Sabrina Ionescu thrust her hands into the air, threw her head back and screamed. As the buzzer sounded on her team’s 98-91 upset of the defending champion Chicago Sky in Game 1 of the first round, Ionescu was flooded with emotion.

Happiness, relief, exhaustion and pride. The Liberty guard felt it all after the franchise’s first playoff win since 2015.

“We came here and did what we needed to do, and what nobody believed we could do,” she said.

The Liberty still have to win one more game to take the best-of-three series and move onto the semifinals, but the win on Wednesday proved something the Liberty have long known: It’s possible.

“I’ve been saying to this team, ‘Why not us?’ I know we had a 20 percent chance of even making it to the playoffs, and here we are,” Ionescu said. “We believe in ourselves and that’s all that matters. We are going to try and get another one.”

The win wasn’t a fluke. The Liberty know that. The Sky know, too. And they both know that New York, as the No. 7 seed, needs just one more win to advance and send last year’s title winner home.

If you don’t believe Ionescu’s sentiment of “why not” the Liberty, then allow me to present the evidence.

Previous matchups

There’s precedent for the Liberty playing the Sky close. They matched up four times in the regular season, and aside from a lopsided 83-50 Chicago win in the second game of the season, every contest has been tight.

New York lost by two, 88-86, on June 12, when Ionescu recorded her first triple-double of the season with 27 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists.

The Liberty secured their first win over the Sky on July 23, when Ionescu completed a 3-point play with 9.7 seconds left, ending a six-game winning streak by Chicago.

And in their most recent matchup on July 29, the Sky secured an eight-point win despite the Liberty keeping it close with double-figure scoring from Ionescu, Natasha Howard, Stefanie Dolson and Marine Johannès.

Each time they’ve played the Sky, the Liberty have gained confidence. Each one of those matchups further proved the mindset that New York has what it takes to play with Chicago.

Personnel

When you look at the Liberty’s roster makeup, it’s hard to believe this team went into the playoffs with a 16-20 record. They have one of the deepest teams in the league, with top-to-bottom talent.

That starts with Ionescu and her 17.4 points, 7.1 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game, but it certainly doesn’t end there. Howard is a two-time All-Star who averages 15.1 points per game, but more importantly, she’s a veteran who’s been a part of three WNBA championship teams. She knows how to win in the postseason and demonstrated that in a big way Wednesday with 22 points, seven boards and three assists. Howard also played 34 minutes, the most after Ionescu.

Dolson, who was a part of Chicago’s championship-winning team last year, contributed 13 points and seven rebounds in Wednesday’s win. She was crucial to the Liberty’s offense, making three 3-pointers, and as a 6-foot-5 center, her shooting ability stretches the defense and creates more openings for her teammates.

👀 did you see that ?
MJ’s over the back dish to Flash!#Ownthecrown pic.twitter.com/F1FTHLv6VX

— New York Liberty (@nyliberty) August 18, 2022

But the two pieces that are the most important to New York’s potential playoff success are Betnijah Laney and Johannès.

Laney was dominant last season for New York, averaging 16.8 points per game and earning her first All-Star bid. She missed significant time this year with a knee injury that required surgery. Wednesday’s win was only her fifth game back for the Liberty, but she looked to be at the top of her game, recording 17 points, five rebounds and five assists. With 1:23 left on the clock, Laney hit a step-back jumper to give her team a five-point advantage. She then made two free throws with 38.9 seconds remaining for the 98-91 lead that ended up being the final score. Her return was crucial to the Liberty winning their last three games to even get to the playoffs, and she remains a key piece in their quest to upset the Sky.

Johannès, meanwhile, has been making a splash with her flashy style since she joined the team on June 6. But her flair shouldn’t be confused with gaudiness. The guard is creative, but everything she does has purpose. Take last night’s over-the-back pass to Howard. It drew excitement from the crowd and praise on Twitter, but that’s not why she did it. Johannès threw the ball backwards because the angle of her defender didn’t allow her to swivel for a direct pass to Howard. Johannès brings excitement to the Liberty, but more importantly, she provides a playmaking ability that complements Ionescu and creates more opportunities for New York’s offense.

Last night’s run

The Sky held a 91-85 lead when Courtney Vandersloot made a layup with 3:32 left on the clock. From there, Chicago didn’t score again. The Liberty closed the game on a 13-0 run in which the Sky went 0-for-8 from the field, with multiple turnovers and head-scratching decisions.

“I think we panicked a little bit,” Azurá Stevens said. “And not forced, but maybe a little bit. We were down and we were trying to get back. I feel like we haven’t panicked all year.”

While the Sky looked nervous down the stretch, the Liberty remained stoic and chipped away at the six-point deficit before eventually taking and building the lead.

