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What to Know About Women’s Basketball Today
1. Two Streaks End, One Keeps Rolling 🚦
It turns out that win streaks can be, well, streaky. Last night, the Washington Mystics snapped the Golden State Valkyries' nine-game winning streak on the road, while the New York Liberty ended Dallas' six-game run with a 99-98 overtime victory. Meanwhile, Minnesota kept rolling, extending its winning streak to six games with a win over Seattle.
📺 Watch highlights from Mystics-Valkyries, Liberty-Wings, and Lynx-Storm
WHY IT MATTERS: The Valkyries hadn't lost since June 21, making this an impressive month-long stretch for a second-year franchise. Dallas has been one of the league's best turnaround stories after finishing last season at the bottom of the standings, and every win becomes more important as they chase home-court advantage in the first round. With the second half of the season underway, there's very little room for error.
🗳️ Which recent win streak stands out the most to you?
2. Eight Conferences Team Up to Improve Officiating 🏀
Put your money where your whistle is. Eight Division I conferences announced a new women's basketball officiating alliance focused on recruiting, training, evaluating, and developing officials. The group includes the ACC, American, BIG EAST, Atlantic 10, Big South, Coastal Athletic Association, Ivy League, and Metro Conference. (CBS Sports)
WHY IT MATTERS: This is an important investment in the game to help ensure fair and quality play. The alliance creates a clearer path for officials to develop and move up through the ranks, helping build a stronger pipeline of experienced officials. That should lead to better officiating at every level for years to come.
3. Encouraging Update for Paige Bueckers 🙏
There was some good news after Paige Bueckers' scary fall against the Sparks last Sunday. While she did miss Monday's overtime loss to New York because of soreness after hitting her head on the court, the Wings announced she did not suffer a concussion and is not in concussion protocol. (ESPN)
WHY IT MATTERS: The on-court collision was a frightening moment, so avoiding a serious head injury is the best possible outcome. The Wings will continue monitoring Bueckers ahead of Wednesday's game against Portland and Saturday's WNBA All-Star Game, where she was voted a starter.
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OVERTIME ⏱️
7 Figure Club: USA Sports' Valkyries-Fever broadcast last Wednesday averaged 1.14 million viewers, making it the network's most-watched WNBA game ever.
Scoring Machine: Kelsey Mitchell has now scored 20 or more points in 10 straight games, becoming just the seventh player in WNBA history to do so.
New Name, Same Fire: Portland Fire center Megan Gustafson is now Megan DiLeo after getting married over the weekend.
🗳️ Poll Results from Yesterday: We asked which accomplishment from this past weekend impressed you the most, and it was nearly a tie. 46% of you picked Caitlin Clark's 45-point game, while another 45% chose Nneka Ogwumike passing Lisa Leslie as the Sparks' all-time leading scorer.
