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WNBA rosters: Which rookies made the cut?

Rookie center Shakira Austin joins the Washington Mystics for the 2022 season. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

The WNBA season begins Friday, and teams have finalized their rosters ahead of the opening tipoff.

Of the 36 rookies selected in this year’s draft, 17 have made opening day rosters – including 10 of the players drafted in the first round. Two undrafted rookies in Maryland’s Katie Benzan and Arizona’s Sam Thomas also made the cut.

Several draftees have had their contracts suspended for the season – including Nyara Sabally, who was drafted No. 5 overall by the Liberty but will miss the season due to injury. Mya Hollingshed, who was picked No. 8 overall by the Aces, is the only first-round draftee to be cut by a team.

Atlanta Dream

Both of the Dream’s draftees – No. 1 overall pick Rhyne Howard and No. 15 pick Naz Hillmon – have made the final roster for the upcoming season.

Kristy Wallace also has made the roster as a rookie. The 2018 draftee has been playing in Australia’s WNBL after recovering from two injuries over the past four years.

Chicago Sky

Rebekah Gardner is the lone rookie to make the Sky roster. After playing at UCLA from 2009-2012, Gardner went undrafted. She made her way overseas, where she most recently has been playing for Spar Citylift Girona in Spain’s Liga Femenina.

Li Yueru was also picked up by the team and is listed on the roster, although she is still in China and may not be able to play this season. Li has yet to receive approval from the Chinese Basketball Federation to play in the United States.

Connecticut Sun

Yvonne Anderson is another older rookie to make a WNBA roster. After going undrafted out of Texas in 2012, she has played overseas, most recently for Reyer Venezia in Italy.

Nia Clouden is the lone draftee for Connecticut to earn a spot on the regular-season roster. Kiara Smith, meanwhile, remains under team control but will sit out the season as she continues to rehab a knee injury suffered during the SEC tournament.

Dallas Wings

Two of the Wings’ three draftees have made the final roster, with Veronica Burton and Jasmine Dickey making their stamp during the team’s training camp.

Indiana Fever

Of Indiana’s plethora of draft picks, five remain on the final roster, making the Fever the team with the most rookies heading into the season. Queen Egbo, Lexie Hull, NaLyssa Smith, Emily Engstler and Destanni Henderson will all look to make an impact this season as the Fever continue to rebuild.

Las Vegas Aces

Two of the Aces’ six draftees – Kierstan Bell and Aisha Sheppard – made the final roster in Becky Hammon’s first season as head coach.

Los Angeles Sparks

Three rookies made the Sparks roster: Olivia Nelson-Ododa, Rae Burrell and Amy Atwell. All will look to make their mark alongside some big-name stars.

Minnesota Lynx

Minnesota is one of just two teams that will not carry a rookie into the 2022 season.

Draftees Kayla Jones and Hannah Sjerven did not make the cut, while undrafted rookies Chloe Bibby, Cece Hooks and Moon Ursin also were waived during training camp.

With two seasons under her belt, Jessica Shepard is the Lynx player with the least WNBA experience. She was drafted by the team in the 2019 draft before missing the 2020 season with a knee injury.

New York Liberty

Second-round pick Lorela Cubaj is the only rookie who will be active for the Liberty this season.

Fellow rookies Nyara Sabally and Sika Kone will miss the upcoming season. Kone has opted to continue rehabbing an injury in Spain while Sabally recently underwent knee surgery. Both players’ rights remain with the Liberty.

Phoenix Mercury

Sam Thomas is the lone rookie on a stacked Mercury roster that is expected to compete for a WNBA championship this season. Undrafted out of Arizona, she scored nine points in one preseason game for the Mercury.

Seattle Storm

Seattle is the other team that will not bring a rookie into the new season.

Jade Melbourne, who was drafted by the team in April, opted to remain in Australia and play in the WBNL this season. She told Basketball Australia that she intends to take a stab at the WNBA next year after gaining more experience.

