The U.S. women’s national team is bringing in a few fresh faces for their September friendlies against South Africa next week, as the team says goodbye to a couple of legends and transitions into the next chapter. After head coach Vlatko Andonvoski’s resignation following the team’s disappointing World Cup run, interim manager Twila Kilgore now has the tricky job of retaining the parts of the USWNT’s identity that were working, and jettisoning the tactics that were inhibiting them from playing their best.

As we saw many times under Andonovski, bringing in new talent is only as effective as the system they play in. Here is how I think the USWNT can most effectively integrate their non-World Cup players into what will likely be a familiar system with a few tweaks.

Mia Fishel, F, Chelsea

Fishel is known internationally as a goal-scorer, after dominating with Tigres in Liga MX Femenil since debuting as a professional in 2022. She has a knack for putting the ball in the back of the net as a forward, something she’s shown since starring for UCLA in college. Now, the question is how she’ll fit into the USWNT system if they retain the 4-3-3.

Fishel is a player not unlike Sophia Smith, who can fit into different positional areas but who seems to thrive when allowed to move into non-traditional spaces in between the wings and a classic center-forward position. At this moment, she’s probably best-suited for the top of a 4-4-2 formation with just one attacking partner. But if given the green light to collaborate without strict positional restrictions, Fishel can showcase all of her assets as an attacker rather than simply that of an experienced goal-scorer.

Jaedyn Shaw, M/F, San Diego Wave

Shaw can play as a winger, having done so successfully in San Diego since joining the team in 2022. It’s possible she’s been brought in as a replacement for a player like Mal Swanson, or even Smith as she’s been used by the USWNT in the past. But Shaw has more tools in her arsenal than just the ability to run toward goal from a wide position, and clarity around her role could be crucial for her development with the team for the next World Cup cycle.

Shaw is more of a tweener in her movement, with a keen ability to exploit space. She can run to the endline to send crosses in, or move into spaces in front of the opponent’s penalty area to feed teammates and take shots from distance. Her savviness in motion and quality on the ball actually evokes the image of famed USWNT attacking midfielder Rose Lavelle, as much as the cavalry of wingers the team has favored in recent years. As Lavelle continues to deal with an injury that could limit her minutes, giving Shaw the keys as a playmaker could be a huge stepping stone for the future.

Sam Coffey, M, Portland Thorns

Coffey excels both at disrupting play and distributing the ball at the club level, which made her inability to become a core member of the 2023 World Cup squad something of a puzzle. Based on the way Andonovski used Julie Ertz in the run-up to the tournament, and Emily Sonnett in the team’s Round of 16 match against Sweden, it’s possible that a perceived lack of physicality on the defensive end might be what held Coffey off the final list.

It’s difficult to suddenly insert a talented player into a flawed system, but the success of the team in a 4-2-3-1 against Sweden does lend credence to the idea that the best way to integrate Coffey is to give her a midfield partner. Andi Sullivan and Coffey have similar player profiles, but a delineation of roles in the midfield could vastly improve the USWNT’s ball movement.

Tierna Davidson, D, Chicago Red Stars

Davidson has had an up-and-down season at the NWSL level, slowly regaining her form as the leader of a defense that has struggled under destabilizing circumstances in Chicago. But the team has bounced back since the Red Stars’ final ownership sale, and Davidson could start to look more like her former self in a more settled environment.

Davidson’s superpower has long been her deceptive speed and vision, with an ability to open play up with a single long and diagonal pass. Her weaknesses in 2023 have more to do with her defensive positioning, but a partnership with new USWNT stalwart Naomi Girma might give her the support she needs to rediscover her 1v1 defending abilities. With Julie Ertz retiring, the race for the second starting center-back role for the U.S. is back on, and Davidson could walk right into that opening with renewed confidence.

Ashley Hatch, F, Washington Spirit

Hatch is considered the 24th player of the USWNT World Cup 23, the first player left off as Andonvoski sacrificed a forward slot to bring attacking midfield depth. Her absence from the roster was less an indictment of her as a player, and more a concession that the USWNT had more playmaking issues than Andonovski had accounted for in the run-up to the group stage. Had Hatch traveled to New Zealand, she likely would have suffered in a way similar to Alex Morgan, who had to temper her strengths at central forward to play more connective football.

