Brianna Decker is joining the Premier Hockey Federation in a part-time advisory role, the league announced Friday.

Widely regarded as one of the best players in the world, Decker is a longtime member of Team USA. She played in the Beijing Olympics but broke her leg and tore ligaments in her ankle during the group stage. She has not played since then, having gone through a lengthy recovery process following surgery.

“Brianna Decker is a one-of-a-kind proven leader on and off the ice,” PHF commissioner Reagan Carey said in a statement. “Her commitment to development has earned her the title of one of the best players in the world, but it’s her dedication to sharing her time, knowledge, and experience with the next generation that makes her such a valuable and respected member of the women’s hockey landscape.

“She has won at every level of the sport, and we’re excited to have her competitive drive onboard with the PHF.”

With the PHF, Decker is looking at her future off the ice, and she told The Athletic on Friday that her on-ice future is up in the air. She recently turned down an invite to the U.S. training camp ahead of the 2022 IIHF Women’s World Championship, which began Thursday in Denmark.

“I just needed more time mentally and physically from everything that I went through in the spring,” she told The Athletic. “From a playing standpoint, I’ve just been taking time away. Not necessarily being done. Not necessarily saying, ‘Yes, I’m back.’”

In her role with the PHF as team and player development advisor, she will focus on elevating the training, competition and overall league standards while working as a liaison between the league and its players and coaches. She joins former Team USA teammate Kacey Bellamy, who works as a scout and player relations liaison.

Decker also was a member of Team USA when Carey was the general manager for the team.

Decker says that the addition of Carey as commissioner was a selling point for her in joining the league’s front office. Additionally, while she thinks that the PWHPA “has a great vision,” she decided to help make the PHF better.

“(Reagan) brought our U.S. program from where we were to winning an Olympic gold medal,” Decker said. “And so I know her insight and her vision when it comes to (growing the women’s game) is great. We connected and I was like, ‘I want to get involved somehow.’

“I think it’s just been a little bit of a standstill with the PWHPA, and if I have an opportunity to help grow our game, grow the professional women’s hockey game in any way, I am going to do it. This role with the PHF is giving me that opportunity to help out, and so that’s why I jumped on it.”

The PHF announced Wednesday that it has extended its deal with ESPN, which will keep the league on ESPN networks through the 2023-24 season.

The league also announced two more front office hires Friday: Marissa Halligan will serve as the lead operations director, while Nichole Bargo will serve as director of finance.

Team Poland lifted the 2026 United Cup trophy on Sunday, but the historic win brought new concerns as world No. 2 Iga Świątek appeared rattled while closing out the Australian Open tune-up.

While her compatriots closed out the fourth edition of the international team tournament with wins that secured two-time runner-up Poland its first-ever United Cup title, Świątek stumbled at the finish.

The 24-year-old capped the singles competition with back-to-back defeats, dropping her semifinals match against US star No. 3 Coco Gauff in straight sets on Saturday before falling 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 to Switzerland's No. 10 Belinda Bencic on Sunday — a loss that saw the six-time Grand Slam winner seeking treatment between sets.

"Everything is fine. Just super sore," Świątek said following Poland's 2026 United Cup win, downplaying her fitness concerns. "First tournament of the year, it causes the body [to feel] a bit differently than during the season."

With the first Grand Slam of 2026 looming — the only one standing between Świątek and a Career Grand Slam — the Polish phenom and her peers will have a week to recover before taking the Australian Open hardcourt in Melbourne at 7 PM ET on Saturday.

With qualifying play wrapping midweek, the 2026 Australian Open will reveal each player's path in the main draw, which will stream live at 10:30 PM ET on Wednesday at ausopen.com.

Fresh faces are shining on the 3×3 basketball court, as Unrivaled newcomer Breeze BC holds their own against veteran competition, riding a 2-1 record through their first three games of the 2026 season.

First-year guard Paige Bueckers leads the team with 18.3 points per game, with the 2025 WNBA Rookie of the Year also sitting third in the offseason league in assists with 7.0 per game.

It's not only Bueckers impressing from the young Breeze squad, however, as second-year Unrivaled vet Rickea Jackson and league debutant Dominique Malonga are posting 17.3 points per game so far, putting the pair at Nos. 11 and 12 among the league's 45 star players — just behind Bueckers at No. 9.

"I feel like we just stick together," said Jackson. "Our chemistry is insane for us to just [now] be playing together."

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Experience did win out on Sunday, though, as reigning champion Rose BC's Chelsea Gray dropped 37 points on the young stars to secure her team's 3-0 record with a 73-69 victory.

Gray currently leads Unrivaled with 31.7 points per game, hitting two game-winners in the first week of play as Rose BC tops the Season 2 standings.

How to watch Breeze BC in Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball

Breeze BC will return to the Unrivaled court next weekend, tipping off their Saturday matchup against Vinyl BC at 8:45 PM ET on truTV before taking on the Mist at 8 PM ET next Monday, airing live on TNT.

The WNBA CBA deadline came and went on Friday, leaving the league and the players union in a status quo holding pattern while negotiations drag on.

The WNBA and WNBPA are continuing talks under the conditions of the previous CBA, without a moratorium on offseason activity like qualifying offers to restricted free agents.

The league originally set the opening to begin free agency conversations for January 11th, allowing teams to now start sending offers through January 20th — though those proposed deals must abide by the terms of the expired CBA.

Amidst the deluge of one-year deals inked last offseason in anticipation of a renegotiated CBA — and the significant compensation bump likely to result from a new agreement — nearly all WNBA veterans are now free agents, with reports indicating that players aren't eager to sign contracts under the old CBA.

This year's free agency period also hinges on the league's expected two-team expansion draft, with incoming franchises Portland and Toronto unable to build their rosters due to the ongoing CBA delays.

Though the WNBA is reportedly not yet considering locking out the players, the WNBPA recently reserved the right to formally authorize a work stoppage through a strike measure, saying the "WNBA and its teams have failed to meet us at the table with the same spirit and seriousness."

Unranked Notre Dame made a statement last weekend, as the Fighting Irish took down No. 22 North Carolina 73-50 to earn their second ranked win of the 2025/26 NCAA basketball season on Sunday.

While guards Cassandre Prosper and Vanessa de Jesus bolstered Notre Dame with 17 and 16 points, respectively, junior star Hannah Hidalgo led the Irish's charge, putting up 31 points as well as snagging six steals in the afternoon matchup.

"Hidalgo was a real problem," Tar Heels head coach Courtney Banghart said postgame. "Obviously, she disrupted us in all ways, I think most of those 27 points off turnovers was because of her."

After a volatile offseason, the Irish saw their 85-week AP Top 25 streak end earlier this month following back-to-back losses to ACC foes Georgia Tech and Duke — but Notre Dame has since rattled off two straight wins to potentially re-enter the rankings conversation.

"I'm challenging them in practice," said Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey. "We're learning from our mistakes, and we're getting better. That's what I love. This group allows me to do that."

How to watch Notre Dame basketball this week

Notre Dame will face another tough test on Thursday, when the unranked Irish host a surging No. 10 Louisville at 6 PM ET, airing live on ACCN.