June is coming to a close, which means it’s time for Just Women’s Sports‘ NWSL Best XI of the month.

The league released its Best XI on Monday, featuring players voted on by members of the NWSL Media Association. There is slight overlap in the JWS lineup, with four players earning the double spotlight and seven new players getting recognized.

Seven teams are represented in JWS’ lineup, including the top five in the league standings. Portland leads the way with three players, while San Diego and Houston each have two. The Wave, in fact, have two players making their second consecutive JWS Best XI appearance. (You can read our Best XI for May here.)

Forwards

Sophia Smith, Portland Thorns FC

The NWSL’s Player of the Month, Sophia Smith contributed a goal or an assist in each of Portland’s four games in June as her speed continues to be a nightmare for defenders. Most notably, she had two goals and one assist in a 4-0 win over the Houston Dash on June 12.

Nichelle Prince, Houston Dash

The Houston Dash forward scored four goals in June to move into fourth place in the Golden Boot race. Her biggest performance came on June 3, when she scored the first-ever hat trick in Dash history during a 5-0 win over the Orlando Pride. She also scored the game-winner in Houston’s thrilling 4-3 victory over the North Carolina Courage.

Alex Morgan, San Diego Wave FC

Alex Morgan added five goals in June, bringing her season tally to 11 and surpassing last year’s Golden Boot total in less than half the number of games. She was a menace in San Diego’s 3-0 win over NJ/NY Gotham FC on June 19, recording a brace and an assist.

Midfielders

Maria Sánchez, Houston Dash

Maria Sánchez has been an integral part of the Houston Dash’s attack, especially in their 4-3 win over the Courage when she contributed a goal and two assists. On June 3 against the Orlando Pride, she had arguably the best play of the month, connecting with Rachel Daly on a perfect long-ball assist from the middle of the park to the top of the box.

RACHEL DALY HEADER ⚡

A beautiful assist by Maria Sánchez 🤩 pic.twitter.com/7fN5VwiNiv

— Attacking Third (@AttackingThird) June 4, 2022

Lo’eau LaBonta, Kansas City Current

Lo’eau LaBonta played a key role as the Kansas City Current regained momentum in June. After going winless through May 30, the Current have been unbeaten since then, recording a win and two draws. LaBonta held the team steady with a 76 percent passing success rate and 60 percent tackle success rate.

Denise O’Sullivan, North Carolina Courage

Flying under the radar at times next to Debinha, Denise O’Sullivan has been a dominant presence in the Courage midfield with an 83.8 percent passing success rate and 60.7 percent success rate in tackles. On June 19 against the Dash, the Irish national team player scored a bullet of a goal from the top of Houston’s defense to open the scoring just five minutes into the match.

Goal of the weekend and definitely a Goal of the Season contender here by Denise O'Sullivan #NCvHOU (🎥 @NWSL)pic.twitter.com/c424MiJ2gD

— AllForXI (@AllForXI) June 19, 2022

Defenders

Lauren Barnes, OL Reign

New teammate Tobin Heath describes Lu Barnes as the smoothest outside back in the league, and Barnes has certainly been showing it both on and off the ball. Hitting her targets 70 percent of the time and winning over half of her tackles, Barnes consistently creates big scoring chances and pushes up the field to make overlapping runs and give the Reign a dangerous passing option from the left fullback position. 

Naomi Girma, San Diego Wave FC

Making her second consecutive JWS Best XI appearance, the May Rookie of the Month has developed further into one of the most reliable players in the league. Playing every minute in June, she connected on her passes 84 percent of the time and won 70.8 percent of her duels.

Kelli Hubly, Portland Thorns FC

The most exciting part of Kelli Hubly’s month is that she scored her first NWSL career goal — a perfect header off of a Sophia Smith corner kick. Goals aside, Hubly’s composure and distribution have helped steady Portland’s backline as they’ve gone 3-0-1 in the month of June. With an 81 percent passing success rate, she is the only one on the team who’s played every minute of every game so far.

