UConn women’s basketball continues to feel the absences of some of its top stars, falling to No. 6 Louisville 69-64 on Sunday.

Hailey Van Lith and Kianna Smith each recorded 16 points, four rebounds and three assists for Louisville. Of her 16 points, Van Lith scored 10 in the fourth quarter to lead the Cardinals (11-1) past the Huskies (6-3) in Sunday’s Women’s Hall of Fame Showcase.

“I know what everybody’s going to say, that they were shorthanded and everything,” head coach Jeff Walz said after the game. “And they’ve had some injuries, there’s no question about that. But they’re still a pretty good ball club and I was really pleased with how we fought, how we hung in there.”

Ahlana Smith contributed 11 points as the third Cardinal to finish the game in double-digit scoring.

While the Huskies are undeniably not the same team without the likes of Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd on the court, UConn has shown flashes of being a contender, taking down UCLA 71-61 on Dec. 11. They still have senior Christyn Williams, who contributed 10 points Sunday, and transfer grad student Dorka Juhász, who has put up double digits in each of her last two games, including 15 points and eight rebounds on Sunday. There’s also freshman Caroline Ducharme, who had 24 points and eight rebounds in Sunday’s loss. Following the game, Auriemma commended Ducharme on her “mental toughness.”

“I don’t think it was her blazing quickness or her ability to get off her feet and play above the rim,” Auriemma said when talking about what he liked about Ducharme during the recruiting process. “There was a mental toughness part that I find very rare in today’s players. She has it. And then she has a sneaky way of getting points on the board.”

Despite leading for the entire first half, UConn let the Cardinals get back in the game in the second. Withe loss, the Huskies have dropped three games before January for the first time since 2004.

Bueckers, who is out for at least eight weeks after having surgery to repair an anterior tibial plateau fracture in her left knee, was seen glancing up at the scoreboard after the game.

.@UConnWBB's Paige Bueckers glances up at the scoreboard as she leaves the court after UConn lost to @LouisvilleWBB 69-64 in the Hall of Fame Classic. Bueckers is out for eight weeks with an injury. For @hartfordcourant @alexaphilippou #bleedblue pic.twitter.com/umjXqFaEuU

— Cloe Poisson (@cloepoisson) December 20, 2021

Until players return from injury, UConn’s depth is an issue: Louisville had 22 bench points, led by Smith’s 11, compared to UConn’s four.

“We needed more contributions from more people for sure, and we didn’t get them,” Auriemma said. “You’re not going to beat a really good team without that. I wish I had an answer, but I don’t. I guess I’m supposed to have the answers, but I don’t.”

The good news is that Fudd and Nika Mühl could be returning soon. On Friday, Auriemma said the two players “are coming along great” and the hope is to start working them back into the lineup after the holiday break.

UConn, which fell to No. 11 in the nation on Monday and out of the AP Top 10 for the first time since 2004-05, returns to the court on Dec. 29 against Marquette. Louisville is back in action against Boston College on Dec. 30.

As the 2025/26 European club season shifts into full gear, a spike in ACL injuries is shedding new light on the increasingly dense women's soccer calendar.

Germany and Bayern Munich star Lena Oberdorf ruptured her right ACL during her club's Bundesliga match on Sunday, just weeks after the 23-year-old midfielder returned to play from rehabbing the same injury — in the same right knee.

"To now face a second such setback is incredibly hard," said Bayern Munich director of women's football Bianca Rech. "We are fully by Lena's side, will support her as best we can in her recovery and be there for her in every way."

Oberdorf is far from alone, with over 20 ACL injuries impacting multiple women's soccer leagues across the world in just the last three months.

Arsenal goalkeeper and Austrian international Manuela Zinsberger went down with an ACL tear during the Gunners' 2025/26 Champions League match last week, joining standouts like midfielder Sarah Zadrizil (Bayern Munich/Austria), striker Sophie Román Haug (Liverpool/Norway), forward Liana Joseph (OL Lyonnes/France), and midfielder Maite Oroz (Tottenham/Spain) on the injury's mounting hit list.

