As the U.S. women’s national team takes on Germany this week in their final two games of the year, they’ll be balancing further squad development and a positive result. The U.S. could use a win after their October trip to Europe yielded two straight losses. Meanwhile, the team has been settling on a preferred starting XI as they await the returns of a number of key players from injury in 2023.

If head coach Vlatko Andonovski views the Germany games as an opportunity for further squad evaluation, a handful of players could use the playing time to prove their value. The competition within the team will only grow as the months tick down to the 2023 World Cup.

Taylor Kornieck

Kornieck was something of a surprise addition to the USWNT’s Concacaf W roster in July, but her play with the San Diego Wave this year explains why the U.S. is interested in her skill set. Kornieck’s prowess in the air, particularly on set pieces, is somewhat obvious (she’s a towering 6-foot-1), but she’s also proven to be an impressive line-breaker with the ball at her feet. The U.S. is still figuring out what to do at the holding midfielder position when Lindsey Horan isn’t on the field, and after Kornieck missed the last international window with an ankle injury, she could use time to carve out a role.

Sam Coffey

The USWNT’s defensive midfield has been in need of answers in recent months, meaning the opportunity for Coffey to make her mark on the team has only grown. Coffey played well beyond her years in her rookie season and during the Thorns’ 2022 NWSL Championship victory, and she’s familiar with both a rigid and a free-flowing midfield philosophy from Portland. Coffey has been fast-tracked as one of the USWNT’s key options for the No. 6, and this week could be the time to solidify the concept.

Trinity Rodman

Rodman is a generational talent, but she hasn’t had as much time with the USWNT attack as the other forwards vying for a spot in the team’s starting XI. In October, she played on the right wing while Sophia Smith filled in for Alex Morgan, but now that Morgan and Mallory Pugh are both back in the fold, Rodman has to figure out where she fits within Andonovski’s attacking rotations. She’s already an asset as a connecting player, and she bounces off the attacking midfield well. But if Andonovski feels his current starters need more time to build chemistry, balancing Rodman’s development at the international level becomes tricky.

Ashley Sanchez

Sanchez, like Rodman, is part of the USWNT’s present and the future. She was tasked with providing an attacking spark in the midfield at Concacaf W this summer, but she has featured more off the bench in 2022. Sanchez is a creative player who can be brought on to run at opponents with enthusiasm, but she hasn’t gotten a chance in games that require a stronger off-the-ball defensive plan. She’s also likely competing with Rose Lavelle for minutes, and Lavelle has been excellent in 2022. Getting a shot against a crisp midfield like Germany’s would be an indicator that Sanchez is ready to adapt to greater challenges.

Ashley Hatch

Hatch quietly had another strong NWSL season in 2022, scoring nine goals for the Washington Spirit, but the USWNT’s reliance on the 27-year-old has waned in recent months. Alex Morgan has gradually overtaken Hatch in the role of post-up, central forward on the team’s depth chart, and Andonovski’s decision to play Hatch in just one half when Morgan was out with an injury in October raises a few questions about what happens when Catarina Macario returns to the team next spring. Hatch has had a knack for goal at the international level, and her level of inclusion this week could suggest where she sits on the USWNT depth chart.

Casey Murphy

I don’t envy the task of rotating the three USWNT goalkeepers through these games. Alyssa Naeher needs time to continue to gel with a new-look defense, and Adrianna Franch has more than earned another look on the field. But the development of Casey Murphy hasn’t been as linear as expected in 2022, and more big-game experience could be crucial for evaluation. Murphy obviously has the ability to be an elite shot-stopper at the international level (her matches against Australia a year ago were examples of her high ceiling,) but she’s also shown some nerves this year. With Franch making a surge, the competition at goalkeeper is more interesting than ever.

Kristie Mewis

Three of the players on this list had rough club seasons with the Spirit this year, and Kristie Mewis likewise had a difficult year with last-place Gotham FC. Andonovski cited form when he left Gotham teammate Margaret Purce off the last two USWNT rosters, and Mewis has been competing for minutes off the bench with Lavelle and Horan tabbed as midfield starters. Mewis is very good in dead-ball situations, and her ability to chase a game late has provided a spark to the midfield in the past. But she needs to be able to showcase the form that got her back on the USWNT in 2021, with limited minutes to do so.

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

The WNBA released details about the league's 2025 Draft on Wednesday, dropping timing, venue, broadcast, and ticketing information ahead of the event's April 14th return to New York.

