All Scores

WNBA triple-doubles: Alyssa Thomas is ‘making it look easy’

(Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)

Alyssa Thomas is leading the triple-double revolution.

Triple-doubles were a rare occurrence through most of WNBA history. Then came the year of the triple-double, with nine recorded during the 2022 season. And the pace has not slowed in 2023, with 11 as of Oct. 1.

Give credit to Thomas for the explosion. The Connecticut Sun forward recorded the first of her career on July 22, 2022, but finished that season with four — breaking the WNBA career record. And on Oct. 1, she recorded her seventh of 2023.

Thomas is the only WNBA player with more than two triple-doubles in a single season.

“Even myself as a coach, you have to intentionally tell yourself to not take these moments for granted,” Sun head coach Stephanie White said. “Like it just seems so routine that Alyssa Thomas gets a triple-double or close to a triple-double or a double-double. … It’s not routine, it’s exceptional.”

Five other players have recorded multiple triple-doubles: Candace Parker (3), Sabrina Ionescu (3), Sheryl Swoopes (2), Courtney Vandersloot (2) and Chelsea Gray (2).

“I think the game is changing,” Parker said following her third career triple-double in June 2022. “I think we’re gonna very soon see this on a nightly basis. We’re going to see those playmakers who have the ball in their hands.”

How many triple-doubles have been recorded in WNBA history?

In total, 31 triple-doubles have been recorded across the league’s 27 seasons, with 26 during the regular season and five during the playoffs. The 31 triple-doubles have come from 14 total players.

Swoopes recorded the first playoff triple-double in 2005, while Vandersloot did so in 2021. Thomas joined the club with two in the 2022 WNBA Finals, and then added another in the 2023 semifinals.

Sheryl Swoopes (2)

Swoopes recorded the league’s first-ever triple-double on July 27, 1999, while playing for the Houston Comets. She recorded 14 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists. She would later get her second triple-double on September 3, 2005, with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

Margo Dydek

While with the Utah Starzz, Dydek had 12 points, 11 rebounds and 10 blocks on June 7, 2001. Dydek remains the only WNBA player to have recorded a triple-double through blocks and not assists.

Lisa Leslie

Leslie set a new bar on September 9, 2004, recording 29 points, 15 rebounds and 10 blocks for the Los Angeles Sparks. That stood as the record for most points in a triple-double until Ionescu broke it in 2022.

Deanna Nolan

On May 21, 2005, Nolan recorded the first of two triple-doubles that year. That 2005 season became the first with multiple triple-doubles. She had 11 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists for the Detroit Shock.

Temeka Johnson

As a member of the Seattle Storm, Johnson recorded 13 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists on July 24, 2014.

Candace Parker (3)

It took nine seasons for Parker to record her first triple-double. On July 28, 2017, she had 11 points, 17 rebounds and 15 assists for the Los Angeles Sparks.

Her other two came with the Chicago Sky in 2022, with Parker recording the first triple-double of the year on May 22, with 16 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists. While she became the oldest player to record a triple-double in WNBA history in that game, she later became the first player to record three triple-doubles in league history with another on June 23 (10 points, 10 rebounds, 14 assists).

Courtney Vandersloot (2)

Vandersloot recorded the first of her two triple-doubles on July 20, 2018, with 13 points, 10 rebounds and 15 assists. She registered her second triple-double during the 2021 postseason, notching 14 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

Chelsea Gray (2)

As a member of the Los Angeles Sparks, Gray recorded a triple-double on July 7, 2019. She had 13 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists.

In 2023, she notched the second of her career with the Aces in a rivalry win over the Liberty. She finished with 22 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists.

Sabrina Ionescu (3)

Ionescu’s first triple-double came on May 18, 2021, when she recorded 26 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists — the highest point total since Leslie’s triple-double in 2004.

She bested that number with a 27-point, 13-rebound and 12-assist performance on June 12, 2022. Then, against the Aces on July 7, Ionescu set the record for points in a triple-double with 31 — the first 30-plus-point triple-double. She added 13 rebounds and 10 assists in that game.

Moriah Jefferson

Jefferson added her name to the list on June 28, 2022, with 13 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for the first triple-double in Minnesota Lynx history.

Courtney Williams

On June 30, 2023, Williams contributed 12 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists for the Chicago Sky in a win over the Los Angeles Sparks.

