Rodman makes USWNT return | Watkins exits with ACL tear | US tennis stars fall in Miami

Never give up the ship.

Rodman returns to the USWNT

The USWNT has ordered up another shot, as forward Trinity Rodman — one-third of 2024’s Triple Espresso along with Mallory Swanson and Sophia Wilson (neé Smith) — returns to head coach Emma Hayes’s 24-player roster ahead of April’s Olympic rematch friendlies against silver medalists Brazil.

• After leading the USWNT’s attack throughout last summer’s gold medal run, Rodman is the first of the trio to resume her place on Hayes’s lineup.

• “I have to try and find the sweet spot in camp, to reintegrate her back in the team, but also to manage her, because she has a long season ahead,” Hayes said of the Washington Spirit star.

Big picture: April’s international window will allow Hayes to continue to size up less experienced players on the USWNT roster bubble, furthering a lengthy and deliberate evaluation process that began at the start of 2025.

• Naomi Girma, Rose Lavelle, and Lynn Biyendolo (neé Williams) are still unavailable due to injury, making room for first-time official invitees Houston Dash defender Avery Patterson and Manchester United goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce.

• The US has seen Hayes’s process hit both highs and lows since returning from December’s European friendly tour, with the team most recently taking second place at this year’s SheBelieves Cup.

Making plans: The April roster drop arrives alongside a couple of schedule additions, with the US set to play two June friendlies against the Republic of Ireland.

• The teams will first square off in Commerce City, Colorado on June 26th, before closing out the series in Cincinnati, Ohio on June 29th.

• A third summer matchup is also on the horizon, with both an opponent and a venue yet to be determined.

Bottom line: Roster shakeups roll on, but Rodman’s return should bolster a USWNT line looking to balance chemistry building alongside continued rotation.

JuJu’s journey ends as NCAA sets Sweet 16

USC superstar JuJu Watkins went down with a serious injury in the first quarter of the No. 1 seed Trojans’ 96-59 win over No. 9 Mississippi State on Monday, putting a dismal stamp on the NCAA tournament’s second-round finale.

• The team later confirmed that Watkins suffered a season-ending ACL tear in her right knee after taking contact from two MSU defenders, with the sophomore phenom set to undergo surgery and start rehab shortly thereafter.

• “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t rattled seeing JuJu lying on the floor, crying,” USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said afterwards. “This is a human game, so I obviously tried my best to be what I need to be for the team, but internally it’s a lot.”

Big picture: A National Player of the Year frontrunner, Watkins’s absence has major implications on USC’s March Madness campaign, with the Trojans working their way towards a possible Elite Eight matchup against the surging UConn Huskies.

• After watching their guard get carried off the court, Watkins’s teammates took further control of the game, with senior forward Kiki Iriafen dropping 36 points as the crowd continuously booed the visiting Bulldogs.

• “We know that we’ve got no punks in our locker room, that we have a team that’s going to step up,” Gottlieb added. “This team rallied, they rallied for [Watkins], they rallied for each other.”

Up next: Last night’s victory saw the Trojans advance to a Sweet 16 clash with No. 5 seed Kansas State, as No. 1 seed Texas, No. 2 seeds UConn and NC State, No. 3 seeds UNC, Oklahoma, and LSU, and No. 4 seed Maryland all punched their own tickets in a day void of upsets.

• The only contentious matchup came by way of Maryland, with No. 5 Alabama forcing the game into double-overtime behind fifth-year Sarah Ashlee Baker’s 45 points before the Terps finished things off 111-108.

Bottom line: Losing Watkins is a devastating blow not just to USC, but to college basketball at large, radically reshaping the competitive landscape as March Madness gears up for Friday’s third-round slate.

Gauff ousted from Miami Open

After early exits from Indian Wells, US standouts continue to struggle to advance past the Round of 16 at this week’s Miami Open.

• World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka knocked out US stalwart No. 14 Danielle Collins on Monday while No. 3 Coco Guaff lost to unranked Magda Linette in straight sets, with Gauff adding to a particularly frustrating 2025 run.

• “It wasn’t great today,” Gauff told reporters after the match. “It hasn’t been the last few weeks — I’m trying to figure that out. Definitely not happy about it.”

Big picture: The dream of a single Sunshine Double winner subsided as Indian Wells champion Mira Andreeva fell to US challenger Amanda Anisimova in the Round of 32.

• Sabalenka and No. 2 Iga Świątek are still going strong, with No. 4 Jessica Pegula the highest-ranked US player remaining in the early-season WTA event.

• After topping No. 23 Marta Kostyuk on Monday, Pegula will next meet 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu in the quarterfinals.

Tune in: The Miami Open quarterfinals kick off today at 2 PM ET, with live coverage on the Tennis Channel.

Sports are a numbers game, and this year in particular has been full of historic figures. Whether it's shattering WNBA viewership records or soaring to the top of the NWSL standings, the most powerful moments in women’s sports definitely deserve the hype.

This major moment is presented by Discover®.

PWHL nets 1st Michigan goal

The New York Sirens made PWHL history this weekend, as Sirens forward and Michigan native Abby Roque scored the league’s first-ever Michigan goal against the Ottawa Charge on Saturday.

• With Ottawa leading 3-1 in the third period, Roque skated behind the Charge’s net, snapping the puck under the crossbar to register her sixth goal of the season.

Big picture: A very rare move, the “Michigan” entered hockey lingo in the 1990s, after University of Michigan winger Mike Legg successfully replicated minor-leaguer Bill Armstrong’s lacrosse-style “high wrap” goal during a 1996 NCAA Tournament game against Minnesota.

• Requiring deft mechanics, the shooter lifts the puck with their stick, slotting it into the near corner of the net behind an unsuspecting goalkeeper.

• “It’s something that has become a joke and we say every day when I come to the rink, ‘Michigan today,’” Roque said after her performance. “The opportunity presented itself, so I had to try.”

Vonn makes World Cup history

Six years after stepping back from the slopes due to injury, 40-year-old US skiing legend Lindsey Vonn became the oldest woman to ever medal in a World Cup on Sunday, just 11 months after undergoing a partial knee replacement.

• Vonn finished second in the weekend’s Super G event, adding to a decorated career spanning 82 World Cup wins — the second-most wins on the women’s side behind US star Mikaela Shiffrin.

• “It was f***ing hard,” Vonn said after the race. “This is not easy what I’m doing. It just felt really good to say I did it, that I can still do it.”

• Her accomplishment happened to coincide with Italy’s 34-year-old Federica Brignone becoming the oldest skier — men’s or women’s — to win a World Cup overall title.

Up next: Vonn’s comeback tour continues as she sets her sights on the 2026 Winter Olympics, where she told NBC she hopes to conclude her celebrated alpine career.

Quote of the day

The NWSL
in a statement responding to a fan incident involving hateful language directed at the Pride forward during Sunday's match between Orlando and Gotham.