Golden State hosts Dallas with WNBA playoffs on the line

ACFC queen Sydney Leroux is back on the pitch — and she brought her Royal Court.

Valkyries eye playoff berth against Wings

Golden State’s magic number is down to one, as the No. 2 Valkyries host the No. 8 Wings with a ticket to the 2026 WNBA playoffs on the line.

• The 2025 expansion side rides a five-game winning streak into tonight’s clash, blowing past last year’s victory total behind balanced shooting and battle-tested depth.

• “We just know our roles,” said veteran guard Tiffany Hayes. “Whether you’re starting that game, whether you’re coming off the bench… we just know how to move with each other.” (See full report)

Scouting report: Dallas arrives humbled from Friday’s 98-87 loss to No. 4 Indiana, winning just three of its last 10 games as stars Azzi Fudd and Jessica Shepard deal with injuries.

• Golden State took both of the pair’s prior meetings, including August 7th’s 94-76 rout fueled by Veronica Burton’s 22 points and seven assists.

• “We don’t think being down people is an excuse,” Wings guard Paige Bueckers said Friday. “We have a really good team and really good players coming off the bench and a deep team. We want to get these wins, regardless.” (See full report)

Tune in: Golden State hosts Dallas tonight at 10 PM ET (Peacock).

Sam Kerr lifts Gotham over KC

Sam Kerr returned to the record books, becoming the first player in NWSL history to reach 80 regular-season goals as she lifted No. 1 Gotham over No. 7 Kansas City 2-1 on Friday.

• After Midge Purce equalized an early Current chip, Kerr redirected Jaedyn Shaw’s 41st-minute pass past keeper Marisa Jordan, netting her franchise-record 31st tally while stretching the Bats’ unbeaten run to eight games.

• “We have the talent across the board,” said Gotham coach Shaun Harris. “Sam is only just getting started. We haven’t seen the best of her yet.” (Watch full highlights)

Taking stock: Purce joined Kerr and Esther González as the only Gotham players with 20+ regular-season goals, with all three of her 2026 contributions coming inside the opening 15 minutes.

• The win also marked Gotham’s first-ever regular-season victory over Kansas City, while cementing the club’s seven-point cushion atop the NWSL table.

• The Current now falls to 9-8-3 on the season, as the 2025 Shield winner fights to stay above the postseason cutoff line. (See full standings)

Up next: Gotham returns Sunday, facing No. 9 Angel City at 8 PM ET (ION).

Williams sisters reunite in Cincinnati

The Williams sisters are back, as Serena and Venus kick off their Cincinnati Open doubles run against local favorite Peyton Stearns and world No. 11 Marta Kostyuk.

• Tonight’s reunion marks Serena’s first Cincinnati appearance since 2022, furthering a recently launched comeback trail after teaming up with No. 17 Victoria Mboko at Queen’s Club and joining No. 7 Karolína Muchová in Berlin. 

• The match is also the sisters’ first pairing since the 2022 US Open, after a knee injury suffered in her first-round Wimbledon loss to Maya Joint saw Serena withdraw from July’s doubles competition in London.

Scouting report: The doubles draw is stacked with star power, splitting up 2025 Miami Open champs Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider while putting Barbora Krejčíková on a collision course with ex-teammate Kateřina Siniaková. 

• The younger Williams skipped the WTA 1000 tournament’s singles path, while Venus fell to Spain’s Emiliana Arango in her first-round match.

• “I’m back in Cincinnati — don’t ask me why or how, but I love this place,” Serena said on social media. “When I decided to play a few tournaments, I said, ’You know what, Cincinnati Open is one place I would never miss.’” (Watch full clip)

Tune in: The sisters open their doubles run tonight at 7 PM ET (Tennis Channel).

Temwa Chawinga wins Golden Boot as Malawi falls

Malawi’s Cinderella run fell just short, as Cameroon downed the WAFCON debutants 3-0 in yesterday’s final — while KC Current star Temwa Chawinga earned the Golden Boot for the Scorchers.

• Marie Ngah Manga’s brace and a Naomi Eto strike sealed the shutout before the break, with the Indomitable Lionesses holding Temwa and sister Tabitha’s Malawi to just two shots on goal. 

• Chawinga claimed her individual honor by edging Orlando Pride standout Barbra Banda (Zambia) on assists after pulling level on goals, capping a campaign that carried the 153rd-ranked nation past 10-time champion Nigeria to a 2027 World Cup berth. (Watch full highlights)

Up next: The back-to-back NWSL MVP now returns to No. 7 Kansas City, rejoining the US league’s Golden Boot race where she sits three goals behind Orlando’s Banda. (See full stats)

Lani Pallister dethrones Katie Ledecky

Katie Ledecky’s reign has ended, as Australia’s Lani Pallister upset the US swimming legend in two key freestyle races at the Pan Pacific Championships.

• After narrowly ceding the 1,500-meter freestyle to Ledecky, Pallister won the 400-meter before stealing the 800-meter rubber match to snap the UVA product’s 14-year gold medal run.

• “Katie’s such a dominant force,” Pallister said afterward. "Without her, we wouldn’t have women’s distance swimming in the place where it is.” (Watch full highlights)

Around the horn: Kate Douglass, Gretchen Walsh, Torri Huske, and Simone Manuel staged an upset of their own, besting Australia in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay for the first time in nine years with a US-record time of 3:29.32.

• Douglass also came up big solo, breaking the 50-meter freestyle world record twice in one day, while Gretchen Walsh swept the butterfly sprints. (See full results)

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