The Seattle Storm shot to the top of the Western Conference standings in the 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup race on Wednesday, taking the lead after handing the Minnesota Lynx their first loss of the season.

Forward Nneka Ogwumike led the Storm with a 21-point, 10-rebound double-double, with new Seattle signing Erica Wheeler adding 20 points and nine assists to help blank the 25-point, nine-rebound performance put up by Minnesota star Napheesa Collier.

"If you want to win on the road, especially a place like Seattle and a team like Seattle, you've got to play a hell of a lot better," said Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve following the 94-84 loss.

Currently sitting level with the Lynx with a 3-1 Cup record, Wednesday's victory gives Seattle the head-to-head advantage in the in-season competition.

With a $500,000 prize pool on the line — including $5,000 for each player in the July 1st title game — the annual 36-game contest raises the early-season stakes.

Even more, each game in the 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup carries double the impact, counting toward both regular-season and Cup records.

Due to Minnesota's loss, the reigning champion New York Liberty now stand alone as the WNBA's only undefeated team in both regular-season and Commissioner's Cup play, holding a 3-0 Cup record alongside a steep +75 point differential.

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Bueckers scores career-high in return to Dallas

Scoring a massive individual win on Wednesday was Dallas rookie Paige Bueckers, who put up a career-high 35 points in her return to action.

However, the 2025 No. 1 draft pick's stellar night failed to lift the Wings over the Phoenix Mercury, whose 93-80 victory gave last-place Dallas a 1-10 regular-season record while falling to 0-4 in Cup play.

Bueckers will next go toe-to-toe with Aces guard Jackie Young on Friday, as the 2019 top draft pick comes off her own 34-point performance in Wednesday's 97-89 Las Vegas loss to the LA Sparks.

The LA win marked the second straight Las Vegas stumble, sending the Aces skidding to a 4-4 regular-season tally and a 1-2 Cup record.

With plenty of runway remaining, teams will look to climb the ranks before 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup play winds down on June 17th.

How to watch WNBA Commissioner's Cup games this week

With two games on tap, WNBA play returns to action on Friday, beginning with the third-place Atlanta Dream hosting a Chicago Sky team still hunting their first Commissioner's Cup win at 7:30 PM ET.

Then at 10 PM ET, Bueckers and the Dallas Wings will tip off against Young and the Aces in Las Vegas.

Both Friday WNBA games will air live on ION.

Despite a few shocking upsets in the early rounds of the 2025 NCAA soccer tournament, the ACC has retained its status as the conference to beat, with the powerhouse sending three teams to this season's College Cup semifinals on Friday.

With two tickets to Monday's national championship match on the line, four-time title-winners and No. 3-seed Florida State will take on College Cup debutants TCU in Friday's first semi, with the No. 2 Horned Frogs booking their semifinals spot by ousting fellow SEC standout No. 1 Vanderbilt 2-1 last Saturday.

The nightcap, on the other hand, will be an all-ACC affair, as No. 2 Duke continues their hunt for a first-ever national title against the tournament's overall No. 1 seed, Stanford.

The three-time NCAA champ Cardinal has been unstoppable, outscoring their opponents 21-5 across the tournament's first four rounds to set up a season-first matchup with the Blue Devils.

The 2025 College Cup will take place for the first time at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City, home of the NWSL's Kansas City Current.

How to watch the 2025 College Cup semifinals

Friday's 2025 College Cup semifinals will begin with No. 2 TCU vs. No. 3 Florida State at 6 PM ET, with No. 1 Stanford's clash against No. 2 Duke kicking off at 8:45 PM ET.

Both semifinals — plus Monday's 7PM ET championship match — will air live on ESPNU.

Playa Society is honoring the 25th anniversary of the classic sports film "Love & Basketball" this week, with the popular women's basketball outfitter dropping a capsule collection entitled "First Quarter: Ball Better Than You" — an homage to one of the film's iconic quotes.

