We’re officially over two weeks into the WNBA season, so hopefully you’ve been getting the hang of the fantasy game by now. If you’re 2-0, congratulations! If you’re 0-2, no need to stress — there’s still plenty of time to turn your season around.

Let’s get caught up on everything you need to know from the last week in the ever-changing fantasy landscape.

Risers

These are the top risers in fantasy ranking over the past week. We’ve only included players here who were ranked a week ago, meaning they had already played a game at that point. Notably, that excludes players like DeWanna Bonner (currently ranked 15th) who returned from their overseas seasons since then.

3. Shakira Austin: 25 spots (current 46th, previous 71st)

The Mystics were willing to give up Rhyne Howard to fall back and draft Austin, so it’s no wonder they’ve been upping her playing time as she transitions to the pro game. Austin averaged 20-plus minutes in all three games this week after reaching that mark just once in her first four contests. With veteran players Elena Delle Donne and Alysha Clark continuing to sporadically miss games due to load management, you can expect the Mystics to rely upon Austin and her young energy even more as the season goes on.

Austin kicked off the week with a 20-point showing on an incredible 9-of-11 shooting, and she followed that up with two more efficient games in double figures. All told, the rookie shot over 70 percent last week while averaging nearly 15 points and seven rebounds, and she blocked more than a shot a game to boot.

We just started & @Theylove_kira is already heatin' up 🔥#Mystics25 // #TogetherDC pic.twitter.com/YpEkW2Op4h

— Washington Mystics (@WashMystics) May 20, 2022

2. Natisha Hiedeman: 38 spots (current 53rd, previous 91st)

Hiedeman is another player whose minutes increased this past week, despite the fact that backcourt mate Courtney Williams returned at the beginning of it. And after Tuesday’s announcement that Jasmine Thomas will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL, there may be even more minutes for the taking in Hiedeman’s near future.

Hiedeman was already the top bench producer for Connecticut prior to this week, and since then head coach Curt Miller has decided to use his bench even more. Miller has been known to ride his starters and did just that in the first two games, but if he taps into his depth this season the way he has in the most recent three games, Hiedeman may be in line for a fantasy-friendly workload.

1. Moriah Jefferson: 46 spots (current 37th, previous 83rd)

The Lynx underperformed to start the season due to a lack of ball-handling, and then signed a legitimate point guard who has immediately contributed and helped them turn their season around. Where have we heard that before?

Last year, it was Layshia Clarendon; this year, it’s Moriah Jefferson. The former Wings player has stepped into the starting point guard spot in Minnesota and paid instant dividends for Minnesota. While Cheryl Reeve’s team is still at the bottom of the standings and has a lot to figure out, the outlook looks much more promising than it did pre-Jefferson. A competitive second half against the Sky in Jefferson’s Lynx debut followed by a road win over the Sparks and a solid showing in Las Vegas have quelled the talk of a 2023 Lynx lottery pick for now.

Fallers

On the flip side of the risers, you have the fallers — those players whose rank has dropped off in the last seven days.

3. Riquna Williams: 29 spots (current 73rd, previous 44th)

It’s early enough in the season that one game can still have a big impact on a player’s rankings. That’s the culprit for Riquna Williams’ slide: Williams managed just four points in her one game of the week before sustaining another foot injury that kept her out the rest of the week.

If the Aces’ prognosis is correct, Williams won’t be returning for at least a few more weeks, so she’ll have to fill your injured reserve (IR) spot or take up a bench spot for the time being if you choose to hold onto her.

2. Jasmine Thomas: 29 spots (current 77th, previous 48th)

There is starting to be a sad theme to this list. Connecticut’s perimeter defensive stalwart was unable to return after exiting Sunday’s game against the Fever due to a knee injury in the first half. Thomas recorded just eight fantasy points in eight minutes on the court, plummeting her ranking in the process.

Fantasy owners will have to look for full-time replacements now that she’s out for the remainder of the season.

