The Phoenix Mercury will spend their final two games fighting for one of the last two WNBA playoff spots. But they will do so without Skylar Diggins-Smith.

The All-Star guard will miss the team’s two remaining regular-season games due to personal reasons, starting with Friday’s contest against the Dallas Wings, the team announced Thursday afternoon.

For Phoenix’s win Saturday over New York, Diggins-Smith was listed as out with a non-COVID illness. In the team’s loss Wednesday to Minnesota, the All-Star guard was once again absent, this time listed as out for personal reasons.

Two days ago, Diggins-Smith tweeted that the WNBA has to “decide what we want our game to look like” before saying that the league, players and officials all have “very different views on how our game should be played.” Four days before that, she tweeted that she was in “survival mode.” As of Thursday, Diggins-Smith’s Twitter account has been deleted.

Diggins-Smith last played on Aug. 4 against the Sun, contributing a team-high 16 points. The game took place hours after teammate Brittney Griner was sentenced to nine years in a Russian penal colony.

After that game, Diggins-Smith said Griner’s imprisonment has taken a toll on the team during a challenging season for the Mercury.

Skylar Diggins-Smith had some powerful words on teammate Brittney Griner.pic.twitter.com/e4ytrxJs9A

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“It’s heavy. It’s just heavy y’all,” Diggins-Smith said. “Y’all asking these questions don’t really take away from our trauma. You just add to our trauma. We can break down and cry in front of y’all, so you can see how we feel. I don’t know what else to really say about it. It’s our sister. This is not some random Jane off the street. It’s not anything we’re politicizing. It’s a human being and this is our real life friend and real life sister.

“Now I don’t expect everybody to give a damn, but we really do. We come out here and we’re still supposed to play this game. Nobody even wanted to play today. How are you supposed to approach the game, approach the court with a clear mind, and the whole group is crying before the game because you try to honor her, and you try to come out and still play hard for her.”

Phoenix head coach Vanessa Nygaard said Wednesday that the Mercury found out before the game that Diggins-Smith would be out.

“We have gone through this earlier on Saturday,” the coach said. “We’re just one day at a time moving forward. We’ve seen everything this year, so whatever gets thrown at us, we’re ready to just lace them up and go.

“It’s such an honor and a privilege to play this game and we’re so blessed every day that we get to go out and play in front of our great fans. So whoever we have available is going to come out and battle for our team. We still have fight, and we’re going to be ready to go. That’s what our fans deserve.”

Issues beyond Griner’s detention in Russia have plagued the team this season. In May, Diggins-Smith and Taurasi traded words and had to be separated by teammates while on the bench.

When Taurasi didn’t make the All-Star game, Nygaard praised the selection of Diggins-Smith but suggested the event wasn’t really an All-Star game without Taurasi. In response, Diggins-Smith sent out a tweet with the clip and a clown emoji that was seemingly directed at the coach.

As the trade deadline approached in July, reports emerged that the team was exploring the possibility of a trade involving Diggins-Smith.

Phoenix also agreed to a contract divorce in June with Tina Charles, who later signed with Seattle.

“I’m a strong believer that whatever adversity is thrown at me as a person, as a coach in my development, it’s all for me,” Nygaard said after Wednesday’s loss to Minnesota. “This is something that’s going to help me and make me personally better. I believe that for our team, too. Challenges and things that come to us forces us to try new things.

“I’m extremely proud to have coached this group tonight. That group that’s in the locker room, they are a tough group and they are so resilient. I don’t think anyone can imagine some of the challenges they’ve faced, but they’ve never quit. They’ve never given up.”

On Thursday, US Soccer announced that the USWNT will cap off its 2024 campaign with a December 3rd friendly against the Netherlands in The Hague — the team's 23rd game this year.

The match comes three days after the US side's previously announced meeting with 2022 European champions and 2023 World Cup finalists England at London's iconic Wembley Stadium. 

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To stay the best, the USWNT will play the best

Following their gold medal-winning run at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the USWNT reclaimed their world No. 1 ranking. In order to stay there, head coach Emma Hayes noted, the team must seek out matches against other top international foes.

"It was a fantastic summer for our team, and we’re going to take a lot of great lessons and memories from our time in France, but now we are looking forward to continuing our process,” said Hayes.

"In order for our team to keep learning and growing, and for the coaching staff to continue to evaluate players, we need to play the best teams possible. Playing matches in Europe against some of the world’s top teams will be an important part of our journey."

With England sitting at No. 2 in the world and the Dutch at No. 11, this final 2024 road trip is exactly what the US boss ordered.

The Dutch are a familiar friendly foe

In their 11 previous meetings with the Netherlands, the USWNT has only lost once: a 4-3 defeat in their first-ever matchup in 1991. In the years since, the States have had the upper hand, logging eight wins and two draws.

The duo has ramped up the drama in their matches, though, facing each other in world championships in three of their last four bouts.

The USWNT's 2019 World Cup final win is arguably the team's most meaningful Dutch defeat, though recent tilts have appeared significantly tougher. While the US walked away with the win in the pair's 2021 Olympic quarterfinal, they needed penalty kicks to do so. And in the States's admittedly disappointing 2023 World Cup run, they played the Netherlands to a 1-1- draw in the group stage.

