Just Women’s Sports’ NWSL power rankings are back after a two-week break, and while we went on pause, the league chaos definitely did not.

As the Red Stars drop down the standings and OL Reign balance on the edge of losing their playoff position, teams continue to prove that anything can happen in the remaining six and a half weeks of the regular season. The NWSL’s East Coast teams have consistently been at the bottom of the standings. This past week, however, the last-place North Carolina Courage tied the No. 1 Portland Thorns, and the No. 8 Orlando Pride beat the third-place San Diego Wave. If that trend continues, the rankings might not be divided into “West Coast, best coast” and “East Coast, least coast” for long.

Only three teams remain in the same spot from the last power rankings on Aug. 3. Here is where the league’s 12 teams stand at this point in the season:

12. NJ/NY Gotham FC (4-9-0) -1

Gotham is in a period of transition. After the club parted ways with head coach Scott Parkinson last week, Beverly Goebel Yanez filled in until interim coach Hue Menzies arrived in time for their 4-1 loss to the Reign on Sunday. The team has struggled to find results since making a number of high-profile acquisitions in the offseason, and moving on from a coach who was well-liked by the players will require an adjustment period.

11. North Carolina Courage (2-6-4) -1

The Courage are the best/worst team this league has ever seen. Offensively, anyway. Despite sitting in last place in the standings, they continue to lead the league in possession, they have scored 23 goals in 12 games, and they tied the first-place Thorns last week. Against the Kansas City Current on Saturday, however, they lost 4-3, again conceding goals at the same rate that they scored them. The Courage have now given up three or more goals in each of their last three games.

🌟 NEW RECORD! 🌟@diana0rdonez's eighth goal of the season is a new record for a rookie in the #NWSL!#NCvKC | @TheNCCourage pic.twitter.com/lKU4mRtb02

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) August 14, 2022

10. Washington Spirit (1-6-9) -1

There isn’t much left to say about the Spirit. It’s the same narrative every time. They’re a dominant team that can often out-possess, out-shoot and pass with more accuracy than their opponents, like they did against the No. 1 Thorns on Wednesday. Where they come up short is in getting that finishing touch to hit the back of the net. The reigning champions need to fix it fast, because with only eight games left, the playoffs are about to be out of reach.

9. Racing Louisville FC (2-6-8) +3

Jumping three spots in the power rankings after two draws would seem laughable, and it wouldn’t have happened if Gotham, Washington and North Carolina hadn’t moved down. There is something to be said about Racing Louisville tying the No. 2 Houston Dash on Friday while playing down a player for 48 minutes. Thanks to hard work and discipline, Louisville controlled much of the second half. They carried the momentum over from their previous game, a draw with the Spirit, in which Louisville could have just as easily walked away with three points.

8. Orlando Pride (4-5-6) –

Undefeated across six games since the beginning of July and inching closer to playoff positioning, it’s becoming harder to remember that this is supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Orlando Pride. Most impressively, Orlando claimed a 1-0 win on Saturday over the San Diego Wave, who were in first place for most of the season. The win snapped the Pride’s three-draw streak and would have pushed them up the standings if there was a team ahead that deserved to drop.

A Pride PK to start the scoring!@ORLPride | #PrideOfOrlando pic.twitter.com/C4nq2tlixh

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) August 14, 2022

7. Angel City FC (6-5-3) –

A draw and a win in the last two weeks kept Angel City at seventh in the league standings, but it won’t be long until they move into a playoff spot. Much like the Pride, they would also have risen in the power rankings if a top-six team deserved to move to seventh. Against the Red Stars on Sunday, they dominated for 65 minutes and held onto the 1-0 lead until the end. Savannah McCaskill, who scored the lone goal, called the performance a testament to their growth.

6. OL Reign (6-4-6) -1

The Reign have continued to quietly stick around. They evened out their 2-1 loss to Houston with a 4-1 win over Gotham on Sunday, scoring the most goals in a match all season. There was a little more hype at Lumen Field that day with OL Reign’s sister club, Olympique Lyonnais, visiting from France. The Reign will need to maintain that momentum because they are getting dangerously close to losing their grip on a playoff spot.

5. Chicago Red Stars (6-4-5) -1

The Red Stars have been off their rhythm throughout the last month, winning just one of their last four games. Teams in the lower half of the standings are starting to get desperate to secure a playoff spot, as Angel City showed in their 1-0 win over Chicago on Sunday. Especially at this point in the season, Chicago can’t take any opponent lightly.

4. San Diego Wave FC (7-5-4) -2

The first two weeks of August haven’t gone in the Wave’s favor. A poor defensive performance cost them against the Current in a 2-1 loss on Aug. 7. They improved against the Orlando Pride a week later, but were unable to find the back of the net and suffered another defeat, 1-0. With just one match left at the University of San Diego’s Torero Stadium, they might get a boost when they move into their brand-new Snapdragon Stadium. Until then, they’ll have to find their way out of fourth place in the power rankings.

