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Courtney Williams is back where she belongs with Connecticut Sun

(Adam Hagy/NBAE via Getty Images)

LAS VEGAS — Orange is definitely Courtney Williams’ color.

From the moment she put it on in 2016, her Connecticut Sun jersey felt like a second skin. Her team was her home, which is why when she was traded to the Atlanta Dream after the 2019 season, Williams felt betrayed.

In 2019, she had started every game, played nearly 30 minutes per contest and averaged 13.2 points per game for the Sun– all career highs.

She didn’t understand why the organization she loved so much didn’t seem to love her back.

“I was too emotional,” she said. “I was just feeling like, ‘Where’s the loyalty?’ But there ain’t no loyalty in business. Business is business, numbers is numbers. That’s something that I learned in that process.”

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(Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

Soon, though, she realized that her trade had nothing to do with the way Sun players and coaches felt about her. That allowed her to get excited about the new opportunity.

Nicki Collen, currently the head women’s basketball coach at Baylor, worked as an assistant on the Sun staff from 2015-19 before taking over as head coach of the Dream in 2018.

Williams was comfortable with Collen – after all, she’d been part of her Sun family – so the move started to feel like it could be a perfect fit.

“It was lowkey kind of a no-brainer for me since she was over there,” Williams said.

Collen coached Williams in Atlanta for just one season. She departed a week before the 2021 slate of games began to take the head coaching job at Baylor.

But even after Collen’s exit, Williams thrived. Her minutes increased, and so did her points, assists, rebounds – everything.

In 2021 she played 34.4 minutes per game in her second season with the Dream, averaging 16.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, 4 assists and 1.1 steals per game. The South Florida alum was making her mark on her new organization, and the basketball world took notice. Her play earned Williams an All-Star nod – the first of her career.

But the situation soured after that.

In October, Williams posted a video on YouTube of her and teammate Crystal Bradford getting involved in an altercation near a food truck outside an Atlanta club. The 39-minute video was deleted, but footage of the fight circulated on Twitter, leading to the Dream’s decision not to re-sign Williams for the 2022 season.

“The behavior in the video is unacceptable and does not align with our values as an organization,” the Dream said in a statement released the next day. “We are taking this matter very seriously and working with the league to gather more information and determine next steps.”

Williams apologized on Twitter for making light of the situation in the YouTube video, but her agent Marcus Crenshaw claimed the Atlanta Dream had known about the altercation for months and expressed frustration with the organization only choosing to address it when the video emerged and went viral on social media.

“Right now, the team is trying to act like they have the morals, and (they’re) making (the players) some sort of scapegoats by saying they got put off the Dream because of the altercation,” Crenshaw said on a Girls Talk Sports TV Instagram Live.

Whatever the circumstances, one thing became clear: Courtney Williams would no longer be a part of the Atlanta Dream.

Before the incident, Williams said she expected nothing but good things in Atlanta.

“Obviously that’s not how it played out,” she said. “So that kind of ended up hitting me in the mouth. But I mean, overall, I think any experience that you go through that helps you grow. It molded me into who I am now.”

Now, Williams understands the business of basketball. She’s also learned from the mistakes she made in Atlanta.

And while she was away, the Sun came to a realization as well: They needed Courtney Williams in Connecticut.

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(David Becker/NBAE via Getty Images)

Without her, in 2020 and 2021, the Sun lost in the WNBA semifinals – to Las Vegas, and then to Chicago.

Williams provides both skill and spark to the roster.

“She’s on a roll right now,” teammate Natisha Hiedeman said after Williams scored 12 points in the Sun’s Game 5 win over the Sky in the WNBA semifinals. “And that’s what we need from her. That’s definitely what’s expected from her, and she just has that mindset where she’s never too high or never too low. Like her energy is the same all the time. She deserves to play good because she’s just a great teammate all the time.”

For Williams, the love she gets from her fellow Sun players is enough to melt away the negative impact of her exit from Atlanta.

She hates the way it went down, but the end result was worth it. It was a blessing in disguise, she said, because it brought her home.

