The past week was a competitive one in the WNBA. The Wings and Sky traded barbs, the Fever won a game (over the Sun, no less) and the Dream played two good games before dealing with controversy.

As a result, there aren’t any dramatic risers and fallers in this week’s edition of the power rankings. But it could mean that we see some teams ride their momentum up the rankings before the WNBA breaks for the Olympics.

12. Indiana Fever (2-16) —

The Fever had their best week of the season, putting up a fight against the Sun in an 86-80 loss before defeating them two days later. What is discouraging about those results is Indiana didn’t necessarily play any better than Connecticut. The Sun shot far below their season averages from the field and 3-point range, and the games turned into battles of attrition.

11. Los Angeles Sparks (6-11) -1

The Sparks have one of the best defenses in the league — and that’s about where the positives end. Even when you hold the Aces to 66 points on 37.7 shooting from the field, you’re not going to win when you’re as inefficient from the field as the Sparks were. In that game last Friday, Los Angeles went 6 for 21 from deep and scored a season-low 58 points, epitomizing their offensive struggles.

10. Atlanta Dream (6-11) +1

For so long, we were wondering just how much better the Dream’s offense could be when a healthy Chennedy Carter returned to the lineup. Now, the second-year guard is serving an indefinite suspension for “conduct detrimental to the team” after an incident during Sunday’s game. The Olympic break is coming at a good time for the Dream.

9. Phoenix Mercury (7-9) -1

It’s surprising, to say the least, that a team with Diana Taurasi, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Brittney Griner and Kia Nurse has its offense and rebounding to blame for recent losses. Oddly, the Mercury are averaging the fewest field-goal attempts per game at 64.8. And in both of their losses to the Lynx last week, they were out-rebounded by a significant margin.

8. Washington Mystics (7-10) -1

Tina Charles scored 31 points in the Mystics’ latest loss to the Liberty. The next highest scorers on the team, Ariel Atkins and Sydney Wiese, had nine points. That’s been the story of Washington’s season. Until they figure out how to spread out the offense, Charles can only win them so many games by herself.

7. New York Liberty (10-9) +2

We’ve harped on this before, but it bears repeating: New York scores 38.4 percent of its points from 3-point range, the highest in the WNBA. So when the Liberty are connecting on their shots from deep, they’re hard to beat. That will only be truer when Natasha Howard returns from injury and drags opposing defenses farther into the paint.

6. Dallas Wings (9-10) -1

We realize Liberty fans might not like this placement given New York has the winning record and has beaten Dallas in each of their meetings this season. I remain bullish on the Wings because they have more quality wins — they’ve beaten the Storm and the Lynx and Sky with their star players on the floor — and they have more scoring weapons. That said, I also remain confused why Marina Mabrey isn’t starting and Ty Harris’s playing time has dwindled.

5. Minnesota Lynx (9-7) +1

The Lynx have finally seemed to find some roster stability amid the injury chaos, with Layshia Clarendon signed for the season, Jessica Shepard back in the lineup and Kayla McBride hitting her stride. That roster depth has helped them win four straight games and get over .500.

4. Connecticut Sun (12-6) -1

The WNBA has increasingly become a league that favors 3-point shooting. So it’s interesting that, other than the Storm, the top teams in the power rankings lead the league in the percentage of their points that come in the paint. That includes the Sun, who are at their best when Jonquel Jones and Brionna Jones win their battles down low.

3. Chicago Sky (10-9) +1

The Sky have been winning in the second quarter of the season by playing the Aces’ game. They draw a lot of fouls on drives to the hoop and hit their free throws, currently leading the league in that category at 86.5 percent. Unfortunately, we have to wait until September for the Sky-Aces matchups.

2. Seattle Storm (14-4) —

The most promising sign for the Storm over the past week was that their role players stepped up when the stars were absent or not at their best, something we hadn’t seen consistently yet from Seattle this season. Ezi Magbegor, for one, took advantage of the increased playing time, scoring in double digits in both of the Storm’s wins.

