Seattle is supposed to win it all this season.

From the first week of the season through the tip-off of its finale, the Seattle Storm were on top of the WNBA standings. But with a top-two seed clinched and a double-bye to the semifinals guaranteed, the Storm rested Breanna Stewart, saw Sue Bird miss her 11th game, and allowed the Las Vegas Aces to wrestle away the top seed in the playoffs.

Something tells us the Storm aren’t too concerned. Throughout the season, they have led the league in both offensive and defensive rating, giving them the best net rating at 15.0. And in their two previous games against the Minnesota Lynx, Seattle won 90-66 in the second game of the year and 103-88 on Sept. 6.

If there is one key for Seattle, it is finding rhythm from deep. In wins, Seattle shot 42.4% from beyond the arc. In losses, that rate dropped to 28%. That falloff of 14.2% is the highest difference in 3-point percentage between wins and losses among playoff teams and second in the entire league to New York, which lost all but two games.

Seattle is an excellent 3-point shooting team. In the regular season, the team shot 39.8%, second only to Los Angeles. While the Sparks proved in their 2-of-18 showing against Connecticut that anyone can get cold, in a five-game series it is unlikely that Seattle will struggle for a prolonged stretch of play.

Five players for the Storm take at least three 3-pointers per game. All five shoot better than the league-wide average 35.5%, and both Bird and Alysha Clark average well above league average. Bird is shooting 46.9% for the season, the best mark in her Hall of Fame career, but Clark tops even that with a 52.2% number that is the best in the league for any player taking at least 2 3-pointers per contest.

???? JC to AC for 3 ????@jordin_canada @Alysha_Clark #StrongerThanEver @BECU pic.twitter.com/6ocXFHMVWx

— Seattle Storm (@seattlestorm) September 13, 2020

Jewell Loyd, Sami Whitcomb, and Stewart can also knock down 3’s with the best of them. There’s a reason the Storm are still the favorites to take home the title.

If Sue Bird is healthy enough to play, which is the expectation, she will be a major boost. Despite being limited to 11 games, Seattle went 10-1 in those contests. And while Seattle may not need Breanna Stewart to play at an MVP-level in the series to win, expect her to play with a chip on her shoulder after losing to A’ja Wilson it what was a tight, season-long race.

???? SUE BIRD ARE YOU KIDDING ME ????@S10Bird #StrongerThanEver pic.twitter.com/CH42gCfP8a

— Seattle Storm (@seattlestorm) September 6, 2020

If Stewart raises her level of play, Minnesota could be in for a rough series. Of the five teams with the most points per game scored by rookies, four did not make the playoffs. Only Minnesota, led by Rookie of the Year Crystal Dangerfield’s 16.1 points per game, made it to the dance.

While Dangerfield struggled through the first half of her debut WNBA playoff game, Minnesota will continue to rely on their vaunted rookie. Despite leading the team in scoring in the regular season, Dangerfield struggled to open games throughout the campaign. In the first quarter, Dangerfield scored just 2.7 points on average, but that number steadily increased throughout each game, and in the fourth quarter she was up to 6.3, second in the entire league.

March 9: @crystald2_ plays her last game in a UConn uniform.

April 17: She’s drafted in the second round by the @minnesotalynx.

July 26: She makes her pro debut.

Sept. 17: She’s named @WNBA Rookie of the Year. pic.twitter.com/sS64ZAzslU

— UConn Women’s Basketball (@UConnWBB) September 18, 2020

Nerves for her first playoff game may have been a part of the slow start, but Dangerfield has waited to get going all season long. The Lynx won’t panic if Dangerfield fails to get things going early against the Storm. Luckily, they have talent across the board.

Napheesa Collier has had an excellent season with 16.1 points and 9.0 rebounds per outing. After winning Rookie of the Year last season, Collier finished 5th in MVP voting this season. As she told Just Women’s Sports, winning MVP is her next big goal, but “First and foremost, I want our team to win.”

In just her second year, @PHEEsespieces has become the @minnesotalynx go-to scorer!

