The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) has its first-ever draft pick, with Taylor Heise going to Minnesota with the first overall pick. 

Draft order was determined via lottery, with the Minnesota franchise receiving the first pick. The full first-round selections were as follows:

1. Minnesota – Taylor Heise, F, United States
2. Toronto – Jocelyne Larocque, D, Canada
3. Boston – Alina Müller, F, Switzerland
4. New York – Ella Shelton, D, Canada
5. Ottawa – Savannah Harmon, D, United States
6. Montreal – Erin Ambrose, D, Canada

A total of 268 players are eligible and have declared for the draft, with many believing that NCAA standout Heise would be the first overall pick. A Minnesota native who played for the Golden Gophers and was co-captain her senior year, it seems almost scripted for her to begin her professional career at home under the leadership of Minnesota legend and PWHL general manager Natalie Darwitz, who was her coach at Minnesota. 

“I’ve played in front of my Minnesota fans here for gosh, 15 years,” Heise told MPR News of the possibility of being drafted first overall to Minnesota. “Minnesota has the best fans in the nation. It’s the state of hockey for a reason. So it would mean a lot.”

And while Darwitz wouldn’t name names, she told the Associated Press that she already had a good idea of who she was going to select with the No. 1 overall pick. 

Heise is the winner of the 2022 Patty Kazmaier Award, which goes to the top player in women’s college hockey. She also stars for Team USA, helping them to gold at women’s world championships in April.

“Minnesota is my home. Everyone that I love is there and it’s the state of hockey,” Heise said on the broadcast. “I’m just really honored I am going to be able to play and be able to show the little girls that anything is possible if you keep working hard.”

While players aren’t automatically signed to teams as a result of the draft, Heise’s signing is all but a given. Teams will retain the rights of drafted players for two years. Players can then re-enter the draft, but they are only allowed to do so once. 

“Trailblazing is bold. It’s brave, and it can be very scary,” PWHL co-founder Billie Jean King said Monday before announcing Heise as the first PWHL pick. “It’s not about a single moment. It’s about a movement. Finally giving women professional hockey players the structure, the support and the platform they deserve. That hockey deserves.”

As the draft continues, Just Women’s Sports takes a look at who’s already signed with teams during the free agency period.

Minnesota

Heise rounds out what was a stout free agency period for Minnesota and Darwitz, which featured two of the team’s three signings hailing from the state. Kendall Coyne Schofield was the lone outsider, and even then she’s from Illinois. The USA Hockey star was joined by Kelly Pannek and Lee Stecklein, who both also captained the University of Minnesota.

Montreal

Having the final pick of the first round in the draft meant that Montreal and general manager Danielle Savageau needed to make a splash elsewhere, and they did. They signed Marie-Philip Poulin, arguably the top player in the women’s game and captain of Team Canada. She’ll be joined by Laura Stacey, whose versatility is overshadowed by Team Canada’s star power. In net, the team will have Ann-Renée Desbiens, automatically making them a contender in this league. 

Boston

Boston and general manager Danielle Marmer have the most balanced signings of any team, starting hot with Team USA captain and reigning world champion Hilary Knight at forward. Megan Keller, a three-time Patty Kazmaier Award finalist at Boston College, backs her up on defense, while Northeastern star, 2021 Patty Kazmaier Award winner and world champion Aerin Frankel will star in net for the Boston team. There’s a lot riding on this team, as Boston were three-time champions and two-time reigning champions in the PHF. 

New York

Pascal Daoust brought the present and future to New York with his signings, bringing in young star Abby Roque while adding decorated veteran Alex Carpenter to help guide Roque. Carpenter has a wealth of professional experience, and had nine points at the world championships this year en route to winning a gold medal with Team USA. Team Canada defender Mica Zandee-Hart is the heart of the defense, and the lone player to not sign with a team in her home country as a native of British Columbia.

Toronto

Gina Kingsbury started her tenure as general manager by signing a pair of star forwards in Sarah Nurse and Blayre Turnbull. She also added Renata Fast, one of just four defenders signed in the initial free agency period.

Ottawa

Three Team Canada veterans joined general manager Michael Hirshfeld’s squad in free agency: forwards Emily Clark and Brianne Jenner and goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer.

The USA women's hockey team came out on top over the weekend, kicking off the four-game 2025 Rivalry Series against Canada by dominating their northern neighbors, outscoring them by an impressive 10-2 margin across the pair's first two games.

US forward Abbey Murphy emerged as a series star, scoring a natural hat trick in the team's 4-1 win in Cleveland on Thursday — the first three-goal turn by a USA player against Canada since team captain Hilary Knight did so at the 2023 IIHF Women's World Championship.