3. Kansas City Current (7-4-4) +3

For the first time in franchise history, the Current have cracked into second place in points. With two wins in the last two weeks against San Diego and North Carolina, Kansas City earned the biggest jump in this week’s power rankings. In a 4-3 victory over the typically high-scoring Courage for their fourth straight road win, the Current showed they can take over a match in crunch time.

.@ClaireLavogez with a 𝙎𝙏𝙐𝙉𝙉𝙄𝙉𝙂 run and strike to put @TheKCCurrent ahead late on! 🚀#NCvKC | #TealRising pic.twitter.com/0w8JjGVUDu

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) August 14, 2022

2. Houston Dash (7-4-4) +1

Houston has no more problems. A couple of hiccups in early July sent them back a bit, but they’ve been on the rise ever since, defeating the Reign 2-1 and drawing with Louisville 0-0 in their most recent games. It’s not ideal that for the rest of the season they’ll be without star player Rachel Daly, who left for Aston Villa, but the team has already gotten accustomed to life after Daly. When she was away all of July for the Euros, the Dash scored nine goals and picked up two wins. The addition of Ebony Salmon has been key to the team’s potent offense.

1. Portland Thorns FC (7-1-7) –

Portland is the obvious choice for first in these rankings. They’re the only team with a single loss — three fewer than the next-closest team — and the only team with a goal differential in the double digits at +21. In the last two weeks, they beat Washington 2-1 and tied with North Carolina 3-3 to extend their unbeaten streak to 11 games.

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

The WNBA coaching carousel has come to a standstill, with the Dallas Wings and Washington Mystics both finalizing head coaching hires earlier this week.

Dallas GM Curt Miller brought on former Sun, Sparks, and USC assistant coach Chris Koclanes as head coach of the Wings.

"We are thrilled to welcome Chris Koclanes as the new head coach of the Dallas Wings," said Miller in a team statement. "Throughout our extensive search and interview process, Chris continued to rise to the top and check the boxes of our important pillars. He is a servant leader who places a high value on connection, collaboration, and a positive and consistent communication style with all those he coaches."

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Mystics fill leadership vacancies

The Washington Mystics also made two key hires this week. The team appointed Jamila Wideman to GM and ex-Sky assistant Sydney Johnson​ to head coach.

"I have strong roots in the WNBA and have had the privilege of playing with, working alongside, and witnessing the incredible people who are the athletes at the center of the game," said Wideman afterwards. "The very best I have seen share some core qualities — curiosity, humility, and imagination. I look forward to building a Mystics team in partnership with the players, coaches, and staff that reflects this core."

WNBA teams enter 2025 with full staffs

Barring any unexpected twists, all 13 teams will now have head coaches in place going into the 2025 WNBA Draft and preseason.

Eight teams — including expansion side Golden State — enter 2025 armed with new bosses. Subsequently, seven of those candidates will be making their WNBA head coaching debuts.

Furthermore, Koclanes and Johnson are the third and fourth ex-assistants to get a shot at head coaching next season. The pair follows Natalie Nakase (Golden State) and Tyler Marsh (Chicago).

"Being named the head coach of the Golden State Valkyries is a lifelong dream come true," said Nakase. "We will strive to improve, compete, and ultimately bring home a championship for our fans and this organization."

After finishing 2024 in last place, the Houston Dash have been raising eyebrows with a series of offseason moves primed to make a splash next NWSL season.

Houston's top-tier transaction period continued on Thursday, landing Gotham and USWNT forward Yazmeen Ryan for a league-record $400,000 in allocation money plus a 2025 international roster spot.

On Thursday, Gotham confirmed that Ryan had requested the trade, saying the club "worked tirelessly to honor her request." As part of the deal, Gotham also traded $80,000 in intra-league transfer funds to Houston.
 
Ryan joins a growing roster of savvy Dash pick-ups, including fellow Gotham standout Delanie Sheehan and San Diego defender Christen Westphal.

Subsequently, while they've yet to announce a new head coach, Houston has solidified their front office by bringing on ex-Angel City GM Angela Hucles Mangano as president of women's soccer.

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Gotham FC sees mass NWSL exodus

For Gotham, Ryan's departure is just the latest in a high-profile exodus. Sheehan, forward Lynn Williams, goalkeeper Cassie Miller, and defenders Sam Hiatt and Maitane Lopez have all left the one-time superteam.

"I don't want to get into everything with the end of Gotham, but I am really excited to be a part of a team that looks like they're just enjoying each other and having fun," Lynn Williams told The Women's Game after her trade to Seattle was made public.

