Diana Taurasi looked like she might need to come off the floor multiple times on Sunday. She winced and she hobbled, favoring the injured left ankle that kept her out of the Mercury’s first-round win over the Liberty, the one that earned them the chance to meet Seattle in this second-round, single-elimination game.

But Taurasi kept on playing. Not only that: She made two big shots and one key free throw in overtime that helped the Mercury upset the defending champion Storm on their home court, 85-80, and advance to their seventh WNBA semifinals in the last nine seasons.

Brittney Griner led Phoenix with 23 points (on 11-for-17 shooting) and 16 rebounds. Taurasi finished with 14 points, five assists and four rebounds — on one good leg.

“Obviously you want to be out there with your teammates, and we’ve had such a grind of a season,” Taurasi said after the win. “Against New York, I was just not ready to play. The decision was, ‘Can I help?’ And if I could help in any capacity, I was going to try to play today.”

The Storm — playing on Sunday without Breanna Stewart, who sat on the bench with a boot on her injured left foot — executed their game plan well in the first half. Seattle’s defense held Taurasi to just three points in the half and the entire Mercury team to nine in the second quarter, riding a 15-0 run to a 35-32 lead at the break.

But, as Storm head coach Noelle Quinn and Sue Bird explained after the game, sending double teams to Griner and switching guards on Taurasi to try to account for the extra space can only work for so long.

In other words, once Taurasi got hot from the field, it was game over.

“Dee gives them automatic confidence, swag, all of the above just by being on the floor,” Quinn said. “Early on, testing out her mobility, I thought we did a decent job. But what happens when you have the greatest player in our game on the floor is that she hits timely shots.”

“What happened in overtime was we made a couple mistakes that gave her two open shots,” Bird added. “And you can’t give a player like that an open look whether they’re on half a leg or not. Of course, that’s who she is, so it’s no surprise and that’s why you can’t make those mistakes.”

DIANA DOING GOAT THINGS IN OT! pic.twitter.com/I8sLe0LYOX

— Phoenix Mercury - X (@PhoenixMercury) September 26, 2021

Taurasi is not only a one-of-a-kind scoring threat; her mere presence also gives her team a sense of comfort. Skylar Diggins-Smith said again Sunday that she chose Phoenix in 2019 free agency so she could play with Taurasi and Griner. And Griner, when asked what’s allowed her to unlock another level in her game this season while seated next to Taurasi and Diggins-Smith during the postgame press conference, said: “When I look to my left and I see them, of course anyone would play with ease.”

The Mercury will meet the No. 2-seeded Las Vegas Aces in the semifinals, with Game 1 set for Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET (ESPN2). It will be Taurasi’s 10th semifinal series, all with Phoenix.

Bird, 40, was asked about her future after the game, including by ESPN’s Holly Rowe on the court as the Seattle crowd chanted, “One more year!” It’s still unclear whether she will come back to the Storm.

Taurasi, 39, is expected to return next season after signing a two-year maximum contract with Phoenix in February. She’s already won three championships with the Mercury during her 17-year career. As she goes for her fourth title — which, for what it’s worth, would tie her with Bird — Taurasi is focusing on simply being on the court for her teammates.

Because when their leader is in the lineup, the Mercury like their chances.

“For someone who hasn’t been able to run for three weeks almost … to come into overtime and make two big plays, that’s why they talk about she’s the GOAT, because she finds a way,” said coach Sandy Brondello.

“We got our GOAT back. She was a little fatigued out there. I’m not sure she’ll be able to walk tomorrow, but she grinded it out and found a way.”

A final buzzer moment. 💜🧡 pic.twitter.com/heUA2JvrJp

— Phoenix Mercury - X (@PhoenixMercury) September 26, 2021

Hannah Withiam is the Managing Editor at Just Women’s Sports. She previously served as an editor at The Athletic and a reporter at the New York Post. Follow her on Twitter @HannahWithiam.

Naomi Osaka advanced to the third round of the 2026 Australian Open with a three-set victory over Sorana Cirstea on Thursday.

But the hard-fought win was overshadowed by a heated exchange at the net and a subsequent public apology from the former Japanese fan favorite.

After Osaka defeated the unseeded 35-year-old 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 at Margaret Court Arena, the two shared a tense handshake before Cirstea reportedly called Osaka out for her on-court conduct. The issue apparently centered on Osaka’s habit of shouting "Come on!" to celebrate points, specifically between Cirstea’s first and second serves — a move the Romanian considered both a distraction and a breach of sportsmanship.

In her immediate postmatch interview, Osaka dismissed Cirstea's complaints.

