Another week, another packed WNBA schedule. 

Just Women’s Sports has three storylines to watch as the action continues. 

Can the Sky continue on without Candace Parker?

Chicago Sky vs. Las Vegas Aces: Tuesday, June 21 @ 10 p.m.

Tuesday’s matchup between the Sky and the Aces is a preview for the Commissioner’s Cup after each team secured their places by the weekend’s end. 

Chicago remains without Candace Parker, which showed on Sunday as the team lost 89-87 to the Indiana Fever. It wasn’t without effort from the Sky, as Kahleah Copper notched 28 points in the loss. They’ll need more from players like Azurá Stevens and Allie Quigley, however, if they want to get past the Aces. 

The Sky has been without Parker in the past. Last season, the team went on a losing streak when Parker went down with an injury early on, but they rebounded upon her return, winning seven straight to set a franchise record for consecutive wins.

Vegas, meanwhile, is on yet another win streak having triumphed in their past four. With a 13-2 record, they lead the league with an .867 win percentage.

But they narrowly managed to escape Minnesota on Sunday, scraping by with a 96-95 win thanks to a 25-point performance from A’ja Wilson. All five Aces starters continue to be offensively sound, having scored in double digits against Minnesota. But the team’s defense was once again lacking, something head coach Becky Hammon has been vocal about all season long.

The race for Rookie of the Year continues

Dallas Wings vs Atlanta Dream: Tuesday, June 21 @ 7 p.m.; Indiana Fever vs. Dallas Wings: Thursday, June 23 @ 8 p.m.

The race for rookie of the year is continuing to heat up as the season wears on. Indiana Fever forward NaLyssa Smith is coming off of a career game in which she scored 26 points and contributed 11 rebounds. It was her fourth double-double of the season.

While the Fever have a plethora of rookies, including Emily Engstler, Destanni Henderson and Queen Egbo, Smith appears to be cementing herself as one of the best. But she can at times be all over the place, having scored just four points in Phoenix prior to exploding against Chicago.

Rhyne Howard, meanwhile, has been more consistent for Atlanta. She’s coming off of a 16-point performance against Chicago and has scored in double digits in all but two games this season.

While Shakira Austin’s name is certainly in the mix for Rookie of the Year, as of right now it’ll probably be between Smith or Howard at the end of the season. But don’t count out Rebekah Gardner for Sixth Woman of the Year. Gardner, a 31-year-old rookie for Chicago this season, has been averaging 9.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game off of the bench. She’s averaging better than expected in fantasy points per game and has in the past been coined the WNBA’s leading unicorn by Just Women’s Sports.

Who will be named to the WNBA All-Star squad?

Voting closes Monday, June 20

The time has come for the WNBA All-Star squad to be named. With voting closing on Monday, the top selections will soon be made known.

Will it be A’ja Wilson, who has been steadily leading the Aces to the best record in the league? Could she be joined by Kelsey Plum, who has firmly cemented herself as Las Vegas’ second-best player — if not at times the best?

Who of the rookies will make it, if any?

There’s also injuries to consider — Sylvia Fowles is out indefinitely with a knee injury as Candace Parker remains absent.

With Chicago hosting the event for the first time in team history, it’s likely that there will be some hometown heroes — including Allie Quigley, who won the 3-point contest last season for the third time.

Determining who will be team captains is like trying to decide on your favorite holiday — there are too many good ones to choose from. So keep an eye out to see who will make it and get to play on July 10 in Chicago. 

Full Schedule:

Tuesday, June 21

• Dallas Wings vs. Atlanta Dream @ 7 p.m.
• Minnesota Lynx vs. Phoenix Mercury @ 10 p.m.
• Chicago Sky vs. Las Vegas Aces @ 10 p.m.
• Washington Mystics vs. Los Angeles Sparks @ 10:30 p.m.

Wednesday, June 22

• New York Liberty vs. Connecticut Sun @ 7 p.m. on ESPN2

Thursday, June 23

• Phoenix Mercury vs. Minnesota Lynx @ 8 p.m.
• Indiana Fever vs. Dallas Wings @ 8 p.m.
• Washington Mystics vs. Seattle Storm @ 10 p.m.
• Chicago Sky vs. Los Angeles Sparks @ 10:30 p.m.

Friday, June 24

• New York Liberty vs. Atlanta Dream @ 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, June 25

• Phoenix Mercury vs. Dallas Wings @ 8 p.m.
• Los Angeles Sparks vs. Seattle Storm @ 9 p.m.
• Washington Mystics vs. Las Vegas Aces @ 10 p.m.

Sunday, June 26

• Connecticut Sun vs. Atlanta Dream @ 3 p.m.
• Minnesota Lynx vs. Chicago Sky @ 6 p.m.

*All times ET

U.S. Soccer announced Tuesday that the USWNT will play their last home game on July 16th in the lead-up to the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.

The 2024 Send-Off Match against Costa Rica will take place at Washington, DC’s Audi Field — home to both the Washington Spirit and DC United — at 7:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 16th. The friendly rounds out a four-game Olympic run-up campaign under incoming head coach Emma Hayes’ side, with the last two set to feature the finalized 2024 U.S. Olympic Women’s Soccer Team roster.

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Hayes will appear on the USWNT sideline for the first time this June, helming the team as they embark on a two-game series against Korea Republic hosted by Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado on June 1st followed by Allianz Stadium in St. Paul, Minnesota on June 4th. 

The team is then scheduled to meet a talented Mexico squad on July 13th at Gotham FC’s Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, where the Olympic-bound lineup will attempt to rewrite February’s shocking 2-0 loss to El Tri Femenil in the group stages of this year’s Concacaf W Gold Cup. And while clear roster favorites have emerged from both of this year’s Gold Cup and SheBelives Cup rosters, a spate of recent and recurring injuries means making it to the Olympics is still largely anyone’s game.

