CHICAGO — When Rhyne Howard was in middle school, she won her junior high cross country championships. It’s a fact that her mom, Rhvonja “RJ” Avery, loves to tell anyone who will listen.

It makes Howard cringe, albeit lovingly, with a combination of embarrassment and annoyance that only a mom can evoke. So, Avery keeps it up. It’s fun to get a bit of a rise out of her low-key daughter, but Avery also tells people about the victory because it’s a good way to explain Howard.

You see, she didn’t like cross country. But she still pushed herself to be the best because Rhyne Howard doesn’t know how to be anything else.

“She hated cross country,” Avery said. “Hated it. I said, ‘You don’t have to win. Just do it for conditioning and endurance.’ But she’s a competitor and she would always come out first.”

With that same kind of determination, Howard has also made an instant impact in her first WNBA season.

In March, Howard was preparing for the NCAA Tournament, but the looming WNBA Draft was never far from the Kentucky star’s mind. Making it in the league had always been her goal. She wanted it even before she was a middle-school cross country star.

That was five months ago.

Since then, Howard has been drafted No. 1 overall, made a statement with 33 points in her fourth WNBA game, and become the first rookie with 17 points in the first quarter of a game, all while averaging 15.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.5 steals for the sixth-place Atlanta Dream.

On Sunday, she added WNBA All-Star to her ever-growing list of accomplishments. Howard finished with 13 points, five rebounds and four assists for Team Wilson in a 134-112 victory at Wintrust Arena.

And though the All-Star Game was light-hearted, Howard’s performance was indicative of her rookie season thus far.

The Dream star lined up a corner 3-pointer to start the second quarter, which received a bow-and-arrow celebration from Candace Parker on the bench. She followed it up with a one-footed runner in the lane.

The Rooks first All-Star bucket of many 🤩👌#WNBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/eX2yPrunkF

— Atlanta Dream (@AtlantaDream) July 10, 2022

Perhaps Howard’s most impressive play came with a minute left in the third quarter. She caught the ball a few steps inside the 3-point line, dribbled beyond the arc and locked eyes with her defender before rising up for a quick-release 3.

“Rhyne is a beast,” Parker said after the game. “Becky (Hammon) and I were talking about Rhyne Howard and how she’s just different. Like the way she moves, the way she pulls up. I know there’s little things maybe the fans don’t see, but us players see, like the spin she puts on the ball when she’s laying it up. She’s different.”

Howard has long been a natural and dynamic scorer. Her abilities were apparent during her four years at Kentucky, where she was a two-time All-American and SEC Player of the Year while leading the Wildcats to their first SEC championship in 40 years as a senior.

Howard’s game isn’t the only thing that made a seamless transition to the WNBA. Avery was in the stands on Sunday, just like she was at nearly every Kentucky game. She’s already made it to most of Howard’s contests with the Dream as well, despite saying in March that she would likely be cutting back once Howard was a pro.

“She’s capping,” Howard said, with a youthful smile spreading across her face. “She comes to every game. I don’t understand why she would say that.”

Do it like it's your B-day @howard_rhyne 🌟🌟🌟#WNBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/3TJL5YnVUD

— Atlanta Dream (@AtlantaDream) July 10, 2022

Howard’s WNBA success hasn’t changed much about her lifestyle. Those who followed her at Kentucky know the guard is generally shy and media appearances and interviews have never been her thing. But on Friday, as Howard walked the Orange Carpet and spoke with countless reporters, she appeared comfortable.

WNBA stardom means she can’t avoid press, so Howard is trying to embrace it.

“It’s going to have to happen so I’m just making it easier on myself,” she said.

The way Howard is playing just two months into her WNBA season — infusing life into the Dream after three straight losing seasons and holding her own alongside legends on WNBA All-Star weekend — the spotlight is only going to grow brighter.

Eden Laase is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @eden_laase.

The grass court chaos of Wimbledon didn't disappoint this week, as the unpredictable surface claimed more than one surprise victim in the 2025 Grand Slam's first round.

A full 10 of the London tournament's 32 seeded players fell in the competition's first round, including four of the WTA's Top 10: World No. 2 Coco Gauff, No. 3 Jessica Pegula, No. 6 Qinwen Zheng, and No. 9 Paula Badosa.

"I should just play no tournaments, get no wins, then roll into Wimbledon, and maybe I'll have better results," US star Pegula joked after her two-set Tuesday loss to Italy's No. 116 Elisabetta Cocciaretto, referencing her recent wins.

Gauff's short Wimbledon outing also represented a new challenge for the 21-year-old standout, as the top-ranked US tennis player struggled to bounce back after winning the 2025 French Open last month.

"I feel like mentally I was a little bit overwhelmed with everything that came afterwards," Gauff told ESPN. "So I didn’t feel like I had enough time to celebrate and also get back into it."

