The Portland Thorns have announced Karina LeBlanc as their next General Manager, after Gavin Wilkinson was placed on administrative leave in early October.

LeBlanc joins the team from her current role as Head of Women’s Football for Concacaf. With the Thorns, she will be responsible for the overall management of the soccer operations of the club. According to a release, LeBlanc will also have “an integral voice on key business decisions related to the club, helping to create, cultivate and manage the culture of Thorns FC.”

Formerly, LeBlanc served as a goalkeeper for the Thorns when they won the 2013 NWSL Championship.

“I could not be more excited to welcome Karina back to Portland,” said Thorns FC owner and CEO Merritt Paulson. “The global soccer network she has fostered during her career has perfectly positioned her to lead the Thorns, and it is hard to think of anyone with a more innate leadership ability and unique blend of skills than Karina.

“She will make an impact in the Portland community and help push the NWSL forward, as well as strengthen our influence and standard in the international game. Lastly, I am grateful to Victor Montagliani and Concacaf for fully supporting Karina in making this change.”

LeBlanc has been Head of Women’s Football for Concacaf since 2018. In her role, she was focused on developing women’s soccer throughout North America, Central America and the Caribbean Islands by increasing opportunities for women in soccer. In 2019, she launched the Women’s Football strategy.

“When I left in 2014, I felt there was unfinished business for me here. The way the community, the club and the team made me feel, was something that I would never forget. I thought I might come back as a player, but never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would be coming back as the general manager of what is for me, the greatest club in the world. My experience as a Thorn helped shape me into the woman I am today,” said LeBlanc.

“It is hard to leave my Concacaf family. I’d like to thank Victor [Montagliani] for creating a role for myself that allowed me to learn and grow. I know women’s football will continue to be a major priority at Concacaf. I am proud of how we were able to move the game forward. I loved the work I did there, but I missed being around the game, players and the energy of Portland. This is an opportunity to do something that truly matters for a city, a club and a league that’s given me so much. To have the belief of Merritt, the players, and the staff made me realize that this was an opportunity I had to lean into.”

LeBlanc also has extensive experience as a player, having played in all three women’s professional soccer leagues in the United States. She also had an extensive career with Canada’s Women’s National Team, playing in five FIFA Women’s World Cups and two Summer Olympics, including winning a bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics.

“It starts with the why.”@karinaleblanc details the process to her becoming the Thorns GM, and her vision on how the club and league can grow. #BAONPDX pic.twitter.com/yc6X8H37rd

— Portland Thorns FC (@ThornsFC) November 1, 2021

“With Karina the sky is the limit. I’ve never met someone more passionate and set on growing the game,” said former teammate and current Thorns FC captain Christine Sinclair. “To have her back in Portland for me is a dream come true because she is going to take this club to places I don’t think people think are possible. She’s going to help this club be the benchmark for women’s football around the world and I just can’t wait to get started.”

The move comes after sources told Just Women’s Sports that players around the NWSL were upset that Wilkinson had not been fired in the wake of The Athletic’s report of allegations of abuse by former coach Paul Riley during his time with the Thorns.

Wilkinson has long served as the GM of both the Thorns and the Portland Timbers of the MLS. The Thorns have come under fire in the wake of the Riley scandal for admitting that they withheld an investigation into Riley which resulted in his contract not being extended. When Riley left the club, no mention of the investigation was made. Paulson has since apologized for the organization’s role in the scandal.

The organization has not indicated whether Wilkinson will remain General Manager of the Portland Timbers.

Portland is set to continue their season in the playoffs, hosting a semifinal game on Nov. 14.

Sportico released its 2025 tennis prize money tracker late last week, and three of the annual cross-tour rankings' Top-5 earners hail from the WTA.

With $8.21 million in total 2025 earnings so far, newly minted Wimbledon winner Iga Świątek came in third behind ATP Tour giants Carlos Alcaraz ($10.63 million) and Jannik Sinner ($9.04 million).

Just behind Świątek sit reigning US Open champ Aryna Sabalenka ($7.13 million) and 2025 French Open winner Coco Gauff ($5.95 million) in fourth- and fifth-place, respectively.

Even more, a total of six women's tour standouts occupy slots in the Top 10, with Mirra Andreeva ($4.15 million), Madison Keys ($3.96 million), and Jasmine Paolini ($3.79 million) joining the previously trio in that upper echelon.

The gender parity on the list is a direct result of the fact that all four of the sport's Grand Slams boast equal prize money between the men's and women's competitions — a shift that began with the 1973 US Open and saw full adoption across the quartet of tennis majors with the 2007 Wimbledon Championships.

Now approaching two decades of Grand Slam equal pay, pro tennis players enjoy one of the highest in-competition earning potentials across all women's sports.

This year's tennis prize money rankings are far from locked in, however, as the 2025 US Open steps into its second round on Wednesday — with a record-setting $90 million total purse on the line to boost players' spots on the list.

