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WNBA rosters: Which rookies made the cut?

Rookie center Shakira Austin joins the Washington Mystics for the 2022 season. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

The WNBA season begins Friday, and teams have finalized their rosters ahead of the opening tipoff.

Of the 36 rookies selected in this year’s draft, 17 have made opening day rosters – including 10 of the players drafted in the first round. Two undrafted rookies in Maryland’s Katie Benzan and Arizona’s Sam Thomas also made the cut.

Several draftees have had their contracts suspended for the season – including Nyara Sabally, who was drafted No. 5 overall by the Liberty but will miss the season due to injury. Mya Hollingshed, who was picked No. 8 overall by the Aces, is the only first-round draftee to be cut by a team.

Atlanta Dream

Both of the Dream’s draftees – No. 1 overall pick Rhyne Howard and No. 15 pick Naz Hillmon – have made the final roster for the upcoming season.

Kristy Wallace also has made the roster as a rookie. The 2018 draftee has been playing in Australia’s WNBL after recovering from two injuries over the past four years.

Chicago Sky

Rebekah Gardner is the lone rookie to make the Sky roster. After playing at UCLA from 2009-2012, Gardner went undrafted. She made her way overseas, where she most recently has been playing for Spar Citylift Girona in Spain’s Liga Femenina.

Li Yueru was also picked up by the team and is listed on the roster, although she is still in China and may not be able to play this season. Li has yet to receive approval from the Chinese Basketball Federation to play in the United States.

Connecticut Sun

Yvonne Anderson is another older rookie to make a WNBA roster. After going undrafted out of Texas in 2012, she has played overseas, most recently for Reyer Venezia in Italy.

Nia Clouden is the lone draftee for Connecticut to earn a spot on the regular-season roster. Kiara Smith, meanwhile, remains under team control but will sit out the season as she continues to rehab a knee injury suffered during the SEC tournament.

Dallas Wings

Two of the Wings’ three draftees have made the final roster, with Veronica Burton and Jasmine Dickey making their stamp during the team’s training camp.

Indiana Fever

Of Indiana’s plethora of draft picks, five remain on the final roster, making the Fever the team with the most rookies heading into the season. Queen Egbo, Lexie Hull, NaLyssa Smith, Emily Engstler and Destanni Henderson will all look to make an impact this season as the Fever continue to rebuild.

Las Vegas Aces

Two of the Aces’ six draftees – Kierstan Bell and Aisha Sheppard – made the final roster in Becky Hammon’s first season as head coach.

Los Angeles Sparks

Three rookies made the Sparks roster: Olivia Nelson-Ododa, Rae Burrell and Amy Atwell. All will look to make their mark alongside some big-name stars.

Minnesota Lynx

Minnesota is one of just two teams that will not carry a rookie into the 2022 season.

Draftees Kayla Jones and Hannah Sjerven did not make the cut, while undrafted rookies Chloe Bibby, Cece Hooks and Moon Ursin also were waived during training camp.

With two seasons under her belt, Jessica Shepard is the Lynx player with the least WNBA experience. She was drafted by the team in the 2019 draft before missing the 2020 season with a knee injury.

New York Liberty

Second-round pick Lorela Cubaj is the only rookie who will be active for the Liberty this season.

Fellow rookies Nyara Sabally and Sika Kone will miss the upcoming season. Kone has opted to continue rehabbing an injury in Spain while Sabally recently underwent knee surgery. Both players’ rights remain with the Liberty.

Phoenix Mercury

Sam Thomas is the lone rookie on a stacked Mercury roster that is expected to compete for a WNBA championship this season. Undrafted out of Arizona, she scored nine points in one preseason game for the Mercury.

Seattle Storm

Seattle is the other team that will not bring a rookie into the new season.

Jade Melbourne, who was drafted by the team in April, opted to remain in Australia and play in the WBNL this season. She told Basketball Australia that she intends to take a stab at the WNBA next year after gaining more experience.