Hatch should be allowed to play more like herself (as should Morgan) in her return. Hatch has the ability to play with her back to goal and to run in behind with authority. She is calm in front of goal and can score just as effectively with her head as she can with her feet. Her weaknesses in Andonovski’s system came when she was trying too hard to be a passing outlet in the midfield, and ideally she can move with more freedom as she works her way back into the squad.

Casey Krueger, D, Chicago Red Stars

Krueger is a true outside back, with the ability to defend 1v1 on both sides of the field and tuck in centrally when needed to support the central defense. In the past, she’s been considered limited when aiding the attack, but in 2023 she has been one of Chicago’s most dangerous playmakers from a wide position. She can send a cross in on a dime and not lose key defensive coverage when giving attacking support.

At the World Cup, the USWNT’s outside-backs played with a certain amount of timidness, as if cutting loose in the final third would cause a key mistake in defensive transition. The team’s defense proved to be incredibly sturdy that way, but the fullbacks unwillingness to create width also made the team’s attack very predictable and easy to defend. Krueger should be relied upon to take a few more risks and stretch the South Africa defense, with the comfort of knowing she can recover well on the other end.

Claire Watkins is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @ScoutRipley.

The first-ever Unrivaled Basketball playoffs delivered both on and off the court, with Rose BC’s championship victory over Vinyl BC drawing the largest TV audience the offseason league has seen in 3×3 play to date.

An average of 364,000 viewers tuned into Monday’s final, peaking at 385,000 fans and marking a 99% increase over Unrivaled’s record-breaking regular-season average audience of 221,000.

Including the league's postseason success, Unrivaled capped its inaugural season having aired the 10 most-watched women’s basketball broadcasts in the history of broadcast partner TNT Sports.

In total, Unrivaled reached an impressive 11.9 million viewers across its two-month regular-season and postseason run — including the league's first-ever in-season 1v1 tournament.

That head-to-head competition ultimately drew the league's top performing tilt, with the final between runner-up Mist forward Aaliyah Edwards and eventual 1v1 champion and Lunar Owls forward Napheesa Collier averaging 377,000 viewers with a 398,000-fan peak.

"We’ve built an incredible foundation," Unrivaled president Alex Bazzell told reporters once the season wrapped. "Based on what the viewership is, now it’s our job to [ask] 'how do we grow that a bit?' We’re very proud about where we stand in the women’s sports ecosystem of viewership."

Unrivaled bags more big wins in inaugural season

Outside of TV viewership, Unrivaled also scored high social media engagement numbers, which have been a key metric for the league since its outset.

This season saw the league generate more than 589 million owned and earned social media impressions, and the pool of Unrivaled athletes collectively grew their own personal accounts by nearly one million followers in less than three months.

Perhaps most importantly for the players, the league followed through on its promise to prioritize athlete compensation, shelling out over $8.65 million in player salaries and performance bonuses from both Monday's championship and last month's 1v1 tournament.

With the offseason league designed primarily as a TV product, both Unrivaled and TNT will carry 2025’s wins far into their six-year partnership’s future — all while the WNBA will look to capitalize on the league’s ratings successes as its own May 16th season-opener nears.

As the 2025 NCAA tournament tips off this week, few Women's March Madness teams have had a more remarkable run than No. 1 overall seed UCLA.

The Bruins only lost two regular-season games this year, a streak that led to a Big Ten conference tournament title, and, eventually, top-ranked entry into this weekend’s tournament start. By securing the first No. 1 overall seed in program history, this group of UCLA players has already proven themselves the most successful in school history — with additional hardware firmly on the horizon.

But junior Kiki Rice has preferred to keep things in perspective, as she told Just Women’s Sports in the quiet days between the regular season’s end and the postseason's launch.

“The reality is we lost two games the entire year, and that's a pretty good record: 27-2,” she said matter-of-factly. “I think most people would be pretty happy with that.”

UCLA did, however, launch their Big Ten tournament campaign with unfinished business, having fallen twice to crosstown rival USC to cede the regular-season conference title. While they got their revenge in the Big Ten tournament title game, UCLA head coach Cori Close wasn’t shy about wanting to meet the Trojans one more time — at the NCAA Final Four in Tampa.

