Tennessee basketball is wearing patches on its warmup shirts for the upcoming season in honor of Lady Vols greats Nikki McCray-Penson and Tasha Butts, who both died this year after battles with breast cancer.

The tribute is personal for senior forward Rickea Jackson in particular. Jackson played for McCray-Penson at Mississippi State in the 2020-21 season, after which McCray-Penson stepped down due to health concerns. Jackson transferred to Tennessee ahead of the 2022-23 season.

“It definitely hit home for me, because me and Coach Nikki were close,” Jackson said Monday. “We still talk to this day. When I committed to Tennessee, she texted (assistant coach Samantha Williams)–”

Jackson, visibly overcome by her emotions, paused, and her teammate Sara Puckett continued for her.

“I think it means a lot to be able to have these on her warmup shirts,” Puckett said, gesturing to the black patches below each shoulder. “And I know it’s very hard for Rickea, because she was so close with Coach Nikki. It’s hard for me too, because that’s — those are losses in the Lady Vols family.

“So now it’s just playing for them. They’re part of the legacy. They built on this foundation of the program. So it’s just being able to come out here and play for especially them in these times, throughout this whole season. Because you know how tough they were, you know what they brought to the court and the coaching realm. And so just to be able to go out there and play for them is really special.”

#ladyvols are wearing patches on shooting shirts in memory of Tasha Butts and Nikki McCray who died from breast cancer in 2023 at age 41 and 51, respectively. @iamthathooper played for Nikki at Mississippi State and tried to talk. @SaraPuckett13 stepped in to help her teammate. pic.twitter.com/i4Vwym8pof

— Maria M. Cornelius (@mmcornelius) October 31, 2023

McCray-Penson, who died in July at age 51 after a battle with breast cancer and a bout of pneumonia, played for Tennessee from 1991-95. She went on to play two seasons in the American Basketball League (ABL) and nine seasons in the WNBA.

After her playing career, she became a coach for 16 years, most notably as an assistant on Dawn Staley’s South Carolina staff from 2008-17 and as a head coach at Old Dominion (2017-20) and Mississippi State (2020-21).

Butts died in October at age 41 after her own battle with breast cancer. She played for Tennessee from 2000-04, then played one season in the WNBA for the Minnesota Lynx. She began in her coaching career in 2007, becoming the head coach at Georgetown in April 2023.

For Tasha 🧡
For Nikki 🧡

Carrying the legacies of two outstanding LVFLs on our shooting shirts this season. pic.twitter.com/JfnmwZXyyw

— Lady Vols Basketball (@LadyVol_Hoops) October 30, 2023

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.