The New York Liberty’s season came to an end last week with a 90-72 loss to the Chicago Sky in Game 3 of their first-round series.

The No. 2 seed Chicago Sky lost the first game of the series after the Liberty closed on a 13-0 run. But the defending champions won the next two games, including a blowout Game 2 that set a WNBA record for the most lopsided win in playoffs history.

Still, young star Sabrina Ionescu took a leap forward, and veteran Natasha Howard remained a rock. With both returning next season, the Liberty seem primed to build on the progress they made this season.

New York Liberty: Year in Review

What went right?

New York made the playoffs for the second year in a row after failing to qualify from 2018 through 2020. And despite another early exit, the opening win against the Sky proved the Liberty have the tools to compete.

Ionescu’s first year back at full health since her injury-shortened rookie season in 2020 showcased her superstar-level skill.

In a career year that saw her put up 17.4 points, 7.3 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game, the guard also proved to be a triple-double machine. The 24-year-old posted two this season (and had several other near misses) to become just the second player in WNBA history with three career triple-doubles. She joins 36-year-old Candace Parker, who also posted two this season.

.@sabrina_i20 put up numbers tonight. 😤

The NY star knocked down 7 threes to notch her 3rd career triple-double, tying the @WNBA record for most by a single player. pic.twitter.com/Sfpy0dM1gf

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) July 7, 2022

The addition of Marine Johannès also came up big for the Liberty. The French player provided a boost in the playoffs — including with her signature no-look pass to kick off the game-winning run in Game 1.

What went wrong?

The injury bug hit the Liberty hard this season.

Betnijah Laney missed the majority of the season with a right knee injury. The impact of her absence became all the more apparent when she returned to average 11.2 points in the final nine games of the season. Her return in early August marked the first time all season that New York played with a full roster.

“New coach, new system, new players coming in, and with our injury toll, it took longer than we thought with our chemistry,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said. “I think we’ve grown. As we move forward, keep adding the right people around our core and continue to build.

“I was proud that we could get back and play with a better sense of urgency.”

The absence of Laney also affected the team defensively. But even with Laney in the lineup, the Liberty’s defensive struggles showed through, especially in the final two games against the Sky.

“We were a good defensive team; we have to be a great defensive team,” Brondello said. “We worked really hard, we just have to be consistent with that.”

What comes next?

Remember in the 2021 offseason when everyone was convinced Breanna Stewart was going to sign with New York in free agency? While the Liberty courted the star, she wound up heading back to the Seattle Storm on a one-year deal.

But, especially with Stewart’s Seattle teammate Sue Bird retiring at the end of the season, the Stewart lottery is back in business.

If the Liberty add Stewart alongside Ionescu and Howard for 2023, they could go from a first-round also-ran to a championship contender.

USA Basketball dropped its 18-player December roster on Monday, selecting both standout vets and fresh faces for the national team's final training camp of 2025.

Taking place at Duke University from December 12th until the 14th, five 2024 Paris Olympic gold medalists — Kahleah Copper, Chelsea Gray, Brittney Griner, Kelsey Plum, and Jackie Young — will anchor the Team USA lineup.

Notably, a full 10 players will join the senior team for the first time next month, as young WNBA superstars like Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Paige Bueckers, and Cameron Brink earn their first call-ups.

A pair of NCAA stars will also attend the December camp, with the national governing body tapping both UCLA senior center Lauren Betts and USC junior guard JuJu Watkins on the roster — though Watkins will not participate in on-court activities as she continues to rehab an ACL tear.

Along with the full camp roster, USA Basketball also dropped its December sideline leaders, with current WNBA head coaches Nate Tibbetts (Phoenix Mercury), Natalie Nakase (Golden State Valkyries), and Stephanie White (Indiana Fever) comprising the assistant coaching staff for the previously announced senior national team head coach Kara Lawson.

December's camp is the team's first step toward the World Cup qualifiers in March, when the US will compete despite having already qualified for the 2026 FIBA World Cup by winning the 2025 FIBA AmeriCup in July.

Overall, the clock starts now for USA women's basketball managing director Sue Bird, who is in charge of cultivating the best team for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

The USA Basketball December Training Camp Roster

Overall No. 1-seed Stanford has rolled through the competition in the first three rounds of the 2025 NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament, with the Cardinal booking their spot in this weekend's quarterfinals with a 6-0 thumping of No. 5-seed BYU on Monday.