Following last year’s success in which the league included an audience of fans for the first time in the Draft's history, the 2025 edition will once again be open to the public.

To include more fans in this year's iteration, the WNBA is relocating the event from the Brooklyn Academy of Music to the higher-capacity The Shed at Hudson Yards, located on the west side of midtown Manhattan.

For fans who can’t attend, the 2025 WNBA Draft will air on ESPN starting at 7:30 PM ET, after the 7 PM ET WNBA Countdown.

"At a time when the passion and excitement surrounding the WNBA has never been higher, we continue to focus on creating elevated events that WNBA fans won’t want to miss," said WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert in the league's statement. "The tremendous fan engagement we enjoyed at draft last year was a precursor to a season in which we ultimately set records for viewership, attendance, digital consumption and merchandise sales."

"We look forward to welcoming in a new set of WNBA rookies in a memorable way."

First the Orange Carpet, then the rush to make a WNBA roster

As is tradition, top prospects like expected overall No. 1 pick Paige Bueckers will attend a celebratory lighting ceremony at the Empire State Building to begin the day, and walk the iconic "Orange Carpet" prior to the Draft.

Once the broadcast begins, Engelbert will announce each draftee, sending the top pick to the 2025 Draft Lottery-winning Dallas Wings, and the second to the Seattle Storm.

The Washington Mystics currently hold the third and fourth selections, while 2025 WNBA expansion team Golden State will recruit their first-ever rookie Valkyrie with the night's No. 5 pick.

With the league's 29th season tipping off on May 16th, the selected college and international players will face a baptism by fire, with one month to relocate and then prove themselves worthy of making a WNBA roster.

How to buy tickets to the 2025 WNBA Draft

Tickets to attend the 2025 WNBA Draft go on sale at 10 AM ET on Friday, March 21st, with fans able to register their interest now via WNBA Experiences.

The Naismith Awards unveiled their 2024/25 National Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) semifinalists on Tuesday, with the 10-player lineup highlighting some of NCAA basketball’s biggest stars.

Each athlete represents a different team, all of whom finished the regular season in the Top 25 AP Poll. Six hail from the nation's Top 10 teams.

No. 1 UCLA junior Lauren Betts and fellow center Sedona Prince out of No. 6 TCU lead the list's frontcourt players, which also includes a pair of senior forwards in No. 15 Ohio State's Taylor Thierry and No. 23 Florida State's Makayla Timpson.

Holding down the backcourt are six guards, highlighted by a trio of sophomore stars in No. 4 USC's JuJu Watkins, No. 8 Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo, and No. 20 Tennessee's Talaysia Cooper. Senior veteran experience rounds out the group in No. 5 Texas's Rori Harmon, No. 10 LSU's Aneesah Morrow, and No. 16 West Virginia's JJ Quinerly.

With three semifinalists each, the SEC and Big Ten lead the field, while the ACC and Big 12 each claim two of the list's standouts.

Naismith semifinalists lead the nation in defensive stats

On the Division I stat sheet, Hidalgo tops all other Power Four players in steals per game with 3.7, while Morrow leads the country in rebounds with an average of 13.6 per game.

Morrow's rate is unquestionably impressive, eclipsing the next Power Four athlete on the list, Timpson, by a full three rebounds per game.

Speaking of Timpson, she joins Betts and Prince in Division I's Top 5 players for blocks per game.

Three semifinalists have already claimed some DPOY hardware for their 2024/25 performances, with Hidalgo, Quinerly, and Betts earning the honor for the ACC, Big 12, and Big Ten, respectively.

Many of the season’s best defenders are also in the mix for National Player of the Year (POY), with Betts, Hidalgo, and Watkins leading the charge for the season's top individual award.

The most noteworthy POY candidate missing from Tuesday’s DPOY group is No. 3 UConn senior guard Paige Bueckers, who averages 4.5 rebounds and 0.7 steals per game.

Of the 10 semifinalists, only four will make the award's final cut on March 18th. The 2024/25 Naismith DPOY will be crowned on April 2nd, just days before the NCAA tournament's Final Four tips off.

With Sunday's final match looming, the competition is heating up at the 2025 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells — though several top US players are no longer feeling the fire after falling short in the Round of 16.

Unseeded 28-year-old Swiss contender Belinda Bencic claimed arguably the tournament's biggest upset thus far, with the wild card ousting world No. 3 Coco Gauff on Wednesday.

