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Why this WNBA season has been especially challenging for rookies

Atlanta’s Aari McDonald drives against the New York Liberty during a game this season. (Jesse Louie / Just Women’s Sports)

On the night of the 2021 WNBA Draft in April, Destiny Slocum was sitting on her living room couch surrounded by family and friends as she waited for the televised announcement. She didn’t know exactly when or where she was going to get drafted, but she believed without a doubt that her name would be called.

The confirmation came early in the second round, when the Las Vegas Aces selected Slocum with the 14th overall pick and ESPN captured Slocum’s jubilant reaction.

“I think my entire life, especially coming from a small town like Boise, not many people thought that I would ever go to the WNBA,” said the former Arkansas point guard and first Boise-born player to be drafted into the WNBA. “I think just having that moment of everything that I’ve worked for … was a big thing for me.”

Once the reality set in that she was off to Las Vegas to play with reigning WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson and for head coach Bill Laimbeer, Slocum shifted her focus back to where it was before the draft. She would train and work hard to try to make the roster because she knew nothing was guaranteed, even as a draft pick.

There are 12 teams in the WNBA and only 144 roster spots available. In some cases, the salary cap limits a team to carry 11 players rather than the usual 12. This is the stark reality for every rookie who enters the league. The competition for a roster spot is extremely tough, especially for players drafted in the second and third rounds.

“I think the one thing about the WNBA is once you’re drafted, it only means so much, right? To me, I say it’s worth a penny of the entire dollar — you still have to make the team,” Slocum said. “You really have to shift your mindset in a lot of ways and get past the draft. Like, you really can’t enjoy draft night because you’re like, all right, now I gotta go and make this roster.”

Slocum arrived in Las Vegas with the mindset that the only way Laimbeer would cut her was because of salary cap restrictions. She would do everything in her power to show him why she was worthy of one of the 12 spots. That meant adjusting quickly to the speed and strength of players at the WNBA level.

“I mean, there’s really no jump. You go straight from college to the pros and that’s what they expect you to do, too,” Slocum said. “They hand you the playbook, you come back and you know the plays when (coach Laimbeer) calls them. Just a lot of responsibility and maturity comes with it.”

The transition to the WNBA can be overwhelming for draft picks. Many of them have to adapt to bench-heavy roles after being their college team’s go-to player.

Aari McDonald can attest to that challenge. The Arizona point guard shot up WNBA mock draft boards after she led the Wildcats to the 2021 NCAA championship game against Stanford. Even though her team lost, McDonald was the star of the tournament. When the Atlanta Dream selected her third overall, McDonald celebrated with her family and then quickly moved on to the task at hand.

“I thought, OK, Chennedy [Carter], Courtney [Williams], Odyssey [Sims],” she said. “I was like, OK, this is gonna be fun.”

McDonald felt as if she were starting her freshman year all over again when she got to Atlanta. But her teammates, she says, made her feel right at home, consistently motivating her and offering advice that has made her stronger. McDonald has plenty of experienced players to learn from on a guard-heavy team.

Still, because of that depth chart at guard, the Dream’s move to take McDonald with the third pick was puzzling to some. In just the past year, the Dream had drafted Carter fourth overall and signed Sims in free agency. As a result, McDonald has averaged just 13.6 minutes per game this season, and before Carter was suspended in early July, she was playing even less.

“McDonald was surprising, not because she’s not talented but just because (Atlanta) is so loaded at point guard,” said a former WNBA assistant coach. “That one really was confusing to me. I figured they would get something they could use, that could help them. I understand them trying to load up with talent, but, like, she’s just sitting the bench for them because they have so many players who are ahead of her.”

“I’m not gonna lie to you, it’s hard,” McDonald said. “It’s a learning adjustment, but once my number’s called, I’m ready. It’s making me stronger. It’s making me hungry.”

Players drafted in the first round aren’t even guaranteed a place on a WNBA team. And if they prove they belong in training camp, their contract still might not fit within a team’s salary cap. For rookies selected in the latter half of the draft, the gap between the college basketball and WNBA levels can be too far to bridge.

