We’re back this week with more results and data to use in our evaluation of all 12 teams in the WNBA.

While some teams haven’t seen the floor as much as others through the first week and a half of the season, a few have clearly separated themselves from the pack. For others, the return of players from overseas has brightened their outlook.

Who are the risers and fallers since we unveiled our first edition of the power rankings? Let’s get to it.

12. Indiana Fever (1-4) —

The Fever played a much cleaner game against the Mystics on Sunday, reducing their number of turnovers and personal fouls to get their first win of the season. They’ve still given up over 82 points per game through five games, and I’ll need to see more than better fundamentals and one win to move them out of this spot.

11. Los Angeles Sparks (0-2) -2

It’s tricky to compare outlooks at this point in the season when a team like the Sparks has played just two games and the Liberty have played six. What’s easier to see is that in those two games, Los Angeles has looked completely out of sync, surrendering over 90 points in each and ranking near the bottom of the league in almost every statistical category.

10. Atlanta Dream (1-2) +1

Other than getting out-rebounded in every game so far, the Dream are playing much better defense than last season, when they gave up the second-most points in the WNBA. If they can keep that up and get Chennedy Carter going on offense, they could compete, but it’s going to take more than a four-point win over the Fever to convince me.

9. Washington Mystics (1-3) +1

Hoping Tina Charles can score 34 points each night, as she did in the Mystics’ lone win against the Liberty, isn’t going to be a recipe for consistent success. Myisha Hines-Allen’s arrival should give this team a boost, but Elena Delle Donne’s extended stay on the sideline is becoming tougher and tougher for them to weather.

8. Minnesota Lynx (0-3) -3

OK, how does a winless, last-place team bump up this high in the power rankings? It starts with the return of Napheesa Collier, who’s been one of the most valuable players to her team over the past two years, and it ends with the fact that no Lynx player other than Sylvia Fowles has played up to their potential.

7. Dallas Wings (1-2) —

Dallas’ record doesn’t indicate how dangerous this team has looked through three games, especially since they’re no longer just relying on Arike Ogunbowale getting 20-plus points a night (which she’s doing anyway). Thirteen seconds away from beating the Storm in regulation over the weekend, the Wings showed they can play with the best.

6. Phoenix Mercury (2-2) —

It’s hard to fault the Mercury for their two losses to the Sun when no WNBA team has been able to solve Connecticut this season. They’ll need to score more than the 67 points they put up in their last game against the Sun, but I like their odds of shooting better than 38.2 from the field and 25 percent from 3 with the scorers they have on their roster.

5. Chicago Sky (2-1) -2

That the Sky played the Liberty close on Sunday while without Candace Parker and Allie Quigely is a good sign. Kahleah Copper, Astou Ndour-Fall and Ruthy Hebard have all stepped up while Chicago’s stars either get healthy or hit their stride. As a team, they need to take better control of the ball, currently turning it over 17 times a game.

4. Las Vegas Aces (2-2) —

The Aces don’t like to shoot a lot of 3s, so when a team can beat them at their own game in the paint, they’re in trouble. That’s what Connecticut did to them on Sunday, out-rebounding Las Vegas 44 to 26. The Aces didn’t help themselves by shooting 76.2 percent from the free-throw line. Bill Laimbeer will make sure they learn from the loss.

3. Seattle Storm (3-1) -2

Really, the only reason the Storm have moved down from the top spot is because the Sun and Liberty have more evidence of their team success. While the Wings outplayed the Storm for most of their matchup on Saturday, that Seattle fought back to pull out the win in overtime says a lot about the fortitude of this team.

2. New York Liberty (5-1) +6

The Liberty are making the biggest jump in this week’s power rankings, not only because they’re off to their best start since 2007, but also because Natasha Howard is finally with the team. That fortune could change if the knee injury that forced Howard to leave Monday night’s game in the fourth quarter is serious, but for now, New York is riding high.

1. Connecticut Sun (5-0) +1

If the Sun were still flying under the radar at 4-0, they’ve since captured the league’s attention with their win over Las Vegas. Connecticut is holding its opponents to a WNBA-leading 68.8 points per game, mainly by dominating on the glass, at the rim and from beyond the arc. How’s that for executing a game plan?

U.S. Soccer announced Tuesday that the USWNT will play their last home game on July 16th in the lead-up to the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.

The 2024 Send-Off Match against Costa Rica will take place at Washington, DC’s Audi Field — home to both the Washington Spirit and DC United — at 7:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 16th. The friendly rounds out a four-game Olympic run-up campaign under incoming head coach Emma Hayes’ side, with the last two set to feature the finalized 2024 U.S. Olympic Women’s Soccer Team roster.

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Hayes will appear on the USWNT sideline for the first time this June, helming the team as they embark on a two-game series against Korea Republic hosted by Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado on June 1st followed by Allianz Stadium in St. Paul, Minnesota on June 4th. 

The team is then scheduled to meet a talented Mexico squad on July 13th at Gotham FC’s Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, where the Olympic-bound lineup will attempt to rewrite February’s shocking 2-0 loss to El Tri Femenil in the group stages of this year’s Concacaf W Gold Cup. And while clear roster favorites have emerged from both of this year’s Gold Cup and SheBelives Cup rosters, a spate of recent and recurring injuries means making it to the Olympics is still largely anyone’s game.

Broadcast and streaming channels for the USWNT's final July 16th friendly at Audi Field include TNT, truTV, Universo, Max, and Peacock.