1. Las Vegas Aces (14-4) —

The Aces continue to lead the WNBA in points per game (91.8), field-goal percentage (47.3), trips to the free-throw line (10.3) and rebounds (38.7), and they’re in the top percentiles in nearly every other category besides 3-pointers. That’s hard to beat.

USA Hockey is sending a refreshed lineup to Italy this winter, with Friday's 23-player Olympic roster tapping both newcomers and seasoned veterans looking to avenge 2022's silver-medal finish.

US hockey legend Hilary Knight will play in her fifth — and final — Winter Games next month, with the 36-year-old forward joining fellow veteran mainstays Kendall Coyne Schofield and Lee Stecklein as just 11 players return from the team's Beijing campaign.

After falling just short of gold in Beijing, this year's USA hockey roster balances youth with experience, heading to Milan with a full dozen Olympic debutants, including seven college players — a full four from reigning NCAA champion Wisconsin.

All other 16 athletes currently compete in the PWHL with the pro league sending players from five of its eight teams to join the US squad in February.

The rest of the team focuses on young talent, including University of Wisconsin defender Laila Edwards, who will make history as USA Hockey's first-ever Black woman Olympian when she steps on the ice in Italy.

"It still hasn't really kicked in yet. Getting that call is like a dream come true," said Edwards.

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How to watch Team USA hockey in the 2026 Winter Olympics

The USA will open their 2026 Olympic campaign against Czechia at 10:40 AM ET on February 5th before subsequent Group A games against Finland, Switzerland, and defending champions Canada.

The clash will air live on USA Network as part of the full 2026 Olympic Games coverage across NBC platforms.

USA Hockey's 2026 Olympic roster

Goaltenders: Aerin Frankel (Boston Fleet), Ava McNaughton (University of Wisconsin), Gwyneth Philips (Ottawa Charge)

Defenders: Cayla Barnes (Seattle Torrent), Laila Edwards (University of Wisconsin), Rory Guilday (Ottawa Charge), Caroline Harvey (University of Wisconsin), Megan Keller (Boston Fleet), Lee Stecklein (Minnesota Frost), Haley Winn (Boston Fleet)

Forwards: Hannah Bilka (Seattle Torrent), Alex Carpenter (Seattle Torrent), Kendall Coyne Schofield (Minnesota Frost), Britta Curl-Salemme (Minnesota Frost), Joy Dunne (Ohio State University), Taylor Heise (Minnesota Frost), Tessa Janecke (Penn State University), Hilary Knight (Seattle Torrent), Abbey Murphy (University of Minnesota), Kelly Pannek (Minnesota Frost), Hayley Scamurra (Montréal Victoire), Kirsten Simms (University of Wisconsin), Grace Zumwinkle (Minnesota Frost)

Tennis's biggest names have hit highs and lows down under over the weekend, with stars like Coco Gauff seeing mixed results at the 2026 United Cup as the annual Australian Open team tune-up tournament heads into its knockout rounds.

World No. 4 Coco Gauff and the reigning champion Team USA are through to the quarterfinals, joined by top WTA competitor and No. 11 Belinda Bencic of Team Switzerland.

Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Czechia, and Greece also punched their tickets to the knockouts, with Tuesday night's final group-stage bout deciding whether No. 2 Iga Świątek and Team Poland or Team Germany will claim the final spot in the quarterfinals.

Thus far in the team competition, however, Gauff has experienced a particularly up-and-down tournament, suffering her first-ever United Cup singles defeat on Monday against No. 42 Jessica Bouzas Maneiro of Spain after causing a stir with her postmatch comments.

"I feel like we're definitely, in tennis, the worst," she told reporters before the singles showdown. "I've always said I wish our country in other places would show up throughout the world as we see smaller countries support."

After taking some heat, the 21-year-old later clarified her position on social media, writing "Trust me I understand the financial aspect of things and know tennis is not accessible for everyone, it was more of a comment for those who are already attending and how I wish they were as passionate as those from other countries."

How to watch Gauff and Team USA at the 2026 United Cup

Gauff will look to return to form against No. 51 Maria Sakkari when Team USA kicks off the 2026 United Cup quarterfinals against Team Greece at 9 PM ET on Tuesday, airing live on the Tennis Channel.

