The FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2025 has arrived, with the 16-team regional tournament tipping off its group stage on Wednesday before the knockout stages begin on June 24th.
Hosted across the continent with games in Czechia, Germany, Italy, and Greece, the 40th edition of the annual competition carries the additional weight of serving as a qualifying event for the 2026 FIBA World Cup Qualifying Tournaments.
As a result, the top five teams in this month's EuroBasket contest will earn automatic spots in one of the March 2026 qualifiers.
Leading the charge to this year's trophy are 2023 winners Belgium, who enter the EuroBasket tournament as reigning champions.
However, 2024 Olympic silver medalists France have since stepped into the spotlight, with the always-dangerous Spain also threatening a podium finish.
Familiar faces to WNBA fans will feature on the 2025 EuroBasket courts this month, as several WNBA players have temporarily departed their US clubs to join their national teams in Europe, including Belgium guard Julie Allemand (LA Sparks), Great Britain center Temi Fagbenle (Golden State Valkyries), and Germany forward Leonie Fiebich (New York Liberty).
As a major international tournament, the 2025 FIBA EuroBasket is exempt from the WNBA's prioritization rule, meaning eligible players can miss regular-season league play to compete in the overseas contest without being in violation of WNBA protocols.
How to watch FIBA Women's EuroBasket in the US
The EuroBasket group-stage action tipped off on Wednesday morning, with all games streaming live on Courtside 1891.
USA Rugby star Ilona Maher is stepping back into the spotlight, with the 2024 Olympic bronze medalist set to be the subject of an upcoming docuseries created by actor Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine, the production company announced last Friday.
With Maher serving as both star and one of the show's producers, Hello Sunshine is teaming up with Ross Greenburg Productions and Range Sports to develop the project, which details Maher's life both on and off the field. Maher's sister, Olivia Maher, will also serve as an executive producer of the docuseries.
"Ilona Maher is a force of nature," Hello Sunshine head of unscripted Sara Rea told The Hollywood Reporter. "Ilona shows unwavering resilience during the tough times and grounded authenticity while sitting on top of the world. She's funny, witty, thoughtful, and unapologetic. Quite simply, she's both relatable and extraordinary, and we are honored to tell her story."
Since her Paris Olympics breakthrough with Team USA, Maher has added a runner-up finish on Dancing with the Stars, a Sports Illustrated cover, and a successful podcast entitled House of Maher to her growing resume.
"I constantly feel like I have something to say," Maher said. "I'm a female athlete in a sport that does not get the attention it deserves in the US and yet I've been able to create this massive brand for myself through my own personality and authenticity."
Georgia outdoor track and field won their first-ever NCAA championship in style this weekend, finishing the four-day meet with a dominant 73 points to claim the team title by a massive margin of 26 points on Saturday.
Snagging podium finishes with 47 and 43 points, respectively, were silver medalists USC and bronze winners Texas A&M.
The Bulldogs proved impossible to beat, boasting individual champions in the 400-meter dash (junior Aaliyah Butler), the high jump (senior Elena Kulichenko), the hammer throw (grad student Stephanie Ratcliffe) and the 4×400-meter relay — more individual titles than any other school at the meet.
The winning relay team of freshman Michelle Smith, sophomore Sydney Harris, and juniors Butler and Dejanea Oakley particularly impressed, with three of the four taking individual podium spots as well.
Butler — a 2024 US Olympic gold medalist in the 4×400-meter relay — led the aforementioned 400-meter dash, with teammate Oakley securing second-place just behind her.
Meanwhile, Smith bagged bronze in the 400-meter hurdles.
Georgia head coach Caryl Smith Gilbert, who previously led three-time champion USC to the Trojans' 2018 and 2021 NCAA titles, is now the only woman to coach two different schools to an outdoor track and field national championship.
"I love these kids. They teach me more about me than I teach them about anything," said an emotional Smith Gilbert during the trophy ceremony. "They worked so hard, and they believed in themselves, and we did it."
Trio of NCAA records crumble at championship meet
While first-time champion Georgia was making team program history, a trio of NCAA women were busy shattering national track and field records this weekend.
