Throughout the 2019-20 season, Oregon was ranked in the top four in every single weekly ranking. To begin this season, Oregon is ranked 10th behind three other schools in the Pac-12, the conference it has finished first in the regular season in each of the past three seasons.

The difference is that Oregon is replacing the first choice in the WNBA draft, Sabrina Ionescu, the second pick, Satou Sabally and the eighth pick, Ruthy Hebard. How does Oregon plan to reload? By signing the top ranked freshman class in the country: all five earned five stars in the 2020 HoopGurlz rankings and all five were ranked in the top 25 nationally.

The No. 8 overall prospect, and the highest ranked in the class, is guard Sydney Parrish. She comes from a big-time Indiana basketball family and has the ability to take over a game. Coming into college, she was viewed as a shooter, but is now seen by the Oregon coaching staff as a scorer — someone who can get points any way she needs. Head coach Mark Graves described Parrish’s commitment as “huge.”

“I think she was the instigator and influencer,” he said. “The other players wouldn’t have come if they didn’t like what they saw here, but Sydney was such a positive influence and she’s just such a nice person and that helped.”

The next highest ranked recruit is Te-Hina Paopao, a 5-foot-9 guard from Oceanside, Calif. As a freshman in high school, she tore her ACL, only to re-injure it her sophomore season. Out of all the players in the class, she is seen as the most likely to turn the gym lights on and off — meaning she will be the first one in and the last one out. As is common throughout this group of freshmen, her versatility is a weapon.

DUCKS WIN!

No. 10 Oregon opens the 2020-21 season with a 116-51 win over Seattle U! #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/CxEanT33ot

— Oregon Women’s Basketball (@OregonWBB) November 28, 2020

Kylee Watson, a 6-foot-4 forward, will fit right in with Oregon’s forest, and I’m not talking about the beautiful Pacific Northwest. In addition to Watson, Oregon’s front court also boasts Nyara Sabally (6-5), Arielle Wilson (6-6), Lydia Giomi (6-6) and Sedona Prince (6-7), the tallest player in program history until Philippa Kyei steps on campus next season. The No. 17 recruit, Watson is already being praised for her aggressive style and motor.

Oregon’s coaches have been diligently scouting their own practices until the season can get underway in earnest, and Maddie Scherr is the only player to rank in the top three in assists, disruptions and rebounds. Also showing off her perimeter defense, the 5-foot-11 guard is making a case to find time in a crowded backcourt with Taylor Mikesell, Taylor Chavez, Jaz Shelley and Paopao.

Like redshirt senior forward Erin Boley, the sharpshooting forward who is the the only active player in the nation to have ranked in the top-15 nationally in 3-point percentage each of the last two seasons, Scherr is from Kentucky — the only state represented more than once on Oregon’s roster.

Graves has been so impressed with the freshmen in the preseason and his returners that he believes this Oregon roster will be the most potent shooting team of his tenure.

Rounding out the freshman class as the 22nd ranked player nationally is 6-foot-4 forward Angela Dugalic from Illinois. Internationally, she has already helped the Serbian Senior National Team qualify for the Olympics. Already, Dugalic’s versatility is being seen as a way for Oregon to replace some of Sabally’s production.

Talk about an opening statement...

Oregon's 71 points in the first half set a new program-record for a single half, breaking the previous mark of 69 set way back in 1979 ???? #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/hFFORzkXbS

— Oregon Women’s Basketball (@OregonWBB) November 29, 2020

Together, this immensely-talented freshman class is looking to bring Oregon to new heights and finish the business that the pandemic took away from Ionescu, Sabally and Hebard. They are all winners, which will fit into the culture that Orego built under that program-changing trio.

“Day to day we have a different one step up, it’s a really tremendous class,” Graves said. “The one that’s been the most consistent for us and really has a chance to be a star is Te-Hina Paopao, I think she’s really solidified herself as our top guard and I think, hopefully, we have a another Sabrina-Ruthy combination with Te-Hina and Sedona.

Prince was at Texas for her freshman season after entering as the 8th-ranked recruit, but missed the season with a broken right leg suffered while playing for the USA U18 national team at the FIBA Americas Championship in Mexico City. In 2019, Prince transferred to Oregon but was denied immediate eligibility by the NCAA.

Boley is the only returning starter and Oregon has high expectations for Chavez and Shelley. Both played under 20 minutes per game, but still managed to score more than 6 points per game and shoot above 42% from 3-point range. Mikesell came over from Maryland and will be immediately eligible, while Nyara Sabally, who missed the past two seasons with injuries, will be able to make her first impression.

Last year, South Carolina rode the nation’s top-ranked recruiting class to the top of the AP Poll. Oregon is hoping it can do the same — and finish it off with a championship.

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.