When the OL Reign clinched the top seed for the 2022 Challenge Cup playoffs, their “reward” wasn’t enviable by any standards. After opening their regular season against the Washington Spirit on Sunday, the Reign will play three games in one week without home-field advantage.

Three days after the Spirit defeated the Reign 2-1, the teams meet again Wednesday night in the Challenge Cup semifinals in Washington, D.C. Both sides will also take the field again this weekend, either in the Challenge Cup final or their second regular season game. Whichever team makes the championship game on Saturday will need to reschedule its regular season match. The Reign are currently slated to play Racing Louisville FC at home, and the Spirit are supposed to visit the Chicago Red Stars.

Based on the current format, the scheduling conflicts and travel adventures are inevitable for the teams that advance to the Challenge Cup knockout stage.

“The crossover is something a lot of us were feeling is unfair, and we’re just wondering why anyone thought this was a great idea,” Reign attacker Ally Watt told Just Women’s Sports on Friday. “[Louisville’s] like, ‘OK, so are we coming this weekend, or are you guys busy?’ Why is this a conversation we have to run into? It’s just really bad. We’ll take it game by game, but it just sucks to be put in that position.”

Maybe! 🤷‍♀️

If OL Reign wins its midweek Challenge Cup semifinal, Sunday’s game will be rescheduled to a later date. Stay tuned… pic.twitter.com/fGPL0UeQp0

— Racing Louisville FC (@RacingLouFC) May 2, 2022

While the Challenge Cup gives teams an opportunity to test formations and try out players in different positions, each club also sets out to win the preseason tournament.

“That’s a goal we have, and we worked really hard for it and we were in a good position to possibly do it, but now we’re put in another position where we’re not in a great position to do it because we have to play all these other games,” Watt said.

The Reign will also have to get through the Spirit in front of an opposing crowd to have a chance at the Challenge Cup trophy. Lumen Field, the Reign’s home stadium, is unavailable for the game because the MLS’ Seattle Sounders are hosting the second leg of their CONCACAF Champions League final on the same night.

“We worked so hard to get the No. 1 seed, and now we don’t even get to [host] it,” Watt said.

Even Audi Field, the stadium the Spirit and D.C. United share, was originally unavailable because of a scheduling conflict with the Project Play Summit, pushing the semifinal game to the 5,000-seat Segra Field. In collaboration with the Aspen Institute and the teams, the NWSL announced last week that the game would be relocated to Audi Field, which can seat 20,000, with the summit taking place in the lead-up to kickoff. NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman is scheduled to speak at the event.

Now hours away from the match, the Reign have put their frustrations behind them.

“At the end of the day, I think there are so many things out of your control, and scheduling just is not in our control unfortunately,” said defender Sofia Huerta. “Everyone at one point probably has to deal with an unfortunate few games … The only thing we have on our minds is tomorrow’s game and winning the semifinals so we can bring the trophy back to Lumen.”

The Reign, who lost to the Spirit 2-1 in last year’s NWSL semifinal, will be hungry for vengeance. Despite consistently being one of the top teams in the league, they haven’t defeated Washington since 2018.

But when the Spirit are in the right mindset, they’re unbeatable. Since head coach Kris Ward took the helm on Aug. 7, Washington hasn’t lost, including in the NWSL championship last year and in Sunday’s regular season opener against the Reign.

The Reign nearly took an early lead when the Spirit conceded a penalty kick in the ninth minute. Washington goalkeeper Aubrey Bledsoe then saved Rose Lavelle’s shot, kickstarting the Spirit, who scored five minutes later on their way to winning 2-1.

“It’s just a testament to the players and that mentality that they have,” said Ward. “Any situation, whether they’ve been up or down in score, up or down a player on the field, dealing with difficult decisions, whatever it is, they’ve always responded so well.”

The other semifinal will feature the North Carolina Courage and the Kansas City Current on Wednesday at Children’s Mercy Park. The Courage and Current didn’t have to deal with the same scheduling headaches, but they are also mixed up in the regular-season crossover. If the Courage advance to the final, they would have to reschedule their Saturday game against the Portland Thorns, while the Current would need to move their game Sunday against the Houston Dash.

The teams also head into the semifinal on short rest after playing their regular season openers on the West Coast. The Courage had just two full days in North Carolina between returning from their match Friday night against Angel City and leaving for Kansas City on Tuesday.

“At the end of the day it’s the situation that we earned, to be in this spot,” said Courage head coach Sean Nahas. “Whether or not I agree with how it’s scheduled, that’s not for me to debate.”

Washington and OL Reign play in the first semifinal at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday on CBS Sports Network, followed by Kansas City and North Carolina at 8:30 p.m. ET on Paramount+ and Twitch.

Jessa Braun is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports covering the NWSL and USWNT. Follow her on Twitter @jessabraun.

U.S. Soccer announced Tuesday that the USWNT will play their last home game on July 16th in the lead-up to the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.

The 2024 Send-Off Match against Costa Rica will take place at Washington, DC’s Audi Field — home to both the Washington Spirit and DC United — at 7:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 16th. The friendly rounds out a four-game Olympic run-up campaign under incoming head coach Emma Hayes’ side, with the last two set to feature the finalized 2024 U.S. Olympic Women’s Soccer Team roster.

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Hayes will appear on the USWNT sideline for the first time this June, helming the team as they embark on a two-game series against Korea Republic hosted by Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado on June 1st followed by Allianz Stadium in St. Paul, Minnesota on June 4th. 

The team is then scheduled to meet a talented Mexico squad on July 13th at Gotham FC’s Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, where the Olympic-bound lineup will attempt to rewrite February’s shocking 2-0 loss to El Tri Femenil in the group stages of this year’s Concacaf W Gold Cup. And while clear roster favorites have emerged from both of this year’s Gold Cup and SheBelives Cup rosters, a spate of recent and recurring injuries means making it to the Olympics is still largely anyone’s game.