How to watch the USWNT's European friendlies

The US will take on England on November 30th at 12:20 PM ET. Their meeting with the Netherlands will kick off at 2:45 PM ET on December 3rd.

Both friendlies will air live on TNT, or you can stream the games via Max and Peacock.

The NWSL, in collaboration with Tiffany & Co., dropped revamped Shield and regular-season MVP trophies on Wednesday.

The bold new hardware is part of a plan to “set a new standard for recognition in women’s sports” by giving the Tiffany treatment to all NWSL end-of-season awards. This year's two additions join the redesigned Championship and Championship MVP awards that kicked off the league’s partnership with the jewelry company last year.

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An NWSL Shield worthy of superheroes

Both awards are handcrafted by Tiffany & Co. The refreshed MVP award includes a silver soccer ball atop a tall base.

"The best players in the world play here at the NWSL, and it is only fitting that we work with Tiffany to honor the best of the best," said NWSL chief marketing and commercial officer Julie Haddon in the league's announcement. “It has been a long time coming to create a suite of awards that are as extraordinary as our athletes."

Inspired by ancient Greco-Roman armor, the 24K gold and sterling silver Shield features a unique, interactive design. It is equipped with a handle so it can be removed from its base and held like "a true shield." 

Orlando poised to handle the new hardware

As the still-undefeated league leaders, the Orlando Pride are the clear frontrunners to claim the redesigned NWSL Shield.

The second-place Washington Spirit, third-place Gotham FC, and fourth-place KC Current are technically still in the running. However, with four matchdays left, Orlando can clinch the Shield outright by either defeating the Spirit this Sunday or winning two other remaining matches.

The regular-season MVP award race is tighter. Though Golden Boot leader Temwa Chawinga (KC) and the league's next top scorer Barbra Banda (Orlando) have pulled away from the pack.

And if Banda snags the honor, both new trophies will likely be bound for Florida.

Two games into the best-of-five 2024 WNBA semifinals, and the back-to-back defending champion Aces are staring down elimination while the Lynx evened the score last night.

With Friday's Game 3 offering a venue change, Las Vegas will need every ounce of their home-court advantage to continue their playoff run, while Minnesota's aim will be to silence the Connecticut crowd.

Aces on the brink of elimination after Game 2 loss

Tuesday's second-straight loss, an 88-84 defeat by the No. 1 seed Liberty in Brooklyn, has No. 4 seed Las Vegas on the brink of playoff elimination. The Aces are now the first reigning champions to ever fall to a 0-2 deficit in a WNBA playoff series.

Las Vegas has yet to conquer the Liberty this season, falling a franchise record-tying five straight times to same opponent, all after defeating New York in the 2023 WNBA Finals.

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New York's Sabrina Ionescu and Las Vegas's A'ja Wilson led their teams in scoring with 24 points each, while Liberty guard Courtney Vandersloot provided a crucial spark off the bench. 

Should Las Vegas turn things around when the series moves back to Nevada on Friday, they'd become the first team to ever bounce back from 0-2 to reach the WNBA Finals.

Aces guard Chelsea Gray put a positive spin on the challenge, saying "I love being in the history books, so might as well try to start there. That's going to be our mentality."

Lynx level up with Game 2 semifinal win in Minnesota

No. 2 seed Minnesota evened their semifinal score with No. 3 seed Connecticut on Tuesday, earning a 77-70 win in Minneapolis to send the series back East at one victory apiece.

Courtney Williams led the Lynx in scoring with 17 points, while a physical Minnesota defense held the Sun to less than 40% shooting from the field.

In the loss, Sun forward DeWanna Bonner became the third all-time leading scorer in WNBA postseason history. She also inked her name into the league record books as the player with the most appearances in playoff history at 83 games and counting.

Friday kicks off a guaranteed two-game run in Connecticut, with the home side on a mission to reach the Finals for the first time since 2022.

How to watch Game 3 of the WNBA semifinals

Las Vegas and Minnesota will look to pick up critical wins in Friday's Game 3, with the Aces facing a must-win scenario in front of what promises to be a rocking home crowd.

The Lynx will travel to Connecticut for a 7:30 PM ET tip off on Friday, October 4th, followed by a Liberty vs. Aces showdown in Las Vegas at 9:30 PM ET. Both games are scheduled to air on ESPN2.

In this week's episode of The Late Sub, host Claire Watkins takes a look at the first games of the 2024 WNBA semifinals, discussion whether or not Aces and Lynx fans can find the silver lining in their teams' respective shortcomings heading into Game 2.

Then, she shouts out the big winners and losers of this weekend's NWSL's slate, including this season's historic Golden Boot race and the competition to clinch one of the final playoff spots.

The Late Sub with Claire Watkins brings you the latest news and freshest takes in women’s sports. This is the weekly rundown you’ve been missing, covering the USWNT, NWSL, WNBA, college hoops, and whatever else is popping off in women’s sports each week. Special guest appearances with the biggest names in women’s sports make The Late Sub a must-listen for every fan. Follow Claire on X/Twitter @ScoutRipley and subscribe to the Just Women’s Sports newsletter for more.

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