Taj Cole didn’t know she had made the 44-person roster for Athletes Unlimited’s inaugural basketball season this winter until the end of an introductory Zoom call with all of the players.

“I didn’t know who was gonna be on the call,” Cole told Just Women’s Sports. “After a 30-minute Zoom call, they finally told us that we made the league. I was in complete shock.”

Cole attended AU’s open tryouts in early December, thinking it would be a good opportunity to get her name back out there after a standout college career. From there, she not only made the roster as one of four selected through the tryouts, she also showed right away that she can compete with the best in the league.

Through 13 games, Cole is averaging 16.3 points, 5.7 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game. She currently ranks fifth in points and third in assists, putting her in 11th place on the leaderboard as the season heads into its final four games this weekend.

On Feb. 2, Cole also became the first AU player not already on a WNBA roster to sign with a team, when the Connecticut Sun picked her up on a training camp contract. She hasn’t been the last: Kalani Brown, a former No. 7 draft pick, signed with the Las Vegas Aces on Feb. 15, and Lauren Manis agreed to a training camp contract with the Seattle Storm on Thursday.

“I just hope that there’s other girls out there that don’t erase their goals, even though it don’t happen for them the first time,” Cole said. “Just keep working hard and always be prepared for the opportunity, and when you get it, go after it.”

Cole met Sun coach Curt Miller when he came to watch current Connecticut players Courtney Williams and DiJonai Carrington play with AU. From the moment they spoke, she sensed it was the right fit.

“I wanna go somewhere where I’m really, really wanted,” Cole said. “And I felt like not only do they want me, but they’re showing me that I can be a key piece of what they’re trying to build. So I’m excited.”

Prettttttyyyy finish from @TCOLE_0 🤩#AUHoops | 📺: @CBSSportsNet pic.twitter.com/UUMfTpRjKV

— Athletes Unlimited (@AUProSports) February 24, 2022

That feeling is important to Cole because her path to the WNBA has been anything but ordinary. After spending the 2015-16 season with Louisville and becoming a top SEC point guard across two seasons with Georgia, Cole transferred to Virginia Tech for her graduate year. There, she set the program record for assists in an ACC season with 121. But after a COVID-19 shortened 2019-20 season, the NCAA Tournament was canceled and Cole went undrafted to the WNBA that April.

Rather than letting the situation deter her, Cole kept pushing.

“Once I didn’t get drafted, I just never let that not be my dream again,” she said. “I just knew that it was just gonna be a different path, a different route for me to get there.”

Cole spent five months playing overseas, from August to December of 2020, before she had to return to Virginia to take care of family. When she stepped on the court with AU in late January, it had been over a year since she’d last played in a professional basketball game.

“That’s why I value AU so much, because it also gave me that stage to play against pros again,” Cole said. “I’ve been learning a lot and listening to the vets a lot. It’s been fun. I love the competitiveness. The point guard battle, we all talk, we all compete. We go after it, we try to win and then off the court, we’re good, we’re close.”

Athletes Unlimited’s schedule, with three games a week during a five-week season, has helped prepare Cole for the pace of the WNBA, where consistency breeds success.

Soon, Cole will turn her attention to what will be a competitive training camp with the Sun, who return nearly the entire core from their No. 1-ranked team last season, including 2021 MVP Jonquel Jones. Until then, she intends to close out the AU season strong, grateful for the fresh start the new league has given her.

“I think a lot of people can say this is one of the best leagues for females, period,” she said. “Next year’s tryouts, the amount of people that are going to try to get in this league is gonna be crazy. I’m excited to see where it goes and how it evolves over the next couple of years.”

Emma Hruby is an associate editor at Just Women’s Sports.

Two key upsets headlined Thursday's WNBA bill, sending the Phoenix Mercury soaring into third place in the league standings while the No. 6 Golden State Valkyries continued to outwit opponents.

The red-hot Mercury snagged their fourth straight win by taking down the No. 2 New York Liberty 89-81 on Thursday night, overcoming an 35-point performance from two-time MVP Breanna Stewart with five double-digit Phoenix scorers.

Meanwhile out West, the Valkyries stifled a surging No. 7 Fever, downing Indiana 88-77 in part by holding star guard Caitlin Clark to just 3-for-14 from the field — and 0-for-7 from behind the arc.

"We were being disruptive, we know that she doesn't like physicality, we know that she wants to get to that left step-back," Golden State head coach Natalie Nakase said about the Valkyries' strategy to effectively contain Clark.

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Though the No. 1 Minnesota Lynx and 2024 WNBA champions New York still hold court atop the table, Thursday's actions proves that other squads are making some unexpected in-roads.

