# hoopwomen — the WNBA, in editorial > hoopwomen — pro-first women’s basketball coverage. The WNBA, the bylines, the broadcasts, the long reads. A sister site to girlhoop.com, with more depth and a darker visual register. ## hoopwomen — the WNBA, in editorial URL: https://hoopwomen.com/ hoopwomen — the WNBA, in editorial On Now — Pro women’s basketball · the magazine The pro leagues . The WNBA at the center. Unrivaled in the winter, Athletes Unlimited in the spring, and the overseas circuit where the rest of the year happens. Bylined columnists, long-form features, power rankings, TV guide. Sister to girlhoop.com for college, high school, and global youth. 4 pro leagues covered 15 WNBA teams in 2026 12+ overseas leagues tracked 2 winter circuits (Unrivaled / AU) Lead column · refreshed weekly The W’s media moment isn’t a bubble — it’s a re-pricing. Three years of climbing ratings, a new Disney/NBC/Amazon rights deal, two expansion clubs paying record entry fees: the case for treating women’s pro hoops as undervalued is no longer a niche argument. The 2024 Finals drew the largest WNBA audience of the streaming era. The 2025 draft pulled bigger numbers than three of the last five NBA drafts. The 2026 schedule places the W on ABC, NBC, Prime Video, and ION simultaneously for the first time. None of that is a bubble; it’s the market catching up to a sport that was always there. Read the column → This week, on TV . Full TV-by-network guide → ION · Friday Night Hoops Connecticut @ New York Liberty Fri, May 8 · 7:30 PM ET · preseason ION · Friday Night Hoops Washington @ Toronto Tempo Fri, May 8 · 7:30 PM ET · preseason ION · Friday Night Hoops Golden State @ Seattle Storm Fri, May 8 · 10:00 PM ET · preseason NBC · opening Sunday Las Vegas Aces @ Atlanta Dream Sun, May 17 · 1:30 PM ET · regular season Bylines · the masthead The columnists . Four voices, four beats. Standing columns, refreshed each week through the season. The Lead Pro · weekly Whoever’s having the best week. Gets the front of the room. The Bench Roles · weekly The careers no one tracks — bench scorers, sixth-women, late-rotation glue. The Tape Coaching · biweekly Plays drawn out, sets diagrammed. What the X’s and O’s actually look like. The Books Business · monthly Salary cap, CBA, ownership groups, expansion economics. Where the money flows. Long form · updated when warranted The features . Stories that take three thousand words, not three hundred. Reported and edited at length. Oral history The unbought year Toronto’s and Portland’s expansion bids, told by five front-office voices who sat at the table. Profile The coach who refused the script How a journeyman assistant rebuilt a franchise without trading for a star. Reported essay The contract chasm Why a top-paid WNBA salary is still a third of what a tenth man makes in the NBA, and what the next CBA might do about it. Hoopwomen power index · Week 0 Pre-season rankings . A predictive ranking, not a who-played-best-last-week ranking. Refreshed every Sunday once the season starts. 1 New York Liberty defending champ · held core 2 Las Vegas Aces + a’ja health, deeper bench 3 Minnesota Lynx collier + reeve continuity 4 Indiana Fever third-year jump expected 5 Phoenix Mercury free-agent winners A computed, opinion-flavored top fifteen. Methodology lives on the rankings page; the numbers refresh every Sunday once the games matter. See the full 15 → The same sport, two registers. If you came in for high-school recruiting, college coverage, or the global game, that side of the house lives at girlhoop.com . hoopwomen is the pro-and-magazine sister. Visit girlhoop → --- ## Athletes Unlimited Basketball — the rotating-roster league · hoopwomen URL: https://hoopwomen.com/athletes-unlimited/ Athletes Unlimited Basketball — the rotating-roster league · hoopwomen Spring circuit · February to March Athletes Unlimited . The spring league with rotating rosters — teams reshuffle every week based on individual point totals, so playing well literally rebuilds your team around you. Pioneered the player-as-co-owner model in pro basketball. Short season, surprisingly good hoops. What we cover Weekly standings + reshuffling — the league’s point-leaderboard captains, plus the players whose stock rose hardest week-to-week WNBA crossover — AU is increasingly a development league for WNBA bench rotations Format reporting — AU iterates on its rules between seasons Editorial — the player-co-ownership economics and what they predict for pro-sports labor Official site → auprosports.com/basketball/ --- ## College women's basketball — D1, D2, D3, NAIA · hoopwomen URL: https://hoopwomen.com/college/ College women's basketball — D1, D2, D3, NAIA · hoopwomen NCAA D1 · D2 · D3 · NAIA The college game. The 2024 NCAA Championship Game — South Carolina over Iowa — pulled 18.9 million viewers, the most-watched women's basketball game ever broadcast. And that's just Division I. Underneath sit three more NCAA tiers plus the NAIA — over 1,300 programs. 364 D1 programs ~313 D2 programs ~440 D3 programs ~189 NAIA programs NCAA Division I · 2025-26 The top flight. 364 programs across 32 conferences. The SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, and ACC together produced 12 of the last 16 Final Four teams. SEC · 16 teams The juggernaut. South Carolina (3 NCAA titles 2017, 22, 24), LSU (2023), Tennessee (8 titles), Oklahoma & Texas added in 2024. Big Ten · 18 teams West Coast moved in. UCLA, USC, Oregon, Washington joined in 2024. Iowa's Clark era just ended; UCLA now leads. Big 12 · 16 teams Expanded aggressively. Added BYU, Utah, Cincinnati, UCF, Houston, Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado. Baylor still the anchor (3 titles: 2005, 12, 19). ACC · 18 teams Coast-to-coast. NC State, UNC, Duke, Notre Dame (2 titles), plus Cal + Stanford + SMU added 2024. Louisville, Virginia Tech challenge. Big East · 11 teams UConn country. UConn's 11 NCAA titles dominate any conversation. Creighton, Villanova, Marquette support. AAC · 14 teams Midmajor pro pipeline. North Texas, Memphis, South Florida, UTSA. Produced multiple WNBA picks yearly. Mountain West · 11 teams Colorado State, SDSU. Wyoming's Cowgirls perennial. SDSU & Fresno State regular NCAA Tournament sides. Pac-12 (rebuilding) · 9+ teams A new era. Oregon State & Washington State survived. Gonzaga, San Diego, Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, SDSU, Utah State joining 2026. Missouri Valley · 12 teams The Mid-Am factory. Drake, Belmont, Bradley, Indiana State. Missouri State reliable 20-win side. Conference USA · 12 teams Louisiana Tech legacy. La Tech's Lady Techsters won titles 1981 & 1988. Middle Tennessee, WKU, Western Ky. UTEP remain. Sun Belt · 14 teams James Madison + expansion. JMU, Old Dominion, App State. Louisiana & Troy the historical powers. WAC · 10 teams Texas-heavy. Abilene Christian, Tarleton, Stephen F. Austin, UT Arlington, Utah Tech, Grand Canyon. Southland · 10 teams Louisiana, Texas mix. McNeese, Lamar, HCU, TAMU-CC, TAMU-Commerce, Nicholls. SWAC · 12 teams HBCU D1 league. Jackson State, Southern, Prairie View, Texas Southern. HBCU All-Star showcase yearly. MEAC · 8 teams HBCU East. Howard, NC A&T, NC Central, Norfolk State, S. Carolina State, Morgan State, Coppin State, Delaware State. Atlantic 10 · 15 teams Urban Eastern. Dayton, VCU, Saint Louis, Richmond, Loyola Chicago, UMass. Historical Final Four runs from UMass, Saint Joseph's. West Coast · 7+ teams Gonzaga anchor. Gonzaga, Portland, San Diego, Saint Mary's, Pepperdine, Santa Clara, LMU, Pacific. Ivy League · 8 teams Princeton's run. Princeton NCAA regular since 2010. Columbia, Harvard competitive. No athletic scholarships. Patriot · 10 teams Service academies + NE