“I think for me personally, I want to go over there giving training camp a red-hot crack, obviously I’m only 19 and a lot of the girls over there who are coming out of college are 22-24, so doing another year here in the NBL1 and WNBL, I’ll gain a lot,” she said. “My game is still developing and I want to add to my strengths as well, give myself a proper offseason so hopefully when I go there next year I’ll be in good shape and hopefully secure a roster spot.”

Washington Mystics

The Washington Mystics will carry three rookies – Shakira Austin, Katie Benzan and Rui Machida – on their 2022 roster.

Austin was the No. 3 overall pick in this year’s draft. Benzan went undrafted but was signed to a training camp contract on April 20. Machida joins the team from Japan.

Gotham, USWNT forward Midge Purce out with ACL tear

(Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports)

Midge Purce announced on Wednesday that she has torn her ACL. 

The Gotham FC and USWNT forward went down with the injury on Sunday during Gotham’s 1-0 win after tweaking it earlier in the game. Gotham coach Juan Carlos Amorós did not have any immediate updates following the match, with further evaluation revealing the tear. 

“It’s a reality I’m still struggling with and has left me with not too much to say,” Purce wrote in a statement on social media. “I’m heartbroken to no longer be available for my season with Gotham FC or for Olympic selection with the USWNT – know I’m rooting for you both all year long. 

“Though you may not see it, I’ll be doing everything I can to get back on the field.”

Purce is just the latest women's soccer star to tear her ACL, and joins USWNT teammate Mia Fishel in having torn her ACL in the last couple of months. Other notable players include Catarina Macario and Christen Press, with Macario only just returning to the USWNT lineup after tearing hers in 2022. 

International stars such as Alexia Putellas, Beth Mead, Vivianne Miedema and Leah Williamson have also suffered ACL tears. 

Purce’s injury caused Amorós to call out the international schedule, which has been a growing point of concern as more players fall victim to injuries and the playing schedule becomes more packed. Kansas City’s Debinha suffered a hamstring injury in the team’s opening game, while both Lynn Williams and Rose Lavelle have yet to play for Gotham due to injuries picked up during the W Gold Cup. 

“We lost Midge during the game which for me is a bittersweet flavor,” Amorós told reporters after Sunday’s game. “By the way, it’s another player that came from the Gold Cup. Last week, it was Debinha. We are paying the consequences of a tournament that shouldn’t have happened.”

“We’re talking about protecting the players, [who shouldn’t] go to play an international competition after one week of preseason,” Amorós continued. “We’ve seen the consequences now. We’ve got Rose, Lynn, last week it was Debinha in Kansas [City] and now we have Midge. From my experience, the clubs are going to keep paying for that competition."

In her statement, Purce said that “so many friends, teammates and even players I’ve only ever competed against” reached out to offer support. 

“I am so blessed,” she wrote. “Your messages have meant so much to me throughout this process, you have consoled what, for a moment, felt inconsolable. Thank you for reminding me that our football world is not only full with incredibly talent but also, incredible kindness.”

Lauren Jackson included on Australia Olympics roster

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 01: Lauren Jackson of Australia celebrates with team mates after playing her final Opals game during the 2022 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 3rd place match between Canada and Australia at Sydney Superdome, on October 01, 2022, in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Kelly Defina/Getty Images)

Lauren Jackson has come out of retirement once again to compete for a spot on Australia’s Olympic roster. 

Jackson was included on the 26-player roster named by coach Sandy Brondello on Tuesday that will take part in training camps, tours and games in the lead-up to the Paris Olympics. The roster will eventually be whittled down to just 12 players selected from the 26 named on Tuesday.

Jackson helped Australia qualify for the Olympics with a win over Germany in February. After that, she announced her retirement, revealing that she struggled to spend so much time away from her two young children. 

The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper reported that Jackson and the basketball federation had come to an agreement in which they would help cover costs for her children to travel with the team for training camps and the Olympics. 

She’s largely expected to make the Opals’ Olympic roster. 

"It's always an exciting time to announce an Olympic squad and I congratulate all the athletes," Opals coach Sandy Brondello said. "They all know what it means to play for Australia and they all want the opportunity to represent their country at an Olympics. Our squad is full of exceptional talent and they will make the decision to pick a final 12 very difficult."

