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Kelley O’Hara Talks Olympic Prep and Coming Back From Injury

BRAD SMITH / ISI PHOTOS

Kelley O’Hara plays for both Utah Royals FC and the US women’s national team. A two-time World Cup winner, O’Hara is a graduate of Stanford University, where she won the 2009 Hermann Trophy as the best player in the country. Just Women’s Sports caught up with O’Hara to talk about Olympics prep, coming back from injury, and her ill-fated attempt to see if she could walk away from soccer.

The Tokyo Olympics are only months away. How would you describe the team’s mindset?  

I don’t know if the casual fan realizes that the World Cup and the Olympics are always back-to-back summers for women. And no team has ever won a World Cup and then gone on to win an Olympic Gold Medal. In 2015, we won the World Cup, and in 2016 we lost in the quarterfinals of the Olympics in Rio, which is the worst we’ve ever done in a major tournament. So right now the question we’re asking ourselves is, can we do this thing that no one has done before? We want to prove to ourselves that we can.

Given how successful the USWNT has been, do you need that extra bit of motivation in terms of trying to make history? 

We always want to win, no matter the circumstances. This is just the next thing. It’s the next hurdle we want to get over, and it’s a pretty big hurdle. There’s a reason no one has done it before. You have to go from the high of winning a World Cup to starting all over again, knowing you have to make all the mental and physical and social sacrifices a second time. Before this, we wanted to prove that we could win back-to-back World Cups. And we did that, and it was incredible. But now we have to see if we can lock in and accomplish this next goal.

You especially looked sharped in the last World Cup. 

Thank you.

It must be such a confidence thing, right? 

It for sure is, and I knew that going in. In tournaments past, I haven’t been confident, but I knew that it was going to be such a mental battle. I knew that I couldn’t necessarily control all the physical factors, but I could control my mental game. Even when I was rehabbing and conservatively coming back from having a stress reaction, I could still focus on the mental piece. I was like, I can’t be on the field right now, but I’m going to visualize playing in a game. And I did that leading up to the World Cup more than I’ve ever done before. And I think that was a big reason why I was able to feel comfortable and confident, even though my lead-up to the World Cup was the complete opposite of what I had thought it would be.

Can you talk about your experiences coming back from injury? What have they taught you? 

The thing is that I didn’t really have to deal with any serious injuries during my amateur career. I tore my meniscus my senior year of high school, which was the first time I had to get surgery, but I was back on the field in four weeks. Even though it was minor, I completely lost it mentality when I was told I needed surgery. I immediately went to a party in order not to think about it. And then in my professional career I had to have surgery in 2013. This was coming off of graduating in 2010, going to the 2011 World Cup and losing in the final, and then going to the 2012 Olympics and playing every minute of every game and winning a gold model. And then a year to the day after we won, I walked out of the doctor’s office having been told that I needed full ankle reconstruction.

What had you done to your ankle? 

I just had rolled it so many times. And I rolled it really bad at the beginning of that season, and it just got to the point that I was rolling it every single game. It was so unstable, and on top of that, I had loose bodies in there. So every time I would go to kick, or pass, or plant, or cut — each time my ankle had pressure on it, there was something inside my ankle that was just rubbing it the wrong way. And it was through-the-roof painful. Actually getting through that injury ended up being one of the hardest things I ever had to do.

How long was that recovery?

Surgery was in August, and I probably didn’t feel 100% until the next August, but I was back on the field by January of the next year. It was a lot. I had never had to go through something like that. It’s something that’s stuck with me, because now every time I do get injured, I have this hindsight to fall back on. I know I can’t come back too soon, that I have to take my time and do things the right way. I’ve had to deal with a handful of injuries since then, and it’s never easy. It’s a total mental and emotional hurdle.

What made that recovery especially difficult? 

It’s the questions you ask yourself. It’s like, am I going to be back to where I was before? Am I going to be good enough? And it made me question if I even really wanted to continue to play soccer. It made me re-evaluate how I looked at my career, how I looked at myself as a person. I was like, you know, I could just be a normal person, work out on the weekends.

You were going to work out just on the weekends? 

Well, I mean, you know. Whenever I could. [Laughs.] After they told me I needed surgery, I went for a jog in Prospect Park in Brooklyn. I wanted to prove to myself that I could just work out leisurely, and that wasn’t the case. I had to do a little soul-searching and ask myself what I wanted to get out of this whole journey. And I realized I wasn’t done, and that I still had aspirations I wanted to chase.

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BRAD SMITH/ISI PHOTOS

Gotham FC Signs Record-Breaking Sponsorship Deal with Dove

Emily Sonnett shows off the new Dove sponsorship above her last name on her Gotham jersey.
Dove's partnership with Gotham is the brand's first major investment in a women's sports team. (Gotham FC)

Gotham and Dove are teaming up, with the 2023 NWSL champs signing a record-setting multi-year kit partnership with the beauty brand on Thursday.