"I told [Murphy], 'You set the bar pretty high,'" said Knight, who added her own hat trick to the mix in Saturday's 6-1 victory in Buffalo.

"I love how we showed up," the 36-year-old continued. "We've been working like dogs since August and to get rewarded for our work, and see situations that we need to work on."

Notably, while the USA brought their entire 2025 world championship-winning roster to the first two Rivalry Series games, Canada chose to evaluate some fresh faces while resting a number of standout veterans, including their No. 1 goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens — a fact that should temper the sting of adding two big losses to their now four-game skid against the US.

With women's hockey taking over Milan at the 2026 Winter Olympics in February, the last two 2025 Rivalry Series matchups will more likely see both sides testing their final rosters for Italy.

How to watch the final games in the 2025 Rivalry Series

Canada will welcome the USA for the last two matchups in the 2025 Rivalry Series, with the puck dropping in Edmonton, Alberta, at 9 PM ET for both the December 10th and 13th clashes.

Both games will air live on the NHL Network.

The LPGA is bringing star power to Florida this week, as a wealth of women's golf talent — and one basketball superstar — tee off at the 2025 edition of The ANNIKA.

Kicking off the event on Wednesday was the annual Pro-Am, with Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark headlining the field for the second straight year.

World No. 2 golfer Nelly Korda once again joined Clark through her first nine holes, as Fever teammates Sophie Cunningham and Lexie Hull served as guest caddies.

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The four-day professional tournament will then tee off on Thursday, though current world No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul will not be in attendance for the second year in a row.

Korda, however, will lead the charge to both defend her 2024 title and secure her first win of the 2025 LPGA season — as well as add to her full trio of trophies collected at The ANNIKA.

Four other Top-10 players will look to upend Korda's back-to-back bid, including No. 3 Miyu Yamashita, No. 6 Charley Hull, No. 9 Mao Saigo, and No. 10 Lottie Woad.

With the 2025 CMA Group Tour Championship capping the LPGA season later this month, The ANNIKA will also see golfers on the bubble — like US stars Rose Zhang and 2023 champion Lilia Vu — try to snag enough points to make the end-of-year tournament's final 60-player cut.

How to watch The ANNIKA 2025 LPGA tournament

Coverage of the fifth edition of The ANNIKA continues through Sunday, airing live on the Golf Channel.

The No. 3 UCLA Bruins rose to the occasion on Monday, looking like 2025/26 NCAA basketball championship contenders as they took down the No. 6 Oklahoma Sooners 73-59 in Sacramento.

Utah transfer Gianna Kneepkens made the difference for the Bruins, leading all scorers with 20 points while opposing defenses limited both UCLA center Lauren Betts and Oklahoma big Raegan Beers to single digits.

Bruins forward Angela Dugalić also put up a standout performance, coming off the bench to score 16 points and snag 15 rebounds on Monday.

"There are so many weapons that I feel like it's hard for the defense to choose what to take away," Kneepkens said ahead of Monday's matchup. "What makes this team special is that any night could be someone's night."

Monday's clash with UCLA also served as the national broadcast debut of Oklahoma freshman guard Aaliyah Chavez, with the No. 1 high school basketball recruit seeing her first Top 10 NCAA matchup as a Sooner.

Chavez had a slow start against the experienced Bruins, registering 11 points, three assists, and two rebounds across her 32 minutes on the court.

How to watch UCLA basketball this week

The heat continues for No. 3 UCLA on Thursday, when the Bruins will host the No. 11 North Carolina Tar Heels at 9 PM ET, airing live on ESPN.

Newly formed offseason league Project B is stocking up, with Phoenix Mercury star forward Alyssa Thomas becoming the second big-name WNBA player to sign with the overseas venture ahead of its anticipated November 2026 debut.

Thomas follows Seattle Storm forward Nneka Ogwumike in joining Project B, a traveling tournament-style competition reportedly offering players significant pay raises into the seven- and even eight-figure echelon — as well as equity stakes in the league.

Thomas will still feature in the 2026 season of Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball this January, with the launch of Project B expected to conflict with Unrivaled's third season in 2027.

With salaries reportedly topping both Unrivaled and the WNBA, Project B's funding sources came into question after Ogwumike's announcement last week.

In February, The Financial Times named Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund as a league investor, though Project B co-founder Grady Burnett denied those claims to Front Office Sports last week.

However, the league is working with event partner Sela, a known subsidiary of the Saudi Public Investment Fund, though Burnett was quick to qualify that "Sela is one event partner that we pay money to. We do not have any dollars coming from them."

With the first season of Project B set to field 66 players, expect more high-profile signings to continue as the new venture adds to the increasingly crowded WNBA offseason space.