After Chennedy Carter’s rocky sophomore season with the Atlanta Dream in 2021, two-time WNBA scoring leader Angel McCoughtry reached out to the younger player.

Yet while the two formed a mentor-mentee bond, that relationship has since fizzled out, McCoughtry revealed to Lyndsey D’Arcangelo for Just Women’s Sports.

“She still has a long way to go,” McCoughtry said. “Sometimes, when you help people, you try to help so much that you really don’t see them wanting to help themselves after a while. You have to kind of just move on from it.”

After making the WNBA All-Rookie team in 2020, Carter was suspended in July 2021 following a locker-room confrontation with then-teammate Courtney Williams. She did not play again in 2021, and then she was traded to the Los Angeles Sparks in the offseason.

McCoughtry reached out to Carter in the midst of this career upheaval, she told Just Women’s Sports. She spent 11 seasons in Atlanta, from 2009-19, and experienced some rough times with the franchise herself.

“I know what it’s like when you’re alone and nobody reaches out. It’s like nobody cares,” McCoughtry said. “So I wanted to show, like, I cared. I definitely tried to help her as much as possible.”

Work don’t stop. I make my crew get tested before every work out. I don’t play.

Few months ago I started mentoring @chennedycarter and as I have gotten to know her she is an awesome kid. Fun, energetic and eager to learn.

Expecting great things out of this young kid!! pic.twitter.com/Kk8m3CxMEu

— McCoughtry (@angel_35) December 21, 2021

The pair bonded on and off the court.

Yet even with McCoughtry’s support and with the new scenery of Los Angeles, Carter struggled to find her footing. She averaged just 16.4 minutes per game in 2022 and started just two games for the Sparks, and she missed four games toward the end of the season due to what interim coach Fred Williams called a “coach’s decision.”

“I’m very proud of (Chennedy Carter) and the adversity that she’s been through this season,” her teammate Brittney Sykes told reporters at the time. “She’s a great player, so let’s just leave it that.”

And now Carter’s relationship with McCoughtry has cooled, McCoughtry said. Carter had signed with the RSTAR agency, the same one that works with McCoughtry, but she has split with RSTAR as well.

Carter did not respond to a request for comment on her parting ways with McCoughtry and RSTAR.

“She always has my number to reach out when she’s ready to really better herself,” McCoughtry said.

Texas softball made program history on Friday, winning the 2025 Women’s College World Series (WCWS) to claim a first-ever national championship in their eighth trip to Oklahoma City.

The No. 6-seed Longhorns completed the best-of-three championship series with a dominant 10-4 victory over No. 12-seed Texas Tech, setting a program wins record with 56 on the season.

"This is why I came to Texas," said grad student first baseman Joely Mitchell following the championship win. "This is everything I dreamed of as a kid."

Anchored by star sophomore pitcher Teagan Kavan — who took home the tournament's Most Outstanding Player award after not allowing a single earned run in the nearly 32 WCWS innings she threw — Texas's title is the SEC's first in 10 years. The Longhorns now join only Florida and Alabama in the conference's elite NCAA softball champions club.

The Longhorn bats led the charge on Friday, plating five runs in the first inning — the most allowed in a single inning by Red Raiders superstar pitcher NiJaree Canady in her three-season NCAA career.

While that initial push ended up being enough to seal the win, senior third baseman Mia Scott put an exclamation mark on the victory by blasting a fourth-inning grand slam, notably doing so with a torn ACL.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

2025 WCWS sets attendance, viewership records

The Longhorns' historic title run wasn't just a victory for Texas, however, as the 2025 WCWS claimed additional wins far beyond the Lone Star State.

With 119,778 fans packing into Oklahoma City's Devon Park across the nine-day competition, the 2025 tournament broke the WCWS attendance record.

The record-shattering didn't end there, as an average of 2.1 million viewers tuned into Thursday's championship series clash, making it the most-watched WCWS finals Game 2 in history — and the fifth most-watched NCAA softball game ever on ESPN platforms.

The rising value of college softball is also impacting players' bank accounts, with rising senior Canady reportedly inking a second seven-figure NIL deal to remain with Texas Tech prior to Friday's decisive Game 3.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

"I've been around a lot of softball players, I've never been around a better teammate and a better person," Texas Tech head coach Gerry Glasco said about Canady following Friday's game. "She's an unbelievable talent. I believe she's the top player in college softball.... Her standards for everything is excellence."

The attendance, viewership, and NIL wins aren't just boosts for collegiate softball. The sport's rise is also fueling a new professional venture, with former NCAA stars launching pro league AUSL on Saturday — strategically timed to capitalize on the momentum of a historic 2025 WCWS.