As Dove's first major investment in a women's sports team, the move also ranks as the highest-ever back-of-jersey sponsorship deal in NWSL history.

While Gotham did not provide specific numbers, the contract surpasses Bay FC's then-record $500,000 deal with private equity giant Sixth Street.

Dove joins Gotham in fight to keep girls in sports

The partnership is a part of Gotham's "Keep Her in the Game" initiative, a community effort launched last August to help adolescent girls stay in sports. Dove will serve as the program's presenting sponsor.

"Dove is the ultimate leader in female strength and empowerment, and we could not be prouder to partner with the brand in a number of impactful ways," Gotham FC chief business officer Ryan Dillon said in the team's release. "We are excited to team up with Dove to create key pathways for young female athletes to stay in sports, develop confidence, and become strong future leaders."

"The partnership is taking effect at a crucial time when supporting girls in sports has never been more important."

With girls twice as likely as boys to abandon sports by age 14, "Keep Her in the Game" aims to bolster young athletes' resilience and amplify the joy and connection that happens on and off the playing field.

After impacting 30 local New Jersey and New York youth clubs and more than 500 players in 2024, the initiative is aiming to double its reach in 2025. It will also pass the proverbial mic to the young athletes themselves by creating a Youth Leadership Council.

"The data is clear: Sports build confidence, leadership skills and resilience in young women, benefiting them for years to come," stated Laura DiMiceli, the head of personal care sports marketing for Dove's parent company, Unilever North America. "Dove is committed to supporting 'Keep Her in the Game' as part of our overall mission to help young girls pursue sports and keep playing the games they love."

Unrivaled to Crown First-Ever 1v1 Tournament Champion

Lunar Owls forward Napheesa Collier dribbles the ball during an Unrivaled game.
Napheesa Collier is one of four Unrivaled players competing for the 1v1 tournament's $200,000 prize. (Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)

Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball will crown its first-ever 1v1 tournament champion on Friday night, when all four semifinalists take the court with a $200,000 grand prize on the line.

Vinyl guard Arike Ogunbowale will kick off the semis against Mist forward Aaliyah Edwards, before Unrivaled co-founder and Lunar Owls forward Napheesa Collier faces Rose forward Azurá Stevens. The victors will immediately advance to the night's best-of-three final series.

Notably, Friday's set puts alma mater pride on center court. A trio of UConn alums in Collier, Stevens, and Edwards will all clock in, while Ogunbowale reps Notre Dame — one of just three teams to beat the Huskies this NCAA season.

Along with those priceless bragging rights, the semifinalists are battling for a six-figure payday, though none will leave empty-handed. Each are guaranteed at least $25,000, with $50,000 on deck for the tournament's runner-up.

The players' Unrivaled teammates will also be watching with interest, as the winner's entire 3×3 team will snag $10,000 each.

Though 1v1 can feel like a schoolyard version of basketball, with this much money involved, expect the competition to rise miles above playground tussles.

Rose BC's Angel Reese defends Mist forward Aaliyah Edwards during an Unrivaled game.
Aaliyah Edwards is one of three UConn alums in the Unrivaled 1v1 semifinals. (Rich Storry/Getty Images)

Endurance could decide Unrivaled 1v1 tournament champion

Friday's format is in part a test of stamina, as players stare down a grueling schedule where the eventual winner must play either three or four 1v1 games in a single night.

To that end, Collier's elite conditioning could make her the favorite, if she can outlast Stevens in the pair's semifinal.

"Her motor is unmatched," Stevens said of Collier's endurance, a key factor in her success so far. "I try to conserve some energy in between possessions, especially when the games get really tiring."

Motors aside, Friday's title will boil down to fundamentals — and which athlete best leverages their personal skillset.

"I have to use my size and stick to my strengths," said Edwards. "It’s about imposing my will and getting the job done."

How to watch the Unrivaled 1v1 tournament finals

The inaugural Unrivaled 1v1 tournament concludes on Friday. Live coverage begins at 7:30 PM ET on TNT.

USC Beats UCLA as JuJu Watkins Ends Bruins’ Undefeated NCAA Season

USC's JuJu Watkins drives to the basket between UCLA's Janiah Barker and Elina Aarnisalo.
Watkins scored 38 points to hand UCLA their first loss of the season. (Robert Hanashiro/Imagn Images)

The last perfect DI basketball season has officially fallen, as USC phenom JuJu Watkins put up a historic performance to lead the No. 6 Trojans to a 71-60 win over then-undefeated No. 1 UCLA on Thursday.