privates. American, Army, Bucknell, Navy, Holy Cross. Smart, structured programs. CAA · 14 teams Mid-Atlantic staple. Drexel, Delaware, Towson, Charleston, James Madison (departed), Hampton. MAAC · 11 teams Fairfield, Marist. Fairfield & Marist the historical powers. Quinnipiac recent NCAA Tournament regular. Horizon · 11 teams Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin. Green Bay historical mid-major standout. Cleveland State, Northern Kentucky. Summit · 9 teams South Dakota powers. South Dakota, South Dakota State, North Dakota State, Omaha, Kansas City, Denver. Big Sky · 10 teams Montana, Idaho, NAU. Montana's Lady Griz a fixture. Montana State, Idaho State, Eastern Washington. MAC · 12 teams Ohio + MI + NY + IL + IN. Toledo, Kent State, Ball State historical. Buffalo's recent NCAA runs. ASUN · 14 teams Southeast mid-major. Florida Gulf Coast, Kennesaw State (now CUSA), Lipscomb, Queens, Stetson. Northeast · 10 teams Small Northeast privates. Sacred Heart, Fairleigh Dickinson, Wagner, Saint Francis (PA), LIU, CCSU. Southern · 10 teams Furman, Mercer, Samford. Chattanooga the league heavyweight. UNCG, Western Carolina, Wofford, ETSU. OVC · 10+ teams Belmont departed. Tennessee Tech, Morehead State, Eastern Illinois, SIUE. Rebuilding after OVC members jumped conferences. America East · 9 teams Maine, UMBC, UAlbany. Small Northeast publics. Maine & UAlbany routinely play March. Big South · 9 teams Carolinas + VA. High Point, Gardner-Webb, Radford, Winthrop, UNC Asheville. Big West · 11 teams California + Hawaii. Hawaii, UC Davis, UC Irvine, Long Beach State, Cal Poly. Browse all 1,306 programs in the searchable directory → NCAA Division II · 23 conferences Scholarships, smaller stages. ~313 D2 programs. The NCAA D2 Elite Eight plays every March in Birmingham (or rotating host). D2 offers partial athletic scholarships and a lower cap on roster size. Major conferences include the Lone Star (Texas-heavy: Angelo State, West Texas A&M, TAMU-Kingsville, UT Tyler, UT Permian Basin), Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) , Northeast-10 , Gulf South , MIAA (Central & Western), GLIAC , Great Lakes Valley , CCAA (California), RMAC , NSIC (Upper Midwest), Sunshine State , Peach Belt , SAC , Mountain East , Great American , G-MAC , Conference Carolinas , CACC , PacWest , and East Coast . Filter directory to D2 → NCAA Division III · 40+ conferences Academic-first, still ferocious. ~440 D3 programs. No athletic scholarships — academic aid only. Strong programs: Hope College (MI), NYU, Tufts, Saint Thomas (before the D1 move), Amherst (NESCAC), Wisconsin-Whitewater, Christopher Newport. Top conferences include NESCAC (Amherst, Middlebury, Williams, Tufts), UAA (NYU, Wash U, Chicago, Emory), Centennial , Liberty League , CCIW , North Coast Athletic Conference , Wisconsin IAC , Empire 8 , Old Dominion AC , Northwest Conference , SCIAC , American Rivers Conference , SUNYAC , MASCAC , and MIAC (Minnesota). Filter directory to D3 → NAIA · 19 conferences Different body, same game. ~189 NAIA programs. Full athletic scholarships are allowed; the governing body is separate from the NCAA. National tournament held in Sioux City every March. NAIA has been historically strong at producing WNBA players through transfer pathways. Key conferences: Sooner Athletic Conference (Oklahoma City, Wayland Baptist, Texas Wesleyan), Mid-South , Crossroads League , GPAC , KCAC , Appalachian AC , Cal Pac , Cascade Collegiate , Frontier , Heart of America , Continental , Gulf Coast (HBCU-heavy), River States , Sun , SSAC , North Star , WHAC . Filter directory to NAIA → --- ## Columnists — the masthead · hoopwomen URL: https://hoopwomen.com/columnists/ Columnists — the masthead · hoopwomen The masthead · volume one Four columns . Each one a beat. Each one bylined. Each one updated on a posted cadence so you know when to come back. The opening run