HAVE YOURSELF A DANCE, @kellihubly!
Kelli Hubly with her FIRST career NWSL Goal!#BAONPDX | @ThornsFC pic.twitter.com/tOSC2l9ljU

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) June 4, 2022

Natalia Kuikka, Portland Thorns FC

An NWSL June Best XI honoree as well, Natalia Kuikka has been one of the strongest defenders in the league this month. She played every minute for the Thorns in June, connecting on 77 percent of her passes while helping create chances and contributing to Portlands’ three shutouts. In a 6-0 win over the Orlando Pride, she also recorded her first goal of the season.

Goalkeeper

Alyssa Naeher, Chicago Red Stars

Coming into June without a shutout in 2022, Alyssa Naeher recorded three consecutive clean sheets to kick off the month. The only two goals the USWNT keeper conceded came in the fourth match, a 2-2 draw with the Current. 

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

In this week's episode of The Late Sub, host Claire Watkins gives a postmortem on this era of the Las Vegas Aces, before claiming the Liberty as WNBA championship frontrunners and prepping for Tuesday's Game 5 semifinal between the Lynx and the Sun.

Then, she chats about Orlando’s incredible run to the 2024 NWSL Shield, the individual NWSL records primed to fall, and aimlessness further down the league table.

The Late Sub with Claire Watkins brings you the latest news and freshest takes in women’s sports. This is the weekly rundown you’ve been missing, covering the USWNT, NWSL, WNBA, college hoops, and whatever else is popping off in women’s sports each week. Special guest appearances with the biggest names in women’s sports make The Late Sub a must-listen for every fan. Follow Claire on X/Twitter @ScoutRipley and subscribe to the Just Women’s Sports newsletter for more.

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After splitting their first four games, tonight's Game 5 semifinal will determine who will go on to face New York in the 2024 WNBA Finals: the Minnesota Lynx or the Connecticut Sun.

The two teams' best-of-five series has been the tightest of the 2024 postseason thus far. Both claimed one road win and one at home, and even the series score sheet is wildly close, with the Lynx putting up 321 points across the four games and the Sun posting 315.

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New WNBA season, same elimination game matchup

Tonight's tilt marks the pair's second-straight season competing in a winner-takes-all playoff showdown after the Sun beat the Lynx 90-75 in Game 3 of 2023's first round.

"At this point, you know each other inside and out," said Sun coach Stephanie White after Sunday's win. "It's about players making plays. It’s about the extra efforts. The hustle plays. It's about not being denied and finding something deep inside of you that allows you to come out on top."

Unlike the Lynx, the Sun have the added motivation of hunting a franchise-first WNBA championship. Minnesota, on the other hand, boasts four titles already, most recently in 2017.

It's something top-of-mind for veteran Sun forward DeWanna Bonner, who called the atmosphere in Minneapolis for Game 1 and 2 "absolutely insane."

"I can only imagine what it will be like in a Game 5. We know that," Bonner continued. "I wouldn’t tell the team anything other than focus in on each other. They have great fans, championship fans. They’ve won multiple championships. They’re hungry for another one."

Stats pave a complicated road to the Finals

To overcome Minnesota's hunger, Connecticut will likely defer to Sunday's winning formula. The return of guard Ty Harris from injury had an immediate impact, as did the Sun's performance behind the arc — Connecticut sank 53% of their three-pointers while the Lynx failed to crack 40%.

For their part, Minnesota will be aiming to stifle Connecticut's offense, which saw five Sun players score double-digits on Sunday.

"We have to get back to what got us in this position in the first place, which is our defense," noted Lynx star Napheesa Collier, the 2024 Defensive Player of the Year.

How to watch Sun vs. Lynx in Game 5 of the 2024 WNBA semifinals

The Sun and Lynx will tip off in Minneapolis at 8 PM ET tonight, with live broadcast and streaming coverage on ESPN2.

With three regular-season matches left, the still-undefeated Orlando Pride clinched the 2024 NWSL Shield with Sunday's rainy 2-0 win over the second-place Washington Spirit.

Marta converted the 57th-minute game-winning penalty kick, securing her team's first-ever piece of hardware with her eighth goal of the season.

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"I stayed here because I want to make history with this team," the Brazilian soccer icon, who's been with the Pride for eight years, said afterwards. "And then we did tonight, and then we go for more."

Though the Pride's dominance this season is unmatched, Washington was notably without several key players. Between injuries and yellow card suspensions, the Spirit faced Orlando without Trinity Rodman, Casey Krueger, Hal Hershfelt, Leicy Santos, or Ouleye Sarr.

