Back like she never left.

Clark goes cold, while Liberty can’t miss

The Indiana Fever got revenge on the Atlanta Dream Thursday night, winning 81-76 to split their two-game series this week.  

• Natasha Howard led the Fever with 26 points, while Sophie Cunningham scored nine in her season debut after missing the first two games with a right ankle sprain.

Caitlin Clark missed all five of her 3-pointers, ending a streak of 140 games (across college and the pros) of hitting at least one in a game.

• The last time Clark didn’t hit a 3? Jan 13th, 2022, when she went 0-for-6 against Purdue in her sophomore season.

• That game, along with last night’s, are the only two across Clark’s collegiate and professional careers in which she’s failed to make a 3.

The New York Liberty, meanwhile, couldn’t miss from deep, setting a new WNBA regular-season record with 19 3-pointers in their 99-74 win over the Sky.

• Natasha Cloud (4-of-5 from deep) and Kennedy Burke (4-of-4) paced the Liberty, while Angel Reese went 0-for-8 from the floor as the Sky dropped to 0-2 on the season.

• Fourteen year veteran Coutrney Vandersloot, who won a WNBA title with New York last season, scored 14 points for the Sky.

The WNBA record for total 3s in a game? That belongs to the Las Vegas Aces, who made 23 3s in a playoff game back in 2022.

NY Liberty is the most valuable women’s sports team

Shares of the New York Liberty were recently sold at a $450 million valuation, as first reported by The Athletic, making the reigning WNBA champions the most valuable franchise in women’s sports.

• Valued at $130 million just last year, the Liberty’s new record-breaking valuation is over 30 times what majority owners Joe and Clara Wu Tsai paid for the team in January 2019.

• The shares in the multi-investor purchase account for an ownership percentage in the “mid-teens,” with the capital intended to help fund an $80 million state-of-the-art training facility near the team’s Barclays Center home in Brooklyn.

Big picture: New York’s lofty number more than doubles the last-known WNBA valuation, when the Dallas Wings sold 1% of their franchise at a $208 million valuation in 2024.

• The NWSL’s Angel City FC previously held the top spot in women’s sports, hitting $250 million in last summer’s sale to USC dean Willow Bay and her Disney CEO husband, Bob Iger.

• Earlier this month, however, WSL champs Chelsea FC surpassed the LA club behind a $26.6 million investment from Reddit co-founder and tennis icon Serena Williams’s husband, Alexis Ohanian.

• With varied sources placing Ohanian’s stake between 8% and 10%, the Blues valuation in that transaction lands in the $265 million to $331 million range — still trailing the Liberty by a hefty margin.

Looking ahead: Wu Tsai said in 2024 that in less than a decade, the New York Liberty would be the world’s first billion-dollar women’s sports franchise. After Thursday’s news, they’re well on their way.

Arsenal, Barcelona set for 2024/25 UWCL final

The 2024/25 UEFA Champions League final kicks off tomorrow, as Arsenal and Barcelona chase history in a head-to-head clash at Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon, Portugal.

• The two teams will square off for the first time since Barcelona defeated Arsenal twice in 2021 UWCL group-stage play.

What’s at stake for the defending champs: The Spanish titans aren’t just hunting their third European championship in a row — winning tomorrow keeps Barcelona’s hopes of completing a second straight quadruple alive with their Copa de la Reina finale looming next month.

• To do so, however, they’ll have to outlast the only English team to ever lift the European trophy, a feat Arsenal accomplished back in 2007.

The underdog: Making their first UWCL final in 18 years, this year’s Gunners are scrappy, boasting an explosive offense that led the league in scoring behind joint-WSL Golden Boot winner Alessia Russo.

• The WSL runners-up bounced back from three first-leg deficits against Häcken FC, Real Madrid, and OL Lyonnes — leading Barcelona star midfielder Aitana Bonmatí to label their Championship appearance “a surprise.”

• “They absolutely deserve it, because scoring four goals against [eight-time UWCL winners] Lyon in the second leg is not easy at all,” the back-to-back Ballon d'Or winner told ESPN. "I congratulate them for that because I think it was a big surprise, but a well-deserved one."

Tune in: Arsenal and Barcelona will battle for European glory at 12 PM ET tomorrow, streaming live on DAZN.

Prime was on the ground last week, teaming up with JWS to put NWSL fans to the test and hand out some exciting prizes as the Orlando Pride took on the Kansas City Current.

• Soccer personality Duda Pavão led the charge, quizzing the Pride faithful on player stats past and present with plenty of merch and — for one lucky winner — a pair of upgraded seats on the line.

• Headed to a Friday night NWSL match on Prime? Keep an eye out for the JWS crew for your chance to show off your team knowledge and win big.

Tune in: Catch all the On Ground At action on JWS YouTube.

Shopping. Streaming. Live Sports. It’s on Prime.

Cook’s season-ending injury headlines KC Current’s woes

The NWSL’s Kansas City Current officially placed defender Alana Cook on the Season Ending Injury list on Thursday, after the center back tore her left ACL, MCL, and meniscus in last Friday’s 1-0 win over Orlando.

• Since joining the Current in a 2024 midseason trade from Seattle, the 28-year-old starter has anchored the backline of her new team to the tune of 10 shutouts in 19 matches.

• The injury is also a setback to Cook’s USWNT return, with the defender logging her 30th cap and first international minutes since October 2023 just last month.

Big picture: Cook’s season-ending knock wasn’t the only blow to the NWSL-leading Current, as attacking midfielder Debinha and striker Temwa Chawinga  — who are currently tied for second in the Golden Boot race — also exited Friday’s pitch with injuries.

• Andonovski told the media on Wednesday that while 2024 MVP Chawinga is still undergoing evaluation, Debinha “is not probably going to be back until after the summer.”

• Debinha was previously being touted as an MVP frontrunner, leaving fans wondering how long Kansas City can maintain their spot atop the league.

NWSL weekend preview: Can Wave sustain momentum?

The San Diego Wave have the best record (4-0-1) in the NWSL over the last five games. On Sunday, they’ll face off against the North Carolina Courage in Jaedyn Shaw’s first NWSL game in San Diego since an offseason trade.

Tonight:

• Utah Royals vs Orlando Pride, 9:30pm ET on NWSL+

• Seattle Reign vs Washington Spirit, 10:00pm ET on Prime Video

Saturday:

• Houston Dash vs Bay FC, 5:00pm ET on NWSL+, Paramount+

• Chicago Stars vs Kansas City Current, 7:30pm ET on ION

• Angel City vs Racing Louisville, 10:00pm ET on ION

Sunday:

• San Diego Wave vs North Carolina Courage, 10:00pm ET on CBSSN

Number of the day

16

Ottawa was only 16 seconds away from winning last night’s Game 2 of the PWHL Finals before Minnesota’s Britta Curl-Salemme equalized to force overtime, then notched the game-winner to even the best-of-five series.

Quote of the day

South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley
on what she told now-LSU guard MiLaysia Fulwiley after she entered the transfer portal.