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What to Know About Women’s Basketball Today
1. Team USA Is World Champion Again 🇺🇸
Team USA came back from 14 points down to beat France 97-79 in Berlin, winning their fifth straight World Cup title and 12th overall. Breanna Stewart led the U.S. with 22 points and 10 rebounds and was named tournament MVP. Jackie Young added 18 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists to earn Player of the Game honors in the final. (ESPN)
WHY IT MATTERS: There were plenty of questions about whether this might be the year someone knocked off the U.S., with France among the teams expected to have a real shot. Instead, Team USA extended its run while introducing a new generation to the senior national team. This was Sue Bird’s first major tournament as managing director, and Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers, Angel Reese, Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen all made their senior tournament debuts.
🗳️ Were you ever worried Team USA might lose this World Cup?
2. The World Cup Is Moving to Winter ❄️
Now that the 2026 World Cup is over, here’s a reminder about a big change coming next time around. Starting in 2030, the Women’s World Cup will move to November and December. (Front Office Sports)
WHY IT MATTERS: The move should solve one of the biggest headaches surrounding this year’s tournament: its overlap with the WNBA season. This year, players had to leave their teams with four regular-season games still remaining. Starting in 2030, players will be able to finish the WNBA season first, and USA Basketball will have time for a full training camp and exhibition games before the World Cup.
3. Girls Who Play Sports Are More Likely to Lead 🏀
A new study from Parity and e.l.f. Beauty surveyed more than 9,500 people across the U.S., Canada, Germany and the U.K. and found a connection between playing sports as a girl and success at work later in life. (Fortune)
WHY IT MATTERS: Girls don’t need to become professional athletes to benefit from playing sports. Compared with women who played little or no sports, those who did were nearly 50% more likely to hold leadership roles, 37% more likely to want senior leadership positions, and nearly 30% more likely to have been promoted multiple times. And nearly 90% of those who earned a promotion said a skill they learned through sports helped them advance.
🎥 What Happens After the Game?
Today’s story about how playing sports can shape girls long after they grow up really hit home. A few years ago, April and I made a documentary called After the Game: A 20 Year Look at Three Former Athletes that explores this very idea.
The film follows three former college basketball players over 20 years to see where life took them and how sports continued to shape the women they became. If this topic interested you, I think you might enjoy watching it.
OVERTIME ⏱️
Philly House: Philadelphia unveiled a new arena that will be home to its WNBA expansion team when it debuts in 2030, along with the NBA’s 76ers and NHL’s Flyers.
From Tiger to Bear: Kate Koval has committed to Baylor after the NCAA awarded her a transfer waiver following her departure from LSU.
Crowded Trophy Case: Jackie Young now has gold medals from the World Cup, 5x5 Olympics and 3x3 Olympics, plus WNBA, NCAA and high school state championships.
🗳️ Poll Results from Yesterday: We asked who you thought would win the World Cup, and 87% of you correctly picked Team USA to win the gold. Nice call!