That leads back to the confidence the Liberty developed by playing the Sky close in their previous meetings. They’ve seen on three separate occasions that they can keep up with the defending champions, and on Wednesday that belief guided the Liberty to victory.

Three-point shooting

The Liberty made 11 3-pointers against the Sky on Wednesday, shooting at a 44 percent clip, with seven players knocking down at least one shot from long-range. They score 36.5 percent of their points from beyond the arc, which leads the league. That’s a defensive nightmare. When everyone can shoot 3s, it means the defense can’t ignore any one player, and the constant need to close-out to 3-point range opens lanes to the basket and entry passes to the post. Especially when some of the 3-point threats are bigs. Dolson and Han Xu force teams to defend well beyond the arc, meaning shot-blockers aren’t anywhere near the hoop.

Plus, with their ability to knock down 3s, the Liberty are always within striking distance.

New playoff format

The final piece to the puzzle is the playoff format. With last season’s layout, the Sky, as the team with the second-best record, would have received a double bye. Instead, they are playing a three-game series.

Games 1 and 2 take place in Chicago, but Game 3 will be in New York, meaning the Liberty have a shot to sweep the series on the road on Saturday. But if they lose, they then get home-court advantage for the series-deciding contest, a scenario Sky head coach James Wade decried on Tuesday.

“You go into a series, especially in this format, and you just need to steal one,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said.

The Liberty have done that. Now, with two chances to finish the job and advance to their first semifinal series since 2015, they need to steal just one more.

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

USA Hockey is sending a refreshed lineup to Italy this winter, with Friday's 23-player Olympic roster tapping both newcomers and seasoned veterans looking to avenge 2022's silver-medal finish.

US hockey legend Hilary Knight will play in her fifth — and final — Winter Games next month, with the 36-year-old forward joining fellow veteran mainstays Kendall Coyne Schofield and Lee Stecklein as just 11 players return from the team's Beijing campaign.

After falling just short of gold in Beijing, this year's USA hockey roster balances youth with experience, heading to Milan with a full dozen Olympic debutants, including seven college players — a full four from reigning NCAA champion Wisconsin.

All other 16 athletes currently compete in the PWHL with the pro league sending players from five of its eight teams to join the US squad in February.

The rest of the team focuses on young talent, including University of Wisconsin defender Laila Edwards, who will make history as USA Hockey's first-ever Black woman Olympian when she steps on the ice in Italy.

"It still hasn't really kicked in yet. Getting that call is like a dream come true," said Edwards.

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How to watch Team USA hockey in the 2026 Winter Olympics

The USA will open their 2026 Olympic campaign against Czechia at 10:40 AM ET on February 5th before subsequent Group A games against Finland, Switzerland, and defending champions Canada.

The clash will air live on USA Network as part of the full 2026 Olympic Games coverage across NBC platforms.

USA Hockey's 2026 Olympic roster

Goaltenders: Aerin Frankel (Boston Fleet), Ava McNaughton (University of Wisconsin), Gwyneth Philips (Ottawa Charge)

Defenders: Cayla Barnes (Seattle Torrent), Laila Edwards (University of Wisconsin), Rory Guilday (Ottawa Charge), Caroline Harvey (University of Wisconsin), Megan Keller (Boston Fleet), Lee Stecklein (Minnesota Frost), Haley Winn (Boston Fleet)

Forwards: Hannah Bilka (Seattle Torrent), Alex Carpenter (Seattle Torrent), Kendall Coyne Schofield (Minnesota Frost), Britta Curl-Salemme (Minnesota Frost), Joy Dunne (Ohio State University), Taylor Heise (Minnesota Frost), Tessa Janecke (Penn State University), Hilary Knight (Seattle Torrent), Abbey Murphy (University of Minnesota), Kelly Pannek (Minnesota Frost), Hayley Scamurra (Montréal Victoire), Kirsten Simms (University of Wisconsin), Grace Zumwinkle (Minnesota Frost)

Tennis's biggest names have hit highs and lows down under over the weekend, with stars like Coco Gauff seeing mixed results at the 2026 United Cup as the annual Australian Open team tune-up tournament heads into its knockout rounds.

World No. 4 Coco Gauff and the reigning champion Team USA are through to the quarterfinals, joined by top WTA competitor and No. 11 Belinda Bencic of Team Switzerland.

Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Czechia, and Greece also punched their tickets to the knockouts, with Tuesday night's final group-stage bout deciding whether No. 2 Iga Świątek and Team Poland or Team Germany will claim the final spot in the quarterfinals.

Thus far in the team competition, however, Gauff has experienced a particularly up-and-down tournament, suffering her first-ever United Cup singles defeat on Monday against No. 42 Jessica Bouzas Maneiro of Spain after causing a stir with her postmatch comments.

