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Kylie Ohlmiller Talks Stony Brook LAX and Her Signature Eye-Black

ANDREW KATSAMPES/ISI PHOTOS

Kylie Ohlmiller is a professional lacrosse player. A Long Island Native, Ohlmiller was a 4x All-American, 2x Tewaaraton Finalist, and 2x America East Conference Offensive Player of the Year at Stony Brook. She is the NCAA record holder for both single-season and career points and assists. She now plays for the NY Fight of the WPLL. Below, Ohlmiller talked to Just Women’s Sports about what led her to Stony Brook, how she developed her behind-the-back prowess, and how her eye-black became a signature style. 

Before you played at Stony Brook, it was not a dominant lacrosse school. How did you decide to go there to play? 

It’s interesting to look back because Stony Brook now has such a dominant program. They are always on the cusp of the Final Four and they are always in the top-10. The team was nowhere close to being a national contender at the D1 level when I committed. Joe Spallina [Stony Brook head coach] had come over from Adelphi a couple of years prior, where he won a ton of Division II National Championships, and was trying to build a program based on Long Island values with a blue collar mentality. Long Island is such a hotbed for lacrosse, but at the time, young players didn’t have a hometown team they could grow up idolizing. Spallina wanted to create that.

When he was recruiting me at Stony Brook and explaining his vision to me — what we could do and the potential of the team — it was so contagious. I remember him saying that he wanted to transform the team from one that no one knows about to the number one program at the Division I level — which we ended up doing by my senior year. His vision early on was to make the team a national contender every single year and he wanted me to lead that charge. He painted all of my dreams out in front of me, even when I was just a 15 year-old girl. How do you say no to that? Now that I can look back on it, that’s what made me buy-in, and I’m so grateful that I had the opportunity to grow with this program.

Was staying in Long Island for college a priority for you?

I’ve always been a homegrown type of person. I love Long Island — I love everything that we’re about. Outside of Coach Spallina’s vision of Stony Brook becoming the Long Island lacrosse team, I wasn’t necessarily getting looks from other major Division I schools that were powerhouses at the time. My Long Island mentality played a big role in my decision because I wanted to prove others wrong. I realized that I wanted to play on a team where the coach believed in what I could do on and off the lacrosse field, in the community and for women’s sports. So I bought into Stony Brook, and my Long Island mentality fueled the fire.

What was your most memorable game or experience during your time at Stony Brook?

Two moments really stick out in my head. The first was during my freshman year. We were unranked and we were going down to play Florida. They were in the top-5 at the time. Odds were definitely stacked against us, but we ended up coming out and winning on their home turf. That was when people first started paying attention to us. It put our team on the map. Flash forward to my junior year, in 2017, we made the Elite 8 for the first time in program history. It was something that we struggled to do in the years before despite winning against top-10 schools during the regular season. That time around, though, we beat Northwestern on our home turf on Mother’s Day, and we were so fired up. It was proof that the years of hard work, sweat and tears could pay off — that the belief was there for a reason. That was a really special day.

In college, you were a 4x All-American, a 2x Tewaarton Finalist, and you broke multiple NCAA records. Did you imagine, as that 15 year-old girl buying into the Stony Brook vision, that you would be that successful?

I really never saw any of that happening for me. It was a byproduct of fully investing myself in the vision and the dream of it all. Obviously, none of those things would have happened without the teammates that I had on the field. I wouldn’t have the assist record without my teammates finishing the plays.

I had the opportunity to play with unreal players, my sister included. One of the accolades that stands out to me, though, is the Tewaaraton Finalist nomination because that was a first for both the Stony Brook program and for the America East Conference. It was special to be able to represent my school and our conference at that level — to be able to say, “Stony Brook is here. We might be a mid-major school but we’re here.”

You are known as the queen of behind-the-back shots. Can you speak to your playing style and where you learned it?

My playing style definitely evolved as I was growing up. My sister and I liked to have fun with it. We would always have sticks in our hands at the beach with our families, in the backyard, in the front yard, when we were riding bikes down the street. We were always trying different things and the more we did them, the more comfortable we became.

That’s something that I try to instill in the next generation now. You’re supposed to have fun with the game, so think outside the box when you’re practicing and try new things. Ultimately, if you can throw a pass between your legs or around the back, then you’re going to be able to throw a regular pass in a game. Not only that, but there are going to be opportunities to use those trick passes in real games, too. So many players — women and men — use tricks in college games now and coaches are starting to encourage that type of finesse. If you have that tool in your toolbox, why not use it?

Was it a no-brainer for your younger sister to also play at Stony Brook? How many years did you two overlap?

We played together for my last two years. She was verbally committed to another school before I went to Stony Brook. During my freshman year, since we were so close to home, she came to all of the games. She would come and hang out at the dorms with me and my friends. She got an inside look at how much I loved the program and how much success we could have there. She ended up de-committing to the other school and committing to Stony Brook. It was great. I got to have two years without her and then two years with her. Now, she gets three years without me since she’s headed back for a fifth year next season.