Broadcast and streaming channels for the USWNT's final July 16th friendly at Audi Field include TNT, truTV, Universo, Max, and Peacock.

The USA Basketball Women's National Team is still considering Caitlin Clark for a spot on the Paris Olympics squad, says selection committee chair Jennifer Rizzotti. 

On Monday, Rizzotti told the AP that the committee will be evaluating the college phenom’s Olympic prospects by keeping a close eye on her first few weeks of WNBA play with Indiana.

The move is somewhat unconventional. While Clark was invited to participate in the 14-player national team training camp held earlier this month — the last camp before Team USA’s roster drops — she was unable to attend due to it coinciding with Iowa’s trip to the NCAA Women’s Final Four.

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Judging by the immense talent spread throughout the league in what might be their most hyped season to date, competition for a piece of the Olympic pie could be fiercer than ever before.

"You always want to introduce new players into the pool whether it's for now or the future," said Rizzotti. "We stick to our principles of talent, obviously, positional fit, loyalty and experience. It's got to be a combination of an entire body of work. It's still not going to be fair to some people."

Of course, Clark isn’t the first rookie the committee has made exceptions for. Coming off an exceptional college season that saw her averaging 19.4 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 4 assists per game for UConn, Breanna Stewart was tapped to represent the U.S. at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil less than two weeks after being drafted No. 1 overall by the Seattle Storm. Eight years prior, fellow No. 1 pick Candace Parker punched her ticket to the 2008 Games in Beijing just two weeks after making her first appearance for the L.A. Sparks.

In the lead-up to Paris’ Opening Ceremony on July 26th, USA Basketball Women’s National Team is scheduled to play a pair of exhibition games. They'll first go up against the WNBA's finest at the July 20th WNBA All-Star Game in Phoenix before facing Germany in London on July 23rd.

While an official roster announcement date hasn’t yet been issued, players won’t find out if they’ve made this year’s Olympic cut until at least June 1st.

For the first time in history, three different WNBA teams have completely sold out of season ticket plans well before the league's May 14th kick-off.

Call it the Caitlin Clark effect, attribute it to this year’s tenacious rookie class, or look to the skyrocketing visibility of veteran players across the board. But no matter the cause, facts are facts: Tickets to the 2024 WNBA season are selling like never before. 

On Monday, the Dallas Wings became the third team to sell out of season ticket memberships in the league’s 27-year history. The announcement from Arlington came shortly after the Atlanta Dream issued their own season ticket sell-out statement, also on Monday, and almost seven weeks after the back-to-back WNBA Champion Las Vegas Aces made headlines by becoming the first-ever WNBA team to sell out their season ticket allotment.   

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According to the Wings, season ticket memberships will fill nearly 40% of the 6,251 seats inside their home arena, College Park Center. The club also said that their overall ticket revenue has ballooned to the tune of 220% this year, spanning not just season tickets but also a 1,200% increase in single ticket sales. There’s currently a waitlist to become a Dallas season ticket holder, a status that comes with extra incentives like playoff presale access and discounts on additional single-game tickets. 

In Atlanta, season tickets aren't the only thing flying off the shelves. The Dream also announced that they broke their own record for single-game ticket sales during a recent limited presale campaign. Sunday was reportedly their most lucrative day, with five different games totally selling out Gateway Center Arena. Individual tickets for all upcoming matchups will hit the market this Thursday at 8 a.m., while a waitlist for season ticket memberships will open up next Tuesday at 10 a.m.

"Excitement around women's sports, particularly basketball, is at an all-time high and nowhere is that felt more than here in Atlanta," Dream president and COO Morgan Shaw Parker said in the team’s statement. "We’ve continued a record-setting growth trajectory over the past three years under new ownership — both on and off the court — and 2024 is shaping up to be our best season yet."

As of Tuesday, season ticket sales revenue for Caitlin Clark’s hotly anticipated Indiana Fever debut haven’t yet been announced by the club. But if these numbers are any indication — not to mention the explosive demand for Fever away games felt by teams around the country — it won’t be long before we see some scale-tipping figures coming out of Indianapolis.

25-year-old American pro golfer Nelly Korda secured her spot in LPGA history on Sunday, notching her fifth-straight title at this weekend's Chevron Championship in The Woodlands, Texas.

Ranked No. 1 in the world by Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, Korda joins Nancy Lopez (1978) and Annika Sörenstam (2005) as just the third LPGA player to rack up five consecutive tour wins. She is also the third No. 1-ranked player to capture The Chevron Championship victory since the rankings debuted in 2006, accompanied by Lorena Ochoa and Lydia Ko.

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The Florida native shot three-under 69 in Sunday's final, besting Sweden's Maja Stark despite Stark's valiant come-from-behind attempt in the 18th. Korda finished with a four-day total of 13-under 275, celebrating her two-stroke win by cannonballing into Poppie's Pond, much to the crowd's delight. She left The Club at Carlton Woods with $1.2 million from an overall purse of $7.9 million.

It wasn't long ago that the two-time major champion's current winning streak seemed unimaginable. After maintaining her No. 1 position for 29 weeks, Korda underwent surgery to remove a blood clot from her left arm in 2022. She returned to the course not long after, but failed to win a single tournament in 2023 before seeing a surge in form during the first four months of 2024. As of today, she hasn't lost a tournament since January.

Korda will attempt a record sixth-straight win at next week's JM Eagle LA Championship at Wilshire Country Club in Los Angeles, where she'll vie for a cut of the $3.75 million purse.