Unrivaled leadership is back in the hot seat, telling reporters at Monday's Season 2 tip-off that the offseason 3x3 league is open to whatever the future might bring — even if it's a formal partnership with the WNBA.

"We're not in constant dialogue about that," Unrivaled president Alex Bazzell said from Miami. "But as I've made very clear, we are open to growing the ecosystem, whichever way that looks like."

"Nothing is on the table or off the table," he continued. "I'm not going to speculate what could happen down the road, but everyone knows our door is always open."

As reported prior to the 3×3 upstart's inaugural 2025 season, Unrivaled co-founders Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier had approached the WNBA about a potential equity stake — in part to further illustrate that the new venture is complementary, rather than in competition with, the WNBA — but league leadership turning down the offer, citing a possible rules violation.

Questions have since come up about Unrivaled becoming a prioritization issue for players under the WNBA's still-developing CBA, but Bazzell underlined the league's benefits as being supplemental, rather than in direct conflict with the 5x5 league.

"As long as you can look at the space through an innovative lens, anything is doable," he said. "Anything is possible."

In the first AP women's basketball poll in two weeks, Monday's new rankings reflected last week's conference upsets, sending four Top 10 teams skidding down the table while other contenders broke through.

Now-No. 12 LSU suffered the biggest drop, falling seven spots after consecutive losses to No. 6 Kentucky and No. 7 Vanderbilt.

The Wildcats and the still-undefeated Commodores experienced the opposite effect, jumping five spots each after their ranked victories, with No. 5 Oklahoma and No. 10 Louisville making similar three-spot advances.

The biggest winner of this week's AP poll, however, sits just outside the Top 10, as No. 15 Michigan State leapt nine spots, defeating unranked Indiana, Illinois, and Rutgers after closing out nonconference play with a 66-49 upset win over now-No. 18 Ole Miss.

Chasing the Spartans' rise up the ranks are No. 16 Baylor, who earned a six-spot jump after handing No. 11 Iowa State their first loss of the season on Sunday, and No. 17 Texas Tech, whose unbeaten status saw the Red Raiders claim a four-spot boost.

Meanwhile, a struggling Notre Dame dropped out of the Top 25 entirely after losses to unranked Georgia Tech and Duke, snapping an 85-week AP Poll appearance streak — the third-longest in women's basketball history.

Additionally, the Top 4 remained unchanged after perfect results from No. 1 UConn, No. 2 Texas, No. 3 South Carolina, and No. 4 UCLA — who dominated their crosstown rival No. 21 USC 80-46 on Saturday.

How to watch Top 25 NCAA basketball this week

Top 25 teams will continue their conference slates this week, starting with USC taking on unranked Oregon on Tuesday.

The Trojans and visiting Ducks will tip off live at 10 PM ET on Fox Sports.

2025/26 AP Top 25 Women's College Basketball Poll: Week 9

1. UConn (15-0, Big East)
2. Texas (17-0, SEC)
3. South Carolina (15-1, SEC)
4. UCLA (14-1, Big Ten)
5. Oklahoma (14-1, SEC)
6. Kentucky (15-1, SEC)
7. Vanderbilt (15-0, SEC)
8. Maryland (15-1, Big Ten)
9. Michigan (12-2, Big Ten)
10. Louisville (14-3, ACC)
11. Iowa State (14-1, Big 12)
12. LSU (14-2, SEC)
13. TCU (14-1, Big 12)
14. Iowa (13-2, Big Ten)
15. Michigan State (14-1, Big Ten)
16. Baylor (13-3, Big 12)
17. Texas Tech (16-0, Big 12)
18. Ole Miss (14-3, SEC)
19. Ohio State (13-2, Big Ten)
20. Tennessee (10-3, SEC)
21. USC (10-4, Big Ten)
22. UNC (13-4, ACC)
23. Washington (12-2, Big Ten)
24. Princeton (13-1, Ivy)
25. Nebraska (13-2, Big Ten)