Having your little sister out there to celebrate with you and go through hardships with you is really special. And knowing that Mom and Dad are up in the stands watching two daughters is a good feeling. Some of my best moments out on the field were spent with her and she’s a kick ass All-American player too, so that definitely helps.

The Ohlmiller name is definitely known at Stony Brook and beyond now. Can we talk a little bit about your eye-black? What made you start doing that and how do you feel about it blowing up and becoming your trademark?

I always liked wearing eye-black in high school and I would play around with different styles. One day, I did eye-black triangles under my cheeks, and my friend commented that it looked like Batman. So I thought, what if I turned the triangles on their sides and tried to make them look even more like the Batman wings? I look back at pictures from high school and it’s a version of the style I wear now. As I went to college, I tweaked it into my own style and now it has become something that I’m known for. It has become my brand logo, a Halloween costume, a t-shirt design — it’s wild. I never could have imagined this but I’m grateful.

For me, the eye-black is a way to express myself on the field, which can be hard especially in women’s sports where a lot of people try to look pretty out there. I love seeing younger girls mimicking the style today — it makes me cry every time.

After Stony Brook, you were drafted first in the WPLL’s inaugural season. What was that experience like?

Unbelievable. It was amazing to be a part of the inaugural season and all of the hype surrounding it. The best part is that you end up playing both with and against some of the people you were rivals with in college. They used to be on the other side wearing opposing uniforms and now they’re your teammates. You make friendships that you never thought could have happened. And it’s amazing to be surrounded by all time greats of the sport — people that I had watched growing up are now marking me.

You are sponsored by New Balance, which owns Brine Lacrosse. What does it mean for you to have a sponsorship like that and what opportunities has it opened up? 

When I graduated from Stony Brook, I had a lot of incredible opportunities and this was one of them. I signed with New Balance right after graduation. They opened up so many doors for me in the lacrosse world. I have had the chance to design my own lacrosse stick and my own pocket — things that I didn’t even know were possible. They’ve provided me with an opportunity to see what goes on behind the scenes with lacrosse equipment and they’ve taught me how important it is to sell your brand. They’ve also been incredibly supportive in allowing me to be authentic to myself as an athlete as I’m creating my own KO17 Lacrosse brand on social media. That support is definitely something that I look for in brand deals. We were able to put together a KO17 logo that’s actually on the KO Brine stick, which is pretty cool.

Can you talk a little bit more about the KO17 Lacrosse brand? What’s the backstory? 

I was a business minor in college and that’s where I started to develop the idea of what later became my KO17 brand. After college, KO17 Lacrosse started with just a basic plan of providing a structured system of training to lacrosse players on Long Island. To this day, I still do weekly group sessions and training with Long Islanders. But as my brand has grown, I have been able to travel the country, bringing lacrosse and my brand to people on both coasts. Last year was my first full summer tour. I hit close to 30 different cities over the year with my clinics and camps.

You also recently launched the KO17 app. First off, congratulations. Can you tell us about your vision for the app and what it does? 

Thank you, it is huge for us. I have loved being able to travel the country, meeting girls from different locations and learning that we all have the same passion for the sport of lacrosse. With my app, I wanted to provide a platform where I could work with these girls on a more regular basis and help develop them into the players that they want to be, regardless of location. I’m more than excited that the KO17 Lacrosse App is now allowing me to do so! Especially in a time where virtual training is the new norm. Every week, I upload new drills for shooting, dodging and offensive work, and my subscribers have the ability to submit film of their skills for live feedback from me.

There is a lot of uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 and sports. How have you stayed positive about the future of lacrosse? How are you staying in shape during a time when workouts are limited?

As a professional athlete, my day-to-day sights are set on the next time I get to play and that is continuously being pushed back right now. That vision is still there, though. We are training as if we are playing tomorrow. In a year from now, I’m hoping that I will be training for the 2021 World Cup. I’m hoping that I’ll be on the brink of another packed summer with KO17 clinics all over the world. Over the next couple of years, I want to expand to Australia and get back over to Japan and Europe. I want to travel and see what lacrosse is like in different places. Ultimately, I hope to meet as many young girls as possible and show them that they can be professional women’s lacrosse players, too.

Lacrosse is aiming to be included in the 2028 Olympics. Is your goal to continue playing until that becomes a reality?

Absolutely. I think all of us players want that. If my body lets me, that would be amazing. I think, no matter what, our ultimate goal is to get the sport to the Olympics. We’re going to do everything that we can in order to accomplish that. Whether we are in the stands or on the field, we’re going to be proud of the sport and of all the different countries representing lacrosse. It’s amazing to see that opportunity right there on the horizon.

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.

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