Prepare for takeoff.

Aces take 3-0 WNBA Finals lead with Game 3 buzzer-beater

The Aces are closing in on their third title in four years, after No. 2 Las Vegas took down No. 4 Phoenix 90-88 in Wednesday’s Game 3 to push their WNBA Finals lead to 3-0.

• A late surge kept the Mercury’s do-or-die Game 3 dreams alive, before WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson scored the game-winner with just 2.2 seconds left on the clock to cap a 34 point, 14 rebound performance.

• “Get the ball to A’ja, and get out of the way,” Las Vegas head coach Becky Hammon said postgame, joking about calling her team’s final play.

• “We all had 100% confidence in A’ja,” said guard Jewell Loyd. “Everyone on that bench was saying, ‘We’re winning this game.’” (Watch full highlights)

Uncertain odds: Phoenix’s likelihood of bouncing back in the league’s first-ever best-of-seven series is hard to predict, but basketball history is not on their side.

• On the men’s side, no team has ever won a seven-game NBA Finals series after being down 3-0, with just four of 159 teams forcing a decisive Game 7.

• “I’m not going to sugarcoat — we’ve got a tough road ahead,” Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts said. “But we’ve got to take it one game at a time.”

• Phoenix could also be without forward Satou Sabally in Game 4, after the 27-year-old exited last night’s matchup with a fourth-quarter head injury.

Up next: Phoenix will get one last shot at survival on Friday at 8 PM ET, live on ESPN.

NWSL struggles with waning 2025 attendance

The NWSL hit unique attendance highs in 2025, setting a new single-game record when 40,091 fans filled San Francisco’s Oracle Park in August, but questions are beginning to surface as attendance averages decline across the league.

• With a recent focus on single-match records and big-name promotions, nine of the last 10 NWSL attendance high-marks took place in 2021 or later.

• However, eight of the league’s 14 teams are seeing lower per-game attendance than 2024’s surge, with the overall average down nearly 10% and just three matchdays left in the regular season.

Big picture: Many factors can impact ticket-buying — including pricing, location, and on-field product — and navigating these considerations can be tough as teams look to fill seats.

• Bay FC, Washington, Gotham, Orlando, and North Carolina have all made attendance gains this year, while Kansas City has held steady, but according to ESPN’s Jeff Kassouf, “that’s not the trend.”

• Currently 13th in overall attendance, Chicago is tackling the issue by moving from Bridgeview’s SeatGeek Stadium to Evanston’s Northwestern Stadium, making games accessible by public transit for the first time.

• “This opportunity for us, while distance-wise it’s actually a fairly consistent distance from the city, it’s much more accessible for fans who don’t have cars, which is a lot of our younger fan base,” Chicago Stars CMO Kay Bradley said on this week’s episode of Full Time with Meg Linehan.

Bottom line: With NWSL expansion teams on deck, sustainability concerns are starting to weigh heavy on teams in an ever-changing women’s sports landscape.

WNBA taps 2025 All-Defensive Teams after extended delay

The WNBA released the 2025 All-Defensive Teams yesterday, delaying the announcement more than a week amid the fallout from Napheesa Collier’s viral takedown of league leadership.

• Collier herself headlined the First Team, with Alanna Smith (Minnesota), Alyssa Thomas (Phoenix), Gabby Williams (Seattle), and A’ja Wilson (Las Vegas) joining the Minnesota Lynx star.

• Second Team honors went to Aliyah Boston (Indiana), Veronica Burton (Golden State), Rhyne Howard (Atlanta), Ezi Magbegor (Seattle) and Breanna Stewart (New York).

The data: First-ever co-Defensive Player of the Year award-winners Wilson and Smith put up leading individual stats throughout the season, with Wilson averaging a league-high 2.3 blocks along with 7.9 defensive rebounds per game while Smith averaged a team-high 1.3 steals and 1.9 blocks per game.

• Collier averaged 1.6 steals and 1.5 blocks per game, contributing to Minnesota’s league-best 97.5 defensive rating, while Williams tied for the second-most single-season steals with 99 — one short of Teresa Weatherspoon’s 1998 record.

• In her debut year with the Mercury, Thomas became the first-ever WNBA player to average 15+ points, 8+ rebounds, 9+ assists, and 1+ steals per game while shooting 50%+ from the field. (See full stats)

Bright future: This year’s Second Team featured three first-ever selections, with Boston, Burton, and Howard all making their All-Defensive Team debuts.

Houston Dash nears sale to son of imprisoned Chinese mogul

The Dash is on the brink of a $120 million sale, with Sportico reporting that owner Ted Segal is in advanced talks on a deal that would sever the Houston NWSL team’s ties to their MLS counterpart.

• Any agreement could face extensive reviews, as the buyer — RHC Group — is run by Richard Hsiao, the son of imprisoned Chinese billionaire Jianhua Xiao, who’s currently serving a 13-year sentence for what the Chinese government described as financial crimes.

• With questions arising about the source of RHC Group’s funding, Hsiao has already started the standard background check process, with the deal requiring further league approval should it be finalized.

• Characterizing the league’s “due diligence process” as “ongoing,” the NWSL said, “As with all such matters, the NWSL Board of Governors retains full authority to approve or deny any ownership change based on the league’s governance standards.”

Staying put: Should the sale go through, the club’s prospective new owners reportedly intend to keep the team in Houston.

ESPN sees record WNBA Finals Game 1 viewership

The 2025 WNBA Finals tipped off with a bang last week, averaging 1.9 million viewers on ESPN to become the most-watched Game 1 since 1997.

• Friday’s matchup between the Las Vegas Aces and the Phoenix Mercury peaked at 2.5 million, up 62% over last year’s Liberty-Lynx series opener.

• Viewership ranked second only to the league’s inaugural single-elimination championship game, when 2.8 million fans watched the Houston Comets take down the New York Liberty on NBC.

Big picture: The record-breaking numbers underscore significant growth, with Game 1 ratings increasing by nearly 700% since 2019 while this year’s average postseason viewership is already up 16% over 2024.

Bears QB Caleb Williams invests in NWSL’s Boston Legacy

The NWSL has another high-profile minority owner, with Chicago Bears star Caleb Williams buying into 2026 expansion team Boston Legacy’s ownership group.

• Via his strategic investment firm 888 Midas, the NFL quarterback joins fellow big-name athletes Indiana Fever center Aliyah Boston and Olympic gold medalist Aly Raisman as Boston Legacy investors.

• “Women’s sports is a movement, and I admire and respect the work that the team and the NWSL continues to do to grow the sport and empower future generations of athletes,” Williams said in today’s statement.

Big picture: Athlete investment in women’s sports continues to grow, following a micro-ownership model made famous by Angel City FC in 2022.

Number of the day 

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USWNT goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce earned a clean sheet in her Champions League debut yesterday, securing Manchester United’s status as the only WSL side to win their opening UWCL match.