"This is a love story, about our love for 'Love & Basketball,'" notes Playa Society about the collection. "Our love for [lead character] Monica, who served as the first representation of an unapologetic female athlete in film. Our love for [writer and director] Gina Prince-Bythewood for her persistence in delivering culture and truth. And our love for the energy of it all that inspired Playa Society to fill in the gaps for women in sports."

"I am so humbled by the enduring impact of the film on both ballers and non-athletes, who are inspired by characters who believe in themselves enough to fight for an impossible dream," Prince-Bythewood said of the project.

With New York Liberty teammates and girlfriends Natasha Cloud and Izzy Harrison serving as models, the "First Quarter" collection includes T-shirts, hoodies, and more.

This week's drop is just the first in the works between Prince-Bythewood and Playa Society founder Esther Wallace, with the LA Sentinel describing their collaboration as "blending nostalgia, culture, and women's sports in a way that honors the film while pushing the narrative forward."

How to purchase from Playa Society's "Love & Basketball" collection

All items from the "First Quarter" collection are now available in limited quantities at PlayaSociety.com.

The inaugural North American iteration of World Sevens Football (W7F) kicks off in Fort Lauderdale on Friday, when eight standout clubs will battle for three days for the the largest share of the 7v7 competition's $5 million prize pool.

All eight clubs boast championship backgrounds, including the reigning NWSL Shield-winning Kansas City Current, 2023 NWSL Shield-winners San Diego Wave, Liga MX Femenil Apertura winner Tigres UANL, current Northern Super League Shield-winner AFC Toronto, and more.

This weekend's edition is the second-ever W7F tournament, after the new venture launched with a Europe-centric competition in Portugal last May, crowning Bayern Munich as its debut champions.

In W7F, the 11v11 clubs instead field seven players per side on a pitch half the size of a regulation field, with matches comprised of two 15-minute halves along with smaller goals, no offside rule, and rolling substitutions throughout the games.

All eight clubs will compete in the group stage on Friday and Saturday, with the top four teams advancing to Sunday's knockout rounds.

How to watch this weekend's W7F tournament

The North American debut of W7F kicks off when the NWSL's Kansas City Current faces Brazilian powerhouse Clube de Regatas do Flamengo at 5 PM ET on Friday.

All games, including Sunday's 4:30 PM ET championship match, will air live on HBO Max as well we either TNT or truTV.

The SEC displayed its basketball dominance on Thursday's courts, as the conference won all four of the 2025 ACC/SEC Challenge Day 2 matchups to feature at least one Top-25 team.

No. 2 Texas handled No. 11 North Carolina 79-64 while No. 3 South Carolina and No. 13 Ole Miss survived nail-biters against No. 22 Louisville and No. 18 Notre Dame, respectively.

"I thought [our players] got out and made big plays for themselves in the fourth and building the five-point lead," said South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley. "It was a turning point for us, whether we were going to succumb to losing the game or fight to get back in it."

No one had a better night than No. 5 LSU, however, as the Tigers faced their season's first Power Four opponent to a 93-77 result over unranked Duke, erasing a 14-point deficit behind six double-digit LSU scorers — led by 18 points from star guard Flau'jae Johnson.

"We scored 93 tonight, and look how poor we played in the first quarter. We were behind. Scoring the ball is not going to be a problem," said Tigers head coach Kim Mulkey. "Our problem is we have to just continue to get better on the defensive end and take care of the ball."

Across the 16 total 2025 ACC/SEC Challenge games, the SEC took 13 victories, with only unranked Syracuse, Virginia Tech, and SMU earning ACC wins — over Auburn, Florida, and Arkansas, respectively — this week.

How to watch Top-25 NCAA basketball this weekend

This weekend's NCAA docket sees the nonconference schedule cool down, with No. 16 USC hosting No. 21 Washington in the only ranked battle.

The Trojans and Huskies will tip off in LA at 8 PM ET on Sunday, with live coverage airing on the Big Ten Network.