A Final Four battle would give UCLA the ability to draw even with JuJu Watkins and the Trojans this season, claiming the biggest bragging rights of all. But Rice knows that once-in-a-lifetime opportunities start with everyday consistency.

“It’s about resetting, and how we can move on, get better, and learn,” she said. “How we individually can be better for our teammates and be better for our coach.”

All eyes on women's basketball — and UCLA

As the profile of women’s basketball rises at an exponential rate year after year, many college programs have benefited from the broader spotlight. But winning remains one of the best promotional tools available, and UCLA doubled down on that prospect, signing star transfer Lauren Betts last season in a move that culminated in back-to-back Sweet Sixteen appearances. 

This year, though, the Bruins want more. And as the team’s star power continues to emerge, anything seems possible.

Rice has been one of those stars. Literally — she starred in ESPN’s 2024 docuseries Full Court Press, giving fans a chance to see behind the curtain into what makes the 21-year-old tick. And while Betts pulls defensive focus on the court, Rice can make the offense sing. She leads the team in assists and steals per game, carrying a heavy load when games get tough.

As a young player making a name for herself, Rice enjoys the off-court attention. But she’s not immune to the pressure that accompanies greater scrutiny.

“It’s been a lot,” she reflects. “But it's also been something that me, and I think the rest of my teammates, we wanted. It's part of being in women's sports at this time, where it's really growing so much.”

She described the national attention as a welcome change. With attendance, TV viewership, brand deals, and other KPIs on the rise, the Bruins know it’s time to seize the moment. 

“This is what we deserve,” Rice said resolutely. “Let's take advantage of it, and be thankful for it.”

Rice embraces the spotlight on and off the court

But if success on the court fuels exposure off the court, Rice understands the importance of balancing the bigger picture with remaining focused on the task at hand. And that mindset especially rings true in the era of blockbuster NIL deals.

“I want to take advantage of all these opportunities,” she said. “But they take time, and that's time away from school, that's time away from personal relaxation and reset time. That's time away from being in the gym.”

Rice has garnered attention from countless brands over the course of her college career. That includes signing with Jordan Brand as their first-ever NIL contract in 2022. Since that milestone, she’s gone on to work with major players in the women’s sports ad space like Buick, Dove, Neutrogena, and Beats by Dre, among others.

“I've definitely gotten more used to it,” she continued. “But I wouldn't say it's always easy”

March Madness AT&T ad highlights UCLA stars

Today’s student-athletes are expected to keep up with their studies and stay fit on the court, while also participating in the larger sports cultural conversation via brand partnerships and media appearances. That’s why fans will see Rice’s face throughout the tournament — and not just sweating it out in UCLA blue and gold.

When the game cuts to commercial, you might spot Rice starring in a new AT&T TV ad alongside Betts, promoting the sport both Bruins love to play. She even got a chance to flex a few comedy muscles onscreen, saying that her experience in front of the camera was nothing but positive.

“To be part of such a high quality production and film that commercial, I had a great time doing it,” she said, adding that Betts has been a friend she can lean on when the balancing act that is modern-day college sports gets too stressful. 

“I feel like she kind of understands, and is going through something very similar,” Rice says of her teammate and AT&T co-star. 

Getting UCLA tournament ready from the inside-out

She also credits her family as a major source of support, even if they're many miles away on the East Coast, where Rice became one of the country's top high school prospects. And over the years, she’s taken personal responsibility in creating her own stability. She learned from experience the cadence required to not let fatigue set in at the end of a grueling basketball season.

Rice especially prioritizes taking care of her body, as March’s schedule sees games in quick succession. But she also grounds herself in the moment, viewing March Madness as not just a point of pressure, but one of opportunity.

“We've been talking about the NCAA tournament and Big Ten tournament all season long,” said Rice. “It's just like we talk about in practice: We have a new new season ahead of us, two new seasons coming up.”

But for all Rice’s individual and collective achievements so far, when the Bruins tip off against Southern University on Saturday, the pursuit of greatness begins anew. From falling just short of a regular-season title to edging out USC in the Big Ten tournament, Rice is eager to put a winning stamp on an already historic UCLA season.

“At the end of the day, we're just trying to win,” she said. “We don’t have that long, so we’ve got to take advantage of it.”