First, Washington sophomore Hana Moll became the national pole vault champion with a new NCAA record leap of 4.79 meters on Thursday.
Notably, this was the third time this season that the collegiate pole vault mark was cleared by a Huskie, with Moll's twin sister Amanda breaking the record twice last month.
Then on Saturday, two records fell, with Alabama sophomore Doris Lemngole earning her second straight 3,000-meter steeplechase title in 8:58.15 — the fastest time in NCAA history.
Michigan senior Savannah Sutherland, a 2024 Olympian for Team Canada, closed out the 2025 NCAA record-breaking by dethroning a legend, smashing the 400-meter hurdles mark previously held by now-two-time Olympic individual champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.
Sutherland's 52.46-second race was 0.29 seconds below McLaughlin-Levrone's collegiate record — and a full 0.8 seconds below Sutherland's own personal best.
USA Basketball is heading to France, with NCAA stars Sarah Strong (UConn), Mikaylah Williams (LSU), and Sahara Williams (Oklahoma) — plus 2024 Olympic bronze medalist Cierra Burdick — packing their bags for this weekend's 2025 FIBA 3×3 Women's Series.
Two-time FIBA 3×3 World Cup champ Burdick anchors the squad, with the 31-year-old returning to international competition just five months after undergoing hip surgery.
The college standouts also have key 3×3 experience, with all three earning gold for the U18 team at the 2022 and 2023 World Cups.
Reigning NCAA champion and Freshman of the Year Strong also took the 2024 World Cup title, while 2021 World Cup winner Mikaylah Williams owns two USA Basketball 3×3 Female Athlete of the Year awards.
This weekend's event will kick off Team USA's run in this year's 3×3 Series, a five-month, 16-stop global tour with more than $1 million in prize money on the line.
The 14-team Marseille competition begins with a three-team qualifying round followed by pool play on Friday, with Saturday's knockouts determining the champion.
How to watch Team USA in the 2025 FIBA 3×3 Women's Series
The US opens their 3×3 campaign against Ireland at 7:15 AM ET on Friday, with continuing live coverage on the All Women's Sports Network and YouTube.
Soccer legend Marta is officially returning to the canary yellow kit, earning a Brazil national team call-up just over nine months after her planned retirement from international duty.
Brazil head coach Arthur Elias named Marta to the world No. 8 Seleção's roster on Tuesday, with the 39-year-old icon returning for the team's upcoming home friendlies against No. 5 Japan on May 30th and June 2nd.
"I was with Marta recently and spoke with her," Elias told reporters on Tuesday. "She said she is available to help the team while she is playing at a high level, as she is now."
Stellar club form fuels Marta's Brazil return
Marta, who hung up her international boots after snagging a third silver Olympic medal at the 2024 Paris Games, hasn't missed a beat since, captaining the Orlando Pride to the club's first-ever NWSL Shield and Championship last fall.
In the process, the scoring phenom claimed the league's Best XI First Team honors, as well as finalist nods for both the 2024 NWSL MVP and Midfielder of the Year awards.
Unsurprisingly, the Pride inked Marta to a two-year contract extension in January.
While Marta's consistently impressive form fueled Elias's request to lure her out of retirement, the manager is also hoping her unmatched leadership will bolster younger athletes as Brazil takes aim at a record-extending ninth Copa América title this summer — and, as the host nation, a deep 2027 World Cup run.
Joining the legend on Tuesday's roster are fellow Brazil veterans Lorena and Debinha, from the NWSL-leading Kansas City Current, and Marta's Orlando teammate Angelina.
"[Marta's] presence in some call-ups is very important for the younger players, for the renewal that is taking place in the national team," explained Elias. "We really want expectations to rise for the women's national team and for football in our country."
Duke women's basketball head coach Kara Lawson will lead a different team this NCAA offseason, taking on sideline duties for Team USA at this summer's 2025 FIBA Women's AmeriCup in Chile, USA Basketball announced on Tuesday.
Likely one of the last coaching decisions handled by committee, Lawson — alongside assistants DeLisha Milton-Jones and Jennie Baranczyk, the head coaches of Old Dominion and Oklahoma, respectively — will aim to return the four-time champions to the top of the biannual tournament's podium, after falling short to Brazil in the 2023 gold medal game.
