UConn entered Thursday’s contest against Princeton with eight players. By the time the whistle blew on its 69-64 victory, the Huskies were down to seven.

Point guard Nika Muhl lined up to take a charge in the third quarter, but as she fell backward, she took a knee to the head. She rolled onto her stomach in pain as the UConn staff came onto the court to check on the junior.

As staff tended to Muhl, the UConn bench looked on, with Azzi Fudd, Paige Bueckers, Ice Brady and Dorka Juhasz all dressed in gray sweatsuits, unable to play due to their own injuries.

HUSKIES WIN@wellsfargo pic.twitter.com/HR44IwTpL4

— UConn Women’s Basketball (@UConnWBB) December 9, 2022

Fudd suffered a knee injury Sunday in UConn’s 74-60 loss to Notre Dame and will be out for three to six weeks. Bueckers (ACL) and Brady (patella dislocation) are out for the season, though Juhasz is expected back any game now as she recovers from a broken thumb.

The Huskies led by double-digits for much of the game but struggled after Muhl’s injury, which coach Geno Auriemma said may have taken a mental toll on his squad. Still, the Huskies managed to come away with a victory despite committing 27 turnovers – a season-high for the team.

“I don’t know that we handled it great,” Auriemma told reporters after the game.  “I don’t know that we are going to be proud of obviously what we see on film. I think when Nika went down it was really a lot on some of the other guys, but at the end we had to make a couple plays, we gotta make a couple of shots, we gotta make a couple of free throws and we managed to do what needed to be done at that particular time to win a game.”

Aubrey Griffin was CLUTCH last night

Career-high 29 points
11-11 FG
10 rebounds pic.twitter.com/RBP3qmz3LJ

— UConn Women’s Basketball (@UConnWBB) December 9, 2022

Aubrey Griffin led the Huskies to victory, with 29 points and 10 rebounds.

Lou Lopez-Senechal was the second-leading scorer with 19 points despite sitting out the final 4:19 of the contest due to an apparent foot injury. Lopez-Senechal has been nursing a foot strain, which she aggravated Thursday, per Auriemma — but the coach said the injury is not serious.

With the diminished roster, Caroline Ducharme and Amari DeBerry saw increased minutes. Ducharme, who has battled neck stiffness throughout the season, was averaging 18.7 minutes before playing 29 against Princeton. DeBerry played 26 minutes, an increase on her previous high of 13.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) approved a proposal to expand the women’s soccer tournament from 12 to 16 teams for the 2028 LA Olympics on Wednesday, solidifying the event’s international importance as the women's game continues to see skyrocketing growth.

"We wanted to do something to reflect that growth, and equally with the United States being the home of the highest level of popularity of women's football," IOC sports director Kit McConnell said on Wednesday.

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IOC balloons multiple 2028 LA Olympics women's events

Soccer isn't the only women's event expanding, with additional IOC decisions pushing the total number of women athletes participating in the 2028 LA Games over the 50% line.

The women’s water polo field will grow from 10 to 12 teams to align with the men’s competition, while 3×3 basketball will expand its field from eight teams to 12.

Even more, women’s boxing will gain an additional weight category, and the IOC will incorporate new mixed events across several other Olympic sports.

Ultimately, increased parity will only intensify competition, with the IOC making moves to keep the Olympics in line with the continued demand for and rise of women's sports.

"The message of gender equality is a really important one for us," added McConnell.

NCAA basketball standouts are still making decisions on whether to remain in college or make the leap to the pros as the 2025 WNBA Draft looms on Monday — and many are choosing to stay in school.

In the most recent example of this trend, Texas senior Rori Harmon announced Wednesday that she’ll use her injury redshirt year to return to the Longhorns next season.

While most players in this year’s senior class began college in 2021 — after the cutoff to receive an extra year of eligibility following the 2020 COVID-19 shutdown — 2025’s draft-eligible group includes many players opting to stay in the NCAA.

Like Harmon, injuries resulting in redshirt seasons are allowing college standouts like South Carolina's Raven Johnson, newly announced TCU transfer Olivia Miles, and 2025 national champion and UConn star Azzi Fudd a final shot at the NCAA court.

LSU's Flau’jae Johnson and UCLA's Lauren Betts — current juniors who are draft eligible under the WNBA's age clause, which permits players who have not hit four collegiate seasons to go pro so long as they turn 22 years old within the draft's calendar year — have also declined to make the jump in 2025.