Take a look back at Phee's top plays of this #WNBA season. pic.twitter.com/ZlxIEHaszY

— WNBA (@WNBA) September 17, 2020

If the Lynx can pull off the upset of the Storm, the return of Sylvia Fowles could prove to be the decisive factor. After missing all five weeks with a calf injury, the 2017 league MVP and WNBA career rebound leader is back in action. The team’s 9.9 offensive rebounds per game, which was second in the league, affords valuable extra possessions, and with Fowles back in the paint, expect that number to only go up.

With Coach of the Year Cheryl Reeve pulling the strings, don’t expect the Lynx’s relative youth to trip them up against the Storm. This team plays beyond their years. But in order to topple an extremely talent Seattle side, the Lynx will need to be nearly perfect.

Prediction: Seattle in 4

Expansion team WNBA Golden State has officially brought on New York Liberty assistant GM Ohemaa Nyanin as general manager, the team announced in a Monday afternoon statement.

The move marks one of the first major personnel hires for the highly anticipated franchise, set to begin league play in 2025. Nyanin will oversee all basketball operations for the Bay Area addition, including building out the roster, shaping the team, and developing talent. 

Nyanin joins team president Jess Smith and senior vice president of marketing and communications Kimberly Veale in the WNBA Golden State front office.

"Ohemaa is the perfect fit to lead our WNBA basketball operations as we prepare for our inaugural season in 2025," Warriors co-executive chairman and CEO Joe Lacob said in the release. "As we moved through the GM hiring process, it became more apparent each day how impressive and well-versed Ohemaa is in all facets of the business, and as a person."

Nyanin was with the Liberty for more than five years, most recently serving as the team’s assistant general manager. Prior to that, she spent five years as the assistant director of the women’s national team at USA Basketball, helping to oversee team operations through gold medal wins at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio and the 2018 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup.

"I am truly honored to be chosen as the first general manager of WNBA Golden State," Nyanin said. "Throughout the interview process, it was clear that bringing a WNBA team to the Bay Area was meticulously thought out and those involved are motivated changemakers who will be proactive in growing the league. I look forward to joining this franchise and building a competitive basketball team that the fans deserve."

In a July 2023 profile published by The Next, Liberty assistant coach Roneeka Hodges described Nyanin as the New York team's “Ms. Make-it-Happen."

"She’s a jack of all trades," added Hodges, while Liberty GM Jonathan Kolb paid Nyanin a particularly prophetic compliment.

"She needs to be a general manager in this league," Kolb said. "Full stop, it needs to happen, and that’s her goal."

Chelsea began Sunday with their WSL title hopes a distant dream... before closing out the weekend right back in the thick of the title chase.

The Blues made a last-ditch effort to claim their fifth consecutive Barclays WSL title on Sunday with an 8-0 win over relegation-bound Bristol City. The victory came after a visiting Arsenal upset current table-toppers Manchester City at Joie Stadium, besting the home side 2-1 on back-to-back goals from Stina Blackstenius. With the win, the third-place Gunners re-opened the door for Chelsea to finish level at the top of the table on points.

Chelsea remains second in the standing, with 49 points to Manchester City's 52. But the barrage of goalscoring over the weekend could be enough to overtake City's potential tiebreak advantage in goal differential, leaving even coach Emma Hayes in awe.

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Chelsea holds a game in hand, but the Blues will need to win their May 15th match against Tottenham to give them a shot at the title. Should they take all three points, the title race will come down to the final weekend, when Chelsea squares off with Manchester United while City faces Aston Villa on Saturday, May 18th. 

Set to take over the USWNT in June, Hayes acknowledged the likelihood of finishing out her time at Chelsea with zero trophies, after losing in both the Conti Cup final and UWCL semifinal last month. But for now, her initial pessimism has subsided.

"Let me be clear, it's not f*****g over," Hayes said after coaching her last home match with Chelsea on Sunday. "There's no time for sentimentality, all work drinks are canceled. There's a title to be won.

"This group of players taught me something so special this week — that you never ever give up."