1. Myisha Hines-Allen: 32 spots (current 65th, previous 33rd)

And the theme continues. The good news in Hines-Allen’s case is that she has already returned to action after her injury. The bad news is that she still hasn’t looked quite like herself in recent games. In 11 minutes against Chicago on Sunday, the Louisville product failed to make a shot and pulled down just one rebound.

For Hines-Allen fantasy owners, it will be important to closely monitor her health and production moving forward. We’ve seen Hines-Allen put up serious numbers at her peak, but a lingering injury or other factors can quickly derail that progress.

Adds and Drops

One of the most important aspects of winning a fantasy title is attentiveness. If you want to have a shot, you’ve got to stay on top of the latest trends and news and make sure you’re fielding the best possible team at any given moment. What looked like the best combination of nine players you could put together a week or two ago may no longer be the case today.

Here, we give you the best widely-available players to consider picking up, as well as the players potentially worth cutting to free up that roster spot. Keep in mind, this may vary a little depending on your league size: A player worth rostering in a 10-team league isn’t necessarily viable in an eight-team league.

Adds

Moriah Jefferson

We’ve already discussed how Jefferson has jumpstarted the Lynx, and she’s likely available to jumpstart your fantasy team as well.

it's a bad idea to leave MO open pic.twitter.com/gDcV8k5vbK

— Minnesota Lynx (@minnesotalynx) May 22, 2022

Despite averaging more than 32 minutes a game over her four games with Minnesota so far, Jefferson is still available in over 80 percent of ESPN fantasy leagues. Those minutes haven’t been empty by any stretch; she’s posting averages of 15.5 points, 5.5 assists and 2.0 steals since joining the Lynx. Were it not for the one game she played for the Wings pulling her averages down, those numbers would rank 18th, 5th and 7th in the WNBA, respectively.

Go grab her while you can.

Danielle Robinson and Victoria Vivians

We’re giving you a 2-for-1 here, because these Fever teammates are putting up stats for a similar reason: volume.

In last week’s betting piece, we took a look at Indiana’s historic pace of play to start the season. Robinson and Vivians are each playing nearly 30 minutes per game over the past week, and when you see the floor that much for a team that loves to run, you’ll get plenty of opportunities to fill the stat sheet.

Vivians is owned in just 21.2 percent of ESPN leagues, while Robinson is rostered in fewer still. If you are in one of the 19.1 percent of leagues in which Jefferson is owned and you’re in need of a guard, turn to the Fever for help.

Drops

Teaira McCowan

Before ESPN entered the fold, the leading fantasy WNBA website was an obscure foreign site called Sports.ws. That site had a system in which a player’s fantasy points per minute mattered far more than their fantasy points per game.

Under that system, McCowan was and is a beast. The former No. 3 overall pick has always been extremely efficient with her minutes, and moving to Dallas has done nothing to change that. Her per-minute scoring and rebounding averages extrapolated to 30 minutes a game would essentially make her a 15/10 player.

In Dallas, however, she’s been averaging a mere 7.6 minutes per contest, and under ESPN’s scoring system, totals rule the day. McCowan is owned in over 70 percent of ESPN leagues, and until she starts consistently seeing the floor, that number is just too high.

Layshia Clarendon

This is a tough decision considering what Clarendon has been able to do when given an opportunity (and how easy of a person they are to root for). But fantasy sports, like real sports, is a harsh business, and if you’re not on a real roster, you probably shouldn’t be on a fantasy one.

Clarendon is still owned in almost half of the ESPN leagues, which is well over double the percentage of leagues owning the player who replaced Clarendon as Minnesota’s point guard. Here’s hoping she gets signed at some point this season and shows up in the “adds” section of a later version of this piece.

Fantasy performances of the week

Diana Taurasi, 43 fantasy points (May 19 vs. Dallas)

For Diana Taurasi to still be capable of putting up more fantasy points than her age is beyond impressive. The league’s all-time leading scorer became the first player aged 39 or older to ever record a 30-point game with her 31-point showing in this one.