Of the 36 players drafted in 2021, only 17 are currently listed as active players. Two first-round draft picks, Shyla Heal and Stephanie Watts, were waived before getting much of a chance to prove themselves. Chelsey Perry, drafted 26th overall by the Indiana Fever, was the only third-round draft pick to make a roster (she was initially waived and then re-signed with Fever later in the season).

The roster turnover among WNBA rookies has left some questioning the scouting and drafting process, and the challenges the pandemic presented this past year.

“Looking at this draft class … you didn’t know who could make an impact right away,” said the former assistant coach. “This is going to sound biased because she’s the one playing the best — I liked Michaela Onyenwere from UCLA. That was my favorite player in this draft. We didn’t know if anyone else would come out early, and COVID didn’t help that at all. I know Rhyne Howard was possibly coming out as well, but she obviously came back. Onyenwere was probably the top one.”

Onyenwere, drafted sixth overall by the New York Liberty, is the current frontrunner for Rookie of the Year. She has started every game this season and is averaging 23.8 minutes, 9.8 points and 2.9 rebounds per game. Onyenwere is the only rookie playing over 20 minutes per game this season, marking a considerable dropoff from last season when seven rookies who appeared in more than 15 games averaged over 20 minutes for their teams.

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Michaela Onyenwere is the current frontrunner for Rookie of the Year. (Jesse Louie / Just Women's Sports)

Curt Miller, head coach and GM of the Connecticut Sun, also had Onyenwere high on his draft board. But without a first-round pick in 2021, he knew she wouldn’t last until the second round. He also figured she would have been drafted earlier than sixth.

“I can only speak for us — it wasn’t the easiest preparation in what we were planning without a first round-draft pick,” Miller said. “I wasn’t as caught up as some of these teams were as far as the star power, the upper first-round picks or how that was all gonna play out. We didn’t concern ourselves as much with that this year as we would have if we had had a first-round draft pick.”

The toughest challenge for Miller and his staff was figuring out the best way to prepare for the draft while dealing with COVID-19.

“You didn’t know exactly who was going to come into the draft,” he said. “We are a staff that loves to be in person, and that was impossible. I love to not only attend games, but we love to attend practices in person. You learn so much more.”

Miller waited patiently as the draft unfolded, watching players slip and scratching his head at some of the players teams picked ahead of him. It became apparent that some teams were picking based on positional needs, while others were going with the best available player. Both strategies helped, he says, when it came time for the Sun to make their pick at No. 20.

DiJonai Carrington was a two-way prospect Miller liked from the start, and the Baylor guard dropped right into the Sun’s lap.

“We thought, behind the scenes and throughout our investigation, there were a significant amount of second-round picks that would be picked before us that would not stick on final rosters compared to our second-round pick, who had a real shot of making our roster because of our salary cap situation,” Miller said.

Indeed, Carrington stuck with Connecticut. Some analysts even predicted her to win Rookie of the Year. But so far this season, Carrington is averaging fewer than 10 minutes per game.

Currently, the top five picks of the 2021 WNBA Draft — Charli Collier, Awak Kuier, McDonald, Kysre Gondrezick and Chelsea Dungee — are barely playing at all. Onyenwere plays the most. According to Miller, she landed in the perfect situation for her to succeed in New York.

When it comes to making it in the WNBA, fit means everything. Miller remembers acquiring Courtney Williams from the Phoenix Mercury nearly halfway through the 2016 season. Drafted eighth overall that year, Williams hadn’t played much in Phoenix. The guard thrived in three and a half seasons with the Sun and was named to her first All-Star team this year with the Dream.

“We traded for Courtney, who was averaging a point per game in Phoenix but thrived in our system,” Miller said. “Right system, right fit, right timing.”

The same questions can be asked this season. Would Onyenwere be playing just as well if Dallas had taken her with one of their top picks? If Collier had gone to New York, would she be thriving? Would McDonald have been better off sitting behind Courtney Vandersloot in Chicago?

