With just a few weeks left in the NWSL season, the playoff race is heating up.

U.S. women’s national team stars Rose Lavelle and Alyssa Naeher and Mexico national team forward Maria Sánchez came up big to keep their club teams in the thick of the postseason chase.

NWSL Plays of the Week

Maria Sánchez’s rocket

Sánchez struck the shot of the season Sunday, and with it, she brought the Houston Dash fans at PNC Stadium to their feet.

The Mexican international let off a rocket from far outside the box, burying the ball into the upper 90 past a diving Angel City goalkeeper.

AN OUTRAGEOUS ROCKET FROM @Maria17_7 🚀 pic.twitter.com/Wqv7yipmEu

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) September 12, 2022

Sánchez’s sensational finish helped Houston to a 1-1 draw with Angel City FC, keeping the Dash in playoff contention at fourth in the NWSL standings with 30 points.

Unsurprisingly, Sánchez called Sunday’s banger “probably one of my top goals.”

Rose Lavelle’s screamer

Lavelle played hero for OL Reign on Friday, notching the 80th-minute equalizer to secure a 2-2 draw with the Chicago Red Stars as both teams fight to remain in the playoff picture.

In vintage Lavelle fashion, the star midfielder beat her defender, taking advantage of the time and space awarded to her, and then let off a screamer from the edge of the box.

Rose Lavelle SCREAMER 🚀 pic.twitter.com/uSvncj6FFp

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) September 10, 2022

The goal marks Lavelle’s fourth in 13 regular-season appearances.

Alyssa Naeher’s save

Alyssa Naeher has a busy Friday night, logging seven saves to help clinch the Red Stars’ draw with OL Reign.

The keeper’s most impressive stop came against USWNT teammate Megan Rapinoe, as Naeher denied the OL Reign forward from close range.

Naeher first blocked Rapinoe’s shot before batting away the deflection to keep Rapinoe off the scoresheet.

WHAT A SAVE X2 😱 @AlyssaNaeher pic.twitter.com/4zHB9SMAIl

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) September 10, 2022

With the draw, the Red Stars hold onto the sixth and final playoff spot with four matches left in the season. Chicago has 27 points, while OL Reign sits in fifth with 28.

Naeher’s impressive performance not only helped her team keep pace in the playoff race but also added to her case for the starting USWNT goalkeeper position.

On Monday, Gotham FC beat Seattle 2-0, snapping the Reign's seven-game NWSL unbeaten streak behind goals from midfielder Delanie Sheehan and striker Esther González.

The road win saw Gotham leapfrog Kansas City to claim third place in the standings — prime positioning as NY/NJ stares down a second-straight NWSL championship​.

Seattle, on the other hand, sits in 11th place with only six matches left. The Reign will need to rack up as many wins as possible to keep their postseason dreams alive.

Rodman ups the celly game in the NWSL

In lighter NWSL news, Washington star Trinity Rodman hit her second NBA-inspired celly of the season on Sunday.

After launching a rocket to secure the Spirit's 3-0 win over Houston, Rodman dropped to the pitch, curled up, closed her eyes, and laid her head on her hands in a nod to Steph Curry's signature "night, night" action.

The move followed last week's slam dunk celly. After netting an equalizer, Rodman leapt into the air while sprinting toward new Spirit investor and NBA legend, Magic Johnson.

LaBonta's NWSL cellies give Rodman stiff competition

While iconic celebrations have become part of the NWSL's DNA, Rodman’s main competitor in this season's top celly race is Kansas City’s Lo’eau LaBonta.

The midfielder’s 2024 highlights include mirroring gymnast Simone Biles’s Olympic floor routine, using the ball as a baby bump, and recreating the signature lift from Dirty Dancing.

Set to debut in 2025, WNBA expansion team the Golden State Valkyries are already off to the record-breaking races. On Friday, the league's 13th franchise became the first pro women’s sports team in history to collect more than 17,000 season-ticket deposits​.