for the 2026 season; the masthead grows as the league does. The Lead Pro · weekly · Mondays The most-read column on the site. Whoever’s having the best week earns the front of the room. The first read of every Monday morning. The Lead is opinion column: who is rising, who is falling, what last week’s games told us about this week’s odds. It runs about 1,200 words; it is allowed to take strong positions and is expected to defend them with film and numbers. Pilot column lands the morning after Opening Sunday — Monday, May 18, 2026. The Bench Roles · weekly · Wednesdays Careers no one tracks — sixth women, energy guards, defensive specialists, the players who decide playoff series. Star coverage saturates the W. The Bench is the antidote: a weekly profile of one role player whose contract is about to be re-negotiated, whose minutes are about to be expanded, or whose career arc says something about the way the league actually works. Pilot column lands Wednesday, May 20. The Tape Coaching · biweekly · Thursdays Plays drawn out. Sets diagrammed. The X’s and O’s, made readable. The Tape takes one offensive set, one defensive scheme, or one situational call from the past week and walks through what it’s doing and why. Inline diagrams, video clips, and one or two coaching voices on the record. Built so a fan who’s never read a coach’s clipboard can leave understanding it. Pilot column on the new ICE-coverage variant Las Vegas debuted in the playoffs — Thursday, May 21. The Books Business · monthly · first Friday Salary cap, CBA, ownership groups, expansion economics, media-rights money. Where the dollars actually flow. The W is being re-priced. The Books tracks the money that proves it — expansion fees, franchise valuations, salary-cap projections, equity stakes, the new media-rights pool. Once a month, with charts and footnotes; written so a season-ticket holder can read it as fluently as a finance reporter would. First-Friday column on the 2026 expansion-fee bidding — Friday, June 5. Masthead in motion. Four columns is the opening run, not the ceiling. As the season unfolds we’ll add a beat for officiating, one for international transfers, and a guest-column slot for visiting writers. If you’d like to pitch a column, email editorial@hoopwomen.com . --- ## WNBA Draft — every No. 1 pick, every year · hoopwomen URL: https://hoopwomen.com/draft/ WNBA Draft — every No. 1 pick, every year · hoopwomen Every No. 1, every year The WNBA Draft. For years the draft was a morning-after paragraph in a newspaper. In 2024 it drew 2.45 million viewers on ESPN — the most-watched WNBA Draft in history, up 307% year-over-year. Then 2025 broke that. Here's the archive. 1997 First draft 36 picks in the 2024 first round 2.45M viewers, 2024 (ESPN) 38 picks, 2025 (expanded) No. 1 overall picks The pedigree. Thirteen of the 29 No. 1 picks from 1997 to 2025 went on to win at least one WNBA title. Four are in the Naismith Hall of Fame. Year No. 1 pick Team College Career highlights 2025 Paige Bueckers Dallas Wings Connecticut 2025 NCAA champ; Wooden Award '21; WNBA ROY front-runner 2024 Caitlin Clark Indiana Fever Iowa NCAA all-time scoring leader (M or W, D1); 2024 WNBA ROY 2023 Aliyah Boston Indiana Fever South Carolina 2022 NCAA champ; 2023 WNBA ROY; 3× All-Star 2022 Rhyne Howard Atlanta Dream Kentucky 2022 WNBA ROY; 2× All-Star 2021 Charli Collier Dallas Wings Texas Rookie role player; traded to LA '22 2020 Sabrina Ionescu New York Liberty Oregon 3× All-Star; 2024 WNBA champ; 3-point contest record (37) 2019 Jackie Young Las Vegas Aces Notre Dame 2× WNBA champ (22, 23); 2× All-Star; 2019 NCAA champ 2018 A'ja Wilson Las Vegas Aces South Carolina 3× MVP (20, 22, 24); 2× WNBA champ; 2024 Olympic gold MVP 2017 Kelsey Plum San Antonio Stars Washington 2× WNBA champ; 3× All-Star; NCAA all-time scoring leader (pre-Clark) 2016 Breanna Stewart Seattle