To Slocum, landing in Las Vegas didn’t make sense at first. But after watching film and spending more time with the team, her perspective changed.

“I think I fit in the system well,” Slocum said. “My role is to get in there and give energy, pressure guards and knock down shots. For me, it’s been a good transition and a team I feel like I fit in pretty well with.”

Her Aces teammates — especially Riquna Williams, Slocum says — have welcomed her. And while she’s had to adjust to certain aspects of the WNBA game, Slocum’s basketball IQ has been an asset. The toughest lesson for her has been patience.

“I mean, you’re crazy if you’re a basketball player and you don’t want to be on the floor every second. But also, patience [is important] in everything you do,” she said. “I show up every day as if I’m going to play 40 minutes every game. It’s what I do with the minutes that I do have that are valuable. My biggest goal is, when I’m in the game, am I doing everything in my power to help us win?”

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Destiny Slocum, a second-round pick, has been finding her way with the second-place Aces. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

McDonald feels the same way.

“The biggest lesson I learned was to stay ready,” she said. “You never know what can happen, you never know when your number is called. But when it’s called, you gotta deliver. You gotta play your game.”

McDonald also thinks she ended up in the right place. She was shy at first but says there’s no way she can be anyone but herself on the Dream, a team that loves to have fun and goof around. McDonald has bonded with Sims, the veteran guard who tells her to just “do what has gotten you here” when she is on the court. It’s a lesson she’s taken to heart in the WNBA, where players have to prove every day that they belong.

“I think that when you’re on a team with similar players, iron sharpens iron,” McDonald said. “We’re making each other better every day in practice. We’re gonna put these pieces together, and we’re gonna fight and we’re gonna scrap and grind it out. And I really like my odds.”

WNBA Preseason Games End as Teams Make Final 2025 Roster Cuts

Atlanta rookie Te-Hina Paopao drives down the court during a 2025 WNBA preseason game.
Atlanta Dream rookie Te-Hina PaoPao scored 14 points against Indiana on Saturday. (Adam Hagy/NBAE via Getty Images)

There's just one WNBA preseason game left on the 2025 calendar, as 12 of the league's 13 teams wrapped exhibition play over the weekend ahead of Friday's regular-season tip-off.

The Chicago Sky became the latest team to lock in their 12-player roster on Sunday, joining the likes of the Indiana Fever in making tough final cuts.

To reach league compliance, Chicago waived Australian guard Alex Wilson, 2024 second-round draft pick Jessika Carter (Mississippi State), and former Mercury forward Morgan Bertsch.

Earning their official spots in the Sky's lineup are 2025 rookies Hailey Van Lith (TCU) and Maddy Westbeld (Notre Dame), the overall No. 11 and No. 16 picks, respectively, in April's draft.

Overall, the class of 2025 is performing well so far, with all first-round picks avoiding early roster cuts — though many teams are still deciding who will suit up on opening day.

Some second-rounders are also showing significant promise, with the Atlanta Dream's 18th overall pick Te-Hina PaoPao (South Carolina) scoring a team-leading 14 points against Indiana on Saturday.

How to watch the final 2025 WNBA preseason game

Capping the 2025 WNBA preseason are the reigning champion New York Liberty, who will take on Japan's Toyota Antelopes on Monday night.

The exhibition will see Liberty stars Sabrina Ionescu and Nyara Sabally — who notably saw her contract extended through 2026 by New York on Monday afternoon — return to their University of Oregon alma mater for the clash.

The Liberty will tip off against the Antelopes at 10 PM ET, with live coverage airing on WNBA League Pass.

FIFA Expands 2031 Women’s World Cup Field, Sanctions Afghan Refugee Team

The attendance of 75,784 is shown above the 2023 World Cup semifinal between Australia and England.
The World Cup field will expand to 48 teams in 2031. (Mark Metcalfe - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)

The 2031 Women's World Cup will expand to 48 teams, with the 16-team increase announced among other landmark decisions by the FIFA Council on Friday.

The decision to expand the World Cup aims to "broaden representation, offering more nations and players access to elite competition and accelerating investment in women's football worldwide," according to the FIFA release.

