It’s the end of the calendar year for the U.S. women’s national team, with 2022 performances all wrapped up in a bow. Naturally, that also means it’s time for end-of-year report cards to evaluate how each player did in the run-up to the 2023 World Cup.

Again, a quick set of criteria: Despite the team’s first three-game losing streak in decades, the U.S. lost only three games total in 2022. A failing grade would indicate a player is wildly unprepared for the game at this level, which is not something we saw from the group playing the lion’s share of minutes this year. Likewise, an A+ indicates a player with all-star, team-on-their-back, best-in-the-world status.

Throughout this series, which will grade players by position, I’m going to avoid those who didn’t get minutes in 2022 and those who have missed significant time due to injury.

So far, we’ve graded the goalkeepers and the outside backs. Now, let’s take a look at center-back.

Naomi Girma – A

If the U.S. had a Rookie of the Year award, Girma would take it with flying colors. The San Diego Wave defender started getting consistent time at the international level in the middle of the year and never looked back. She’s confident both in possession and out of it. Paired with Alana Cook and Becky Sauerbrunn in the latter half of 2022, she became an essential part of the USWNT’s ability to defend and distribute from the center-back position.

Girma’s ability to recover in 1v1 battles when the backline has fallen out of shape is remarkable for a player of her experience level. Girma is one of the U.S. breakout stars of the year and should be considered undroppable going into 2023.

Becky Sauerbrunn – B+

Sauerbrunn had a quietly solid 2022, bridging the generational gap with new faces while remaining excellent in her positioning in the back. She partnered primarily with Alana Cook, though she did work with Girma in the pivotal final match of the year against Germany.

Sauerbrunn isn’t the fastest center-back in the world, but she makes up for her lack of pace with savvy positioning and decision-making. When the defensive shape holds, she’s the player the U.S. wants helping direct the flow of play. It appears Sauerbrunn is no longer the player who can be effective no matter who she is paired with, but her performance alongside Girma in the final game of the year showed promise.

Alana Cook – B

The 25-year-old got thrown into a role that she likely wasn’t anticipating in 2022, holding down the USWNT backline as center-back partners rotated around her. More than anyone, Cook probably deserves to be graded on a curve, simply because of the way the U.S. relied on her to shore up personnel inconsistencies over the course of the year.

Cook, though, was not immune to mistakes in the back, especially against top competition. She naturally pushes forward in possession as a key distributor in the USWNT’s attack. But perhaps a few times too many this year, her recovery runs didn’t match the tempo shifts transition or she made a decision slightly too late. Cook is a quality center-back who had the weight of the team laid on her shoulders in 2022. If she’s given slightly less responsibility in a functioning back-four, she can shine in 2023.

Tierna Davidson/Emily Sonnett/Abby Dahlkemper – Incomplete

The USWNT center-back pool got very thin very fast due to injuries in 2022. The three who held down the position went through their fair share of ups and downs, making room for competition as players return in 2023.

Davidson, Sonnett and Dahlkemper are all World Cup champions and Olympic medalists, but there isn’t room for everybody in 2023. Girma is undroppable in my opinion, and if Sauerbrunn can make the trip, she’s also likely heading to New Zealand. So who earns the next spot, whether as a starter or a reliable backup? Cook, Davidson, Sonnett and Dahlkemper will all look to make their case before the final roster announcement next summer.

Claire Watkins is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @ScoutRipley.

Caitlin Clark is officially a member of the Indiana Fever, with the Iowa superstar going No. 1 overall in the WNBA draft on Monday night. 

Clark was the consensus top pick since she declared for the draft, but to her the moment was still a special one. 

"When you're just sitting at a table waiting for your name to be called, that really allows the emotions to feed you," Clark said. "You're with your family — obviously, playing a basketball game, I'm not out there with my family — so sharing that moment with them and enjoying it, and people that have really had my back and believed in me more than anyone, is super special."

It took a little more time than some thought necessary for Indiana to make the pick – to which Fever GM Lin Dunn said it took her a minute to write down Clark’s name. But in the end, she says that Clark is the “perfect fit” for her team.

"She's from the Big Ten, the Midwest — is there any place better for her than Indianapolis, Indiana?" Dunn said. "I think this is the beginning of us getting back on track to win another championship."

Clark echoed the sentiment.

"That's definitely our goal, is to get back to championship habits," Clark said. "I'm very lucky to be going there to an organization that really loves women's basketball. … "For myself, I can't imagine a more perfect fit, a better place for me to start my professional career, an organization that really just believes in women's basketball and wants to do everything the right way. So I couldn't be more excited to get there."