Satou Sabally

The Dallas Wings’ Satou Sabally recorded her first triple-double on July 28, 2023, putting up 14 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in the Dallas Wings’ win over the Washington Mystics.

She is the second player in Wings history to achieve a triple-double, joining Deanna Nolan. Nolan had one in 2005 when the franchise was in Detroit.

Sug Sutton

The final pick of the 2020 WNBA Draft at No. 36 overall, Sutton has bounced around the league over the last four seasons, but she inked her name in the history books with her first triple-double on Sept. 8, 2023. The 24-year-old guard had 18 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists for the Phoenix Mercury in a 94-73 loss to the Las Vegas Aces.

Alyssa Thomas (11)

Thomas recorded the first triple-double of her career and the first in Connecticut Sun history on July 22, 2022. The star forward tallied 15 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds.

Less than two weeks later, on Aug. 2, 2022, Thomas posted 10 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists to become just the third player in WNBA history to record multiple triple-doubles in a single season — joining Parker and Ionescu, who also did so in 2022.

She added yet another — and the first in WNBA Finals history — on Sept. 15, with 16 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists in a Game 3 win against the Las Vegas Aces. Then she followed it up with still another in the team’s series-clinching loss to Las Vegas, notching 11 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds to become the first WNBA player to post back-to-back triple-doubles.

On June 20, 2023, Thomas posted her fifth career triple-double, with 13 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists. Her sixth came just five days later on June 25, in a 14-point, 11-rebound and 12-assist performance. Then, just two days after that, Thomas recorded her third triple-double in eight days, with 11 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

Her eighth came on July 30, 2023, with Thomas putting up 17 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists. And her ninth came on Aug. 1, with 21 points, 20 rebounds and 12 assists.

Thomas kept it rolling, with her 10th coming on Sept. 5, 2023. She recorded 27 points, 14 assists and 12 rebounds, as well as 6 steals. She’s the first player in WNBA history with 25 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists and 5 steals in a game.

“I’m doing something that’s never been done in the league before,” Thomas said following that performance. “And I’m making it look easy. And by no means are triple-doubles easy. Credit goes to my teammates.”

In the 2023 playoffs, she posted the 11th triple-double of her career in the WNBA semifinals, with 17 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists.

WPSL to Launch First-Ever 2nd Division U.S. Pro Women’s Soccer League

The new WPSL Pro league logo on a red-to-blue ombre gradient background.
The new WPSL Pro league is set to launch in 2026. (WPSL Pro Soccer)

The Women’s Premier Soccer League (WPSL) announced a plan to launch a Division II pro arm in 2026, providing a domestic stepping stone for players aspiring to top-flight leagues like the NWSL and USL Super League.

The same Cleveland ownership group that recently fell short of securing an NWSL expansion team is backing the venture, making good on their promise to bring professional women's soccer to Northeast Ohio.

The league will launch with a shortened season following the 2026 men's World Cup, before beginning its first full-fledged campaign in April 2027.

With 15 teams already confirmed, WPSL Pro intends to field clubs in an initial 16 to 20 markets.

Along with Cleveland, the inaugural WPSL Pro season will include teams in Austin, Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Fargo, Houston, Oklahoma City, Sioux Falls, Wichita, and the Bay Area, among others. Each franchise will pay a $1 million fee to enter the league.

The WPSL has a history of fostering high-level amateur competition, currently housing over 100 clubs and boasting a roster of former players that includes USWNT icons Brandi Chastain, Alex Morgan, and Rose Lavelle. WPSL Pro, however, will become the US soccer pyramid's first-ever second-tier league.

"WPSL Pro is the bridge that's been missing — not just for players, but for the communities, investors, and brands ready to be part of the next chapter in women's sports," league co-founder Sean Jones said in a statement.

Caitlin Clark Scores 2nd Best-Selling Jersey Across WNBA and NBA Sales

Fans clamor to buy Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark jerseys before a 2024 WNBA game.
Caitlin Clark sold the second-most basketball jerseys in the US in 2024. (Dylan Buell/Getty Images)

The No. 22 kit of Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark weighed in as last fall's second best-selling basketball jersey in the US according to sports outfitter Fanatics, with the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year trailing only NBA superstar Steph Curry on the top sales list.