Broadcast and streaming channels for the USWNT's final July 16th friendly at Audi Field include TNT, truTV, Universo, Max, and Peacock.

The USA Basketball Women's National Team is still considering Caitlin Clark for a spot on the Paris Olympics squad, says selection committee chair Jennifer Rizzotti. 

On Monday, Rizzotti told the AP that the committee will be evaluating the college phenom’s Olympic prospects by keeping a close eye on her first few weeks of WNBA play with Indiana.

The move is somewhat unconventional. While Clark was invited to participate in the 14-player national team training camp held earlier this month — the last camp before Team USA’s roster drops — she was unable to attend due to it coinciding with Iowa’s trip to the NCAA Women’s Final Four.

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Judging by the immense talent spread throughout the league in what might be their most hyped season to date, competition for a piece of the Olympic pie could be fiercer than ever before.

"You always want to introduce new players into the pool whether it's for now or the future," said Rizzotti. "We stick to our principles of talent, obviously, positional fit, loyalty and experience. It's got to be a combination of an entire body of work. It's still not going to be fair to some people."

Of course, Clark isn’t the first rookie the committee has made exceptions for. Coming off an exceptional college season that saw her averaging 19.4 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 4 assists per game for UConn, Breanna Stewart was tapped to represent the U.S. at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil less than two weeks after being drafted No. 1 overall by the Seattle Storm. Eight years prior, fellow No. 1 pick Candace Parker punched her ticket to the 2008 Games in Beijing just two weeks after making her first appearance for the L.A. Sparks.

In the lead-up to Paris’ Opening Ceremony on July 26th, USA Basketball Women’s National Team is scheduled to play a pair of exhibition games. They'll first go up against the WNBA's finest at the July 20th WNBA All-Star Game in Phoenix before facing Germany in London on July 23rd.

While an official roster announcement date hasn’t yet been issued, players won’t find out if they’ve made this year’s Olympic cut until at least June 1st.

For the first time in history, three different WNBA teams have completely sold out of season ticket plans well before the league's May 14th kick-off.

Call it the Caitlin Clark effect, attribute it to this year’s tenacious rookie class, or look to the skyrocketing visibility of veteran players across the board. But no matter the cause, facts are facts: Tickets to the 2024 WNBA season are selling like never before. 

On Monday, the Dallas Wings became the third team to sell out of season ticket memberships in the league’s 27-year history. The announcement from Arlington came shortly after the Atlanta Dream issued their own season ticket sell-out statement, also on Monday, and almost seven weeks after the back-to-back WNBA Champion Las Vegas Aces made headlines by becoming the first-ever WNBA team to sell out their season ticket allotment.   

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According to the Wings, season ticket memberships will fill nearly 40% of the 6,251 seats inside their home arena, College Park Center. The club also said that their overall ticket revenue has ballooned to the tune of 220% this year, spanning not just season tickets but also a 1,200% increase in single ticket sales. There’s currently a waitlist to become a Dallas season ticket holder, a status that comes with extra incentives like playoff presale access and discounts on additional single-game tickets. 

In Atlanta, season tickets aren't the only thing flying off the shelves. The Dream also announced that they broke their own record for single-game ticket sales during a recent limited presale campaign. Sunday was reportedly their most lucrative day, with five different games totally selling out Gateway Center Arena. Individual tickets for all upcoming matchups will hit the market this Thursday at 8 a.m., while a waitlist for season ticket memberships will open up next Tuesday at 10 a.m.

"Excitement around women's sports, particularly basketball, is at an all-time high and nowhere is that felt more than here in Atlanta," Dream president and COO Morgan Shaw Parker said in the team’s statement. "We’ve continued a record-setting growth trajectory over the past three years under new ownership — both on and off the court — and 2024 is shaping up to be our best season yet."

As of Tuesday, season ticket sales revenue for Caitlin Clark’s hotly anticipated Indiana Fever debut haven’t yet been announced by the club. But if these numbers are any indication — not to mention the explosive demand for Fever away games felt by teams around the country — it won’t be long before we see some scale-tipping figures coming out of Indianapolis.

25-year-old American pro golfer Nelly Korda secured her spot in LPGA history on Sunday, notching her fifth-straight title at this weekend's Chevron Championship in The Woodlands, Texas.

Ranked No. 1 in the world by Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, Korda joins Nancy Lopez (1978) and Annika Sörenstam (2005) as just the third LPGA player to rack up five consecutive tour wins. She is also the third No. 1-ranked player to capture The Chevron Championship victory since the rankings debuted in 2006, accompanied by Lorena Ochoa and Lydia Ko.

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The Florida native shot three-under 69 in Sunday's final, besting Sweden's Maja Stark despite Stark's valiant come-from-behind attempt in the 18th. Korda finished with a four-day total of 13-under 275, celebrating her two-stroke win by cannonballing into Poppie's Pond, much to the crowd's delight. She left The Club at Carlton Woods with $1.2 million from an overall purse of $7.9 million.

It wasn't long ago that the two-time major champion's current winning streak seemed unimaginable. After maintaining her No. 1 position for 29 weeks, Korda underwent surgery to remove a blood clot from her left arm in 2022. She returned to the course not long after, but failed to win a single tournament in 2023 before seeing a surge in form during the first four months of 2024. As of today, she hasn't lost a tournament since January.

Korda will attempt a record sixth-straight win at next week's JM Eagle LA Championship at Wilshire Country Club in Los Angeles, where she'll vie for a cut of the $3.75 million purse.