Star-power still up for grabs in the 2025 WNBA Draft

Despite the collegiate holdouts, there will still be significant NCAA names earning WNBA spots on Monday, led by UConn guard Paige Bueckers.

Bueckers is still considered a lock for the 2025 WNBA Draft's overall No. 1 pick, which is held tightly by Dallas — in spite of speculation that the Wings might not be her preferred destination.

Other projected first rounders include Notre Dame guard Sonia Citron, USC forward Kiki Iriafen, LSU forward Aneesah Morrow, South Carolina guard Te-Hina Paopao, Kentucky guard Georgia Amoore, and Maryland guard Shyanne Sellers — with TCU guard Hailey Van Lith also making an early-round draft case through her 2025 March Madness play.

Monday could also see international prospects making a splash, with some mock drafts expecting French prodigy Dominique Malonga to go as high as No. 2, with Slovenian forward Ajsa Sivka and Lithuanian shooting guard Justė Jocytė also possibly earning WNBA invites.

All in all, the upcoming 2025 WNBA Draft class boasts experience, solid shooting, and many winning resumes, but it's up to the pro scouts to determine who will fit their team best.

The first-ever League One Volleyball (LOVB) postseason begins on Thursday, with all six teams competing though the weekend determine who will eventually lift the pro league’s inaugural trophy on Sunday.

Following years of success at the youth level, LOVB’s pro arm is capitalizing on volleyball’s surging popularity by stocking rosters with Olympians and NCAA champions.

Atlanta, Houston lead LOVB postseason favorites

This weekend's four-day postseason follows a classic tournament format, with single-elimination quarterfinals and semifinals preceding a winner-take-all championship match.

Play-in teams Austin, Salt Lake, Omaha, and Madison will battle on Thursday night for spots in Friday's semifinals, where No. 1-seed Atlanta and No. 2-seed Houston await.

As the clear frontrunner, Atlanta is captained by 2025 LOVB MVP and Olympic gold medalist Kelsey Cook. The team also features Outside Hitter of the Year McKenzie Adams on the court and Coach of the Year Paulo Coco on the sideline.

Cook’s USA teammate Jordan Thompson, who finished the LOVB regular season as the league’s overall points leader, leads fellow tournament favorite Houston.

How to watch the 2025 LOVB Finals

LOVB's first-ever postseason begins with Thursday's quarterfinals, with Austin taking on Salt Lake at 4:30 PM ET before Omaha faces Madison at 7 PM ET.

Friday's semifinals begins at 6:30 PM ET, with Sunday's championship match starting at 4 PM ET.

All coverage for the 2025 LOVB postseason will air live across ESPN platforms.

UConn’s big NCAA championship win over South Carolina on Sunday weighed in as ESPN’s third most-watched title match in women’s March Madness history, with an average viewership of 8.6 million fans and a peak of 9.9 million.

Also making a viewership mark last weekend were Friday's Final Four tilts. Both the 4.2 million fans who tuned into UConn's win over UCLA and the 3.7 million who saw South Carolina take down Texas helped those games claim spots in the sport's Top 10 most watched across ESPN platforms.

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The 2025 grand finale fell short of the Caitlin Clark-fueled 2023 and 2024 championship games. However, Sunday’s matchup towered over the 2022 edition with an impressive 75% viewership increase.

The 2025 championship more than doubled the 2021's 4.1 million viewers. This demonstrates a sharp continued uptick in the sport's widespread popularity.

With the 2024/25 NCAA women's basketball tournament scoring massive viewership numbers from tip-off through trophy-lifting, it's not entirely surprising that this season's edition registered as the second most-watched women's March Madness on record, boasting an impressive 8.5 billion minutes of content consumed.

Auriemma, Staley push for new March Madness media deal

Both 2025 NCAA championship-contending head coaches subsequently voiced support for securing a new media rights deal. They seek one that separates women's basketball from its current package alongside 39 other collegiate championships.

"For years and years and years we’ve been packaged with all the other Olympic sports, so to speak, in one big chunk. Can we completely separate ourselves and say, 'What are we worth to you?,'" UConn manager Geno Auriemma said on Sunday.

Although a separate deal is a tough ask given that the current contract runs through 2032, South Carolina boss Dawn Staley echoed Auriemma's sentiment. She advocated for a standalone deal similar to the one that's brought lucrative success to the men's tournament.

"I don't know if [new WBCA president Jose Fernandez] can get that, [but opening] up negotiations for a new television deal would be nice," said Staley.

"We need our own television deal so we can understand what our worth is."