— Stanford Women’s Water Polo (@Stanfordh2opolo) May 8, 2022
USC got on the board first, with Mieria Guiral scoring just 41 seconds into the game. The Trojans would take a 3-1 lead heading into the second quarter before Stanford came back to take a 5-4 lead.
The Cardinals’ Mackenzie Fischer scored four times while Ryann Neushul added three more to secure the win.
Fischer was named the MVP for the NCAA tournament.
“In the first half things weren’t going the way we wanted, we weren’t playing the way we wanted,” Fischer said. “USC was outdoing us in the first half so in the half break we decided that that’s not the energy we wanted to put forward and I think you saw a whole new team in the second half.”
It was Stanford’s third time beating USC this season, and the Cardinal finished with a 25-2 record overall. But their only two losses of the season came at the hands of the Trojans.
“They are just really gritty,” Stanford coach John Tanner told ESPN. “They are such good independent decision makers. It was really chaotic in there and they had to solve a lot of problems on their own. That was really gratifying.
“The whole group, a lot of resolve throughout this. It was a gritty, gritty performance.”
The two teams have played each other seven times in the NCAA championship game. The Cardinal have won three of those games, while USC won the other four.
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Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball Drops Game Rules Ahead of Friday Tip-Off
Unrivaled tips off its debut season on Friday, January 17th. (Unrivaled)
Unrivaled basketball hits the court for the first time on Friday and, according to ESPN, the debut league's style of play will look a little different from the 3×3 Olympic game's rules.
Unlike the half-court version currently played in major international 3x3 basketball competitions, Unrivaled's full-court edition uses slightly smaller court dimensions from a traditional 5×5 setup.
Similarly, the inaugural league's format follows a four-quarter setup, but opts for seven-minute periods rather than the WNBA's 10-minute quarters. The shot clock will also be a speedier 18 seconds versus the professional 5×5 game's 24 seconds.
Unrivaled victories, however, rest solely in fourth-quarter play. This "winning score" quarter denotes that the win goes to the first team to score 11 more points than the highest final third-quarter score. For example, if a game's third quarter ends with a 45-43 scoreline, the first team to post the target score of 56 points in the final period walks away with the victory.
This system essentially eliminates the possibility of overtime. League organizers also hope it deters the late-game fouls used strategically and prolifically in 5×5 contests.
Speaking of fouls, Unrivaled is also condensing the free throw system to keep the game moving. Each player has six fouls to give, but each shooting foul will earn a single free throw at the line.
Those awarded free throws, however, will contain different point opportunities depending on the foul incurred. Fouled two-point shots grant a single free throw worth two points, while a free throw awarded from a three-point attempt will be worth three. All and-ones are worth one point.
With six players rostered on each of Unrivaled's six teams, the league also tweaked the traditional rule of fouling out to ensure games can be completed should they become especially chippy. If an athlete fouls out with only three available players left on their team, that player can continue competing. She will instead incur a technical foul — resulting in one opponent free throw — for each additional foul.
The new league's rules all point to Unrivaled's efforts to put an engaging, fast product on the court.
"This game is rooted in how you would play basketball as a kid on a black top," Unrivaled president of basketball operations Luke Cooper told ESPN's Kendra Andrews on Tuesday. "There's flow, there's pace. When you are watching, it feels like you are watching basketball... it's not a gimmick."
Claire Watkins
Jan 15, 2025
Teams Core Top Players as WNBA Free Agency Looms
WNBA free agent Kelsey Plum has been cored by the Aces. (David Becker/NBAE via Getty Images)
The WNBA free agency carousel started spinning this week, with teams evaluating rosters and coring athletes to either retain talent or trade players for a return.
Thus far, cored players include Las Vegas Aces guard Kelsey Plum, New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart, Dallas Wings forward Satou Sabally, and Seattle Storm forward Gabby Williams.
Dallas cored free agent Satou Sabally for a likely upcoming trade. (Ian Maule/NBAE via Getty Images)
Squads employ single-use coring on WNBA stars
Each of the WNBA's teams can core one unrestricted free agent on their roster, ensuring them exclusive rights to that cored athlete. Cored players receive an offer for a one-year, supermax salary contract, along with the option to negotiate different terms.
Cored athletes are unable to directly sign with another franchise, but they can be part of a trade offer by their coring team.
New York cored Stewart after she expressed interest in remaining with her 2024 WNBA Championship-winning squad. Sabally, on the other hand, will likely be part of a sign-and-trade deal after telling media late last week that she is looking to leave Dallas in 2025.
Plum's situation with the Aces is less clear-cut: The two-time WNBA champion could re-sign with her team, though Las Vegas could be exploring opportunities to cash in should she want to compete elsewhere.
Chicago's top scorer Chennedy Carter has yet to receive an offer from the Sky. (M. Anthony Nesmith/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Other offers spark WNBA free agent negotiations
In addition to coring, WNBA teams have also begun sending qualifying offers to certain restricted free agents, allowing them to initiate negotiations with those players.
Most notably, despite making Monday offers to three players — guard Dana Evans, forward Michaela Onyenwere, and forward Nikolina Milić — Chicago has yet to extend a qualifying offer to the Sky's 2024 points-leader Chennedy Carter.
Ultimately, while negotiations kick off next week, WNBA contracts cannot be finalized until free agency revs up in February, meaning more shuffling is on deck as teams gear up for the longest and most competitive roster-building season in recent memory.
Dee Lab
Jan 14, 2025
PWHL Stars Emerge as Season Revs Up
Montréal's Marie-Philip Poulin has four goals and two assists on the season. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Behind a string of stellar performances, PWHL standouts Marie-Philip Poulin (Montréal), Corinne Schroeder (New York), and Sidney Morin (Boston) emerged as Monday's Stars of the Week.