Shockingly, this wasn’t even one of the top two performances of the day, nor was it the best in this game. More on that in a minute.

Aerial Powers, 44 fantasy points (May 19 vs. Las Vegas)

While Taurasi was draining buckets for the Mercury, Aerial Powers was a few hours up the road putting on a Vegas-worthy show of her own. After feeling under the weather and texting Michael Jordan for advice earlier in the day, Powers had the best fantasy output of her career thanks to 25 points, six boards and six assists.

In fact, Powers is the only player thus far in 2022 to post 25/6/6 in a game, and when you factor in the two blocks and three 3s, she’s just the eighth player in league history with that line.

Arike Ogunbowale, 53 fantasy points (May 19 vs. Phoenix)

Remember when Ogunbowale showed up in the “fallers” section of our last fantasy piece and we told you not to worry? If you weren’t convinced yet, surely this game provided enough reassurance.

The young Dallas star outdueled Taurasi in this epic battle, one-upping the veteran’s 31 points with 37 of her own and carrying the Wings to a 10-point win. For good measure, she dished out five assists and made all 10 of her free throws, becoming the first player in WNBA history to do both of those things in a 37-point game.

Your favorite player's favorite player dropped a WNBA season-high 37 points last night.#AllForTexas | @Arike_O pic.twitter.com/33i3ge7ma6

— Dallas Wings (@DallasWings) May 20, 2022

Miscellaneous fantasy stat of the week

Candace Parker didn’t quite make the cut for top fantasy performances of the week — her 41 fantasy points on Sunday were two short of Taurasi’s aforementioned May 19 total — but it’s still worth shouting out a legend in this space for what she accomplished against the Mystics.

With her 16 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, Parker became the first WNBA player ever with multiple regular season triple-doubles. She also joined Sheryl Swoopes and teammate Courtney Vandersloot as the only players with two of them at all, and she set a new mark for the oldest player with a triple-double at 36 years of age.

Parker has been open about contemplating retirement, so there’s a chance we are witnessing her final season. She’s proven she can still ball at a remarkably high level (the triple-double was only her second-best fantasy score of the season) so let’s enjoy the ride for however much longer we get to watch her play.

Calvin Wetzel is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports, covering basketball and betting. He also contributes to Her Hoop Stats, CBS SportsLine and FiveThirtyEight. Follow him on Twitter at @cwetzel31.

Cameron Brink already has her rookie of the year pick for the upcoming WNBA season, and it’s Indiana-bound star Caitlin Clark. 

In the latest edition of Kelley on the Street, host Kelley O'Hara caught up with Brink in New York hours before the Stanford phenom went No. 2 overall to the Los Angeles Sparks at the 2024 WNBA Draft. When O’Hara asked who would win the WNBA's rookie of the year, she answered without pause.

"Caitlin Clark," she said, while a fan commented that she thought Brink would take home the award. Brink later added that the extra foul granted to WNBA players will be "good for me."

"I hope it’s me," Charisma Osborne, who was later drafted by the Phoenix Mercury, said when asked her ROY prediction. "But, I don’t know — we’ll see."

Watch more of Kelley on the Street:

Maria Sanchez issued a statement on Thursday, confirming recent reports that she has requested a trade from the Houston Dash. 

In it, she revealed that the club has been aware of the request "since late March."

"This has all taken a toll and isn’t an easy thing to talk about, but I want to confirm that I’ve requested an immediate trade," she wrote. "My expectations and reasons have been clear. I trust that my current club’s management will honor my decision in a timely manner and proceed with accepting a trade."

"I’m eager to refocus and dive back into what I love most: playing football," she concluded.

Thank you, everyone, for the outpouring of kindness and support. pic.twitter.com/gcnN7dhCJU

— Maria Sanchez (@Maria17_7) April 19, 2024

Reports of Sanchez's trade request first surfaced on ESPN last week, and were later confirmed by multiple sources. 

In December of last year, Sanchez signed a three-year contract with the Dash valued at $1.5 million including bonuses and an option year. It was the largest contract in NWSL history at the time — a figure that would be eclipsed by multiple contracts in the following months. 

