratory lighting ceremony at the Empire State Building to begin the day, and walk the iconic "Orange Carpet" prior to the Draft.

Once the broadcast begins, Engelbert will announce each draftee, sending the top pick to the 2025 Draft Lottery-winning Dallas Wings, and the second to the Seattle Storm.

The Washington Mystics currently hold the third and fourth selections, while 2025 WNBA expansion team Golden State will recruit their first-ever rookie Valkyrie with the night's No. 5 pick.

With the league's 29th season tipping off on May 16th, the selected college and international players will face a baptism by fire, with one month to relocate and then prove themselves worthy of making a WNBA roster.

How to buy tickets to the 2025 WNBA Draft

Tickets to attend the 2025 WNBA Draft go on sale at 10 AM ET on Friday, March 21st, with fans able to register their interest now via WNBA Experiences.

Naismith Taps Top NCAA Stars as Defensive Player of the Year Award Semifinalists

UCLA's Lauren Betts and USC's JuJu Watkins look up during an NCAA basketball game.
Both UCLA center Lauren Betts and USC guard JuJu Watkins are 2024/25 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year semifinalists. (Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The Naismith Awards unveiled their 2024/25 National Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) semifinalists on Tuesday, with the 10-player lineup highlighting some of NCAA basketball’s biggest stars.

Each athlete represents a different team, all of whom finished the regular season in the Top 25 AP Poll. Six hail from the nation's Top 10 teams.

No. 1 UCLA junior Lauren Betts and fellow center Sedona Prince out of No. 6 TCU lead the list's frontcourt players, which also includes a pair of senior forwards in No. 15 Ohio State's Taylor Thierry and No. 23 Florida State's Makayla Timpson.

Holding down the backcourt are six guards, highlighted by a trio of sophomore stars in No. 4 USC's JuJu Watkins, No. 8 Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo, and No. 20 Tennessee's Talaysia Cooper. Senior veteran experience rounds out the group in No. 5 Texas's Rori Harmon, No. 10 LSU's Aneesah Morrow, and No. 16 West Virginia's JJ Quinerly.

With three semifinalists each, the SEC and Big Ten lead the field, while the ACC and Big 12 each claim two of the list's standouts.

Naismith Defensive Player of the Year semifinalist Aneesah Morrow reaches for a rebound during LSU's 2024/25 regular-season finale win over Ole Miss.
Aneesah Morrow's rebounding leads the Power Four by a wide margin. (Tyler Kaufman/Getty Images)

Naismith semifinalists lead the nation in defensive stats

On the Division I stat sheet, Hidalgo tops all other Power Four players in steals per game with 3.7, while Morrow leads the country in rebounds with an average of 13.6 per game.

Morrow's rate is unquestionably impressive, eclipsing the next Power Four athlete on the list, Timpson, by a full three rebounds per game.

Speaking of Timpson, she joins Betts and Prince in Division I's Top 5 players for blocks per game.

Three semifinalists have already claimed some DPOY hardware for their 2024/25 performances, with Hidalgo, Quinerly, and Betts earning the honor for the ACC, Big 12, and Big Ten, respectively.

Many of the season’s best defenders are also in the mix for National Player of the Year (POY), with Betts, Hidalgo, and Watkins leading the charge for the season's top individual award.

The most noteworthy POY candidate missing from Tuesday’s DPOY group is No. 3 UConn senior guard Paige Bueckers, who averages 4.5 rebounds and 0.7 steals per game.

Of the 10 semifinalists, only four will make the award's final cut on March 18th. The 2024/25 Naismith DPOY will be crowned on April 2nd, just days before the NCAA tournament's Final Four tips off.

US Tennis Stars Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula Fall at Indian Wells

US tennis star Coco Gauff prepares a return in her Round of 16 loss at the 2025 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.
Gauff lost in three sets in Wednesday’s Round of 16. (Robert Prange/Getty Images)

With Sunday's final match looming, the competition is heating up at the 2025 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells — though several top US players are no longer feeling the fire after falling short in the Round of 16.

Unseeded 28-year-old Swiss contender Belinda Bencic claimed arguably the tournament's biggest upset thus far, with the wild card ousting world No. 3 Coco Gauff on Wednesday.

Despite Gauff taking the first set, 2020 Olympic champion Bencic prevailed, fighting through multiple medical timeouts to snag the win.

Fellow US standout No. 4 Jessica Pegula suffered a similar fate, losing to Ukraine’s No. 23 Elina Svitolina in a three-set match heavily impacted by three hours of rain delays on Tuesday.

With the 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 come-from-behind win, Svitolina advances to her first Indian Wells quarterfinals in six years.

World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and defending Indian Wells champion No. 2 Iga Świątek continued their dominance through the Round of 16, with each booking their quarterfinals berth without dropping a single set at the tournament.