“Everything happens for a reason, right? The good, the bad, the ugly,” she said. “It molds us and it also shows you who really for you. It’s easy to rock with somebody when it’s all roses and sunshine, but it’s like, ‘Who’s rocking with me when it’s not?’ Connecticut did.”

After her breakup with Atlanta, Williams got calls from Sun stars DeWanna Bonner, Jonquel Jones and Alyssa Thomas. They were all rocking with her, and they wanted her back in a Sun uniform.

Turns out there is some loyalty in business. The Sun showed Williams that when they re-signed her before the 2022 season.

After two years away, returning to Connecticut felt like she’d never even left, Williams said.

Now, she wants to repay her squad with a WNBA Championship.

Sporting a purple half-moon bruise under her left eye – an injury sustained during her iconic jump-ball battle with Kahleah Copper during the semifinals series – Williams looked out over the Aces court Monday as her team put up shots.

They mean everything to her.

And Williams doesn’t care that her team has been overlooked throughout this postseason. They rock with her and she rocks with them. Forget the haters.

“We already know what it is and what it ain’t,” she said. “We don’t even trip on none of that. Them folks want to be where we at. So, I’ll tell them to sit down, grab they popcorn and watch us do what we do.”

Eden Laase is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @eden_laase.

Seattle Storm Surges up the WNBA Standings Off Weekend Wins

Seattle Storm players Skylar Diggins and Nneka Ogwumike laugh during a 2025 WNBA game.
The Seattle Storm took down both the Las Vegas Aces and the New York Liberty last weekend. (Jeff Bottari/NBAE via Getty Images)

The biggest victors in the WNBA last weekend were the Seattle Storm, as the fifth-place contenders took down the last two league champions to record six wins in their last seven games.

The Storm first took down 2022 and 2023 champs Las Vegas 90-83 on Friday before toppling reigning title-winners New York 89-79 on Sunday.

Guard Skylar Diggins and forward Nneka Ogwumike powered Seattle's two games, putting up 44 and 51 points, respectively, over the weekend.

Forward Gabby Williams also helped fuel the Storm's weekend with two double-double performances.

Seattle is now just one game behind the similarly surging fourth-place Atlanta Dream, while trailing the red-hot No. 3 Phoenix Mercury by 1.5 games.

"Staying ready is what the group is," Storm head coach Noelle Quinn told reporters on Friday. "They're professionals, they're vets."

Teams at the top of the WNBA standings aren't the only squads that saw weekend success, as the No. 6 Golden State Valkyries snagged their second win in a row with Sunday's 87-63 thrashing of the last-place Connecticut Sun.

Despite registering Friday losses, both No. 7 Las Vegas and the No. 9 Washington Mystics finished the weekend on a high note, earning big Sunday wins over the No. 8 Indiana Fever and No. 12 Dallas Wings, respectively.

How to watch the Seattle Storm this week

The Storm will suit back up for another tricky WNBA test on Tuesday, when Seattle hosts the always-dangerous Indiana Fever at 10 PM ET.

The game will air live on NBA TV.

WNBA Injuries, Absences Fuel New York Liberty Losing Streak

New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart gestures questioningly during a 2025 WNBA game.
A short-staffed New York squad fell to Seattle on Sunday. (Alika Jenner/Getty Images)

The reigning champion New York Liberty battled through injury and absences over the weekend, narrowly retaining their second-place spot in the WNBA standings despite seeing their losing streak extend to two games with Sunday's 89-79 stumble against the Seattle Storm.

Already missing starting guard Leonie Fiebich, who is overseas competing at the 2025 FIBA EuroBasket tournament, the Liberty also played without center Jonquel Jones and guard Sabrina Ionescu.

While Ionescu is day-to-day with a neck issue, Jones will miss four to six weeks of action due to an ankle injury, the team announced on Saturday.

Despite dropping three of their last four matchups, the champs appear to be taking their recent downturn in stride.