Despite Gauff taking the first set, 2020 Olympic champion Bencic prevailed, fighting through multiple medical timeouts to snag the win.

Fellow US standout No. 4 Jessica Pegula suffered a similar fate, losing to Ukraine’s No. 23 Elina Svitolina in a three-set match heavily impacted by three hours of rain delays on Tuesday.

With the 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 come-from-behind win, Svitolina advances to her first Indian Wells quarterfinals in six years.

World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and defending Indian Wells champion No. 2 Iga Świątek continued their dominance through the Round of 16, with each booking their quarterfinals berth without dropping a single set at the tournament.

Bencic to face last-standing US player Madison Keys

Another US star stands between Bencic and Friday's semifinals, as 2025 Australian Open champ and freshly minted world No. 5 Madison Keys continues her winning form in California.

The endurance and tenacity that earned Keys her first-ever Grand Slam title is on display at Indian Wells, where she outlasted Belgium's No. 28 Elise Mertens after three back-and-forth sets on Monday before surviving a difficult battle against Croatia's No. 19-seed Donna Vekić in Wednesday’s Round of 16.

By winning the 4-6, 7-6 (7), 6-3 clash, Keys is now riding a 15-match victory streak into Thursday's quarterfinal.

"I kind of just started deciding I was going to go for a little bit more," she said afterwards. "Really happy to be able to get that match and get that win and play another match here."

How to watch Thursday's 2025 Indian Wells quarterfinals

Thursday's quarterfinal round kicks off with Świątek taking on China's 2024 Olympic champion No. 8-seed Qinwen Zheng in a gold-medal rematch at 2 PM ET.

Svitolina will take on No. 9-seed Mirra Andreeva at 4 PM ET, with Keys set to contend with Bencic at 5:10 PM ET.

Sabalenka will close out the round at 8 PM ET, when she'll face her first seeded opponent all tournament in No. 24-seed Liudmila Samsonova.

Live coverage of all matches will air on the Tennis Channel.

USWNT forward Mallory Swanson has yet to join the Chicago Stars for 2025 play due to a personal matter, with the NWSL club confirming Wednesday that the standout striker will not feature in their Friday season opener against the reigning league champion Orlando Pride.

Chicago originally noted Swanson’s absence alongside their preseason roster announcement, adding that the organization is "fully supportive of her decision."

"I'd like to thank the club and the fans for their understanding during this time," Swanson said in the club's January release. "I appreciate the kindness and encouragement from my teammates and all the Stars staff and hope to be back with the team and playing in front of our fans as soon as I can."

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Triple Espresso dwindles to a single shot

After lighting up the Paris pitch last summer, the USWNT's gold medal-winning attacking trio of Swanson, Sophia Wilson (neé Smith), and Trinity Rodman — self-dubbed the "Triple Espresso" — have yet to reunite on the national team roster, due in part to load management.

While a lingering back issue has kept Rodman out of every USWNT camp since the 2024 Olympics, the Washington standout made her return to play as a second-half substitute during the Spirt’s 2025 Challenge Cup win last Friday.

Portland Thorns star Wilson — who hasn’t played with the US since October — is officially out for the entire 2025 NWSL season after announcing her first pregnancy last week.

As for Swanson, a return timeline for both club and country remains unclear, with Chicago now preparing to open the season without their celebrated striker.

"Top player in the world, but the game still goes on," Stars head coach Lorne Donaldson told media Wednesday. "We still have players that we have to focus on, and I think that just gives somebody else another opportunity to come out and just say, 'Okay, I can do it,' because the game is not going to wait for us."

In a year without a major international tournament, maintaining player health on and off the field is massively important, leaving clubs adjusting to their shorthanded rosters and fans cheering for a very different NWSL than last season.

How to watch the 2025 NWSL season kick-off

The first peek at the new NWSL rosters in action hits fields this weekend, with all 14 clubs notching their first minutes by Sunday night.

The Chicago Stars will kick off 2025 play against the Orlando Pride at 8 PM ET on Friday, with the match streaming live on Prime Video.

At the same time, Rodman's Washington Spirit will take on a new-look Houston Dash, streaming live on NWSL+.

With Wilson sidelined, the Portland Thorns will face 2024 NWSL semifinalists KC Current in their 12:45 PM ET season opener on Saturday, with live coverage airing on ABC.