Stanford has outscored their opponents 16-4 so far, ousting unseeded Cal Poly 3-1 in the first round and claiming a 7-3 second-round shootout win over No. 8-seed Alabama before bouncing BYU.

Elsewhere in the bracket, fellow No. 1-seed Vanderbilt is also still alive after the Commodores took down SEC rival No. 4-seed LSU in Monday's Sweet Sixteen.

Not every top seed is through, however, as ACC standouts Nos. 1 Notre Dame and Virginia both fell to Big Ten contenders in the NCAA tournament's early rounds.

Reigning Big Ten Champions No. 4-seed Washington sent the Cavaliers home in a Sweet Sixteen penalty shootout on Sunday, as the Huskies continue their run in honor of late senior goalkeeper Mia Hamant.

Unseeded Ohio State has also surprised, overcoming a mediocre 4-2-5 performance in 2025 Big Ten play by staging an upset run through the national tournament. After claiming golden-goal overtime winners to oust Notre Dame last week and No. 5-seed Baylor on Sunday, the Buckeyes will make their first Elite Eight appearance since 2010 on Friday.

No. 2-seeds Michigan State, Duke, and TCU, as well as No. 3-seed Florida State round out the quarterfinal competition, as the Big Ten joins the ACC in leading the charge toward the 2025 College Cup with three teams each in the Elite Eight.

How to watch the 2025 NCAA soccer quarterfinals

The 2025 NCAA soccer tournament kicks off its Elite Eight round with three ACC vs. Big Ten matchups on Friday, when No. 2 Duke takes on No. 4 Washington at 4 PM ET before No. 1 Stanford vs. No. 2 Michigan State and No. 3 Florida State vs. Ohio State begins at 5 PM ET.

The last quarterfinal takes the pitch on Saturday, as SEC favorite No. 1 Vanderbilt faces No. 2 TCU at 7:30 PM ET.

All quarterfinals will stream live on ESPN+.

Despite a slight dip in attendance, the NWSL has continued to see steady gains from its TV audience this year, posting a league-wide 22% viewership growth during the 2025 regular season.

Prior to last Saturday's title game, the NWSL reported that postseason viewership had risen 5% from the 2024 Playoffs, when the Orlando Pride completed a league-double Shield and championship win.

Even more, ABC and ESPN platforms saw their largest percentage hike for NWSL regular-season matches in history, with the audience growing an impressive 61% year-over-year — though CBS still touts the league's highest viewership average at 479,000 fans tuning in per 2025 match.

Three of ABC/ESPN's top matchups featured the Washington Spirit, with the Portland Thorns also making two appearances in the Top-5 most-watched games of the 2025 season on the platform.

Additionally, CBS's 2025 semifinal between Washington and Portland drew 548,000 viewers while the other NWSL semifinal between Orlando and reigning champs Gotham FC averaged 328,000 viewers on ABC.

Broadcast partner ION, which carries the most linear games each NWSL season, also claimed a 5% increase in overall viewership from 2024.

Ultimately, the NWSL remains competitive with other North American soccer leagues in finding an audience on TV, with the league now aiming to retain its star power in order to encourage even more growth.

Founding WNBA franchise Phoenix will have a new look entering the 2026 season, as the Mercury announced its first-ever rebrand on Monday to celebrate the team's upcoming 30th anniversary campaign.

"The new branding represents the Mercury's championship legacy, devoted fanbase, and the new era that began with a record-breaking season and memorable [2025] Finals run," said Phoenix CEO Josh Bartelstein in a statement.

In honor of the franchise's 1997 inaugural season, the new primary Phoenix logo positions the Mercury "M" at an angle of 19.97 degrees, while the team's redesigned global logo centers the primary emblem on top of four rings — mirroring the planetary rings on the Mercury's original design.

The team is also debuting a first-ever secondary logo, featuring the outline of the state of Arizona with the seams of a basketball, while also officially introducing the popular "Merc" nickname into the WNBA squad's branding lexicon.

In celebration of the rebrand, Phoenix is currently running a first-of-its-kind community giveback called the Merc Merch Swap, in which fans can trade old team merchandise — which will be donated to Goodwill — for a newly branded Mercury T-shirt.

How to purchase or swap for new Phoenix Mercury merch

To take part in the Merc Merch Swap, fans can bring any Phoenix, WNBA, or WNBA team item to the Mercury Team Shop at Mortgage Matchup Center to swap for a new logo T-shirt as well as a single-item 20% voucher through through Friday, December 5th.

Phoenix's rebranded items are also now available for purchase at the team's online shop.