This weekend's NWSL action saw Gotham FC's woes continue, with the Bats falling further from the playoff line in the 2025 standings after a Saturday loss to the Kansas City Current.

Despite the return of star midfielder Rose Lavelle, who made her 2025 season debut in the match's 74th minute, the 2023 NWSL champions fell 2-1 in a Current win that controversially saw two Gotham goals called back by VAR.

Although they recently lifted the inaugural Concacaf W Champions Cup, the Bats' three straight NWSL losses have them now sitting in 10th place on the the table, while Kansas City saw their lead in the league balloon to five points following this weekend's action.

That extended lead came in part due to then-No. 2 San Diego's first loss in six games, with the Wave dropping to No. 4 this week after stumbling 2-1 to Seattle on Friday night — a victory that launched the Reign into fifth place.

"I just think there's belief," Seattle head coach Laura Harvey said after the match. "I think we would have been disappointed if we'd have come away without a win."

San Diego's loss also allowed the Orlando Pride and Washington Spirit to leapfrog the Wave into Nos. 2 and 3, respectively, on the NWSL table.

Weekend wins similarly fueled their jumps, with the Pride eking out a last-gasp 1-0 victory over the No. 12 Houston Dash on Saturday before the Spirit earned just their second home win of the season by downing the No. 11 North Carolina Courage 3-1 on Sunday.

2024 semifinalists Kansas City, Orlando, and Washington have now all regained their spots in the 2025 season's Top 3.

World No. 2 Coco Gauff earned her second career Grand Slam title on Saturday, taking down No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in a windy 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4 battle to claim the 2025 French Open trophy.

Having reached the final once before in 2022, the 2025 championship made Gauff the first US player to win the French Open since Serena Williams did so in 2015.

"Losing in the finals here three years ago had created a lot of doubt in my head," the 21-year-old wrote on social media after her Roland Garros victory. "I thought my dreams were so close to happening but would never come true. So to be here…means absolutely everything."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

Despite Sabalenka's championship match loss — a performance that saw the 27-year-old commit 70 unforced errors — she will retain the world No. 1 ranking thanks to a generally strong 2025 season so far.

Frustrated with her performance, Sabalenka faced backlash due to her emotional post-match comments on the loss — and, notably, on Gauff's level of play.

She later walked back those words on Sunday, clarifying in an Instagram story that "both things can be true… I didn't play my best, and Coco stepped up and played with poise and purpose. She earned that title."

Gauff, US standout No. 3 Jessica Pegula, and Italy's No. 4 Jasmine Paolini also maintained their WTA positions behind Sabalenka, with French Cinderella story Loïs Boisson skyrocketing 296 spots to No. 65 after her landmark semifinals run.

In contrast, four-time French Open champion Iga Świątek continues to dip, falling from No. 5 to No. 7 after last Thursday's semifinal loss to Sabalenka.

With two of the season's four majors in the books, the US is leading the charge, as Gauff joins reigning Australian Open champion No. 8 Madison Keys as 2025's Grand Slam winners.

After an injury-filled opening month, more than one WNBA team is hoping for star athletes to return to play this week, bolstering squads as they chase each other in the 2025 league standings.

After a quad strain sidelined her for 14 days, Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark is eyeing a possible return later this week.

Though the 2024 Rookie of the Year will not compete in Tuesday's matchup against the Atlanta Dream, she is aiming to suit up as soon as Saturday, when the Fever will host reigning champions New York.

Meanwhile, 2025 No. 1 draft pick Paige Bueckers should also be back on the Dallas Wings' court soon. Despite clearing concussion protocol, the star rookie missed one extra game, sitting out Sunday's loss to the Minnesota Lynx due to illness.

WNBA athletes' impending recoveries aren't good news for everyone, however, as returning from injury has also impacted hardship signings: In anticipation of forward Alyssa Thomas's rejoining the team, as well as the eventual return of guard Kahleah Copper, the Phoenix Mercury waived guard Haley Jones on Sunday.

While some teams were celebrating their stars bouncing back from injury, others are now scrambling from new setbacks.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

Two-time WNBA champion Courtney Vandersloot suffered an ACL tear just five minutes into Chicago's loss to Indiana on Saturday, leaving the Sky facing the rest of the season without their starting point guard.

"Whatever is in store in the future for this team, I trust that we will find a way to make this moment mean something in the end," Sky rookie guard Hailey Van Lith said of Chicago's ability to regroup.

The WNBA has struggled with a wave of high-profile absences to start the 2025 season, but small roster boosts could see teams overcome that adversity to bounce back even stronger.