The 2005 WNBA champion boasts a long history of success with USA Basketball, earning 2008 Olympic gold amid multiple medals as a player before beginning her coaching career.
Since then, the 44-year-old helped lead various USA Basketball teams to an astounding 75-5 competition record, picking up nine gold medals along the way.
Most recently, Lawson added 2024 Olympic gold as an assistant coach to her inaugural 3x3 Olympic championship as a head coach at the 2021 Tokyo Games.
"I'm incredibly honored," said Lawson in a USA Basketball statement. "It's such a gift. It's a gift that has given me so much over the years as a player, as a committee member, and as a coach. I've always tried to compete and give my best.... That won't change this summer."
Taking place in the middle of the 2025 WNBA season, the Team USA roster could feature NCAA talent.
"The goal is to put together a competitive team, one that represents all the standards that we hold dear to us," added Lawson.
The 2025 FIBA AmeriCup team that Lawson will lead will be announced after next month's trials, shortly before the tournament tips off on June 28th.
Four-time Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone maintained her 400-meter crown this weekend, completing her second straight 400-meter events sweep at the Grand Slam Track series' Miami meet on Sunday.
One month after completing the sweep at the first Grand Slam meet in Kingston, Jamaica, the 25-year-old US track star won Saturday's 400-meter hurdles with a time of 52.07 seconds before also taking Sunday's 400-meter flat event in 49.69 seconds — a race that earned McLaughlin-Levrone a $100,000 winner's check.
McLaughlin-Levrone has a veritable stranglehold on the 400-meter hurdles, dominating that race since her last loss at the 2019 World Championships.
In that span, she blasted through six world records across 12 straight victories — lowering the women's 400-meter hurdles world standard from 52.16 seconds to a blistering 50.37-second pace.
With two more Grand Slam meets in Philadelphia and LA in the coming weeks, McLaughlin-Levrone is considering a literal change of pace, temporarily switching to run the 100-meter events — a distance she hasn't competed in since 2018.
Should she take on the shorter sprints, McLaughlin-Levrone could find herself racing against the reigning Olympic champion in the 100-meter hurdles, Masai Russell — who notably posted the second-fastest time in the event's history, not to mention a new US record, by winning in 12.17 seconds on Friday.
How to watch the final two Grand Slam Track meets
McLaughlin-Levrone, Russell, and other track stars will next compete in the third Grand Slam Track meet in Philadelphia from May 30th through June 1st, before closing out the series in LA between June 27th and June 29th.
All 2025 Grand Slam Track meets stream live on Peacock.
Star US distance swimmer Katie Ledecky is back to her old tricks, registering her fastest 1,500-meter freestyle in seven years — and the event's second-best time in history — at the 2025 TYR Pro Swim Series in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Wednesday.
The nine-time Olympic gold medalist finished the 30 pool lengths in 15:24.51, just missing the world-record 15:20.48 race time she posted in 2018.
Ledecky now holds the 1,500-meter freestyle's top 22 fastest times in women's swimming history — all of which would have won Wednesday's final race, where she defeated second-place finisher Jillian Cox — a University of Texas freshman — by a full 39 seconds.
Even more, Ledecky didn't slow down after her 1,500-meter performance posting her fastest 400-meter freestyle in nine years the very next day.
In the final lap of the race, the 28-year-old staged a comeback to pass Canadian teenage phenom and 2024 Olympic silver medalist Summer McIntosh and secure the win.
Her time of 3:56.81 just missed the US record of 3:56.46 that Ledecky previously claimed along with a gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
"I don't know if I ever thought I was going to be 3:56 again," Ledecky said in her post-race broadcast interview. "I'm just really happy with all the work that I've put in to get to this point."
How to watch Ledecky at the 2025 TYR Pro Swim Series
The 2025 TYR Pro Swim Series continues through Saturday, with Ledecky competing in Friday's 200-meter freestyle final prior to racing in the 800-meter freestyle on Saturday.
Both races will begin at 6 PM ET on their respective days.