"This isn't going to be the hardest thing that we face all season," said forward Breanna Stewart after Sunday's loss. "We have to kind of embrace the adversity a little bit, whether it's we're down players or things happen in the middle of the game."

New York wasn't the only team in trouble this weekend, though, as the Indiana Fever followed up last Thursday's stumble against the Golden State Valkyries with an 89-81 Sunday loss to the Las Vegas Aces.

Fever guard Caitlin Clark is now one-for-17 from behind the arc in her last two games, as Indiana struggles to break out of their eighth-place standing.

How to watch the New York Liberty this week

New York will hope for added firepower in order to snap their losing streak on Wednesday, when they'll face a rising Golden State squad at 10 PM ET.

Coverage of the game will air live on WNBA League Pass.

Louisville Grabs Momentum as NWSL Races Into Midseason Break

Racing Louisville teammates celebrate a goal by Arin Wright during a 2025 NWSL match.
Racing Louisville enters the midseason NWSL break at No. 7 on the table. (Jeff Dean/NWSL via Getty Images)

The NWSL is officially taking a breather, with the league kicking off the 2025 extended summer break after a roller-coaster weekend slate.

With half the of the 26-match regular season in the books, the No. 1 Kansas City Current extended their lead on the NWSL table to a towering eight points after defeating No. 11 Angel City 1-0 on Friday.

Helping balloon Kansas City's lead was No. 7 Racing Louisville, who kept No. 2 Orlando from claiming any points by securing a 2-0 upset win over the Pride on Friday.

With wins in five of their last seven matches, Louisville's refreshed roster has Racing entering the 2025 summer break with a 6-5-2 NWSL record, as the 2021 expansion side zeros in on a franchise-first playoff run.

"It's all about us. We're not really focused on the other team like we did a little last year," said midfielder Taylor Flint. "What are we going to do — what's our identity? I think that's a huge part of how we've been winning all these games."

On the other end of the table, the bottom four NWSL teams — Angel City, the No. 12 Houston Dash, No. 13 Chicago Stars, and No. 14 Utah Royals — will be looking for a major midseason reboot, after none managed to register a single win in the last five matchdays.

"We go from here, we break now, recharge, and we will be a very difficult opponent for a lot of teams in the second part of the season. That is our target now," said Angel City head coach Alexander Straus after Friday's loss.

There's still a lot left in 2025 NWSL play, with skidding teams banking on fresh starts while surging squads prepare to hit the ground running as soon as the season picks back up in August.

Australian Golfer Minjee Lee Wins KPMG Women’s PGA Championship

Minjee Lee holds the 2025 KPMG Women's PGA Championship trophy after her win.
Minjee Lee won the third major tournament title of her career on Sunday. (Darren Carroll/PGA of America via Getty Images)

Australian golfer Minjee Lee came out on top at the 2025 KPMG Women's PGA Championship, lifting the third major tournament trophy of her career on Sunday.

Entering the final round atop the leaderboard, Lee never relinquished the lead, finishing the tournament a solid three strokes ahead of the competition.

"I definitely was nervous starting the day," the 29-year-old acknowledged following her win. "I looked calm, but not as calm as everybody thinks."

The win earned Lee both an 18-spot rankings boost to world No. 6 and a $1.8 million cut of the event's $12 million prize pool.

Finishing the 2025 KPMG Women's PGA Championship just behind Lee in a second-place tie were 21-year-old Thai pro and new world No. 29 Chanettee Wannasaen and 24-year-old US standout and new No. 49 Auston Kim. Each took home $944,867 thanks to their four-day performances.

Kim, in particular, cobbled together a massive comeback run, chipping away at her nine-stroke deficit entering the competition's final round to claim the best finish of her young career.

"I'm very proud of what I did," the LPGA Tour sophomore said afterwards. "Obviously, the result was really good, but I'm really happy how I handled myself, my emotions, all the adversity. The course is playing really, really tough, but I feel like this week my team and I were very locked in."

Notably, the tournament's top three finishers were the only participants to finish below par, as the field struggled with a punishing week of both Texas heat and windier-than-usual conditions.

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