For Mallory Pugh, the last two years provided the chance to reset her mentality and her game.

In 2021, the 24-year-old forward missed out on the Tokyo Olympics. Heading into 2023, she is a sure bet for the U.S. women’s national team roster for the upcoming World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

“Not being with the national team allowed me to find the game again,” she said in the latest episode of “The Journey” video series from the USWNT.

Highs. Lows. She's navigated it all and taken her game to new heights.

That's Mal being Mal. 🇺🇸⚽️

🎥 The Journey: @MalPugh pic.twitter.com/w16ZgkynYI

— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) December 6, 2022

Pugh has shared similar sentiments regarding her snub from the Olympic roster throughout this year, though as she admitted to Just Women’s Sports in September, that comes down to the power of perspective.

“Last year was one of my favorite years, but I wouldn’t say that in the middle of it,” she said.

When USWNT coach Vlatko Andonovski called Pugh in January 2020 and told her she wouldn’t make the Olympic qualifying roster, she felt crushed. Then, an hour later, the Washington Spirit told her she was being traded, Pugh revealed in “The Journey.”

“Those two things happening at the same time, I was so overwhelmed,” she said. “It hit me hard.”

Her struggles continued through that year and into the next. She made just one appearance for Sky Blue FC in 2020 due to a hip injury, then she was traded again in the offseason, this time to the Chicago Red Stars.

In January 2021, she suffered another injury at a USWNT camp, and her injuries and inconsistent play kept her off the Olympic roster in the summer of 2021.

A fresh start with the Red Stars, though, breathed a new life into her game.

“She put her head down, she got healthy, she went to work,” her USWNT and Red Stars teammate Alyssa Naeher said. She started focusing on a lot of the little nuances and intricacies that make her now the player that she is.”

As Pugh looks back on her journey, she agrees with Naeher’s assessment.

“I think not making the Olympics was one of the best things that could happen to my career,” Pugh said. “It was the adversity that I needed. It was the adversity that really allowed me to find my game again, allowed me to find myself again.”

As the USWNT heads into the home stretch of World Cup preparation in 2023, Pugh has established herself as a starter on the forward line. She scored 22 goals across all competitions in 2022, and she finished the NWSL regular season tied for fourth in the Golden Boot race with 11.

“As hard as it was, I’m so grateful that it happened in the way it happened,” she said.

Team Poland lifted the 2026 United Cup trophy on Sunday, but the historic win brought new concerns as world No. 2 Iga Świątek appeared rattled while closing out the Australian Open tune-up.

While her compatriots closed out the fourth edition of the international team tournament with wins that secured two-time runner-up Poland its first-ever United Cup title, Świątek stumbled at the finish.

The 24-year-old capped the singles competition with back-to-back defeats, dropping her semifinals match against US star No. 3 Coco Gauff in straight sets on Saturday before falling 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 to Switzerland's No. 10 Belinda Bencic on Sunday — a loss that saw the six-time Grand Slam winner seeking treatment between sets.

"Everything is fine. Just super sore," Świątek said following Poland's 2026 United Cup win, downplaying her fitness concerns. "First tournament of the year, it causes the body [to feel] a bit differently than during the season."

With the first Grand Slam of 2026 looming — the only one standing between Świątek and a Career Grand Slam — the Polish phenom and her peers will have a week to recover before taking the Australian Open hardcourt in Melbourne at 7 PM ET on Saturday.

With qualifying play wrapping midweek, the 2026 Australian Open will reveal each player's path in the main draw, which will stream live at 10:30 PM ET on Wednesday at ausopen.com.

Fresh faces are shining on the 3×3 basketball court, as Unrivaled newcomer Breeze BC holds their own against veteran competition, riding a 2-1 record through their first three games of the 2026 season.

First-year guard Paige Bueckers leads the team with 18.3 points per game, with the 2025 WNBA Rookie of the Year also sitting third in the offseason league in assists with 7.0 per game.

It's not only Bueckers impressing from the young Breeze squad, however, as second-year Unrivaled vet Rickea Jackson and league debutant Dominique Malonga are posting 17.3 points per game so far, putting the pair at Nos. 11 and 12 among the league's 45 star players — just behind Bueckers at No. 9.

"I feel like we just stick together," said Jackson. "Our chemistry is insane for us to just [now] be playing together."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

Experience did win out on Sunday, though, as reigning champion Rose BC's Chelsea Gray dropped 37 points on the young stars to secure her team's 3-0 record with a 73-69 victory.

Gray currently leads Unrivaled with 31.7 points per game, hitting two game-winners in the first week of play as Rose BC tops the Season 2 standings.

How to watch Breeze BC in Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball

Breeze BC will return to the Unrivaled court next weekend, tipping off their Saturday matchup against Vinyl BC at 8:45 PM ET on truTV before taking on the Mist at 8 PM ET next Monday, airing live on TNT.

The WNBA CBA deadline came and went on Friday, leaving the league and the players union in a status quo holding pattern while negotiations drag on.

The WNBA and WNBPA are continuing talks under the conditions of the previous CBA, without a moratorium on offseason activity like qualifying offers to restricted free agents.

The league originally set the opening to begin free agency conversations for January 11th, allowing teams to now start sending offers through January 20th — though those proposed deals must abide by the terms of the expired CBA.

Amidst the deluge of one-year deals inked last offseason in anticipation of a renegotiated CBA — and the significant compensation bump likely to result from a new agreement — nearly all WNBA veterans are now free agents, with reports indicating that players aren't eager to sign contracts under the old CBA.

This year's free agency period also hinges on the league's expected two-team expansion draft, with incoming franchises Portland and Toronto unable to build their rosters due to the ongoing CBA delays.

Though the WNBA is reportedly not yet considering locking out the players, the WNBPA recently reserved the right to formally authorize a work stoppage through a strike measure, saying the "WNBA and its teams have failed to meet us at the table with the same spirit and seriousness."

Unranked Notre Dame made a statement last weekend, as the Fighting Irish took down No. 22 North Carolina 73-50 to earn their second ranked win of the 2025/26 NCAA basketball season on Sunday.

While guards Cassandre Prosper and Vanessa de Jesus bolstered Notre Dame with 17 and 16 points, respectively, junior star Hannah Hidalgo led the Irish's charge, putting up 31 points as well as snagging six steals in the afternoon matchup.

"Hidalgo was a real problem," Tar Heels head coach Courtney Banghart said postgame. "Obviously, she disrupted us in all ways, I think most of those 27 points off turnovers was because of her."

After a volatile offseason, the Irish saw their 85-week AP Top 25 streak end earlier this month following back-to-back losses to ACC foes Georgia Tech and Duke — but Notre Dame has since rattled off two straight wins to potentially re-enter the rankings conversation.

"I'm challenging them in practice," said Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey. "We're learning from our mistakes, and we're getting better. That's what I love. This group allows me to do that."

How to watch Notre Dame basketball this week

Notre Dame will face another tough test on Thursday, when the unranked Irish host a surging No. 10 Louisville at 6 PM ET, airing live on ACCN.