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The upsets continued as Wimbledon entered its second round on Wednesday morning, claiming several more seeded players like world No. 5 Jasmine Paolini and No. 15 Diana Shnaider, though both No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and unseeded fan favorite Naomi Osaka cruised into the Slam's third round on two-set wins.

No. 8 Madison Keys now leads the US contingent, with fellow US contender No. 12 Amanda Anisimova joining the 2025 Australian Open champion in snagging their own two-set, second-round victories on Wednesday.

How to watch the 2025 Wimbledon Championships

Second-round play at the 2025 Wimbledon women's singles tournament continues on Thursday, as seven US players — including No. 10 Emma Navarro and No. 28 Sofia Kenin — look to advance to the competition's third round.

Live continuous coverage of the London Grand Slam airs on ESPN.

The world No. 1 USWNT will close out their summer international break against a familiar foe on Wednesday night, facing North American rival No. 8 Canada for the first time this year.

"It's never friendly, you know? It's always like a final," US midfielder Sam Coffey told media earlier this week. "We all know each other super well."

"I'm really excited to be a part of it again for our younger, newer players," she continued. "I think it's going to be a huge learning opportunity on what representing this crest means."

The Northern neighbors are the USWNT's most frequent opponent, with the US entering the pair's 67th meeting with a 53-4-9 all-time record against Canada.

Wednesday's matchup will also mark Canada's first US clash under new head coach Casey Stoney, who joined the team in January following her abrupt June 2024 dismissal by the NWSL's San Diego Wave FC.

As for US boss Emma Hayes, she'll be looking for yet another refreshed set of starters on Wednesday after swapping out all 11 players between the team's two friendlies against Ireland last week.

"It's a testament to players and staff alike that we can rotate to different groups like we did last game, and everybody's understanding [the tactics] to varying degrees," Hayes said on Tuesday.

With months to go before the next USWNT camp in October, Wednesday's showdown serves as the last chance for bubble players to prove their worth, all while the team aims to cap the summer window with a big win over their longtime rivals.

How to watch the USWNT vs. Canada on Wednesday

The USWNT will cap their three-friendly summer break against Canada at 7:30 PM ET in Washington, DC.

Live coverage of the clash will air on TNT.

The Indiana Fever lifted their first trophy since 2012 on Tuesday night, winning the 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup with a 74-59 upset victory over reigning Cup champs Minnesota — all while injured star guard Caitlin Clark watched from the sidelines.

To snag the win, Indiana leaned on balanced scoring, with forward Natasha Howard's 16-point, 12-rebound double-double leading the Fever's five double-digit shooters.

At the same time, the Fever employed a shutdown defense, limiting the Lynx to their lowest point total of the season.

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Beyond the $500,000 payout, Tuesday's win gives the 8-8 Fever a momentum boost as the team continues contending with both high-profile departures and the limited availability of their floor general.

"We have a resilient group, you know?" Indiana head coach Stephanie White said after the game. "They're tough, mentally and physically, they pull for one another. I'm just really proud."

"It felt good to get a win under gut-check circumstances," echoed guard Kelsey Mitchell. "To have so much going on and still stay consistently for each other, it was beautiful. It felt really amazing."

As for the league-leading Lynx, the Commissioner's Cup loss won't impact Minnesota's regular-season WNBA standings — and they’ll hope to build on the learnings from last night's ego blow.

Minnesota also has a bit of history one their side, as the last two Commissioner's Cup runners-up went on to win the WNBA Championship in the same year.

"We have to take this game to heart and learn from the mistakes we made, the way we showed up, the way we prepared, and make sure we don't do it again," said Lynx center Alanna Smith.

How to watch the Indiana Fever, Minnesota Lynx this week

Neither 2025 Commissioner's Cup contender will have much time to reflect on Tuesday's game, as both Indiana and Minnesota will dive back into regular-season WNBA play on Thursday.

The Fever will host the Las Vegas Aces at 7 PM ET, airing on Prime, before the Washington Mystics visit the Lynx at 8 PM ET, with live coverage on WNBA League Pass.

Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham turned heads on Tuesday, criticizing the latest WNBA expansion plans in light of ongoing WNBPA CBA negotiations.

Cunningham drew ire from some fans after expressing skepticism about the WNBA awarding expansion teams to Detroit and Cleveland over other possible cities, while also suggesting that the league might be growing too quickly.

"You want to listen to your players, too. Where do they want to play?" she told reporters ahead of Indiana's Commissioner's Cup win. "I'm not so sure what the thought process is there, but at the end of the day, you want to make sure that you're not expanding our league too fast."

"It's kind of a hard decision-making situation. But man, I don't know how excited people are to be going to Detroit or [Cleveland]."

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Elsewhere, Phoenix Mercury forward Satou Sabally also voiced her expansion concerns on Tuesday, calling on the WNBA to keep player support at the forefront when adding expansion teams.

"We really have to put an emphasis on the players that are in our league right now," she told reporters. "Maybe focus on the teams that find excuses continuously to lack investment in their players before we focus on adding more to the grain of people that can't really be sustained."