To say that Rose Lavelle shone in 2019 would be an understatement. The breakout star of the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup not only won the tournament along with the rest of U.S. women’s national team, but she scored a scintillating goal in the final to seal the USWNT’s win against the Netherlands.

Nothing controversial about this one. What a goal from Rose Lavelle!

(via @TelemundoSports) pic.twitter.com/et3Ee7wd71

— Planet Fútbol (@si_soccer) July 7, 2019

Lavelle’s efforts in the final, as well as in the other five matches she started in the tournament, led to her being awarded the Bronze Ball as the third-most outstanding player in the tournament. Later in the year, she was named the sixth-best player in the world at The Best FIFA Football Awards and was also named as part of the starting eleven in the 2019 FIFA FIFPro World XI.

Rose Lavelle finished her stellar 2019 Women's World Cup with a tournament-clinching goal in the USWNT's win over the Netherlands.

After winning the Bronze Ball, will Lavelle be America's next big star? pic.twitter.com/FzfsHrszTQ

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) July 8, 2019

At only 25, Lavelle is expected to be one of the faces of the USWNT for years to come, specifically when some of the older players of this Golden Generation start to bow out of international duty.

So it’s no wonder that her fall signing with Manchester City, along with USWNT teammate Sam Mewis, generated as much excitement as it did. City, and in turn, the entire FAWSL, was getting two superstars.

WE MOVE! Welcome to City, @roselavelle ! ????

???? #ManCity | https://t.co/axa0klUGiM pic.twitter.com/U3SXgo4meJ

— Manchester City (@ManCity) August 18, 2020

But with excitement comes expectations. Mewis has hit the ground running at Manchester City. Lavelle has not.

It’s not entirely or even mostly the young USWNT star’s fault. A few months into her Man City stint, it’s clear that coach Gareth Taylor does not know how to utilize Lavelle on his team. Not only has this diminished Lavelle’s playing time and impact, but it’s hurt City’s chances as a team.

The biggest problem stems from Taylor playing Lavelle out of position during her limited chances. Lavelle primarily plays as an advanced central midfielder in the #10 role. In theory, Lavelle’s job is to provide an attacking drive from midfield against the opposition’s backline, which will then often lead to one of two scenarios: she is either able to use her linkup play to create a chance for a teammate or give herself a shot on goal (as she did in the World Cup final).

Taylor, however, seems adamant on playing Lavelle elsewhere. She has played on the left quite a bit, whether as a left midfielder or as a left winger, and Taylor has also shoehorned her in as a centre-forward this season. Playing out of position has handicapped Lavelle. And because she hasn’t been able to show her true potential, she’s been benched. Against Manchester United, she didn’t even step foot on the field.

Has Man City manager Gareth Taylor spoken publicly about Rose Lavelle's playing time—and why he's playing her out of position when she does get on the field?

— Grant Wahl (@GrantWahl) November 14, 2020

It’s a frustrating cycle to witness. And what’s even more frustrating is that Manchester City could really use someone like Lavelle.

City are known as one of the FAWSL’s ‘Big Three’ along with Arsenal and Chelsea. The three have been interchangeable at the top of the league since 2014.

Things might change this season with both Manchester United and Everton starting off strong. Both are ahead of City, who sit in fifth place right now. City’s rocky start has come down to inconsistent performances. They either blow teams away or are stagnant in their attack.

A pivotal moment for City was the recent Manchester Derby. It was a chance to advance higher than fifth in the table and to take off points from their league-leading rival. City was cruising by halftime, up two goals thanks to Chloe Kelly and Laura Coombs, but United mounted a comeback, and by the seventy-fifth minute, the match was tied 2-2. City had over 15 minutes to push for a late winner, but Lavelle, a player whose specialty is unlocking tight defenses, remained on the bench as an unused substitute while her teammates struggled against United’s robust defensive line.

Imagine having Rose Lavelle on the bench and...keeping her there lmao

— Gaby Kirschner* (@gabykirschner) November 14, 2020

The match ended with both teams getting a point a piece, and the question still standing: Why is Lavelle not playing?

City remains in fifth now, and while it is still only halfway through the season, there is a good chance that they do not finish in the top three and are unable to qualify for a Champions League spot, something that has become somewhat of a standard for Manchester City.

???? The #BarclaysFAWSL table after #WomensFootballWeekend ???? pic.twitter.com/c0f0jlOsKn

— Barclays FA Women's Super League (@BarclaysFAWSL) November 15, 2020

It is unclear as to why Lavelle is being mismanaged by Taylor. The good news is that the answer to City’s problems is sitting on their bench. Fans need to hope that Taylor understands that. He’ll have a chance to show he does when Manchester City and Manchester United collide once more in Thursday’s Conti Cup match.

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."

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.

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 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.

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.

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."

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.

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."

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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.

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.