“I think for me personally, I want to go over there giving training camp a red-hot crack, obviously I’m only 19 and a lot of the girls over there who are coming out of college are 22-24, so doing another year here in the NBL1 and WNBL, I’ll gain a lot,” she said. “My game is still developing and I want to add to my strengths as well, give myself a proper offseason so hopefully when I go there next year I’ll be in good shape and hopefully secure a roster spot.”

Washington Mystics

The Washington Mystics will carry three rookies – Shakira Austin, Katie Benzan and Rui Machida – on their 2022 roster.

Austin was the No. 3 overall pick in this year’s draft. Benzan went undrafted but was signed to a training camp contract on April 20. Machida joins the team from Japan.

Aryna Sabalenka Defends Grand Slam Title as 2025 US Open Takes Over Queens

Aryna Sabalenka celebrates a point during a 2025 Cincinnati Open match.
World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka will begin her Grand Slam title defense at the 2025 US Open on Sunday. (Robert Prange/Getty Images)

The 2025 US Open has officially landed in New York, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka looks to kick off her 2024 title defense when the main draw of the tennis season's final Grand Slam hits courts on Sunday.

The Queens-based tournament marks Sabalenka's last shot at winning a major title this season, with the three-time Slam victor falling in both the 2025 Australian Open and 2025 French Open finals as well as stumbling out of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships in the semifinal round.

With the sport's biggest payday on the line, tennis's top talent are preparing to battle Sabalenka for both hardware and the tournament's record $5 million champion's check.

Joining the 27-year-old on this year's US Open roster are reigning Wimbledon champion No. 2 Iga Świątek, 2025 French Open winner No. 3 Coco Gauff, and home-state hero and 2024 US Open runner-up No. 4 Jessica Pegula.

With five of the WTA's Top-11 players, the US contingent is hoping the reclaim the host nation's Grand Slam trophy this year, as reigning Australian Open champ No. 6 Madison Keys, 2025 Wimbledon runner-up No. 9 Amanda Anisimova, and No. 11 Emma Navarro join Gauff and Pegula as the USA's frontrunners.

Two-time US Open winner and fan favorite No. 25 Naomi Osaka also enters the tournament as a seeded competitor for the first time since 2021, while 45-year-old icon Venus Williams will take the main-draw court for her 25th Queens Slam after headlining this year's wild card list.

How to watch the 2025 US Open

The US Open singles tournament begins on Sunday and runs through the September 6th final.

Live coverage of the New York Grand Slam will air across ESPN platforms.

Atlanta Dream, Las Vegas Aces Capitalize as Upsets Upend WNBA Standings

Atlanta Dream guard Rhyne Howard drives to the basket as Minnesota Lynx forward Maria Kliundikova and guard Natisha Hiedeman give chase during a 2025 WNBA game.
Rhyne Howard and the No. 2 Atlanta Dream took down the No. 1 Minnesota Lynx in a nail-biter on Thursday night. (Adam Hagy/NBAE via Getty Images)

The race to the 2025 WNBA Playoffs is heating up, with Thursday night upsets shooting rising contenders like the No. 2 Atlanta Dream and No. 3 Las Vegas Aces up the WNBA standings.

In Atlanta, the Dream handed the No. 1 Minnesota Lynx their first consecutive loss this season, holding on for a 75-73 victory behind guard Allisha Gray's game-leading 27 points.

"It'll help build some confidence to know that we're capable of having beaten Minnesota at Minnesota, and then able to do it again here," remarked Atlanta coach Karl Smesko, referencing his team's July 27th win over the Lynx.

It was a similar story in Las Vegas, where the Aces tacked on a ninth straight victory to their 2025 season tally, pulling off a 83-61 upset win over the now-No. 5 Phoenix Mercury.

Las Vegas star center A'ja Wilson led the charge with a 19-point, 13-rebound double-double, while guard Dana Evans added 17 points off the bench.

"My belief in them has never wavered," Aces coach Becky Hammon said afterwards. "Our locker room, it would've been very easy to fall apart in June when things were not going well for anybody."

"Obviously, at the beginning, we had some rough patches," echoed Evans. "But that made us closer, that brought us closer together, to lean on each other more."