Live coverage of the meet will stream on Peacock on Friday before shifting to the USA Swimming Network on Saturday.
Two top-flight USA Rugby teams are hitting the turf this weekend, as the Eagles Sevens lands in LA for the 2025 HSBC SVNS World Championship while the Eagles 15s continue their friendly series in Kansas City.
Over 7,500 fans snapped up tickets to catch superstar Ilona Maher and the rest of USA Rugby's world No. 9 ranked 15s squad take on No. 2 Canada at Kansas City's CPKC Stadium on Friday, less than a week after suffering a narrow loss to No. 11 Japan in LA last Saturday.
This Saturday, however, is all about the No. 6-ranked Eagles Sevens squad, as the US team joins seven other elite rugby nations hunting a 2025 world title in LA.
Saturday's slate of pool play games will see Team USA facing off against No. 2 Australia, No. 3 France, and No. 7 Fiji, with No. 1 New Zealand, No. 4 Canada, No. 5 Japan, and No. 8 Great Britain also battling for one of four spots in Sunday's semifinals.
USA Rugby drops 2025 HSBC SVNS World Championship roster
After finalizing the lineup, USA Rugby revealed its 12-player Eagles Sevens roster on Wednesday, naming six Olympians and six new faces to the 2025 HSBC SVNS World Championship team.
Leading the US this weekend is captain Kristi Kirshe and vice captain Kayla Canett, with the 2024 Olympians joined by four other teammates from the bronze medal-winning squad in Paris — Ariana Ramsey, Alena Olsen, Sarah Levy, and Sammy Sullivan.
After suffering a knee injury in the team's last tour in Hong Kong, star Alex "Spiff" Sedrick — who scored the game-winning try in last summer's bronze-medal game — will miss this weekend's World Championship.
In her stead, fresh faces like national team debutant Ashley Cowdrey earned a nod, joining a US roster with six athletes who've played no more than six HSBC SVNS events.
One of those six new stars is Nia Toliver, who caps her breakout sevens season as one of the 2025 HSBC SVNS Rookie of the Year and Try of the Year nominees.
Rounding out the team are Jess Lu, Autumn LoCicero, Su Adegoke, and Tessa Hann.
How to watch USA Rugby this weekend
The Eagles 15s will contend with Canada at 8:30 PM ET on Friday, before the Eagles Sevens kick off their 2025 HSBC SVNS World Championship run against France at 2:28 PM ET.
All matches throughout the weekend will be available to stream live via RugbyPass TV.
Some of the biggest NCAA stars are heading to Arizona to participate in this weekend's 3X Nationals, a three-day tournament to determine USA Basketball's 2025 3×3 champion.
Sixteen four-player women's squads will take the court when the competition tips off on Friday, with top college programs like South Carolina, TCU, Vanderbilt, Oklahoma State, Florida, Richmond, and South Dakota State fielding 3×3 teams alongside pro clubs and other organizations.
"With the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028 on the horizon, we are looking forward to welcoming 3×3 players, both veterans and those new to the game, to Mesa to compete in this exciting event that features a unique style of basketball," said USA Basketball CEO Jim Tooley.
Played in the FIBA half-court style, the tournament also serves as an evaluation tool for USA Basketball's 3×3 rosters, including the group tapped to represent the US at June's 3×3 World Cup in Mongolia.
While pro players are eligible for roster spots, college talents have often dominated international 3×3 teams, including TCU alum and new Chicago Sky rookie Hailey Van Lith, who earned bronze at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
This weekend's 3X Nationals could see NCAA standouts like Vanderbilt's All-American freshman Mikayla Blakes as well as South Carolina's Joyce Edwards, Tessa Johnson, and Chloe Kitts make cases for future USA Basketball roster spots.
How to watch the USA Basketball 3X Nationals
The 3X Nationals tip off at 6 PM ET on Friday, with the first two days consisting of pool play.
The top two teams in each of the four groups will advance to Sunday's championship bracket, where the quarterfinal round will begin at 1:20 PM ET and the tournament final is expected to take the court at 5:20 PM ET.
All games will stream live on YouTube.