A WNBA League Pass error left fans scrambling to watch Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso make their preseason debuts for the Chicago Sky in Minneapolis on Friday. 

Despite indicating streaming availability via YouTube before tip-off, the evening’s game was later removed from the league’s platform. With no streaming options — along with no live TV broadcast — WNBA fan Alli Schneider began livestreaming the game on X from her seat inside Target Center. As many as 400,000 people logged on to watch the game live, and by Saturday, the resulting two-hour video had amassed over 2 million total views. 

In the lead-up to the preseason showdown, fans on both sides voiced frustrations over the WNBA's error. The league apologized in response, saying their app was "incorrectly showing that every preseason game (including CHI vs MIN) is available on League Pass."

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"The growth is happening so fast, it’s so accelerated. Business as usual isn’t going to work anymore, you’re going to get left behind," Reeve said of the blunder. "This is an example... We have to capitalize on those things."

Sky coach Teresa Weatherspoon echoed Reeve's sentiments, calling it "awesome" that so many fans followed along via Schneider's DIY livestream.

"We would love for us to be on and for everyone to take a look, especially for this team, you have a great group of young women who are exciting to watch play," said Weatherspoon. "Tonight we had an opportunity to kind of get a feel for where we are and what we need to do. It’s awesome to know that a lot of people really tuned in."

On the court, Reese had a near double-double in her first professional outing, notching 13 points and nine rebounds in 24 minutes. A viral pass inside to set up fellow rookie Cardoso's bucket served as the icing on the cake. The Sky ultimately lost to the Lynx 92-81, despite Minnesota newcomer Alissa Pili netting just two points and one rebound in 13 minutes of playing time.

Due to overwhelming fan demand, the WNBA confirmed today that it will indeed stream the Sky's next preseason game against the New York Liberty on League Pass. The two teams square off on Tuesday, May 7th at 8 PM ET.

The Caitlin Clark WNBA era has officially begun, with the star-studded rookie making her preseason debut with the Indiana Fever on Friday. 

Clark scored a team-leading 21 points — including five threes — and recorded a game-high 16 points at the half. But it was Arike Ogunbowale who got the last word for Dallas, knocking down a splashy buzzer-beating three-pointer in front of the sold-out crowd to deliver the Wings the 79-76 win.

"I think there's gonna be a lot to go back and look at and learn from, because a lot of it is kind of different from college," Clark said shortly after the Fever's loss. "Just from, you know, a technique standpoint or you know, scheme standpoint, and what we do is not always always going to be the same. So I think those are the biggest things, but I think overall, I just played really hard and that's always something to be proud of."

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For Clark, the biggest transition challenges lie in WNBA's physicality and talent levels. 

"No matter who steps into the game, you can never really relax, because that’s how competitive the league is," she added.

Fever coach Christie Sides also commented on's Clark on-court adjustment in her postgame remarks. Noting that the team will have to take steps to protect their star as she navigates the W's upgraded athleticism, Sides shared that at one point in the game, Clark was "completely gassed" and called for a sub. 

"We have to do better, we can't let her get to that point," Sides said. "She just won't be able to last and the way people are guarding her — I mean, she's seeing a double team, she's seeing hard hedges, they're being real physical with her. That's how it's going to be for her. And so we've got to make sure we're doing what we can to protect her so she's able to go into fourth at the same level she is in the first."

Clark wasn't the only rookie making their pro debut in Dallas that night. Ohio State ace Jacy Sheldon racked up six points and one rebound in her 13 minutes on the court (plus an unfortunate viral moment), but the breakout performance of the night went to Jaelyn Brown, a Cal grad who went undrafted in 2020 and spent the last few years playing overseas. On Friday, she carried the Wings to the finish line with 21 points in 29 minutes on 7-of-15 shooting.

After the game, Brown attested that she's "ready to compete" in an atmosphere that she "belongs in."

"I just try and treat it as any other game," she continued. "The crowd was amazing, it’s a little different from overseas, a little bit, but it’s the same game. I just [came] out there with a calm composure and did what I can do."