Should world No. 1 Sabalenka defend her title — or if No. 2 Świątek or No. 3 Gauff emerges victorious in the season's final Grand Slam — a WTA player could launch herself to the top of the 2025 earnings list.

The No. 3 Las Vegas Aces are on an historic tear, extending the league's longest winning streak this season to 11 games by defeating the No. 12 Chicago Sky 79-74 on Monday night — becoming the second team to clinch a spot in the 2025 WNBA Playoffs in the process.

Despite a 30-point performance from Chicago guard Ariel Atkins, plus double-doubles from Sky center Kamilla Cardoso and forward Angel Reese, the Aces emerged victorious behind guard Jackie Young's team-leading 22 points.

MVP contender A'ja Wilson and veteran guard Chelsea Gray also added 18 and 14 points, respectively, to fuel the Las Vegas win.

"They've been resilient," Aces head coach Becky Hammon said following Monday's game. "It's been a really tough stretch…you're getting beat up and you've got to maintain, you have to play through it."

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The Aces haven't dropped a game since August 2nd's 53-point blowout loss to the No. 1 Minnesota Lynx, racking up seven wins over teams currently in postseason positions as they climb the WNBA standings.

As for the already-eliminated Sky, Chicago did have one big reason to celebrate on Monday night, as the team raised the jersey of retired WNBA legend Candace Parker into the rafters during a halftime ceremony complete with remarks from current Phoenix Mercury star and 2021 WNBA champion Kahleah Copper.

"Today we celebrate you," Copper said to her former teammate. "You gave this game everything. Your time, your body, your heart. You didn't just play the game — you set records, you broke barriers, and you left your mark in ways stats can't fully compare."

How to watch the Las Vegas Aces this week

The No. 3 Aces have their work cut out for them as they shoot for 12 straight wins during their visit to the No. 2 Atlanta Dream on Wednesday.

The clash tips off at 7:30 PM ET with live coverage airing on NBA TV.

The No. 5 New York Liberty stopped the skid on Monday, as the reigning WNBA champions claimed a tight 81-79 victory over the No. 11 Connecticut Sun with 2023 MVP Breanna Stewart back the starting lineup.

Following her 13-game absence due to a bone bruise, Stewart scored a team-leading 19 points on Monday, offsetting Sun guard Leïla Lacan's game-high 22 points as already-eliminated Connecticut tried to play spoiler in Brooklyn.

"She's just got this relentlessness about her that can rub off on her teammates," New York head coach Sandy Brondello said of Stewart's influence. "She's got the highest motor I've ever seen in a player that just keeps going and going."

The Liberty have struggled with availability all season, losing guards Sabrina Ionescu (foot injury) and Natasha Cloud (nose fracture) to injury in the run-up to Stewart's return as the team slid down the standings.

However, Ionescu joined Stewart in returning to the Liberty court on Monday, with Cloud reportedly on track to rejoin the New York lineup later this week.

With games against the No. 10 Washington Mystics, No. 4 Phoenix Mercury, and No. 7 Golden State Valkyries looming over the next week, the Liberty are hoping their best basketball is still in front of them.

"We're in an uphill battle right now and it's not going to get any easier," Stewart said of the team's upcoming schedule.

How to watch the New York Liberty this week

The No. 5 Liberty will next take the court on Thursday, when New York will host the No. 10 Mystics at 7 PM ET.

Live coverage of the clash will air on Prime.

With the current CBA expiring in just over two months, Front Office Sports reported Monday that the prospect of the WNBA and the players' union (WNBPA) reaching a deal before the October 31st deadline is "increasingly unlikely."

"As we approach the 60-day mark, the league's lack of urgency leaves players wondering if it is focused on making this work or just running out the clock," WNBPA executive director Terri Carmichael Jackson told FOS in a statement. "Fans do not want that. They are with the players in demanding a new standard for the W."

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While this year's CBA negotiations have been rocky, the inability to reach a deal in time doesn't necessarily crush the league's immediate plans.

Should they not come to an agreement, the parties will have the option to extend the original deadline in order to avoid an immediate work stoppage — so long as both the WNBA and the WNBPA sign off on the move.

There is precedent for a negotiation extension, with the WNBA and WNBPA pushing the deadline for the 2019 CBA back 60 days to allow for more time to hash out details — a move that ended in an agreement ahead of the 2020 season's free agency period.

However, the WNBA is under added pressure to turn things around.

With expansion teams in Toronto and Portland joining the league in 2026, the clock is ticking for the league to schedule and issue rules for the impending expansion draft.

Until the next CBA lays out the newly negotiated terms surrounding both expansion and free agency, the incoming Tempo and Fire will continue waiting in roster-building limbo.

Ultimately, the WNBA will do everything it can to avoid a strike, but the league will have to balance priorities as rapid growth competes with player demands.