At the 2022 FIBA World Cup, Jackson helped Australia win a bronze medal with 30 points against Canada. She had previously retired in 2016 due to knee injuries, but slowly made a return in a domestic Australian league the last few years.

Jackson has won four Olympic medals, including three consecutive silver medals starting with Sydney in 2000 when she was a teenager. 

First two rounds of NCAA tournament boast record attendance, viewership

(David K Purdy/Getty Images)

The first two rounds of the women’s NCAA tournament broke attendance and viewership records set just last year – and it wasn’t even close. 

The NCAA announced on Tuesday that attendance for the first two rounds of the tournament was more than 292,000 – up from last year’s record, when almost 232,000 fans attended the first two rounds.

Among the host sites, Iowa had the biggest crowds with nearly 29,000 fans packing Carver-Hawkeye Arena in the first and second rounds. 

"We expected the historic success and quality of play and high level of competition from the regular season would carry through into March Madness. Our championship is again delivering," NCAA vice president of women's basketball Lynn Holzman said in a statement. "Record crowds, ratings, incredible performances and evolving storylines will continue to make the next two weeks a must-see for fans across the world."

And for those that couldn’t attend the sold-out Iowa games, they watched on television. Monday’s matchup between Iowa and West Virginia drew 4.9 million viewers, setting a record for a women’s D-I tournament game prior to the Final Four. 

It is also the third most watched tournament game in the last 20 years, behind last year’s national championship between LSU and Iowa (9.92 million) and Iowa’s Final Four win over South Carolina (5.6 million).

Iowa’s game against Holy Cross in the first round drew 3.23 million viewers. 

But it wasn’t just Iowa drawing big viewership. ESPN’s five games on Monday averaged 2.25 million viewers. UConn and Syracuse drew 2.05 million viewers while LSU and Middle Tennessee on ABC drew 2.01 million viewers on Sunday. 

The full, 16-game slate for the second round averaged 1.4 million viewers – a 121% increase from last year and the highest average ever for the second round.

The full tournament so far is averaging 812,000 viewers per game, a 108% increase from last year.

Kenny Brooks leaves Virginia Tech for Kentucky

(Photo by Ryan Hunt/Getty Images)

The first major coaching move of women’s college basketball is a stunner, with Kenny Brooks leaving Virginia Tech for Kentucky. 

His departure comes two days after the fourth-seeded Hokies lost in the second round of the NCAA tournament. The Virginia native leaves Blacksburg after eight seasons, having led Virginia Tech to its first Final Four appearance in 2023 and compiling a 180-82 record.

"We hired Kenny in 2016 with the intent of revitalizing our women's basketball program," Virginia Tech director of athletics Whit Babcock said in a statement. "Needless to say, Kenny, his staff and student-athletes created a culture of excellence on and off the court. He was an incredible mentor to the young women in our women's basketball program and a terrific representative of our department and university. We wish Kenny and his family well in this next chapter of his career.”

Brooks, for his part, called his time at Virginia Tech “the most joyful journey of my coaching career.”

He now replaces Kyra Elzy, who was let go by the Wildcats after consecutive losing seasons that followed an SEC tournament title in 2022.

There are immediate questions surrounding the team’s roster, with leading scorer Ajae Petty and fellow seniors Maddie Scherr and Eniya Russell having entered the transfer portal. Currently, the team has just five players listed on its roster – not including incoming freshmen – for next season. 

Brooks had recruited the No. 8 class in the country to Virginia Tech for next season, although those players could feasibly follow Brooks to Kentucky. Current Hokies players may also elect to follow him via the transfer portal. 

Star Hokies guard Georgia Amoore, who Brooks has described as his “mini me,” still has a year of eligibility remaining. Back in January, Brooks said that the two were in discussions about her future and whether or not she wanted to declare for the WNBA this year. 

Even still, Brooks intends to hit the ground running with Kentucky. 

“I don’t plan on wasting any time building a positive atmosphere, winning environment and a persistent program that Big Blue Nation can be proud of,” he said in a statement.

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