Clinching a playoff spot Sunday, Los Angeles extended its winning streak to nine games. And while the Sparks lost on Monday to Minnesota, the nine-game winning streak was enough to cement their status as championship contenders.

At times, the Sparks have looked dominant. During others, the team has looked mortal. That is, until the last five minutes.

Against an 11th-ranked Atlanta Dream, Los Angeles went down to the wire. If not for some clutch play from Candace Parker, Chelsea Gray, and Britney Sykes, Los Angeles easily could have had its streak snapped. But they didn’t, and it never really felt like the outcome was in doubt. Not only because those players are all elite veterans, or that on paper the Sparks were the better team, or even that their five-time NBA champion head coach Derek Fisher was himself known for his clutch factor. Simply, Los Angeles has dominated clutch time all season.

The WNBA defines clutch time as the last five minutes with the point differential within five. In those games, Los Angeles is 6-2, which is tied with Minnesota for best in the league.

Gray, the Point Gawd, is known for being at her best in clutch moments throughout her career. This season, her usage rate has jumped from 24.5% to 29.9% in clutch time. She is also perfect on three attempts from behind the arc and the team’s leading scorer in clutch time.

The last four games of the streak all required clutch heroics for the Sparks to pull out victories.

First, Parker had to score as time expired to answer a Courtney Williams jumper that put the Dream ahead by two with 3.7 seconds in the teams’ first meeting on August 21st. Then in overtime, Los Angeles outscored Atlanta 12-4 to sneak out with the win. Gray accounted for 10 of those points, including 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions. That close call, though, was just the beginning.

Jhsgrjkahqjdjshkajehbsnsn https://t.co/UfaNJ1Ym49 pic.twitter.com/KcYhiiWMpJ

— Los Angeles Sparks (@LASparks) August 22, 2020

In the next game against Dallas, Sykes made a jumper with 4:30 on the clock to give the Sparks their first lead since late in the second quarter. A 25-15 fourth quarter allowed Los Angeles to escape with an 84-81 win.

The story was remarkably similar against Connecticut, who had a fourth quarter lead but were outscored 21-13 in the final period and lost by four. Gray gave her team its first second half lead with a 3-pointer at 5:01, then doubled down on the next trip down the court. The Sun only made one field goal in the last two minutes as the Sparks put on the clamps.

Oh my! Chelsea Gray beats the shot clock for the 3️⃣ pic.twitter.com/3iyAiGSunr

— CBS Sports WNBA (@CBSSportsWNBA) August 29, 2020

On Sunday, in a rematch with the Dream, Los Angeles pulled away at the end. Chennedy Carter, in her second game back from an ankle injury that caused her to miss five games, scored 26 on 11-of-19, with 10 points coming in the fourth quarter. Still, Los Angeles bottled up the Atlanta offense when it counted the most. With 5:31 to go, Monique Billings tied the game at 72. Besides a lone Carter layup, the Sparks held the Dream scoreless until 1:01, and opened up an 80-74 lead.

As a team, the Sparks lead the league in points, field goals made, and steals in clutch time. Opponents are turning the ball over more than against any other team, and Los Angeles is coughing the ball up at the second lowest rate in the league. Los Angeles is also second in blocks, field goal percentage, 3-pointers made, and 3-point percentage. The numbers all back up the eye test — in clutch time, no one is better than the Sparks.

At the individual level, Gray and Parker are fifth and sixth on scoring average in clutch time, at 3.4 and 3.0 points per clutch time, respectively. Parker is shooting 9-of-13 from the field in clutch time and Gray is at 10-of-18.

Fisher has also refined his clutch time lineup. In Los Angeles’ 29 clutch minutes this season, which is third highest in the league, Parker has played in all 29 and Gray has played in 28. More importantly, the shots are being fed to those two. Of the team’s 52 clutch-time shots, 31 have been taken by either Parker or Gray. And of the 26 made shots, 19 have come from one of the two.

When Nneka Ogwumike is healthy, she provides a third option that solidifies the clutch rotation. While her shot rate is down — she has shot just four times in the clutch, making two — Los Angeles will need her to be ready down the wire in the playoffs.

The first time, or even the first few times, a Sparks win in clutch time could have been a fluke. But now, after watching Los Angeles win four straight in the final minutes, it seems pretty clear: the Sparks are clutch, and they’re ready for the playoffs.

U.S. Soccer announced Tuesday that the USWNT will play their last home game on July 16th in the lead-up to the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.

The 2024 Send-Off Match against Costa Rica will take place at Washington, DC’s Audi Field — home to both the Washington Spirit and DC United — at 7:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 16th. The friendly rounds out a four-game Olympic run-up campaign under incoming head coach Emma Hayes’ side, with the last two set to feature the finalized 2024 U.S. Olympic Women’s Soccer Team roster.

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Hayes will appear on the USWNT sideline for the first time this June, helming the team as they embark on a two-game series against Korea Republic hosted by Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado on June 1st followed by Allianz Stadium in St. Paul, Minnesota on June 4th. 

The team is then scheduled to meet a talented Mexico squad on July 13th at Gotham FC’s Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, where the Olympic-bound lineup will attempt to rewrite February’s shocking 2-0 loss to El Tri Femenil in the group stages of this year’s Concacaf W Gold Cup. And while clear roster favorites have emerged from both of this year’s Gold Cup and SheBelives Cup rosters, a spate of recent and recurring injuries means making it to the Olympics is still largely anyone’s game.