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That record means the Valkyries — who notably don’t have a single player yet — could join the Indiana Fever next season as the only WNBA teams to average over 17,000 fans per home game.

Golden State drops renderings of new Valkyries facilities

The Valkyries also turned heads by releasing plans for their state-of-the-art team facilities last week. 

The 6,800-square-foot V-shaped locker room at San Francisco’s Chase Center will feature hot and cold tubs, a training room, staff offices, and a lounge and dining area for players.

Meanwhile, the team's Oakland training center boasts 31,800 square feet of developmental space, including two full courts, 17 total hoops, hot and cold pools, a training room, weight room, locker room, player lounge, and separate family lounge.

Franchise general manager Ohemaa Nyanin commented in the team's statement that “The investment that Golden State has made into both [facilities] underscores this organization’s commitment to excellence. Connecting both sides of the Bay with elite facilities will set the tone for our athletes, coaching staff and medical teams, as we build a roster that will compete for championships.”

Construction is already underway, with both locations set to open by next season.

In this week's episode of The Late Sub, Claire takes a snapshot look at the NWSL, where sometimes single games can tell you a whole lot more about a team than just the final score.

She goes on to chat about unbeaten streak-masters Orlando and Kansas City’s special success, Portland’s ongoing troubles, and which NWSL players — like the Washington Spirit's Trinity Rodman — lit up this week's highlight reel.

Pivoting to the basketball court, Claire talks through remarkable WNBA performances, why the expanded season is a good thing, and the Washington Mystics' late-season upswing.

Claire then rounds things out by responding to a few listener comments about volleyball, before sharing how she was hoodwinked by the U-20 USWNT last Tuesday.

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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This year's WNBA MVP favorite A'ja Wilson reached yet another milestone on Sunday, becoming the first player to ever record 1000+ points in a single season.

The superstar's latest feat — achieved in her 29-point performance in the Aces' 84-71 win over Connecticut — comes just days after she shattered the league's single-season scoring record​.

All-but-guaranteed to finish 2024 as the WNBA's single-season points leader,​ Wilson has put together one of the most impressive statistical campaigns in league history. As of today, she's only three rebounds away from breaking Angel Reese's new single-season rebounds record​, set before the Chicago rookie's season-ending injury.

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Rookie Caitlin Clark captures two more WNBA records

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark added two more records to her historic rookie season this weekend, breaking the league's single-season assist record on Friday night before setting the single-season rookie scoring record on Sunday.

The Rookie of the Year frontrunner surpassed Alyssa Thomas's 2023 record of 316 assists in Friday's 78-74 loss to the Aces. Clark extended her hold on the league's new record on Sunday, now boasting 329 dimes on the season with one game left.

Also in Sunday's 110-109 Fever victory over the Wings, Clark put up a career-high 35 points, including one that officially broke Seimone Augustus's single-season rookie scoring record of 744 set in 2006. Clark now has 761 points across Indiana's 39 completed games.

Notably, the WNBA's expanded 40-game schedule means that four-time WNBA champion Augustus still holds the rookie record for points per game, as her fallen record was in a 34-game season.

Three-way team tie adds to WNBA playoff race drama

With the Sky's two weekend losses plus the Mystics and Dream splitting their two weekend contests with one win apiece, Chicago, Washington, and Atlanta all sit with 13-25 season records. All three are still in postseason contention with the final WNBA Playoff spot up for grabs.

League tiebreakers give Washington, who currently sits in the coveted eighth-place position, the postseason edge. The Mystics will try to maintain their tenuous hold on that spot when they face the league-leading Liberty tomorrow before closing out their season against a tough Indiana team on Thursday.

The ninth-place Sky and 10th-place Dream face equal uphill battles to usurp the Mystics this week. After playing each other on Tuesday, Chicago will close out their 2024 regular season against the third-place Sun while Atlanta does the same against the Liberty on Thursday.