The USA Basketball Women's National Team is still considering Caitlin Clark for a spot on the Paris Olympics squad, says selection committee chair Jennifer Rizzotti. 

On Monday, Rizzotti told the AP that the committee will be evaluating the college phenom’s Olympic prospects by keeping a close eye on her first few weeks of WNBA play with Indiana.

The move is somewhat unconventional. While Clark was invited to participate in the 14-player national team training camp held earlier this month — the last camp before Team USA’s roster drops — she was unable to attend due to it coinciding with Iowa’s trip to the NCAA Women’s Final Four.

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Judging by the immense talent spread throughout the league in what might be their most hyped season to date, competition for a piece of the Olympic pie could be fiercer than ever before.

"You always want to introduce new players into the pool whether it's for now or the future," said Rizzotti. "We stick to our principles of talent, obviously, positional fit, loyalty and experience. It's got to be a combination of an entire body of work. It's still not going to be fair to some people."

Of course, Clark isn’t the first rookie the committee has made exceptions for. Coming off an exceptional college season that saw her averaging 19.4 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 4 assists per game for UConn, Breanna Stewart was tapped to represent the U.S. at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil less than two weeks after being drafted No. 1 overall by the Seattle Storm. Eight years prior, fellow No. 1 pick Candace Parker punched her ticket to the 2008 Games in Beijing just two weeks after making her first appearance for the L.A. Sparks.

In the lead-up to Paris’ Opening Ceremony on July 26th, USA Basketball Women’s National Team is scheduled to play a pair of exhibition games. They'll first go up against the WNBA's finest at the July 20th WNBA All-Star Game in Phoenix before facing Germany in London on July 23rd.

While an official roster announcement date hasn’t yet been issued, players won’t find out if they’ve made this year’s Olympic cut until at least June 1st.

For the first time in history, three different WNBA teams have completely sold out of season ticket plans well before the league's May 14th kick-off.

Call it the Caitlin Clark effect, attribute it to this year’s tenacious rookie class, or look to the skyrocketing visibility of veteran players across the board. But no matter the cause, facts are facts: Tickets to the 2024 WNBA season are selling like never before. 

On Monday, the Dallas Wings became the third team to sell out of season ticket memberships in the league’s 27-year history. The announcement from Arlington came shortly after the Atlanta Dream issued their own season ticket sell-out statement, also on Monday, and almost seven weeks after the back-to-back WNBA Champion Las Vegas Aces made headlines by becoming the first-ever WNBA team to sell out their season ticket allotment.   

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According to the Wings, season ticket memberships will fill nearly 40% of the 6,251 seats inside their home arena, College Park Center. The club also said that their overall ticket revenue has ballooned to the tune of 220% this year, spanning not just season tickets but also a 1,200% increase in single ticket sales. There’s currently a waitlist to become a Dallas season ticket holder, a status that comes with extra incentives like playoff presale access and discounts on additional single-game tickets. 

In Atlanta, season tickets aren't the only thing flying off the shelves. The Dream also announced that they broke their own record for single-game ticket sales during a recent limited presale campaign. Sunday was reportedly their most lucrative day, with five different games totally selling out Gateway Center Arena. Individual tickets for all upcoming matchups will hit the market this Thursday at 8 a.m., while a waitlist for season ticket memberships will open up next Tuesday at 10 a.m.

"Excitement around women's sports, particularly basketball, is at an all-time high and nowhere is that felt more than here in Atlanta," Dream president and COO Morgan Shaw Parker said in the team’s statement. "We’ve continued a record-setting growth trajectory over the past three years under new ownership — both on and off the court — and 2024 is shaping up to be our best season yet."

As of Tuesday, season ticket sales revenue for Caitlin Clark’s hotly anticipated Indiana Fever debut haven’t yet been announced by the club. But if these numbers are any indication — not to mention the explosive demand for Fever away games felt by teams around the country — it won’t be long before we see some scale-tipping figures coming out of Indianapolis.

25-year-old American pro golfer Nelly Korda secured her spot in LPGA history on Sunday, notching her fifth-straight title at this weekend's Chevron Championship in The Woodlands, Texas.

Ranked No. 1 in the world by Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, Korda joins Nancy Lopez (1978) and Annika Sörenstam (2005) as just the third LPGA player to rack up five consecutive tour wins. She is also the third No. 1-ranked player to capture The Chevron Championship victory since the rankings debuted in 2006, accompanied by Lorena Ochoa and Lydia Ko.

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The Florida native shot three-under 69 in Sunday's final, besting Sweden's Maja Stark despite Stark's valiant come-from-behind attempt in the 18th. Korda finished with a four-day total of 13-under 275, celebrating her two-stroke win by cannonballing into Poppie's Pond, much to the crowd's delight. She left The Club at Carlton Woods with $1.2 million from an overall purse of $7.9 million.

It wasn't long ago that the two-time major champion's current winning streak seemed unimaginable. After maintaining her No. 1 position for 29 weeks, Korda underwent surgery to remove a blood clot from her left arm in 2022. She returned to the course not long after, but failed to win a single tournament in 2023 before seeing a surge in form during the first four months of 2024. As of today, she hasn't lost a tournament since January.

Korda will attempt a record sixth-straight win at next week's JM Eagle LA Championship at Wilshire Country Club in Los Angeles, where she'll vie for a cut of the $3.75 million purse.