Jonas Eidevall enters NWSL as San Diego boss

The San Diego Wave hired ex-Arsenal manager​ Jonas Eidevall as the NWSL team's new head coach, according to multiple reports released earlier this week. 

Eidevall finished his tenure at Arsenal with an overall record of 80-24-16. However, he stepped down after failing to resign star forward Vivianne Miedema ahead of a sputtering 1-1-2 start to the 2024/25 WSL season​.

Eidevall will be the fourth coach to take the reins in San Diego this year, after Casey Stoney's mid-season firing led to interim stints from Paul Buckle and former USMNT mainstay Landon Donovan​.

San Diego's 2024 tumult wasn't limited to staffing. Founding members like Alex Morgan retired while impact players like Abby Dahlkemper and Sofia Jakobsson departed the club for other opportunities.

Embattled Wave president Jill Ellis also left the team, accepting a new role at FIFA earlier this month.

The Wave and Eidevall will kick off this new chapter seeking stability after a rollercoaster year. As such, both club and coach will bank on a strong 2025 to chart a new course.

No. 7 USC took down No. 4 UConn on Saturday, winning 72-70 in a battle between two bonafide NCAA basketball championship contenders still figuring out a consistent flow of play.

USC led by as many as 18 in the first half. However UConn came storming back, briefly pulling ahead in the fourth quarter before the Trojans outlasted the Huskies to secure the narrow victory.

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JuJu holds on to secure USC win

With UConn superstar Paige Bueckers tight on her heels, USC standout JuJu Watkins registered a game-leading 25 points, alongside six rebounds, five assists, and three blocks.

Bueckers and Huskies freshman Sarah Strong split scoring duties for UConn, notching 22 points each with Strong adding 11 rebounds.

After opening the season at No. 2, this highly touted UConn squad has dropped pivotal games against Notre Dame and now USC to go 0-2 in Top 10 matchups. It's a pattern legendary coach Auriemma will hope to correct before the Huskies face their next ranked opponent in early February.

"I thought the execution part in the first half was just as bad as I've seen in a few years here in Connecticut," Huskies boss Geno Auriemma said after the loss.

"This is a really significant win, and it's a really significant win because of the stature of UConn's program and what Geno Auriemma has done for our sport," commented USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb.

Weekend upsets shake top-ranked NCAA basketball teams

Elsewhere, upsets dominated the NCAA basketball conversation this weekend, with Top 25 contenders falling short as this season's undefeated list continues to shrink.

No. 15 Michigan State saw their first loss on Friday, falling to unranked Alabama 82-67 in a low scoring matchup. Afterwards, No. 9 Duke suffered their own unranked loss on Saturday, ceding a tough defensive battle to USF 65-56.

Seventeenth-ranked Georgia Tech remains undefeated with Saturday's ranked win over No. 23 Nebraska, while No. 14 West Virginia lost to unranked Colorado later that day.

Parity is the name of the game this season, with conference realignment, the transfer portal, and other recent shifts impacting a number of programs across the NCAA. And with conference play looming, teams will rely on regional rivalries and schedule strength to prepare them for heightened competition in the new year.

Penn State won the 2024 NCAA Volleyball Championship on Sunday, rising above Louisville's hometown advantage and a monster second set by the Cardinals to claim the program's eighth all-time title and first in 10 years.

In the victory, Penn State head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley became the first woman head coach in NCAA tournament history to win the championship — all while battling breast cancer.

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Penn State tops Louisville in a back-and-forth matchup

Sunday's championship game drew a sell-out crowd of 21,860 to the KFC Yum Center in downtown Louisville, setting a new NCAA volleyball championship record. It was Louisville's second-ever title match, after finishing second to Texas in 2022.

After suffering an ankle injury in​ Thursday's semifinal upset against Pitt, however, Louisville entered the match without senior outside hitter Anna DeBeer. The absence ultimately proved too great to overcome.

The Nittany Lions won the first set 25-23, before Louisville saved 10 set points to dramatically take the second set 34-32.

But the Nittany Lions roared back, overwhelming the Cardinals to win the third set 25-20 before closing out the deciding set 25-17.

A moving win for Penn State's women's volleyball coach

Penn State coach Schumacher-Cawley, who was diagnosed with cancer last fall, stayed with her team throughout the 2024 season.

"I'm very happy for Katie, and it's a big deal for this sport," Louisville head coach Dani Busboom Kelly said. "I'm thankful… that we can move on and that more women will be in this position in the future."

As for Schumacher-Cawley, she remained ever humble.

"I'm inspired by the young kids that are sick," she said after the win. "If I can be an inspiration, then I take that. But I feel good. I'm fortunate to be surrounded by so many great people."