I spend most of every Sunday sitting on the couch watching women’s college basketball, and this Sunday was no different. When I tuned in to watch South Carolina top Ole Miss, I thought to myself, “Aliyah Boston has to win National Player of the Year.” Then I changed the channel to watch Iowa defeat Michigan and thought, “Actually, Caitlin Clark has to win Player of the Year.”

That pretty much sums up my thought process on the POY race at this stage of the season. I watch one player and think she’s the clear favorite; I watch the other and change my mind.

But with the regular season nearly wrapped up, it’s time to officially choose between the two.

The case for Caitlin Clark

There’s only one way to watch Caitlin Clark play basketball: on the edge of your seat, mouth agape in absolute awe. To put it simply, she is the most exciting player in college basketball. Men’s or women’s, full stop.

There isn’t a shot Clark can’t make. Whether it’s a 3-pointer from the logo or an off-balance, through-contact finish in the lane, when Clark shoots, you’re surprised if she misses. If the POY race takes watchability into account, Clark’s case for the award is air tight.

Then there are her stats. The sophomore is leading the NCAA with 27.5 points per game and 8.3 assists per game. She also has the most triple-doubles of any player this season with five, and she hit 1,500 career points in just 56 games — the fastest a player has done that in men’s and women’s Division I history. Statistically speaking, it’s hard to argue against her.

madness. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ckNlkx2x0t

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) February 28, 2022

So, we’ve got watchability and we’ve got stats. The next component to a POY resume is what the player does for her team. Iowa has talented players around Clark — the best being Monika Czinano in the post — but the rest of the roster is made up strictly of role players. Clark makes everything happen for the Hawkeyes, and without her, this team likely wouldn’t be ranked and, instead of winning the Big 10, likely would have found itself near the bottom of the conference.

That brings me to the final point of consideration in the POY race: team success. Points, assists, logo 3s and acrobatic finishes mean nothing if your team isn’t winning. And after a difficult start to the season, Iowa is doing just that. With five straight wins over Minnesota, No. 15 Maryland, No. 5 Indiana, Indiana again (this time ranked 10th) and No. 6 Michigan, Iowa not only secured a share of the Big 10 title, but also jumped from 21st in the country to 12th.

Iowa is thriving, and it’s all because of Caitlin Clark.

The case for Aliyah Boston

Caitlin Clark is awe-inspiring because she’s doing things on the basketball court that no one else has, while Aliyah Boston is standing out for the opposite reasons. She’s doing exactly what players before her have done, what other players in the league are doing now and what plenty more will do in the future. The difference is she’s doing it better than anyone else.

It’s a hard feat to revamp rebounding and scoring in the paint, because it’s been a staple of basketball since the sport was invented. Yet, that’s exactly what Boston is proving this season.

The junior recently broke Sylvia Fowles’ SEC record for consecutive double-doubles, with 20, which also makes her one of just five women in DI history to reach that mark. Boston is setting records and playing at a consistently high level in every game, making her games must-see TV. In other words, Boston passes the watchability test.

Oh, you thought the double-team was going to stop @aa_boston
from finding the rim? That's a NOPE. pic.twitter.com/rAGjEZpaJl

— GamecockWBB (@GamecockWBB) February 27, 2022

Now, let’s chat stats. Boston is averaging 16.8 points per game and 11.9 rebounds while shooting 54.4 percent from the field. Her rebounding numbers are sixth best in the country, and while her 16.8 points a game don’t put her in the top 50, it’s certainly nothing to scoff at.

Boston is also playing with two other top players in the country, Destanni Henderson and Zia Cooke, who each average just under 12 points per game. Boston doesn’t have to score over 20 points a game because South Carolina has other weapons. She doesn’t hide on defense, either. The junior averages 2.7 blocks per game, and 8.2 of her rebounds per game come on the defensive end. So adding to Boston’s offensive impact is the fact she takes away tons of scoring chances for South Carolina’s opponents.

All of those points bring us to the final question: What would South Carolina look like without her? With two stars in Henderson and Cooke, and a slew of role players, the Gamecocks would probably be in the top 25, but they almost certainly wouldn’t be No. 1 nor the favorite to win the NCAA Tournament, as they are now. An unwritten rule when it comes to voting for awards like this is to pick the best player on the best team. In that category, Boston stands alone.

The verdict

Now that we’ve unpacked the analysis, it’s time to make a decision. I genuinely don’t think there is a wrong answer here. Both players are deserving, and both players have rock solid arguments for why they should take home the POY prize. It would be easy to say that I can’t choose between Clark and Boston and just leave it there, but that would be a cop-out.