"The FIFA Women's World Cup 2023, the first in which teams from all confederations won at least one game and teams from five confederations reached the knockout stage, among many other records, set a new standard for global competitiveness," said FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

"This decision ensures we are maintaining the momentum in terms of growing women’s football globally."

The expanded 2031 World Cup, hosted by the US, will adopt a 12-group format, increasing the total number of matches from 64 to 104 while extending the competition for an additional week.

The World Cup expansion announcement comes on the heels of last month's increased Olympic tournament news, with the IOC boosting the women's soccer field to 16 teams at the 2028 LA Games.

The decision also puts the women's competition in line with the men's World Cup, which will feature FIFA's first 48-team tournament in 2026.

Afghan women's soccer team founder and director Khalida Popal speaks at a 2023 event surrounded by the squad in Australia.
FIFA is creating an official refugee team for evacuated Afghan women's players. (Kelly Defina/Getty Images)

FIFA approves Afghan women's refugee team

In the same Friday announcement, the FIFA Council also approved the creation of an Afghanistan women's refugee team, which would provide evacuated Afghan women players the ability to compete on an officially recognized FIFA team.

While FIFA requires that national federations sponsor teams, the Afghan Football Federation ceased acknowledging its women's team once the Taliban-controlled government banned women's sports.

Originally formed by the country's Olympic Committee in 2007, the Afghanistan women's national team has not played a FIFA-recognized match since 2018, and most of its athletes fled the country amidst the Taliban's second takeover in 2021.

Since then, players have petitioned FIFA for the opportunity to compete. Their efforts earned a one-year trial phase from the governing body on Friday, though the success of the program could see it expanded to refugees from other nations in the future.

"We are happy that FIFA has created a pathway for Afghan players to finally return to the field," team founder and former captain Khalida Popal told CNN on Friday, adding that the squad "remain[s] hopeful FIFA can amend its statutes to provide official recognition for our players as the Afghanistan Women's National Team."

Popal — who helped hundreds of Afghans, including the team, escape the Taliban — previously said the team "could show the world that Afghan women and girls belong in sport, in school and everywhere in society — and we will not be defeated."

Unbeaten Chelsea FC Wins 2024/25 WSL Season

Millie Bright raises Chelsea's 2024/25 WSL trophy and celebrates with her teammates.
Chelsea's undefeated 2024/25 season is the winningest in WSL history. (Harriet Lander - Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)

Chelsea FC is the first team in Women's Super League (WSL) history to claim an unbeaten 22-game season, adding the undefeated moniker to their sixth-straight league title with Saturday's 1-0 win over Liverpool.

The Blues' perfect season joins the previous unbeaten campaigns of 2012's Arsenal, 2016's Manchester City, and Chelsea's own 2018 squad — though those three teams did so in 14, 16, and 18 games, respectively.

Chelsea finishes the 2024/25 campaign with an astounding 19 wins and three draws, missing just six possible points on the table en route to their new WSL record of 60 points in a single season.

"As a manager, players, and staff, you only live these moments maybe once in your life," said Chelsea head coach Sonia Bompastor following Saturday's history-making win. "You need to enjoy it because it is a great achievement."

Trailing Chelsea's impressive winning tally by a full 12 points, Arsenal secured second place with a 4-3 victory over third-place Manchester United in their Saturday season finale.

Arsenal midfielder Mariona Caldentey poses with her 2024/25 WSL Player of the Season award.
The first-ever WSL Player of the Season award went to Arsenal's Mariona Caldentey. (Paul Harding - The FA/The FA via Getty Images)

WSL standouts secure individual 2024/25 awards

Though they missed the WSL's team trophy, the Gunners did claim some individual hardware this weekend, as voters selected midfielder Mariona Caldentey as the inaugural winner of the WSL Player of the Season award.

The 29-year-old Spain international led the league in shot creation, and put up nine goals and five assists on the WSL stat sheet this season.