Clark's merch dominance is nothing new, however. Her Indiana jersey sold out less than an hour after the Fever drafted her as the overall No. 1 pick in April 2024, making Clark the top seller of any draft night pick in the company's history.

Even more, Clark's merchandise led last season's record-shattering WNBA sales, with Fanatics reporting that 2024 sales of player-specific gear earned a jaw-dropping 1,000% year-over-year increase by last summer's All-Star break — in large part thanks to the 2024 WNBA rookie class.

Fellow 2024 WNBA debutants Chicago Sky standout Angel Reese and then-Las Vegas Aces guard Kate Martin — Clark's NCAA teammate at Iowa — trailed the Fever star with the league's second- and fourth-most merchandise sales, respectively.

This year, a new WNBA rookie could give Clark a run for her money, as the No. 5 Dallas Wings jersey for 2025's No. 1 draft pick, Paige Bueckers, is already doing numbers at retailers across the country.

Already a brand mogul in her own right, Bueckers topped the 2024 NIL list as college basketball’s biggest earner via endorsement deals and merchandise sales prior to going pro.

Kenyan Runner Sharon Lokedi Shatters Boston Marathon Record

Kenya's Sharon Lokedi raises her arms in triumph as she crosses the 2025 Boston Marathon finish line.
Kenya’s Sharon Lokedi beat the Boston Marathon course record by over two minutes. (Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Kenyan runner Sharon Lokedi shattered the women’s course record at the 2025 Boston Marathon on Monday, finishing the 129th edition of the race in 2:17:22 — more than two and a half minutes faster than the previous record set by Ethiopia's Buzunesh Deba in 2014.

The victory marked the 31-year-old runner's second major marathon championship following her 2022 New York City Marathon win.

After finishing second in the 2024 Boston Marathon behind fellow Kenyan Hellen Obiri, Lokedi avenged her runner-up status by overtaking the back-to-back defending champion in the final kilometer of Monday’s race.

"I'm always second to her and today I was like, 'There’s no way,'" Lokedi said of her rivalry with Obiri. "I just have to put it out there and fight 'til the end and see how it goes. I'm so glad I ran that fast and she was right behind me. We all fought and wanted this so bad."

All of this year’s top three finishers broke through the course record pace, with Obiri and Ethiopia's Yalemzerf Yehualaw joining Lokedi both at the finish line and in the Boston Marathon's record book.

Along with her $150,000 winner's check, Lokedi will pocket an additional $50,000 for claiming the fastest women's time in Boston Marathon history.

Naomi Girma Makes Champions League Debut for Chelsea in UWCL Semifinal Loss

Barcelona's Alexia Putellas shakes hands with Chelsea's Naomi Girma after their 2024/25 Champions League semifinal.
Naomi Girma subbed into Chelsea’s 4-1 Champions League semifinal loss to Barcelona on Sunday. (JOSEP LAGO/AFP via Getty Images)

USWNT star defender Naomi Girma made her UEFA Women’s Champions League debut this weekend, with Chelsea FC's million-dollar signing taking the pitch during the UK club's tough 4-1 semifinal loss to reigning champion Barcelona on Sunday.

Despite joining the WSL leaders on a world-record $1.1 million transfer fee from the NWSL’s San Diego Wave in January, injury hampered Girma's impact on the Blues, as the Stanford grad appeared in just one regular-season WSL match before exiting with a knock to the calf back in March.

Returning from that injury, Girma subbed in at the 81st minute on a mission to protect Chelsea's relatively tight 2-1 scoreline on Sunday.

Despite her efforts, a quick goal from center back Irene Paredes coupled with a 90th-minute strike from forward Clàudia Pina secured Barcelona the win — plus a significant lead going into this weekend's deciding second-leg semifinal match.

"Barcelona were sharper in tight spaces than we were, which is what they're known for," said Chelsea defender Lucy Bronze after the match.

"The whole rhythm of the game was very different from in England. This was much more of a Spanish tempo. We wanted to play a little more aggressively on the ball, but the staccato nature of the match worked against us."

How to watch the Chelsea at theChampions League semifinals

Girma will have another chance to earn her check this Sunday, when Chelsea hosts Barcelona in the second leg of their 2024/25 UEFA Champions League semifinal round.

The match kicks off at 9 AM ET, with live coverage on DAZN.

Start your morning off right with Just Women’s Sports’ free, 5x-a-week newsletter.