In sports, the emphasis is always on winning, and South Carolina has done that more than any other team. The Gamecocks are 27-1 and have been ranked No. 1 in the country all season long. Neither of those things would have happened without Aliyah Boston, and that gives her the edge.

Poll talk

I like the AP Poll this week from Nos. 1-9. But when it comes to Michigan, Maryland and Iowa taking up Nos. 10-12, I think Iowa deserves to jump into the 10th spot. The Hawkeyes have already moved up nine spots, but they beat Michigan in their last meeting. Sure, the teams split their games on the season, but the most recent games lead me to believe that Iowa is the better team at the moment.

Then, I’m pulling BYU all the way up to 14th. The Cougars have been consistent all season, something teams above them can’t say. And sure, the WCC isn’t as strong of a conference, but going 15-1 in any conference is impressive.

Finally, it’s time to get Princeton into the rankings. The Tigers are another consistent team, now 12-0 in the Ivy League conference, and they haven’t lost since playing Texas on Dec. 22. Let’s give them a little credit.

JWS’ Top 25 in Week 17

1. South Carolina (27-1)
2. Stanford (25-3)
3. NC State (26-3)
4. Louisville (25-3)
5. Baylor (24-5)
6. LSU (25-4)
7. UConn (22-5)
8. Iowa State (24-5)
9. Texas (21-6)
10. Iowa (20-7)
11. Michigan (22-5)
12. Maryland (21-7)
13. Ohio State (22-5)
14. BYU (25-2)
15. Arizona (20-6)
16. Indiana (19-7)
17. Tennessee (22-7)
18. North Carolina (23-5)
19. Oklahoma (22-6)
20. Florida Gulf Coast (26-2)
21. Notre Dame (21-7)
22. Virginia Tech (21-8)
23. Florida (20-9)
24. Georgia Tech (20-9)
25. Princeton (20-4)

Eden Laase is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports. She previously ran her own high school sports website in Michigan after covering college hockey and interning at Sports Illustrated. Follow her on Twitter @eden_laase.

Georgia outdoor track and field won their first-ever NCAA championship in style this weekend, finishing the four-day meet with a dominant 73 points to claim the team title by a massive margin of 26 points on Saturday.

Snagging podium finishes with 47 and 43 points, respectively, were silver medalists USC and bronze winners Texas A&M.

The Bulldogs proved impossible to beat, boasting individual champions in the 400-meter dash (junior Aaliyah Butler), the high jump (senior Elena Kulichenko), the hammer throw (grad student Stephanie Ratcliffe) and the 4×400-meter relay — more individual titles than any other school at the meet.

The winning relay team of freshman Michelle Smith, sophomore Sydney Harris, and juniors Butler and Dejanea Oakley particularly impressed, with three of the four taking individual podium spots as well.

Butler — a 2024 US Olympic gold medalist in the 4×400-meter relay — led the aforementioned 400-meter dash, with teammate Oakley securing second-place just behind her.

Meanwhile, Smith bagged bronze in the 400-meter hurdles.

Georgia head coach Caryl Smith Gilbert, who previously led three-time champion USC to the Trojans' 2018 and 2021 NCAA titles, is now the only woman to coach two different schools to an outdoor track and field national championship.

"I love these kids. They teach me more about me than I teach them about anything," said an emotional Smith Gilbert during the trophy ceremony. "They worked so hard, and they believed in themselves, and we did it."

Trio of NCAA records crumble at championship meet

While first-time champion Georgia was making team program history, a trio of NCAA women were busy shattering national track and field records this weekend.

First, Washington sophomore Hana Moll became the national pole vault champion with a new NCAA record leap of 4.79 meters on Thursday.

Notably, this was the third time this season that the collegiate pole vault mark was cleared by a Huskie, with Moll's twin sister Amanda breaking the record twice last month.

Then on Saturday, two records fell, with Alabama sophomore Doris Lemngole earning her second straight 3,000-meter steeplechase title in 8:58.15 — the fastest time in NCAA history.

Michigan senior Savannah Sutherland, a 2024 Olympian for Team Canada, closed out the 2025 NCAA record-breaking by dethroning a legend, smashing the 400-meter hurdles mark previously held by now-two-time Olympic individual champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.

Sutherland's 52.46-second race was 0.29 seconds below McLaughlin-Levrone's collegiate record — and a full 0.8 seconds below Sutherland's own personal best.