Sanchez spent the offseason as a restricted free agent, meaning that Houston could match any other team's offer to retain her rights. Should the Dash trade Sanchez, her current contract terms would remain intact, limiting potential buyers to teams able to afford to take on an inking of that size.

The Dash has yet to address the trade, instead reiterating to ESPN that Sanchez is "under contract, a choice she made in free agency at the end of 2023." 

Both the NWSL trade window and transfer window close tonight, April 19th, at 12 a.m. ET. The window will stay closed through the next 11 regular season games, reopening on August 1st, 2024.

The four-time league champion Seattle Storm unveiled their new practice facility on Thursday, with Storm co-owner Lisa Brummel dubbing Interbay's Seattle Storm Center for Basketball Performance the team’s "new home."

"It's just such a special space," Brummel told Fox 13 Seattle. "I think when the players get here, it's gonna be overwhelming."

The sprawling 50,000-square-foot, $64 million property is just the second designated practice facility to be designed and built expressly for a WNBA team, with the Storm further noting that 85% of all design and engineering team members involved in the project's construction were women and people of color. The finished product holds two professional indoor courts, two 3x3 outdoor courts, a state-of-the-art locker room, and players' lounge, plus designated areas for strength and conditioning, kitchen, dining, and nutrition, and recovery. 

"This facility reflects our commitment to providing our athletes an exceptional environment that supports their growth, health, and performance," said Storm co-owner Ginny Gilder in an official team release. "It’s built for women, by women, embodying our dedication to leading the way in professional women’s sports."

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For their part, the team can't wait to make the faciilty their own.

"It's amazing," Storm guard Jewell Loyd told Fox 13. "Not having to drive everywhere around, knowing you have access anytime of the day to get into the gym, to workout." 

Head coach Noelle Quinn said she predicts the team is "never going to leave this building."

"Which is a good thing for me," she continued. "You talk about having an edge in performance. We want our athletes to not only perform on the court, but get whatever they need."

All of the Storm's staff and operations will now live under one roof, and the team also has plans to launch a youth basketball program operating out of the building.

The Caitlin Clark effect is quickly making its mark on the big leagues, as WNBA host teams around the country rush to upgrade their Fever games to larger arenas in order to accommodate surging ticket sales.

With Clark mere weeks away from her Indiana Fever debut, both the Las Vegas Aces and Washington Mystics have officially relocated their scheduled home games with head coach Christie Sides' squad. On Thursday, the Mystics became the latest to adjust their plans, moving their June 7th matchup from Entertainment & Sports Arena in Southwest DC to the more centrally located — and much larger — Capital One Arena "due to unprecedented demand."

The Mystics home court's capacity taps out at 4,200, while Capital One Arena — home to the Wizards, Capitals, and Georgetown Hoya's Men's Basketball — can fit nearly five times that crowd at some 20,000 spectators.

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"The move to Capital One Arena will allow for additional fans in the stands as well as premium hospitality options, including Suites and the all-new all-inclusive courtside Hennessy Lofts," the team announced via Thursday's press release.

The Aces were one of the first teams to switch venues, aiming to take on the Indiana Fever in front of as many as 20,000 fans inside T-Mobile Arena on July 2nd. That’s a sizable a boost from their home venue, which holds just 12,000.

For those still planning to face the Fever in their home arenas, ticket prices have skyrocketed. Previously scheduled construction has already forced the LA Sparks to relocate their first five games — including their May 24th clash with the Fever — to Long Beach State's Walter Pyramid. The temporary venue is quite the downsize, holding just 4,000 in comparison to Crypto.com Arena's near-19,000. As of Friday, the get-in price for that game started around $400.

Despite fans launching a Change.org petition urging relocation, the Chicago Sky say they're unable to move their June 23rd Fever meeting from Wintrust Arena's 10,000-seat facility to the 23,500-seat United Center due to a concert. Tickets for that game start around $325 as of Friday.