Storm UConn 2× MVP; 2× WNBA champ; 4× NCAA champ; 2× Olympic gold 2015 Jewell Loyd Seattle Storm Notre Dame 2× WNBA champ; 5× All-Star; 2023 scoring title 2014 Chiney Ogwumike Connecticut Sun Stanford 2× All-Star; ESPN analyst 2013 Brittney Griner Phoenix Mercury Baylor 9× All-Star; 2014 WNBA champ; 2× Olympic gold; career dunks record (24) 2012 Nneka Ogwumike Los Angeles Sparks Stanford 2016 MVP; 2016 WNBA champ; WNBPA president 2011 Maya Moore Minnesota Lynx UConn 2014 MVP; 4× WNBA champ; activism-driven hiatus 2019+ 2010 Tina Charles Connecticut Sun UConn 2012 MVP; 8× All-Star; career 6,000+ pts 2009 Angel McCoughtry Atlanta Dream Louisville 5× All-Star; 2 Olympic golds 2008 Candace Parker Los Angeles Sparks Tennessee 2× MVP; 3× WNBA champ (16, 21, 23); 2× NCAA champ; HOF 2007 Lindsey Harding Phoenix Mercury Duke Journeyman guard; now head coach at DePaul 2006 Seimone Augustus Minnesota Lynx LSU 4× WNBA champ; 8× All-Star; HOF 2024 2005 Janel McCarville Charlotte Sting Minnesota 2011 WNBA champ (Lynx); solid career center 2004 Diana Taurasi Phoenix Mercury UConn All-time WNBA scoring leader; 3× champ; 6× Olympic gold; HOF '24 2003 LaToya Thomas Cleveland Rockers Mississippi State Started career strong; traded across multiple teams 2002 Sue Bird Seattle Storm UConn 4× WNBA champ; 12× All-Star; 5× Olympic gold; HOF '23 2001 Lauren Jackson Seattle Storm — Australian import; 3× MVP; 2× WNBA champ; HOF '21 (first Australian) 2000 Ann Wauters Cleveland Rockers — Belgian; solid career in W + Europe 1999 Chamique Holdsclaw Washington Mystics Tennessee 1999 ROY; 6× All-Star; 3× NCAA champ at Tenn. 1998 Margo Dydek Utah Starzz — 7'2" Polish center; dunked in WNBA; dec. 2011 1997 Tina Thompson Houston Comets USC First pick in WNBA history; 4× champ (Comets dynasty); HOF '18 By the numbers Where the stars come from. Across all 29 No. 1 picks, five schools produced them more than once. UConn · 5 Bird, Charles, Moore, Stewart, Bueckers The factory. Every decade from the 2000s onward. Stanford · 2 N. Ogwumike, C. Ogwumike Sisters back-to-back years. South Carolina · 2 Wilson, Boston Dawn Staley's Columbia pipeline. Tennessee · 2 Holdsclaw, Parker Summitt's lineage extends into the modern game. Iowa / Oregon · 1+1 Clark, Ionescu Two of the most-watched draft nights in history. International · 3 Jackson, Dydek, Wauters No. 1 picks who never played U.S. college. Back to WNBA → --- ## Women Who Can Dunk — the complete list · hoopwomen URL: https://hoopwomen.com/dunkers/ Women Who Can Dunk — the complete list · hoopwomen A running list, updated every time another one goes down Women who can dunk . Every confirmed in-game dunk in women's basketball history, organized by player. The myth that "women can't dunk" was dead the moment Georgeann Wells threw one down in 1984. Forty years later, it happens in the Final Four, in the WNBA, and — with Juju Watkins's class on the rise — increasingly in high school gyms. 24 WNBA career record (Griner) 1984 First ever — Georgeann Wells 2002 First in the WNBA — Lisa Leslie ~15 Confirmed in-game dunkers, all-time Corrections · 2026-04-22 Thanks to the r/wnba community for flagging embellishments (the launch thread has since been removed by the subreddit, but the corrections survived). The list has been tightened — Juju Watkins and Kamilla Cardoso moved to "watchlist" until a documented in-game dunk surfaces. Similar caveats added to Natalie Williams (may have been ABL, not WNBA) and Li Yueru. If you've got a clip for anyone named here, please share it on the BBS thread and we'll update. The dunkers — sortable, filterable Every woman with a documented in-game dunk or a credible pending claim. Sort by any column; filter by status, league, or division. Click a player's sources to verify independently. All status Confirmed only Pending only Practice only Disputed All leagues All divisions Active only — Rank Player Dunks Ht Team League Div Status Game Dunks First Active Sources Tip: click any column header to sort. Default rank follows our curatorial Top 10 (impact + athleticism). Sort by "Status" or "First" to see the list by verification or chronology instead. Angel Reese and Tina Charles have been removed — no practice video surfaced for Reese; Charles considered unlikely at this career stage. Why it still matters Women dunking isn't a novelty anymore — Griner made it regular, Belibi made it an NCAA regular occurrence, and Malonga has made it a Paris 2024 Olympic memory. The question was never whether women could dunk. It was whether the rims would get lowered on anyone's watch, and the answer was always: no . Methodology: "In-game dunk" means a dunk in a regulation game (WNBA regular season or playoffs, NCAA regular season or tournament, FIBA competition, Olympics, or top-tier pro league). Preseason, practice, warmup, and pregame dunks are tagged practice in the Status column. If a claim is challenged, it goes to pending until broadcast footage or a primary source is surfaced. Sources & how this list was built Compiled from the following references. If a claim on this page isn't supported by at least one of these, it's on the watchlist. Primary references Wikipedia: women who have dunked in a game WNBA.com (player pages, historical game recaps) FIBA.basketball (Olympics, World Cup, EuroBasket records) Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame (Georgeann Wells VHS + archive) NCAA.com women's basketball Secondary / community YouTube broadcast clips (linked inline per entry) r/wnba launch thread (removed by subreddit — community corrections preserved here) hoopwomen community on AustinSpring BBS Her Hoop Stats and Swish Appeal historical coverage AP wire archive recaps for specific game dates Editorial process: draft compiled from Wikipedia, old Bleacher Report list, news archives, and community memory, plus AI cross-checking and a review of available YouTube footage. When a claim couldn't be sourced, it moved to watchlist. Documented sources are linked per entry above; this is an ongoing correction process, not a finished reference. Join the discussion This list stays alive through community corrections. The launch thread on r/wnba was removed by the sub — no surprise for a reference post — so the conversation has moved where we own it: Discuss on the hoopwomen BBS → The hoopwomen community lives at austinspring.com/bbs/live/c/hoopwomen — a BBS we run ourselves. No algorithm, no downvotes, no mod removals. Threaded discussions that don't scroll off. ← Back to hoopwomen --- ## Chrome extension — hoopwomen directory URL: https://hoopwomen.com/extension/ Chrome extension — hoopwomen directory Free · no tracking · manifest v3 The hoopwomen extension . 1,227 women's basketball programs. One click from the Chrome toolbar. Filter by division, conference, state, or search by name — click to jump straight to the school's athletic page. Download (.zip, 10 KB) Install instructions hoopwomen ├─ Search: "desoto" ├─ Filter: div=D1, conf=SEC ├─ 16 matches │ ├─ South Carolina (Columbia, SC) │ ├─ LSU (Baton Rouge, LA) │ ├─ Tennessee (Knoxville, TN) │ └─ … └─ [click] → opens athletics page Install in 30 seconds No Chrome Web Store needed. The extension isn't in the Web Store yet — it's distributed directly. Safe to inspect: everything is client-side JS, and source is visible in the zip. Download the zip and unzip it to any folder on your computer. In Chrome, go to chrome://extensions/ . Toggle Developer mode on (top right). Click Load unpacked and select the unzipped hoopwomen-extension folder. The hoopwomen icon appears in your Chrome toolbar. Click it any time to search the directory. What it does Features. Live data 1,227 programs Fetches the dataset from hoopwomen.com on first use. Caches for 7 days. Hit