Watkins finished the night with 38 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, and eight blocks, becoming the first DI player to register an overall stat-line so robust in 20 years.

"It took everything. It's been a rough couple weeks for me," Watkins said after the game, referencing uncharacteristic performances leading up to Thursday's rivalry matchup. "To be able to kind of snap back into it and get into my rhythm here at Galen versus UCLA, it's really all I could ask for."

"I'm really just like a kid out there and living out my dream."

Throughout the back-and-forth battle, Watkins's consistency made all the difference. She scored every one of USC's 14 second-quarter points, and helped lead a monster fourth quarter in which the Trojans slammed the door by outscoring the Bruins 24-8.

"I didn't teach JuJu any of that," commented USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb after the game. "[I] just try to put her in situations to be her best self, and she does most of that work. What I was so impressed with tonight, obviously, was just the mentality she came out with."

With the marquee win, USC now sits firmly atop the Big Ten. That said, UCLA will have a chance to avenge the loss in the pair's March 1st rematch, when that final regular-season game could decide the conference title.

Until then, the Trojans will be riding high on their Thursday night dominance.

"We'll never forget this night," Gottlieb said. "It's as good as anything I've ever seen."

UConn star Paige Bueckers dribbles the ball during a game.
UConn takes on South Carolina on Sunday. (Johnnie Izquierdo/Getty Images)

How to watch Top 10 NCAA basketball this weekend

With no undefeated teams left in DI basketball, Watkins's performance has put the field on notice to not make any assumptions about who might end up on top.

While Sunday will see USC roll against unranked Washington and UCLA try to bounce back against No. 22 Michigan State, the NCAA slate will also serve up two huge Top 10 matchups.

First, No. 7 UConn will take their final major regular-season test when they visit No. 4 South Carolina at 1 PM ET, when Paige Bueckers and the Huskies will aim to pull off a similarly impressive USC-inspired upset.

Then at 3 PM ET, No. 5 LSU heads to No. 3 Texas, where the Tigers will hunt their first win over the Longhorns in more than 22 years.

Both elite meetings are set to air live on ABC.

Pro Women’s Lacrosse League Debuts at WLL Championship Series

A promotional graphic for the WLL Championship Series.
The WLL played its first-ever pro games at this week's Lexus Championship Series. (ESPN)

The brand-new professional Women's Lacrosse League (WLL) made its official debut this week just outside of Washington, DC, where its first-ever game saw the New York Charging take down the Maryland Charm 14-13 in the WLL Championship Series.

After the inaugural Tuesday result, the action continued on Wednesday, when the California Palms opened their WLL account by getting the better of the Boston Guard in a tight 16-15 matchup.

Founded and run by the Premier Lacrosse League, the WLL fosters top-level competition as the sport gears up for its 2028 Olympic return.

The four-team WLL Championship Series follows an Olympic-style "sixes" format. Unlike traditional lacrosse, which uses a larger pitch and 10 athletes per team, sixes employs a condensed field with six players per side.

In the Championship Series, teams are first competing in three round-robin games to determine semifinal seedings. The tournament will culminate with the knockout semifinal and final rounds on Sunday and Monday, respectively.

Team USA lacrosse star Charlotte North gestures during a 2022 World Championship game.
Team USA star Charlotte North competes for the WLL's Boston Guard. (Ryan Hunt/Getty Images)

WLL looks to level up lacrosse ahead of 2028 Olympics

Despite the competition's quick turnaround, the WLL represents a growing professionalization movement in women's lacrosse — with all involved betting big on the sport's Olympic success in LA.

When lacrosse steps back onto the Olympic stage in 2028, it will have been 80 years since its last 1948 outing — and even then, it was merely a demonstration event. The last time the sport earned medals was in 1908.

Furthermore, the sport's entire Olympic history rests in the men's game — 2028 will see women take the Olympic lacrosse pitch for the first time ever.

"We are honored to be a part of the WLL, and we couldn't be more excited to bring this game to the fans in new ways than ever before," said Boston Guard star Charlotte North in a league statement.

"We firmly believe that this is the beginning of what will be a monumental movement in the game of professional women's lacrosse, and for female athletes around the globe.... It's our time."

Former Northwestern lacrosse star Izzy Scane shoots the ball during an NCAA game.
Izzy Scane, the NCAA DI lacrosse career scoring leader, plays for the New York Charging. (Greg Fiume/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

How to watch the WLL Championship Series

The tournament's round-robin play continues with the Maryland Charm facing off against the Boston guard at 9 PM ET on Thursday, before the California Palms contend with the New York Charging at 6 PM ET on Friday.

All WLL Championship Series games will stream live on ESPN+, with Sunday's and Monday's knockout rounds airing live on ESPN2.

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