NWSL playoff contention came down to the last game of the regular season on Oct. 2, proving just how competitive this year has been. Players’ exhilarating performances kept game results and league standings unpredictable all the way from May to October.

As the playoffs head into the semifinal round this Sunday, we recognize the NWSL talent that stood a head above the rest with Just Women’s Sports’ picks for the 2022 Best XI of the Year.

Goalkeeper

AD Franch, Kansas City Current

With 66 saves and a 72.5 percent save percentage this season, AD Franch helped her team reach the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. Kansas City improved from last place in 2021 to fifth this year thanks in large part to a 13-game unbeaten streak that included five shutouts.

One of Franch’s most memorable plays came against the Washington Spirit in July, when she saved a penalty shot in stoppage time. Her efforts preserved a 1-0 win for the Current and extended their unbeaten streak to six at the time. The 31-year-old’s show-stopping performance in the quarterfinals on Sunday helped Kansas City pull off a 2-1 win and advance to a semifinal matchup with OL Reign.

AD had the last word.

Absolutely relentless. pic.twitter.com/oPV1512YgA

— KC Current (@thekccurrent) July 10, 2022

Defenders

Carson Pickett, North Carolina Courage

Carson Pickett makes an impact no matter where she is on the field. She finished the season as the league leader in chances created (52) and tied for the league lead in assists (six) while also recording a goal for the Courage. Defensively, Pickett had a 71 percent tackle success rate, 36 interceptions, six blocks and 32 clearances. Named to the NWSL Team of the Month three times this year, she helped the Courage rise from last in the league standings to seventh, one draw away from earning the final playoff spot.

Naomi Girma, San Diego Wave FC

In an impressive first season in the NWSL, Naomi Girma was named to three NWSL Teams of the Month and earned Rookie of the Month in May and September. Playing every minute of every game she appeared in, the 2022 No. 1 draft pick recorded an 83 percent success rate in distribution and a 71 percent success rate in duels. She helped the semifinal-bound San Diego Wave concede just 21 goals, the second-best mark in the league this season.

Kristen Edmonds, Kansas City Current 

The first player to appear in 50 games across all competitions for her club, Kristen Edmonds has been a game-changer on the Current’s backline. Winning 69.3 percent of her duels, 50 percent of her aerial duels and 62.8 percent of her tackles, Edmonds has also been critical in possession, completing 81 percent of her passes and making 12 key passes. In September, she recorded a game-tying assist in stoppage time against the Portland Thorns to keep Kansas City one point ahead of the Thorns in the standings at the time.

Sofia Huerta, OL Reign

Starting 18 of 19 games without being subbed off, Sofia Huerta helped the OL Reign backline defense concede a league-best 19 goals this season. The tenacious wingback recorded 10 blocks, 20 interceptions and 18 clearances en route to the Reign’s NWSL Shield. She also applied pressure on the attack with 14 shots and one goal, while ranking third in the league with nine big chances created and registering four assists and 36 key passes.

Sofia Huerta with a ROCKET 🚀

What a way to get the equalizer 🍿 pic.twitter.com/5TLWQZCzyA

— Attacking Third (@AttackingThird) July 31, 2022

Midfielders

Rose Lavelle, OL Reign

Like many of her USWNT teammates, Rose Lavelle is having arguably the best season of her NWSL career. Ranked second in the league for possession won in the final third, she averaged a 60 percent tackle success rate across the field. The 27-year-old has been productive on the attack, with five goals, an assist and 25 key passes. She also successfully distributed 80.6 percent of her passes and hit her target on long balls 72.4 percent of the time.

Hina Sugita, Portland Thorns FC

Hina Sugita has been unstoppable in possession in her first season with the Thorns. With an 82 percent passing success rate, the patient midfielder completed nine successful crosses and a whopping 42 key passes. She directly contributed to nearly 20 percent of the Thorns’ 49 goals while scoring five of her own — including two game-winners — and recording four assists.

Sophie Schmidt, Houston Dash

Starting all 18 games she appeared in this season, Sophie Schmidt was the backbone of the Dash midfield that helped carry the team to its first NWSL playoff appearance in franchise history. The well-rounded defensive midfielder dominated in possession, tackles, duels, aerial duels and long passes, and she read the game exceptionally with 40 interceptions. Accumulating three goals and one assist, she demonstrated a knack for shooting from anywhere, including loose balls in front of net and one-timer rockets from outside the 18-yard box.

SOPHIE SCHMIDT MY GOODNESS. 🚀

Doesn't get much better than that. 💪 pic.twitter.com/aiJ5TnVwxm

— Attacking Third (@AttackingThird) July 31, 2022

Forwards

Alex Morgan, San Diego Wave FC

For the first time since joining the league in 2013, Alex Morgan won the NWSL Golden Boot with a career-high 15 goals in 17 games. Her three braces tied for second in the league in 2022, and she became the third player in league history to score four goals in one game. Her 11th goal this season was the 50th of her NWSL career, making her the fifth player to reach that milestone. Morgan’s efforts helped San Diego finish third in league play and become the first expansion team to reach the NWSL playoffs in its inaugural season.

Sophia Smith, Portland Thorns FC

The Player of the Month in June, Sophia Smith was a menace in the final third all season, leading the league with 76 shots and 48 shots on goal. She ranked second in the Golden Boot race with 14 goals, just one behind Morgan. From June 8 to Aug. 5, Smith scored in five straight games, a stretch that included three of her four braces this season. The USWNT star showed this season just how dominant she can be with both feet, scoring nine goals with her right and five with her left. Her three assists also tied her with Morgan and Mallory Pugh as the league leaders in combined goals and assists with 17.

Mallory Pugh, Chicago Red Stars

Mallory Pugh can orchestrate games with her dribbling, set-up plays, finishing and defending, recording an 80 percent success rate on tackles in 2022. She finished the season as a top-five scorer with 11 goals and tied with Pickett for the league lead in assists with six. To cap an impressive campaign in which she scored five game-winning goals, Pugh notched the goal that earned the Red Stars the final NWSL playoff spot in a 2-0 win over Angel City FC.

Sarah Luebbert sets it up, Mal Pugh puts it away✨@chicagoredstars | #MKOT pic.twitter.com/rJ6aIKTIzY

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) October 2, 2022

JWS’ Best XI Second Team

GK — Phallon Tullis-Joyce, OL Reign

D — Becky Sauerbrunn, Portland Thorns

D — Alana Cook, OL Reign

D — Tatumn Milazzo, Chicago Red Stars

D — Emily Fox, Racing Louisville FC

M — Debinha, North Carolina Courage

M — Sam Coffey, Portland Thorns

M — Lo’eau Labonta, Kansas City Current

F — Kerolin, North Carolina Courage

F — Megan Rapinoe, OL Reign

F — María Sánchez, Houston Dash

Jessa Braun is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports covering the NWSL and USWNT. Follow her on Twitter @jessabraun.

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.

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Unrivaled 3×3 format revamps fouls

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."

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.

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.

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.

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.

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."

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How to watch PWHL games this week

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.

Both games will stream live on YouTube.

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.

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)