US tennis star Madison Keys tosses up a serve during her 2025 Indian Wells Round of 16 victory.
Madison Keys is the lone US player still standing in the 2025 Indian Wells tournament. (Robert Prange/Getty Images)

Bencic to face last-standing US player Madison Keys

Another US star stands between Bencic and Friday's semifinals, as 2025 Australian Open champ and freshly minted world No. 5 Madison Keys continues her winning form in California.

The endurance and tenacity that earned Keys her first-ever Grand Slam title is on display at Indian Wells, where she outlasted Belgium's No. 28 Elise Mertens after three back-and-forth sets on Monday before surviving a difficult battle against Croatia's No. 19-seed Donna Vekić in Wednesday’s Round of 16.

By winning the 4-6, 7-6 (7), 6-3 clash, Keys is now riding a 15-match victory streak into Thursday's quarterfinal.

"I kind of just started deciding I was going to go for a little bit more," she said afterwards. "Really happy to be able to get that match and get that win and play another match here."

World No. 2 tennis player Iga Świątek returns the ball during a 2025 Indian Wells match.
Świątek's title-defense path runs through 2024 Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng. (John Cordes/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images)

How to watch Thursday's 2025 Indian Wells quarterfinals

Thursday's quarterfinal round kicks off with Świątek taking on China's 2024 Olympic champion No. 8-seed Qinwen Zheng in a gold-medal rematch at 2 PM ET.

Svitolina will take on No. 9-seed Mirra Andreeva at 4 PM ET, with Keys set to contend with Bencic at 5:10 PM ET.

Sabalenka will close out the round at 8 PM ET, when she'll face her first seeded opponent all tournament in No. 24-seed Liudmila Samsonova.

Live coverage of all matches will air on the Tennis Channel.

Chicago Stars Forward Mallory Swanson to Miss 2025 NWSL Kick-Off

Chicago's Mallory Swanson chases down the ball during a 2024 NWSL game.
Chicago Stars forward Mallory Swanson has still not reported to training camp. (Alika Jenner/Getty Images)

USWNT forward Mallory Swanson has yet to join the Chicago Stars for 2025 play due to a personal matter, with the NWSL club confirming Wednesday that the standout striker will not feature in their Friday season opener against the reigning league champion Orlando Pride.

Chicago originally noted Swanson’s absence alongside their preseason roster announcement, adding that the organization is "fully supportive of her decision."

"I'd like to thank the club and the fans for their understanding during this time," Swanson said in the club's January release. "I appreciate the kindness and encouragement from my teammates and all the Stars staff and hope to be back with the team and playing in front of our fans as soon as I can."

Triple Espresso dwindles to a single shot

After lighting up the Paris pitch last summer, the USWNT's gold medal-winning attacking trio of Swanson, Sophia Wilson (neé Smith), and Trinity Rodman — self-dubbed the "Triple Espresso" — have yet to reunite on the national team roster, due in part to load management.

While a lingering back issue has kept Rodman out of every USWNT camp since the 2024 Olympics, the Washington standout made her return to play as a second-half substitute during the Spirt’s 2025 Challenge Cup win last Friday.

Portland Thorns star Wilson — who hasn’t played with the US since October — is officially out for the entire 2025 NWSL season after announcing her first pregnancy last week.

As for Swanson, a return timeline for both club and country remains unclear, with Chicago now preparing to open the season without their celebrated striker.

"Top player in the world, but the game still goes on," Stars head coach Lorne Donaldson told media Wednesday. "We still have players that we have to focus on, and I think that just gives somebody else another opportunity to come out and just say, 'Okay, I can do it,' because the game is not going to wait for us."

In a year without a major international tournament, maintaining player health on and off the field is massively important, leaving clubs adjusting to their shorthanded rosters and fans cheering for a very different NWSL than last season.

Portland star Sam Coffey prepares a corner kick during a 2025 NWSL preseason match against Utah.
Portland will kick off the 2025 NWSL season against the KC Current on Saturday. (Soobum Im/Getty Images)

How to watch the 2025 NWSL season kick-off

The first peek at the new NWSL rosters in action hits fields this weekend, with all 14 clubs notching their first minutes by Sunday night.

The Chicago Stars will kick off 2025 play against the Orlando Pride at 8 PM ET on Friday, with the match streaming live on Prime Video.

At the same time, Rodman's Washington Spirit will take on a new-look Houston Dash, streaming live on NWSL+.

With Wilson sidelined, the Portland Thorns will face 2024 NWSL semifinalists KC Current in their 12:45 PM ET season opener on Saturday, with live coverage airing on ABC.

Start your morning off right with Just Women’s Sports’ free, 5x-a-week newsletter.