US women’s rugby stole the spotlight this week, as incoming domestic league Women’s Elite Rugby (WER) prepares for its first-ever season while USA Rugby gears up for a newly announced series of home friendlies.

In the lead-up to the kickoff of the 2025 Rugby World Cup in England this August, the world No. 9-ranked Eagles will be playing a pair of tune-up friendlies, taking on No. 11 Japan in Los Angeles on April 26th before facing No. 2 Canada in Kansas City on May 2nd.

The national team will then play a final send-off match against No. 16 Fiji in Washington, DC, on July 19th before heading to London for the 10th edition of the international tournament.

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Momentum continues with new women's rugby league

The Eagles' pre-World Cup tour aims to continue the sport's momentum that the team initially sparked during last summer's Olympic bronze medal-winning run in Paris.

That standout performance prompted increased demand for more consistent women’s rugby programming in the States, with longtime proponents of the sport welcoming fresh fans into the fold with hopes of continuing to grow the game in the US.

Some of the increased demand will be met by WER, as the new league formalized its sanctioning agreement with USA Rugby earlier this week in anticipation of their March 22nd kick-off.

With six teams representing the Bay Area, Boston, Chicago, Denver, New York, and the Twin Cities, WER will play a three-month regular season before contesting the league's first playoffs.

"We are confident that the start of WER will be a key moment in the growth of the sport," said WER president Jessica Hammond-Graf in a statement. "We can’t wait for fans to experience the excitement and intensity of high-level, professional women’s rugby in the US."

How to buy tickets to US women's rugby games

Tickets to the Eagles’ World Cup send-off tour go on sale March 28th, while fans hoping to catch WER’s debut season can purchase seats online now.

With the March Madness No. 1 seeds evenly split between the Big Ten and SEC, April’s Final Four becoming a conference tournament championship rematch doubleheader is very much on the table.

The quadrants led by SEC tournament finalists South Carolina and Texas share one side of the bracket, meaning the Gamecocks and Longhorns could meet before the 2024/25 NCAA championship game in an all-conference semifinal.

Similarly, crosstown rivals UCLA and USC top the other two quadrants, putting the LA teams on course for all-Big Ten semifinal.

Both conference pairs have already faced off three times this season, with South Carolina holding a 2-1 2024/25 record over Texas and USC riding into the Big Dance with the same record over UCLA.

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Other top teams hunt rematches with NCAA No. 1 seeds

Before the No. 1 seeds lock in on any all-conference semis, however, they must advance past other elite contenders — some of whom have recent beef with the quadrant queens.

No. 3 seed Notre Dame — the only team to fail to snag a No. 1 March Madness spot after reaching the AP Poll's top ranking this season — awaits a possible 2024/25 rematch with Texas in the Elite Eight round, with the Irish eyeing a second season victory over the Longhorns after toppling Texas 80-70 in December.

As for No. 1-seed USC, the Trojans sit on a collision course with No. 2 UConn, setting up what could be a second-straight Elite Eight battle between the pair. The Huskies won last year's encounter 80-73 behind 28 points from superstar Paige Bueckers, before falling to eventual tournament runners-up Iowa in the 2023/24 Final Four.

That said, USC already defeated UConn once this season, with sophomore phenom JuJu Watkins putting up 25 points in the the Trojans' narrow 72-70 December win.

For these potential non-conference games, the rematches are somewhat by design, as top programs try to stack their schedules with the NCAA's best teams each season, both to challenge their rosters and to build their NCAA tournament resumes.

"If you play a good enough schedule, you're always going to run into somebody you've already seen," explained legendary UConn head coach Geno Auriemma earlier this week.

While bracket busters could impede an all No. 1-seed Final Four, no team seeded lower than No. 3 has ever won an NCAA championship, meaning at least a few of these top-tier rematches are likely in the coming weeks.

How to watch the Women's March Madness tournament first round

No. 6-seed Michigan and First Four winner No. 11-seed Iowa State open the tournament, tipping off March Madness at 11:30 AM ET on Friday, with live coverage on ESPN2.

The first top seed to take the court in Friday's 16-game slate is South Carolina, who will face No. 16-seed Tennessee Tech at 4 PM ET before UCLA closes out the night against First Four winner No. 16-seed Southern at 10 PM ET.

Both No. 1-seed games will air live on ESPN.