Broadcast and streaming channels for the USWNT's final July 16th friendly at Audi Field include TNT, truTV, Universo, Max, and Peacock.

The USA Basketball Women's National Team is still considering Caitlin Clark for a spot on the Paris Olympics squad, says selection committee chair Jennifer Rizzotti. 

On Monday, Rizzotti told the AP that the committee will be evaluating the college phenom’s Olympic prospects by keeping a close eye on her first few weeks of WNBA play with Indiana.

The move is somewhat unconventional. While Clark was invited to participate in the 14-player national team training camp held earlier this month — the last camp before Team USA’s roster drops — she was unable to attend due to it coinciding with Iowa’s trip to the NCAA Women’s Final Four.

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Judging by the immense talent spread throughout the league in what might be their most hyped season to date, competition for a piece of the Olympic pie could be fiercer than ever before.

"You always want to introduce new players into the pool whether it's for now or the future," said Rizzotti. "We stick to our principles of talent, obviously, positional fit, loyalty and experience. It's got to be a combination of an entire body of work. It's still not going to be fair to some people."

Of course, Clark isn’t the first rookie the committee has made exceptions for. Coming off an exceptional college season that saw her averaging 19.4 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 4 assists per game for UConn, Breanna Stewart was tapped to represent the U.S. at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil less than two weeks after being drafted No. 1 overall by the Seattle Storm. Eight years prior, fellow No. 1 pick Candace Parker punched her ticket to the 2008 Games in Beijing just two weeks after making her first appearance for the L.A. Sparks.

In the lead-up to Paris’ Opening Ceremony on July 26th, USA Basketball Women’s National Team is scheduled to play a pair of exhibition games. They'll first go up against the WNBA's finest at the July 20th WNBA All-Star Game in Phoenix before facing Germany in London on July 23rd.

While an official roster announcement date hasn’t yet been issued, players won’t find out if they’ve made this year’s Olympic cut until at least June 1st.

For the first time in history, three different WNBA teams have completely sold out of season ticket plans well before the league's May 14th kick-off.

Call it the Caitlin Clark effect, attribute it to this year’s tenacious rookie class, or look to the skyrocketing visibility of veteran players across the board. But no matter the cause, facts are facts: Tickets to the 2024 WNBA season are selling like never before. 

On Monday, the Dallas Wings became the third team to sell out of season ticket memberships in the league’s 27-year history. The announcement from Arlington came shortly after the Atlanta Dream issued their own season ticket sell-out statement, also on Monday, and almost seven weeks after the back-to-back WNBA Champion Las Vegas Aces made headlines by becoming the first-ever WNBA team to sell out their season ticket allotment.   

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According to the Wings, season ticket memberships will fill nearly 40% of the 6,251 seats inside their home arena, College Park Center. The club also said that their overall ticket revenue has ballooned to the tune of 220% this year, spanning not just season tickets but also a 1,200% increase in single ticket sales. There’s currently a waitlist to become a Dallas season ticket holder, a status that comes with extra incentives like playoff presale access and discounts on additional single-game tickets. 

In Atlanta, season tickets aren't the only thing flying off the shelves. The Dream also announced that they broke their own record for single-game ticket sales during a recent limited presale campaign. Sunday was reportedly their most lucrative day, with five different games totally selling out Gateway Center Arena. Individual tickets for all upcoming matchups will hit the market this Thursday at 8 a.m., while a waitlist for season ticket memberships will open up next Tuesday at 10 a.m.

"Excitement around women's sports, particularly basketball, is at an all-time high and nowhere is that felt more than here in Atlanta," Dream president and COO Morgan Shaw Parker said in the team’s statement. "We’ve continued a record-setting growth trajectory over the past three years under new ownership — both on and off the court — and 2024 is shaping up to be our best season yet."

As of Tuesday, season ticket sales revenue for Caitlin Clark’s hotly anticipated Indiana Fever debut haven’t yet been announced by the club. But if these numbers are any indication — not to mention the explosive demand for Fever away games felt by teams around the country — it won’t be long before we see some scale-tipping figures coming out of Indianapolis.

25-year-old American pro golfer Nelly Korda secured her spot in LPGA history on Sunday, notching her fifth-straight title at this weekend's Chevron Championship in The Woodlands, Texas.

Ranked No. 1 in the world by Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, Korda joins Nancy Lopez (1978) and Annika Sörenstam (2005) as just the third LPGA player to rack up five consecutive tour wins. She is also the third No. 1-ranked player to capture The Chevron Championship victory since the rankings debuted in 2006, accompanied by Lorena Ochoa and Lydia Ko.

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The Florida native shot three-under 69 in Sunday's final, besting Sweden's Maja Stark despite Stark's valiant come-from-behind attempt in the 18th. Korda finished with a four-day total of 13-under 275, celebrating her two-stroke win by cannonballing into Poppie's Pond, much to the crowd's delight. She left The Club at Carlton Woods with $1.2 million from an overall purse of $7.9 million.

It wasn't long ago that the two-time major champion's current winning streak seemed unimaginable. After maintaining her No. 1 position for 29 weeks, Korda underwent surgery to remove a blood clot from her left arm in 2022. She returned to the course not long after, but failed to win a single tournament in 2023 before seeing a surge in form during the first four months of 2024. As of today, she hasn't lost a tournament since January.

Korda will attempt a record sixth-straight win at next week's JM Eagle LA Championship at Wilshire Country Club in Los Angeles, where she'll vie for a cut of the $3.75 million purse.