PHOENIX — Skylar Diggins-Smith was done talking.

The day before Game 2 of the WNBA Finals, Diggins-Smith sat behind the basket where she would hit the layup to seal the Phoenix Mercury’s 91-86 overtime win over the Chicago Sky, which evened the series 1-1, and fidgeted in her chair. For every question she fielded from reporters, Diggins-Smith had one thing on her mind: The Mercury gave Game 1 away, and she would do everything in her power to make sure it didn’t happen again.

“This is not the goal for me. The championship is the goal,” she said Tuesday. “I’m irritated, I’m excited, I’m nervous. I’m ready for the Game 2, that’s all I gotta say. I’m irritated I gotta be out here answering questions because I just want to focus on the game.”

Diggins-Smith kept that focus through the first 18 minutes of Game 2 on Sunday, when she went just 1-for-6 from the field and was visibly frustrated with her play.

During a Mercury timeout with 2:04 left in the first quarter, Diggins-Smith stood apart from the huddle and stared off into the distance, motionless. Kia Nurse, resigned to the bench for the series after tearing her ACL in Game 5 of the semifinals, walked over and appeared to try to console her. Diggins-Smith just kept staring straight ahead, as if she were visualizing what was to come.

First, that meant her passing. The veteran guard found Brianna Turner twice in the second quarter, the second time with a lob pass for an alley-oop that gave the Mercury their first lead of the game, 38-36.

“Skylar would probably say, ‘I’ve missed too many shots,’” said Mercury head coach Sandy Brondello, “but I thought with her ability to facilitate and just give us some easy baskets … we put [Diana Taurasi] in being more of a screener and put the ball more in Sky’s hand, and she made some pretty good decisions.”

Diggins-Smith finished the game with a playoff career-high 12 assists, jumpstarting Phoenix’s offense with her patience and play-calling from the point and her distribution on the run. The mark also set a Mercury franchise record for assists in a Finals game.

And when it came to crunch time, the 31-year-old turned her fiery words into action, driving into the paint for two layups in overtime that were the difference for the Mercury.

That final play by @SkyDigg4 to seal the deal. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/dEiqBMAF1v

— Phoenix Mercury - X (@PhoenixMercury) October 14, 2021

Thanks to Diggins-Smith’s 13 points, as well as Taurasi’s 20 and Griner’s game-high 29, Phoenix now heads to Chicago with more of a cushion. Starting with Game 3 on Friday night in front of a sold-out Chicago arena, the Mercury can take the series with two wins on the road or win at least one and head back home for a decisive Game 5.

“I was just trying to make something happen,” Diggins-Smith said. “I felt really good about how I was able to get a head of steam, get downhill, get in a lane, create opportunities for my team. It didn’t fall for me, but I was just trying to do other things … and find that edge, that rhythm within the game.”

Taurasi, who also came on late to drain two critical 3-pointers in overtime, called Diggins-Smith’s performance “probably one of the best games I’ve ever seen her play.”

“I’ve been around this game a long time, and there’s not too many people that compete the way Skylar competes every single day,” Taurasi said. “We’ve gotten to work out for two offseasons. Every day is the same. Every day is Game 5 for her. I’ve said this before, that’s kind of ignited my passion for the game a little bit to see someone do that every single day.”

Brondello has been in this position before, having won a WNBA championship in 2014 in her first season as Mercury head coach. Diggins-Smith is playing in her first Finals series, having spent seven years in Tulsa and Dallas before signing with the Mercury last offseason.

Brondello and Taurasi, a three-time WNBA champion, know what a championship-level mentality looks like, and they see that to the fullest extent in Diggins-Smith.

“She had some shots, shots she knows she can make. She’ll be reliving that all night tonight, but I thought she had a really good game,” Brondello said. “Players like this are special — they have this fire in their belly, the will to win. And they’re all locked in.”

Hannah Withiam is the Managing Editor at Just Women’s Sports. She previously served as an editor at The Athletic and a reporter at the New York Post. Follow her on Twitter @HannahWithiam.

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.