Putting together an impressive road record are the Mercury, who will ride a 4-2 away record into their Saturday matchup against the No. 11 Chicago Sky — the last stop on a four-game road trip that's been perfect for Phoenix thus far.

Already flipping the script on expectations is Golden State, with the 2025 expansion team rising despite relying on a hodgepodge roster as several players compete at EuroBasket 2025. The Valkyries will aim to keep their winning momentum in their Sunday clash with the No. 12 Connecticut Sun.

How to watch the Mercury, Valkyries this weekend

Both of Thursday's victors will be back in action this weekend, with Phoenix facing Chicago at 1 PM ET on Saturday, airing live on ABC.

Then on Sunday, Golden State will host Connecticut at 8:30 PM ET, with live coverage on WNBA League Pass.

In another weekend full of WNBA action, all eyes are on Las Vegas, as the No. 8 Aces will try to curb a two-game losing streak against two formidable opponents.

A successful weekend for Las Vegas could hinge on three-time WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson's potential return from injury, with the star forward recently upgraded to "questionable" after landing in concussion protocol last week.

Overall, the margin for error has narrowed in the middle of the WNBA pack, as talented teams continue to translate quality performances into consistency.

• No. 5 Seattle Storm vs. No. 8 Las Vegas Aces, Friday at 10 PM ET (ION): The Aces will try to end their free fall in Friday's head-to-head battle with a Seattle side that can beat anybody at their best.

• No. 7 Indiana Fever vs. No. 8 Las Vegas Aces, Sunday at 3 PM ET (ESPN): Las Vegas next faces a Fever team still smarting from Thursday's away loss to the Golden State Valkyries, with both teams narrowly clinging to positions above the playoff line.

• No. 2 New York Liberty vs. No. 5 Seattle Storm, Sunday at 7 PM ET (WNBA League Pass): The Liberty have a comfortable hold on second place, but with two losses in their last three games, New York is flirting with danger entering their Sunday game with Seattle — particularly if star big Jonquel Jones is out after suffering a knock to the ankle on Thursday.

Ultimately, there's no rest for the weary in the WNBA, as a series of difficult matchups can see a single error quickly slide into a losing streak.

The final NWSL weekend heading into the league's six-week summer break has arrived, giving teams one more chance to prove themselves before regular-season play pauses to make way for major international tournaments.

With a five-point gap separating No. 1 Kansas City from No. 2 Orlando in the NWSL standings, the Current will enter the break as the 2025 Shield frontrunners regardless of this weekend's results.

Despite Kansas City's grip atop the table, there's still plenty of room for movement both above and below the postseason cutoff line, as clubs across the NWSL look to wrap their midseason finales on a high note:

• No. 1 Kansas City Current vs. No. 10 Angel City FC, Friday at 8 PM ET (Prime): Angel City has a shot at launching themselves above the cutoff line on Friday, but they'll have to snap the Current's five-game winning streak to make it happen.

• No. 8 Gotham FC vs. No. 9 Bay FC, Saturday at 7:30 PM ET (ION): Gotham and Bay FC enter the weekend tied on points while staring at each other from on opposite sides of the playoff line — meaning a Saturday win for either club could set the tone for the rest of the 2025 season.

• No. 3 San Diego Wave FC vs. No. 4 Washington Spirit, Sunday at 10 PM ET (CBS Sports): The weekend's only top-table clash could see San Diego sprint back into second place — unless Washington leapfrogs the upstart Wave to claim the third-place spot.

The LPGA Tour has turned its attention to Texas, with the 2025 KPMG Women's PGA Championship — the third major of the pro golf season — teeing off in Frisco to a flurry of first-round action on Thursday.

All of the sport's Top 100 athletes are participating in this week's event, including No. 1 Nelly Korda, who sits in a 14th-place tie with an even-par first-round performance, and surging US dark horse No. 50 Lexi Thompson, who tied for 10th in her Thursday return from a brief retirement.

However, leading the pack heading into Friday's second round is Thailand's world No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul, who finished the first day of competition atop the leaderboard with a score of 4-under-par.

Australia's No. 24 Minjee Lee also posted a strong start, capping Thursday at 3-under to sit in second place.

While the sport's best chase victory on the links, the 2025 KPMG Women's PGA Championship is already making history off the green.

Not only is it the first-ever women's major to tee off at Frisco's Fields Ranch East, the tournament also increased its purse to $12 million on Tuesday — nearly tripling the $4.5 million prize pool from just four years ago and tying the US Women's Open for the LPGA Tour's highest payout in the process.

How to watch the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship

The third LPGA Grand Slam of 2025 continues through Sunday.

Friday's second round will air live on the Golf Channel, while coverage of Saturday and Sunday's final rounds will air across NBC and Peacock.