"Apparently a lot of 'come-ons' that she was angry about, but whatever," Osaka said. "I think this was her last Australian Open, so, okay, sorry she was mad about it."

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However, during her subsequent press conference, Osaka apologized for her dismissive tone.

"I'm a little confused. I guess that emotions were very high for her," Osaka said. " I also want to apologize. I think the first couple of things that I said on the court were disrespectful. I don't like disrespecting people. That's not what I do."

Osaka went on to clarify that her vocal outbursts are self-motivating and not an attempt to rattle her opponent.

Cirstea, who recently announced that the 2026 season will be her last on the WTA Tour, later downplayed the incident. She called it a "five-second exchange between two players," insisting that "there was no drama."

Osaka, the No. 16 seed, will next face unseeded Australian Maddison Inglis in the third round on Friday.

How to watch Naomi Osaka at the Australian Open this week

No. 16 Naomi Osaka takes the court against Australia's Maddison Inglis this Friday (time TBA), live on ESPN.

While competing at the 2026 Australian Open this week, US tennis star Coco Gauff is giving back to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), with the world No. 3 WTA player announcing a $150,000 donation to the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) to fund HBCU tennis scholarships on Tuesday.

"Education has the power to change lives, and I hope this gift will help students achieve their dreams," said Gauff in a Tuesday statement.

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Even more, this week's donation marks the two-time Grand Slam champion's second UNCF contribution in as many years, with her $100,000 pledge in 2025 bringing Gauff's total gift to $250,000.

"I feel like HBCU tennis a lot of times doesn't get the funding that they need," Gauff said after advancing to Thursday night's Australian Open third round. "I would always try to uplift marginalized communities and support where I can."

One of the youngest major donors in organization's 80-year history, the 21-year-old star's Coco Gauff Scholarship Program has already sponsored multiple HBCU tennis athletes.

"My family has a deep-rooted history with HBCUs," Gauff wrote in a 2025 press release. "As a young Black athlete, I understand how impactful it is to see people who look like me thriving in both sports and education…. My hope is that this scholarship gives more young Black players the confidence to chase their dreams, knowing they have a strong community behind them and a bright future ahead."

PWHL players made their voices heard this week, as The Athletic published the results of the third-year league's first-ever anonymous player poll on Wednesday, surveying athletes on everything from the best trash-talkers to which nation's team will win Olympic gold at next month's 2026 Winter Games.

Leading the poll's individual accolades is 34-year-old Team Canada and Montréal Victoire captain Marie-Philip Poulin, dubbed the PWHL's best player by 80% of respondents.

Poulin's Team USA counterpart, Seattle Torrent forward Hilary Knight, snagged second as each standout prepares for a fifth career Olympic run.

As for who will win gold in Italy, all but one player predicted a Canada vs. USA Olympic Final, with a 50/50 split on the eventual victor.

Athletes also answered overarching questions about the growing league in the player poll, with Detroit earning the most nods as a PWHL expansion city — though Denver and Chicago also scored double-digit votes.

As for the future face of the league, current New York Sirens forward and 2024 PWHL No. 1 draftee Sarah Fillier narrowly edged out current University of Wisconsin senior and Team USA Olympic defender Caroline Harvey in the players' poll.

Toronto Sceptres forward Emma Maltais beat out Montréal's Abby Roque by one vote for the title of top PWHL trash-talker, though most players tapped her for quantity over quality — an assessment Maltais herself agrees with.

"I'm not trash-talking," clarified the 26-year-old Canadian. "I'm just yapping."

WNBA star Angel Reese is lighting up the silver screen, with the Chicago Sky forward racking up multiple film and TV credits during the league's offseason.

On Tuesday, Netflix revealed that Reese will play a character called "Trainer Barbie" in the second season of the streamer's hit show, The Hunting Wives.

Already a fan of the series, Reese's told Hunting Wives creator Rebecca Cutter to "just let me know if you need me for season 2" on X last summer — a conversation that helped spark the basketball star's casting.

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Tuesday's news follows last week's announcement that Reese and Las Vegas Aces star center A'ja Wilson will each voice a role in the upcoming animated film GOAT, produced by the NBA's Golden State Warriors superstar Steph Curry.

When the film hits theaters on February 13th, fans will see Reese as Propp, a polar bear, while Wilson plays a reptile called Kouyate.

Reese first opened her acting portfolio by playing herself in a cameo in the October 2025 Netflix film A House of Dynamite, with Hunting Wives marking the 23-year-old's first foray into a scripted series.

The eight-episode second season of the Netflix show is currently in production, though a premiere date is still unknown.