Crystal Dunn could be returning to the U.S. women’s national team lineup sooner rather than later if coach Vlatko Andonovski has anything to say about it.

Speaking Monday ahead of Tuesday’s matchup against Nigeria, Andonovski said Dunn has been “training very well.” The 30-year-old has been practicing with the national team during the international window after giving birth to son Marcel in May, but she is not yet back on the active roster.

“When I say very well, in my mind, she’s ready to play,” Andonovski said. “We don’t know exactly how many minutes, but I would not be surprised if we see her on the field soon.”

While he noted that the Portland Thorns will decide whether or not she sees minutes in the NWSL before the end of the season, he added that she “looks great.”

“She’s as ready and as intense as she’s always been,” he continued, “and as enthusiastic as she’s always been. She’s so energetic. I just love having Crystal back in camp and looking forward to see her in one of the next camps.”

The comments come after Andonovski said in August that Dunn was “ahead of schedule” in her return.

Dunn was training throughout her pregnancy. Back in March, she told the LA Times that she didn’t think twice about continuing to train while pregnant.

Entering her 2nd season with the Portland @ThornsFC, @Cdunn19 continues to soar beyond expectations. Her latest feat: continuing to train w/ the team into the third trimester of her pregnancy. #BAONPDX #HereisOregon 🎥 by @vickieaconnor

Read more here: https://t.co/o8468EQZWp pic.twitter.com/cToWnWnWTZ

— The Oregonian (@Oregonian) March 5, 2022

“It never crossed my mind to be like, ‘I’m pregnant. Now I have to stop,’” she told the LA Times. “I spoke to my doctors and they were all like, ‘Yeah, you’ve been an elite athlete before you were pregnant. There’s no reason why you can’t continue training.’ Passing the soccer ball, that is the least of their worries during my pregnancy.”

Still, even with her continued training, Dunn’s quick return would be astounding. Fellow USWNT star Alex Morgan – who also trained while pregnant – took six months to return to the field with English club Tottenham. It took her a full two months to feel comfortable jogging and kicking a ball around.

“Your body is literally changing for nine months, and you can’t just expect it to go back to normal,” Morgan said. “On top of that you’re dealing with a completely new life and raising a newborn.”

Still, return times vary. Napheesa Collier made her return to the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx a mere 10 weeks after giving birth to her daughter. Back in 2009, Candace Parker made her return 53 days after giving birth.

Morgan has commented on Dunn’s readiness, with the fellow mom saying that she appears to be close to a return.

“It’s so fun to have another mom in camp,” Morgan said. “I think it’s the first time since I’ve been a mom, so that is pretty amazing. And to know that she’s come back to the national team, training with us at such a high level just three months after giving birth, it’s amazing to see her level already and I’m just cheering her on.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing her get in her first games with Portland but I’m extremely impressed so far and I’m just so happy that she’s back with us.”

Morgan gave birth to daughter Charlie in 2020 and was the lone mom on the team for a while, but she has been joined by Dunn, Casey Krueger and Julie Ertz.

“I love to see the mom club grow,” Morgan said. “It’s always nice to share things in common and not be the only mom. It’s already stressful enough being a mom but then going on the road with your child and trying to compete and use your body every single day, physically, it can get really stressful as a mom, so it’s really nice to share.”

As the mom club grows, so do questions about what the team’s lineup will look like ahead of next year’s World Cup. The talent of players like Dunn is unquestionable – but the presence of up-and-coming players has created a dilemma.

At the same time, Andonovski has expressed the need for the lineup to get significant time together in preparation for the tournament.

“We are not coaching with an eye toward the next game, we’re actually coaching with an eye toward the World Cup,” Andonovski said. “Everything we do now is a preparation for the World Cup.”

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.