Caldentey's teammate Alessia Russo also walked away with a trophy, sharing the Golden Boot with fourth-place Manchester City's Khadija "Bunny" Shaw after both forwards scored 12 goals each on the season.

Also sharing a stat-sheet title is Chelsea's Hannah Hampton and Manchester United's Phallon Tullis-Joyce, who claimed the 2024/25 WSL Golden Glove award behind 13 clean sheets apiece.

Meanwhile, the season's WSL Rising Star award went to ninth-place West Ham striker Shekiera Martinez. After spending the first half of the 2024/25 season on loan to Bundesliga side SC Freiburg, the 23-year-old German international notched an astounding 10 goals in her 12 total WSL matches.

Speaking of impressive scoring, Manchester City forward Vivianne Miedema's stellar chip against Aston Villa in January earned the Dutch star the 2024/25 WSL Goal of the Season title.

No. 1 Seed Texas A&M Tops NCAA Softball Tournament Bracket

Texas A&M softball teammates greet KK Dement at the plate after a home run during the 2025 SEC tournament.
No. 1-seed Texas A&M leads a record 14 SEC teams in the 2025 NCAA softball tournament bracket. (David Buono/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

For the first time in program history, Texas A&M is the No. 1 seed in the NCAA softball tournament, with the Aggies staving off four-time reigning champion Oklahoma for the honor in Sunday's 2025 bracket drop.

After adverse weather canceled their conference title game on Saturday, the Aggies and No. 2-seed Sooners became 2025 SEC tournament co-champions, leaving the NCAA selection committee to lean heavily on each team's strength of schedule in making their top-seed decision.

"What set apart Texas A&M is they have 19 Top 25 wins, which is number one in the country," said NCAA softball committee chair Kurt McGuffin on Sunday's ESPN2 broadcast, noting the Aggies' tough nonconference schedule.

Taking on a lighter nonconference slate than usual due to massive roster turnover following the 2023/24 season, Oklahoma relied heavily on their record in a stacked SEC, finishing one half-game ahead of A&M in regular-season play.

While the Sooners look to extend their championship streak, the Aggies will be hunting their third national title and first since 1987.

Standing in their way in the 64-team bracket are a record number of familiar foes, as the SEC boasts 14 teams in the 2025 NCAA competition — the most from any single conference in tournament history.

Even more, nine of the bracket's 16 seeded teams hail from the SEC, and a full seven of the Top 8.

Florida State catcher Michaela Edenfield celebrates a home run while rounding second base during a 2023 Women's College World Series game.
Florida State returns to the NCAA tournament as the highest seeded non-SEC team. (SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN/USA TODAY NETWORK)

Conference champs, at-large teams score NCAA bracket spots

SEC squads aren't the only teams looking to topple Texas A&M and Oklahoma, however, as conference champions and other elite squads learned their tournament fates on Selection Sunday.

No. 5 Florida State is the highest seeded non-SEC team, despite falling 2-1 to No. 11-seed Clemson in Saturday's ACC title game. Along with No. 14-seed Duke, the ACC will see nine teams in the 2025 tournament.

Behind 2024 National Player of the Year NiJaree Canady — the nation's top pitcher — Texas Tech leads a five-team contingent from the Big 12 after securing both their conference tournament trophy and the national No. 12-seed this weekend.

In the weekend's most upset-filled conference tournament, unseeded Michigan outlasted both No. 9-seed UCLA and No. 16-seed Oregon to score a second straight Big Ten tournament title on Saturday, becoming one of eight teams repping the conference in Sunday's bracket.

Notably, the Bruins — the winningest program in NCAA softball history with 12 titles — have not entered the tournament lower than a No. 6 seed since 2016.

How to watch the 2025 NCAA softball tournament

The road to the 2025 Women's College World Series begins with Regionals, in which each of the 16 seeded teams will host a four-team double-elimination mini-tournament this weekend.

With a minimum of 96 games — and a possibility of 112 — Regional play begins at 12 PM ET on Friday, with the 64-team field narrowing to 16 by Sunday night.

All games will air live across ESPN's networks.

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