"I feel like we're definitely, in tennis, the worst," she told reporters before the singles showdown. "I've always said I wish our country in other places would show up throughout the world as we see smaller countries support."

After taking some heat, the 21-year-old later clarified her position on social media, writing "Trust me I understand the financial aspect of things and know tennis is not accessible for everyone, it was more of a comment for those who are already attending and how I wish they were as passionate as those from other countries."

How to watch Gauff and Team USA at the 2026 United Cup

Gauff will look to return to form against No. 51 Maria Sakkari when Team USA kicks off the 2026 United Cup quarterfinals against Team Greece at 9 PM ET on Tuesday, airing live on the Tennis Channel.

Unrivaled leadership is back in the hot seat, telling reporters at Monday's Season 2 tip-off that the offseason 3x3 league is open to whatever the future might bring — even if it's a formal partnership with the WNBA.

"We're not in constant dialogue about that," Unrivaled president Alex Bazzell said from Miami. "But as I've made very clear, we are open to growing the ecosystem, whichever way that looks like."

"Nothing is on the table or off the table," he continued. "I'm not going to speculate what could happen down the road, but everyone knows our door is always open."

As reported prior to the 3×3 upstart's inaugural 2025 season, Unrivaled co-founders Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier had approached the WNBA about a potential equity stake — in part to further illustrate that the new venture is complementary, rather than in competition with, the WNBA — but league leadership turning down the offer, citing a possible rules violation.

Questions have since come up about Unrivaled becoming a prioritization issue for players under the WNBA's still-developing CBA, but Bazzell underlined the league's benefits as being supplemental, rather than in direct conflict with the 5x5 league.

"As long as you can look at the space through an innovative lens, anything is doable," he said. "Anything is possible."

In the first AP women's basketball poll in two weeks, Monday's new rankings reflected last week's conference upsets, sending four Top 10 teams skidding down the table while other contenders broke through.

Now-No. 12 LSU suffered the biggest drop, falling seven spots after consecutive losses to No. 6 Kentucky and No. 7 Vanderbilt.

The Wildcats and the still-undefeated Commodores experienced the opposite effect, jumping five spots each after their ranked victories, with No. 5 Oklahoma and No. 10 Louisville making similar three-spot advances.

The biggest winner of this week's AP poll, however, sits just outside the Top 10, as No. 15 Michigan State leapt nine spots, defeating unranked Indiana, Illinois, and Rutgers after closing out nonconference play with a 66-49 upset win over now-No. 18 Ole Miss.

Chasing the Spartans' rise up the ranks are No. 16 Baylor, who earned a six-spot jump after handing No. 11 Iowa State their first loss of the season on Sunday, and No. 17 Texas Tech, whose unbeaten status saw the Red Raiders claim a four-spot boost.

Meanwhile, a struggling Notre Dame dropped out of the Top 25 entirely after losses to unranked Georgia Tech and Duke, snapping an 85-week AP Poll appearance streak — the third-longest in women's basketball history.

Additionally, the Top 4 remained unchanged after perfect results from No. 1 UConn, No. 2 Texas, No. 3 South Carolina, and No. 4 UCLA — who dominated their crosstown rival No. 21 USC 80-46 on Saturday.

How to watch Top 25 NCAA basketball this week

Top 25 teams will continue their conference slates this week, starting with USC taking on unranked Oregon on Tuesday.

The Trojans and visiting Ducks will tip off live at 10 PM ET on Fox Sports.

2025/26 AP Top 25 Women's College Basketball Poll: Week 9

1. UConn (15-0, Big East)
2. Texas (17-0, SEC)
3. South Carolina (15-1, SEC)
4. UCLA (14-1, Big Ten)
5. Oklahoma (14-1, SEC)
6. Kentucky (15-1, SEC)
7. Vanderbilt (15-0, SEC)
8. Maryland (15-1, Big Ten)
9. Michigan (12-2, Big Ten)
10. Louisville (14-3, ACC)
11. Iowa State (14-1, Big 12)
12. LSU (14-2, SEC)
13. TCU (14-1, Big 12)
14. Iowa (13-2, Big Ten)
15. Michigan State (14-1, Big Ten)
16. Baylor (13-3, Big 12)
17. Texas Tech (16-0, Big 12)
18. Ole Miss (14-3, SEC)
19. Ohio State (13-2, Big Ten)
20. Tennessee (10-3, SEC)
21. USC (10-4, Big Ten)
22. UNC (13-4, ACC)
23. Washington (12-2, Big Ten)
24. Princeton (13-1, Ivy)
25. Nebraska (13-2, Big Ten)