The Kansas City Current continues to hold court atop the NWSL standings, earning their fifth straight win after a brief two-game skid by defeating No. 7 Racing Louisville 4-2 on Saturday.

The Current pounced early, going up 3-0 ahead of the match's 20-minute mark before sealing the win with a second-half stoppage-time goal from star striker Temwa Chawinga.

KC is currently winning the race to stay ahead of 2024 Shield-winner and champions Orlando, who won their third straight match after a second-half dagger by Barbra Banda lifted the No. 2 Pride over No. 9 Bay FC 1-0 on Friday.

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Elsewhere, the San Diego Wave regained their grip on third place with Friday's 3-2 victory over the No. 12 Houston Dash, while the No. 5 Portland Thorns began to encroach on Washington's fourth-place standing with a 2-0 win over the Spirit on Sunday.

The top four teams weren't the only ones moving this weekend, as Gotham earned their first regular-season points since early May with Friday's 3-0 win over the last-place Utah Royals — despite two red card offenses limiting their late-game on-field roster to nine.

Along with boosting the Bats back above the playoff line into eighth place, the victory saw NY/NJ forward Esther pull ahead of Chawinga and Banda in the 2025 Golden Boot race, with her two-goal showing putting the Spanish national at nine goals on the season.

While no team is immune to the midseason blues, this weekend's widening eight-point gap between first and fourth place on the table is separating the contenders from the pretenders.

Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark returned with a bang on Saturday, coming off a quad strain to score 32 points and hand the reigning champion New York Liberty their first loss of the 2025 season.

Despite Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu’s game-leading 34 points, the Fever guard finished the 102-88 victory having contributed to 54 of her team's overall points as either a passer or a shooter, notching nine assists and eight rebounds while sinking 50% from behind the arc.

"Don't we always expect that kind of game from Caitlin?" Fever head coach Stephanie White asked after beating the Liberty.

Despite filling some key roster gaps over the offseason, the dreams of an Indiana title run appear to hinge on Clark being healthy and available, with the Fever sputtering to a 2-3 record during her five-game absence.

"Emotionally, it's a relief, it's a lift," White said. "This group, they stay together. They draw strength from one another; I draw strength from them. Every single day we take one step forward together, we're building trust."

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Angel Reese scores career-first triple-double

Clark's fellow 2024 draftee Angel Reese also hit a milestone this weekend, becoming the second-youngest player to ever record a triple-double, notching the first of her WNBA career in the Chicago Sky's 78-66 win over the Connecticut Sun on Sunday.

"I think some of the best players in the world, if their shot is not falling, they try to find other ways to get the team together and stay involved," Reese said afterwards. "I'm just super excited, and then to add it with a win just feels really good."

With 2025 WNBA All-Star voting officially underway, this stretch of the season gives individual standouts even more incentive to step into the spotlight and shine.

The third-place Atlanta Dream are storming up the WNBA standings, winning their last three games by an average margin of 23.6 points after routing the Washington Mystics 89-56 on Sunday.

Atlanta guard Rhyne Howard opened the weekend by tying the WNBA record for three-pointers made in a single game, recording nine baskets from behind the arc as the Dream took down the Chicago Sky 88-70 on Friday.

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Offseason pick-up Brittney Griner has also been busy, passing WNBA legend Lisa Leslie for No. 2 on the league's all-time career blocks list following this weekend's Atlanta victories.

While the Dream have made the playoffs in each of the last three seasons, a few key roster additions plus a new coaching hire have Atlanta entertaining a shot at a first-ever championship bid.

The momentum shift has largely been on offense, with the Dream hitting a franchise-record 18 three-pointers while guard Allisha Gray put up a career-high 32 points on Sunday.

Also quietly climbing the WNBA's ranks is the only other team currently on a three-game winning streak, the Golden State Valkyries.

Bolstered by a 76-70 Saturday win over the always-dangerous Seattle Storm, the 2025 expansion side secured a 5-5 season record to claim sixth place on the league table this weekend.

How to watch the Atlanta Dream on Tuesday

Nearly the entire league is in action on Tuesday, as 12 of the 13 teams will face off on WNBA courts.

The Dream will have their work cut out for them as they face the 2024 champion Liberty at 7 PM ET, taking on a New York side eager to bounce back from their first 2025 loss.

As for the Valkyries, Golden State will visit Paige Bueckers and the Dallas Wings at 8 PM ET.

Both games will air live on WNBA League Pass.