She’s also particularly excited about linking up with collegiate rival Aliyah Boston.

"Going to an organization that has, in my eyes, one of the best post players in the entire world, my point guard eyes just light up at that," Clark said of the former South Carolina star. "She's going to make my life easy."

Caitlin Clark made a surprise appearance on “Saturday Night Live” over the weekend, which quickly went viral.

The Iowa star showed up on the show’s Weekend Update segment to playfully call out Michael Che’s history of making jabs at women’s sports.

It started when Che joked that Iowa should replace Clark’s retired No. 22 “with an apron.” 

When Clark entered, Che said that he was a fan. But Clark wasn’t convinced – especially not when co-host Colin Jost brought the receipts of Che’s jabs.

“Really, Michael? Because I heard that little apron joke you did,” she said, before making him read some jokes of her own in retaliation. Clark finished her segment by shouting out the WNBA greats that came before her. She then got in one final dig – bringing Che a signed apron as a souvenir. 

She’s got jokes 😎@CaitlinClark22 on @nbcsnl #Hawkeyes

pic.twitter.com/54khqQw2MR

— Iowa Women's Basketball (@IowaWBB) April 14, 2024

When Che promised to give it to his girlfriend, Clark delivered her last playful dig of the night.

“You don’t have a girlfriend, Michael,” she said.

Afterward, SNL castmember Bowen Yang told People that the 22-year-old and teammates Gabbie Marshall, Kate Martin and Jada Gyamfi – who joined her at Studio 8H – “were so cool.”

“She's so charming and witty,” Yang said. “They were just the most stunning, noble people.

“Athletes just have this air about them. They know they're amazing. I mean, these are people who have numeric attachments and values to their performance. That's something that comedians never have.”

The Portland Thorns continue to struggle to start the NWSL season, falling 2-0 to the North Carolina Courage over the weekend to remain winless through their first four games. 

It’s uncharted territory for Portland, who has never started the NWSL regular season without a win in four games before.

Following the loss, defender Becky Sauerbrunn voiced her frustrations with the start. 

“It’s hard to find a lot of encouraging things, but what I find encouraging is that people are frustrated,” she said. “People are pissed off that we’re not doing well. We care, and I think that’s really important.” 

She also added that while the team will reflect individually, “there’s going to be no finger pointing.”

“We’re going to look at ourselves and figure out what we should have done, or I should have done better,” she said. “There is a list of things that I could have done better, and I’m going to make sure I know every single thing and watch this game back.”

The Thorns currently sit at the bottom of the league table with just one point, having allowed 10 goals – tied for the worst in the league. They’ve yet to lead in a match. And as questions grow, attention turns to head coach Mike Norris. 

Norris is in his second year as head coach of the club after leading the team to a second-place finish in the regular season last year. When asked about the possibility of pressure growing after the unprecedented start, Norris said that the pressure has been there “from day one.”

“I cannot be driven by my day-to-day and the longer vision of the pressure of the job,” he said. “We’ve got a belief in how we want to play, how we operate. We’ve got to stick with the process of that. While we do it, we have to review and see what is working, what’s not working.

“I’ll be showing up for the team and being there for what they need from me as we approach getting back together as a group next week.”

Maria Sanchez, who signed one of the biggest deals in NWSL history just four months ago, has reportedly requested a trade from the Houston Dash. 

ESPN was the first to report the news, which was confirmed by multiple sources.

In a statement to ESPN, the team said: “​​Maria Sanchez is under contract, a choice she made in free agency at the end of 2023." 

In December, Sanchez signed a new three-year contract with the Dash worth $1.5 million including bonuses and an option year. At the time, it was the largest contract in NWSL history – something that was eclipsed by multiple contracts in the following months. 

The winger was a restricted free agent in the offseason, meaning that Houston could match any offer from another team and retain her rights. Should the team trade Sanchez, her contract would remain as it has been signed with the league. That limits the number of teams that could take on her contract. 

In three starts with the Dash this season, Sanchez has zero goals and an assist. The Dash are 1-2-1 through four games and have allowed a league-worst 10 goals.

The team hired a new coach, Fran Alonso, in December. Earlier this year, former goalkeeper coach Matt Lampson was fired for violating the league’s Coach Code of Conduct and Anti-Fraternization policy. 

Both the NWSL trade window and transfer window close at midnight ET on Friday.