ACL injuries have long plagued the women's game, with FIFPRO recently developing the Project ACL research initiative to investigate and alleviate the issue.

The USWNT kicks off the first of their three October friendlies on Thursday night, facing Portugal as the team takes the pitch for the first time in nearly four months.

The matchup marks the first meeting between the two nations since the tense 0-0 group-stage finale at the 2023 World Cup that saw the USWNT narrowly advance to the knockouts.

"[Portugal] is a very good team," US midfielder Lindsey Heaps said earlier this week. "Many times that we've played them before, we get a tough game and a tough matchup."

The game also provides a glimpse of an evolving USWNT roster, bringing together NWSL standouts and European club stars ahead of next fall's World Cup qualifiers.

"That's the key right now — we need to finalize [the roster] in the next two years, and obviously leading up to qualification," continued Heaps. "That's an exciting process right now."

"It's just getting everyone together, everyone on the same page and know what the standards and levels are," she added. "What it takes to qualify for a World Cup."

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How to watch the USWNT vs. Portugal on Thursday

The world No. 2 USWNT will kick off a trio of friendlies with a match against No. 23 Portugal at 7 PM ET on Thursday.

The clash will air live across TNT, Peacock, and HBO Max.

The Toronto Tempo have apparently landed a head coach, with The IX Sports reporting Wednesday that the WNBA expansion side tapped ex-New York boss Sandy Brondello as their sideline leader for the team's 2026 season debut.

The Liberty parted ways with Brondello following New York's first-round exit in the playoffs last month — less than a year after the 20-year WNBA coaching veteran led the team to their first-ever championship.

Toronto expects to make the deal with Brondello official in the next few days, as soon as the parties finalize the terms of the contract.

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After her dismissal from the Liberty, Brondello reportedly fielded significant interest from several WNBA teams, opting to join the upstart squad as the Tempo continues to build out their front office.

Toronto brought on WNBA champion Monica Wright Rogers as GM in February 2025, later appointing longtime LA Sparks assistant GM Eli Horowitz as the new franchise's assistant GM and senior VP of basketball strategy.

With the Tempo now following fellow 2026 expansion side Portland in securing sideline leaders this month, the WNBA now has three vacancies remaining in its coaching carousel, with the Seattle Storm, Dallas Wings, and New York still searching for their next leaders.

Both the Toronto Tempo and the Portland Fire will now hope for clarity from the league's ongoing CBA negotiations in order to prep for an expected expansion draft and free agency period in early 2026.

Fresh off her rookie WNBA season, Seattle Storm star Dominique Malonga is causing a stir overseas, abruptly withdrawing from her offseason contract with Turkish club Fenerbahçe this week — and creating controversy in her wake.

Malonga initially signed a three-year deal with the two-time Euroleague champions in March before she "unilaterally terminated her professional player contract with our club without any just cause," according to a Fenerbahçe social media post on Monday.

"We inform the public that we will exercise all our legal rights to seek compensation for any material and moral damages incurred by our club during this process," the team continued.

While she didn't disclose a reason for leaving Istanbul, the 19-year-old did reveal that she recently required surgery to repair a dislocated tendon in her wrist, estimating that she'd be in a cast for six weeks.

The 2025 WNBA Draft overall No. 2 pick finished her debut WNBA season averaging 7.7 points and 4.6 rebounds per game, earning herself a spot on the stacked 2025 All-Rookie Team.

Should the contract dispute remain unresolved, Fenerbahçe could attempt to disrupt Malonga's second season in Seattle due to a longstanding "letter of clearance" rule requiring approval from both the WNBA and Europe's FIBA before athletes can move between leagues.

Front Office Sports reported on Tuesday that while the WNBA signed off on the 19-year-old's Turkish contract, Fenerbahçe could deny her ability to return to the US league "under the condition that she violated the terms of her contract."

"If the season tips off in May as it did in 2025, this would give Fenerbahçe and Malonga about six months to rectify any potential dispute and clear her for a WNBA return," warned FOS.