After scoring two goals — including the superhero-style game-winner — in Wednesday's sold-out Takeover Tour win, Victoire captain Poulin registered an assist in front a record-breaking Denver crowd on Sunday to claim a three-point week.
Saturday belonged to Fleet defender Morin, who recorded a career-high five shots and notched both goals in Boston's 2-1 overtime win over Ottawa, doubling her single-goal scoring record last season.
Corinne Schroeder is the first-ever PWHL goalie with back-to-back shutouts. (Rich Graessle/Getty Images)
The puck stops with Sirens goalie Corinne Schroeder
Sirens goaltender Schroeder made PWHL history on Sunday, becoming the first-ever goalie to record back-to-back regular-season shutouts.
New York's 1-0 victory over Toronto also made a mark, becoming the PWHL's first-ever scoreless game in regulation before New York's Jessie Eldridge found the back of the net in overtime.
Schroeder, who tops the league in average goals against (1.86) while sharing the lead in wins (5) and save percentage (0.935), hasn't conceded a goal in over 156 minutes of play.
"I think Schroeder has been our number one goalie for a long time," said Sirens coach Greg Fargo after the game. "She's been demonstrating the level of her play since day one, but there's a calmness to her game and a competitiveness that we really like right now."
While teams jockey for points one-third of the way through the PWHL's second season, individual athletes are separating themselves from the pack by tearing up the stat sheet.
The PWHL's stars are back on the ice in midweek action. First, the Toronto Sceptres visit the Ottawa Charge on Tuesday at 7 PM ET.
Then, Schroeder will try to add a third shutout to her record-setting goaltending streak when the New York Sirens host the league-leading Minnesota Frost at 7 PM ET on Wednesday.
Big Win Keeps No. 2 South Carolina Atop NCAA Basketball AP Poll Ranks
South Carolina held Texas to 27.8% from the field on Sunday. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
An unfazed No. 2 South Carolina isn't letting injury slow them down, earning their season's first Top 5 NCAA basketball win with a dominant 67-50 victory over No. 5 Texas on Sunday.
The Gamecocks' trademark lock-down defense was in full force, holding the Longhorns to a field goal percentage of 27.8 despite Texas's 22 forced turnovers.
"I would say with our team, they seem to really focus in when there's a number beside our opponent, they practice a little better," South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said of her squad's tough ranked schedule. "They’re more focused, they talk less. They knew the intangibles of this game would play a huge role in us winning or losing."
Coming off an undefeated championship season, South Carolina has taken their knocks while also proving just how capable they are of a repeat win.
The Gamecocks saw their 43-game winning streak snapped by No. 1 UCLA in November before losing key contributor Ashlyn Watkins to an ACL tear earlier this month.
At the same time, South Carolina has now tallied five ranked wins on the season — four of them over Top 10 teams. The Gamecocks are looking comfortable as they enter a particularly grueling stretch of conference play, with No. 19 Alabama and No. 13 Oklahoma waiting to try and topple the current champs later this week.
While Michigan fell from Monday's NCAA basketball rankings, Minnesota made its first poll since 2019. (Adam Bettcher/Getty Images)
Ranked losses fuel AP basketball poll movement
Today's AP poll update saw significant shifts throughout Division I basketball's Top 25, with elite teams cooling off as the NCAA season heats up.
While No. 1 UCLA, No. 2 South Carolina, No. 3 Notre Dame, and No. 4 USC held steady, the Longhorns' loss to the Gamecocks earned them a two-spot dip to No. 7.
Elsewhere in the Top 10, LSU's still-undefeated campaign saw the Tigers rise one notch into the No. 5 position, as UConn also capitalized on Texas's misfortune, coming in one spot higher than last week at No. 6.
Deeper into the Top 25, Georgia Tech and Iowa suffered some of the week's biggest tumbles. After adding Sunday defeats to their Thursday losses, the once-unbeaten Yellow Jackets fell four spots to No. 17, while Iowa joined fellow Big Ten member Michigan in being ousted from Monday's rankings entirely.
Snagging the largest leaps in Monday's poll were No. 14 UNC and No. 18 Cal, whose ranked upset wins boosted them five and six spots, respectively.
Two teams also joined the AP party, as two-loss Oklahoma State and one-loss Minnesota enter tied at No. 24. Both teams are making their poll debuts for the first time in years: The last time the Cowgirls were ranked was in 2018, and the Golden Gophers's last Top 25 appearance was in 2019.
Week 11 AP college basketball poll
1. UCLA (16-0, Big Ten) 2. South Carolina (16-1, SEC) 3. Notre Dame (14-2, ACC) 4. USC (16-1, Big Ten) 5. LSU (19-0, SEC) 6. UConn (15-2, Big East) 7. Texas (16-2, SEC) 8. Maryland (15-1, Big Ten) 9. Ohio State (16-0, Big Ten) 10. TCU (17-1, Big 12) 11. Kansas State (17-1, Big 12) 12. Kentucky (15-1, SEC) 13. Oklahoma (14-3, SEC) 14. UNC (15-3, ACC) 15. Tennessee (14-2, SEC) 16. Duke (13-4, ACC) 17. Georgia Tech (15-2, ACC) 18. Cal (16-2, ACC) 19. Alabama (16-2, SEC) 20. West Virginia (13-3, Big 12) 21. NC State (12-4, ACC) 22. Michigan State (13-3, Big Ten) 23. Utah (13-3, Big 12) T24. Minnesota (16-1, Big Ten) T24. Oklahoma State (14-2, Big 12)