How to watch the Atlanta Dream, Las Vegas Aces this weekend

Both the No. 2 Dream and No. 3 Aces will be back in action on Saturday, when Atlanta hosts a now-No. 4 New York Liberty side at 2 PM ET before Las Vegas shoots for a perfect 10-game winning streak during their visit to the No. 10 Washington Mystics at 3 PM ET.

CBS will provide live coverage of the New York vs. Atlanta clash, while the Las Vegas vs. Washington matchup will air live on WNBA League Pass.

Chicago Sky Upset Sends New York Liberty Skidding Down the WNBA Standings

Chicago Sky center Kamilla Cardoso and New York Liberty center Jonquel Jones jockey for positioning during a 2025 WNBA game.
Kamilla Cardoso and the Chicago Sky upset Jonquel Jones and the New York Liberty on Thursday. (John Jones/Imagn Images)

The New York Liberty are officially in free fall, with a 91-85 upset loss to the already-eliminated No. 11 Chicago Sky sending the reigning champs skidding down two spots to No. 4 in the WNBA standings on Thursday.

Despite New York center Jonquel Jones's game-leading 25 points, double-doubles from Sky stars Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso secured the Chicago upset, with Cardoso pairing a team-high 22 points with 15 rebounds.

"Anyone can beat anyone in this league, anyone can win this championship — it's wide open," New York head coach Sandy Brondello said following the upset in which her Liberty struggled to dominate the defensive paint. "But our inconsistency is mind-boggling at times."

"When you give a team hope, that's all they need," added star guard Sabrina Ionescu afterwards. "I'd say in the first half we made things way too easy for them, and that gave them hope going into halftime, knowing that they could hang with us."

New York won't have much time to reflect on their mistakes as they gear up for a Saturday clash against a surging No. 2 Atlanta Dream — all while the Liberty remain without a clear-cut timeline for two-time WNBA MVP forward Breanna Stewart's return from injury.

"I think we have to play more physical in the beginning, and set the tone early," Jones told reporters ahead of the weekend's test.

New York does have some light at the end of the tunnel, as next week's potentially lopsided matchups against the No. 13 Connecticut Sun and No. 10 Washington Mystics follow Saturday's top-table meeting.

How to watch the New York Liberty this weekend

The No. 4 Liberty will aim to get back on track by hitting the road this weekend, taking on the No. 2 Dream in Atlanta at 2 PM ET on Saturday.

Live coverage of the clash will air on CBS.

Gotham FC Hunts 1st NWSL Win Since June in Weekend Matchup

Gotham FC attacker Esther looks up during a 2025 NWSL match.
Esther González and Gotham FC are hunting their first NWSL win in four matches this weekend. (Ira L. Black - Corbis/Getty Images)

No. 8 Gotham FC's results disparity deepened this week, as the NJ/NY club claimed all three points off Liga MX side Monterrey in Wednesday's Concacaf W Champions Cup group-stage play after falling 2-1 to the No. 11 Houston Dash last Sunday — leaving the 2023 league champs without an NWSL win since late June.

Gotham has struggled in the league since returning from summer break, entering the match weekend with two draws in addition to Sunday's upset — fueled in part by veteran defender Emily Sonnett's own goal — under their belts this month.

"We try to always look at the glass half full instead of half empty," head coach Juan Carlos Amorós said after last weekend's loss. "Football sometimes throws you some difficult curves."

Now hitting the pitch on short rest, Gotham will aim to take advantage of the last-place Utah Royals on Saturday as they hunt a boost in the NWSL standings.

With just one regular-season win this year, the No. 14 Royals look ready for an offseason refresh after recently sending star forward Ally Sentnor to the No. 1 Kansas City Current.

"I think we're at 60%," Utah manager Jimmy Coenraets said earlier this week. "The 40% margin is getting people to be able to play 90 minutes in the way that we wanted to play."

How to watch Saturday's Gotham FC vs. Utah Royals FC match

No. 8 Gotham will kick off against the visiting No. 14 Utah Royals at 7:30 PM ET on Saturday.

Live coverage of the match will air on ION.

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