Chawinga ties Kerr's NWSL scoring record

It took less than two minutes for Kansas City's Temwa Chawinga to find the back of the net in Saturday's 2-0 win over Louisville, tying former Chicago Red Star Sam Kerr's single-season NWSL scoring record with her 18th goal.

With three matchdays to go, the Malawian striker is all but guaranteed to upend Kerr's 2019 record.

"I think that Temwa's ability to get behind the line and then drive towards the goal, and being aggressive going towards the goal, is something that differentiates her," KC head coach Vlatko Andonovski said after the match. "Temwa's just a pure goalscorer. We're happy that she's done it for us this season and hopefully she continues to do it."

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Other noteworthy NWSL results

In other NWSL news, fifth-place North Carolina punched their postseason ticket with Saturday's 2-1 win over San Diego. The day before, last-place Houston become the first club eliminated from the 2024 playoff picture.

Gotham’s 5-1 Saturday blowout of Bay has the defending NWSL champs achingly close to leaping second-place Washington on the table. The two clubs are tied for points, with the Spirit's shrinking goal differential giving them the tenuous edge.

On the other hand, Saturday's 2-1 loss to 12th-place Utah extended Portland's NWSL winless streak to seven matches. The Thorns are remarkably still in seventh-place, but sit tied for points with eighth-place Bay FC. With lower-table teams hungry to rise above the postseason cutoff line, every match left could see Portland fall from contention.

Sunday's WNBA semifinals action saw top-seeded New York end back-to-back defending champion Las Vegas's season while the Connecticut Sun staved off elimination to force a deciding Game 5 against the Minnesota Lynx.

New York ends Aces' WNBA three-peat campaign

The Liberty claimed a second-straight trip to the WNBA Finals with Sunday's 76-62 victory​ over the Aces, ending to the defending champs' three-peat dream in four semifinal matchups.

After being held to just four points in Game 3, Sabrina Ionescu led the Liberty with 22 points. Teammate Breanna Stewart was just behind with a 19-point, 14-rebound double-double.

Though New York led nearly wire-to-wire, Las Vegas kept Game 4 within reach, thanks in large part to three-time MVP A'ja Wilson's 19 points, 10 rebounds, and five blocks. The Aces trailed by just two points after three quarters, but a 16-2 fourth-quarter Liberty run ultimately earned them the win.

"They've been the best team all year — let's be real," Las Vegas head coach Becky Hammon said about New York after the game. "Their group earned it. They earned it all year."

Having walked away disappointed last season, New York — the only original franchise still playing without a title — knows that nothing is guaranteed in their upcoming sixth Finals appearance.

"We haven't done anything yet," a fired up Ionescu said after Sunday's win. "We're three wins away, and that’s really important to understand. We got to come out and we got to punch because nothing has been given to us yet."

How to watch the Liberty in the 2024 WNBA Finals

Game 1 of the best-of-five Finals tips off in Brooklyn at 8 PM ET on Thursday. Live coverage will air on ESPN.

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Connecticut forces winner-take-all Game 5 against Minnesota

After Friday's home-court loss to Minnesota, the Sun tied up their semifinal series with a come-from-behind 92-82 win on Sunday, forcing a winner-take-all Game 5.

Trailing by seven points at the break, Connecticut staged a second-half comeback. The Sun outscored the Lynx 49-32 to keep their first-ever WNBA title dream alive.

Ty Harris led Connecticut with a career-high 20 points in her post-injury return to the starting lineup. Four of her teammates also put up double-digits: Alyssa Thomas and DeWanna Bonner each had 18 points and eight rebounds, while DiJonai Carrington and Marina Mabrey added 15 and 10 points, respectively.

2024 Defensive Player of the Year Napheesa Collier, who led the Lynx with a 29-point, 13-rebound double-double, said her team needs to step it up when the series moves back to Minnesota on Tuesday.

"We have to go home and defend our home court. We're both playing for our lives, so we have to play with that level of intensity," Collier said after the loss.

How to watch Sun vs. Lynx in Game 5 of the 2024 WNBA semifinals

The Sun and Lynx will tip off Game 5 in Minneapolis at 8 PM ET on Tuesday. Live coverage will air on ESPN2.