It’s all in the details.

New-look USWNT kicks off SheBelieves

The 2025 SheBelieves Cup kicks off tonight, with head coach Emma Hayes’s refreshed USWNT taking on Colombia inside Houston’s Shell Energy Stadium.

• Tonight’s match is the first of three international break friendlies, with the USWNT also facing Japan and Australia before the annual tournament’s end.

New era loading: With a few big names missing from the roster and the road to the 2027 World Cup just beginning, Hayes is using SheBelieves to try out less experienced USWNT players against some of the world’s best contenders.

• “The reality is we have top ability, that's clear, but we want to develop a combination of things: their personal resilience, which we do, and their learning mindset,” Hayes told reporters earlier this week.

• “We give them the opportunity, and that opportunity will either tell us that they're ready now, or they're ready later.”

Keeper question: One guaranteed area of focus will be goalkeeping, after USWNT mainstay Alyssa Naeher hung up her boots at the end of 2024.

• With Naeher and her 115 career appearances behind them, Hayes confirmed that both Jane Campbell (8 caps) and Mandy McGlynn (1 cap) are expected to earn starts during this window.

• “They have to demonstrate they can make the important decisions under pressure — both sides of the ball,” she added.

Bottom line: With Hayes firmly out of “must win” mode, the next-gen USWNT’s resilience will be put to the test, with the slow and steady ramp-up to 2027 outweighing immediate results.

Tune in: The USWNT plays Colombia at 8 PM ET, with live coverage across TBS, Max, and Peacock.

College basketball does numbers

ESPN scored another blockbuster, as Sunday’s NCAA doubleheader featuring No. 5 UConn vs. No. 6 South Carolina plus No. 2 Texas vs. No. 7 LSU earned the network record viewership.

• UConn’s upset win drew an average of 1.8 million viewers, while Texas’s victory averaged of 1.7 million viewers, representing the third and fourth most-watched regular-season women’s basketball games across ESPN platform history.

• Sunday’s pre-game show also did numbers, becoming the most-watched regular-season Women’s College Gameday since 2010.

Big picture: With March fast approaching, interest in top programs has continued to explode throughout the 2024/25 regular season.

• ESPN’s ratings have risen accordingly, with UConn’s December loss to Notre Dame averaging 847,000 viewers, while South Carolina’s win over SEC rivals LSU averaged 1.56 million viewers last month. 

Bottom line: When major networks spotlight regular-season WCBB games, fans respond — and it appears there’s nowhere to go but up for ESPN as the NCAA tournament rights-holder keeps pushing college coverage.

Ex-Spain football boss found guilty

Ex-Spanish football federation president Luis Rubiales was found guilty of sexually assaulting Spain national team striker Jenni Hermoso by Spain’s High Court early this morning.

• The two-week trial centered on Rubiales forcibly kissing Hermoso during the 2023 World Cup trophy ceremony, as well as attempting to coerce Hermoso into telling the public that the kiss was consensual after the fact.

• In their ruling, the court ordered Rubiales to pay a fine of €10,800 for the assault offense, but cleared him of coercion alongside three other ex-federation officials.

Judgment day: Rubiales faced up to four years in prison if convicted on both charges, and prosecutors argued for a 2.5-year incarceration, €50,000 in damages, and a permanent ban on Rubiales from ever serving as a sports official again.

• In addition to the fine, Rubiales is now banned from communicating with or being within a 200-meter radius of Hermoso for one year and must pay her an additional €3,000 for “moral damage.”

• In his delivery, Judge José Manuel Fernández-Prieto deemed the kiss “not the normal way of greeting people with whom one does not have an emotional relationship.”

Takeaway: “When there is no consent, there is aggression, and that is what the judge certifies in this sentence,” Ana Redondo, Spain’s minister of equality, tweeted in support of Thursday’s decision.

• However, not everyone sided with the judge, with the Spanish nonprofit Federation of Progressive Women posting that the ruling “has a deactivating effect on complaints from women who suffer #sexualviolence, reinforces distrust in the judicial system, and strengthens aggressors.”

Venus mounts a comeback

Tennis icon Venus Williams has been awarded a wild card spot to play in next month’s BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, with the 44-year-old signing onto participate in her first WTA competition in a year.

• Williams has not featured in a tour event since the Miami Open in March 2024, exiting that tournament in the opening round after losing to Diana Shnaider.

Big picture: Often stating her desire to play professional tennis for as long as she can, the seven-time Grand Slam singles champion has never officially announced her retirement.

• “At this point, it’s about picking and choosing places I want to be,” she said in an October 2024 TV interview.

• “Serena ruined it for me,” she joked, referencing her sister’s 2022 retirement. “Because as soon as she retired, everybody thought I retired.”

NWSL Denver hunts for a name

The 16th NWSL team is searching for a permanent name, with Denver NWSL dropping a shortlist of favorites on Wednesday — and asking fans to weigh in on the final decision.

• After gathering feedback on social media and consulting with the local soccer community, the incoming franchise has narrowed the possibilities down to Denver Peak FC, Colorado 14ers FC, Colorado Summit FC, Denver Elevate FC, Denver FC, and Denver Gold FC.

• Denver landed the bid earlier this year after putting up a record $110 million expansion fee, with the yet-unnamed team set to kick off in 2026.

Big picture: In the aftermath of Boston’s controversial name and branding reveal last October, Denver’s taking a markedly different approach, bypassing marketing execs and going straight to the supporters.

Number of the day 

2,158

UConn senior Paige Bueckers passed Huskies legend Diana Taurasi to become the program’s ninth all-time leading scorer on Wednesday, registering 2,158 career points after a 23-point performance against Seton Hall.