the Refresh button in the popup to force a fresh pull. Instant search Filter as you type Search matches on school name, nickname, conference, city, state — all at once. Combine with division/conference/state dropdowns. Direct links Click → athletics page Every D1 result opens the school's official women's basketball page. D2/D3/NAIA results fall back to a web search for the program. Privacy No tracking No analytics, no remote logging, no account. The only network call is the one-time fetch of the team dataset. Offline-ish Works after first load Once the dataset is cached, the popup works with no connectivity until you hit Refresh or the 7-day TTL expires. Open inspect Source visible Under 200 lines of HTML/CSS/JS. Zero third-party dependencies, zero build step. Unzip and read it. ← Back to hoopwomen --- ## Features — long-form · hoopwomen URL: https://hoopwomen.com/features/ Features — long-form · hoopwomen Long form · reported and edited at length The features . Stories that take three thousand words to tell properly. Oral histories, reported profiles, business essays, and the occasional argument that earns its space. New piece roughly every two weeks during the season. Lead feature · oral history The unbought year — an oral history of expansion By the editors · reporting forthcoming · ~5,500 words Five front-office voices on the bid wars that brought the league to fifteen — the GMs who chased Toronto and Portland, the league office that wrote the rules, the ownership groups who lost. The story of how a $250 million expansion fee became conventional wisdom in eighteen months. Oral history ~5,500 words Drops May 2026 The unbought year Toronto’s and Portland’s expansion bids, told by five front-office voices who sat at the table. Why the league’s economics looked unrecognizable by the time the gavel fell, and what the next bidder will pay. By The Editors · reporting in progress Profile ~3,200 words Drops June 2026 The coach who refused the script How a journeyman assistant rebuilt a perennial bottom-three franchise without trading for a star — trusting development, refusing trades, and ending up with the league’s most envied young core. A long profile of patience as a competitive advantage. Byline TBA Reported essay ~4,100 words Drops June 2026 The contract chasm Why a top-paid WNBA salary is still a third of what a tenth man makes in the NBA — and what the next CBA negotiation, scheduled for late 2026, might do about it. With cap math, comparable-league benchmarks, and on-the-record players. Byline TBA Photo essay ~1,800 words + 24 images Drops July 2026 The first arena The places that built the W. Photographs of the original 1997 arenas — some still standing, some demolished, some renovated past recognition. Captioned by the players who broke them in. Photographer TBA Business deep-dive ~3,800 words Drops August 2026 Selling Sundays How NBC won the Sunday-matinee window from ESPN—and why Disney let it go. The negotiation, the audience math, and the bet on appointment television in an on-demand era. Byline TBA Reported profile ~3,500 words Drops August 2026 The trainer who never says no The strength coach who’s gone quietly from the Sparks weight room to the most-requested off-season trainer in the league. A profile of women’s-basketball performance training, told through the person players keep recommending to each other. Byline TBA An editing intent. The features slate runs at a slower cadence than the columns by design. Long-form pieces get the time they need; short-form arguments live on the columns page. Pitches welcome at editorial@hoopwomen.com ; we pay on publication. --- ## Global women's basketball — the overseas leagues · hoopwomen URL: https://hoopwomen.com/global/ Global women's basketball — the overseas leagues · hoopwomen Outside the W · where the money is The world beyond the W . WNBA super-max tops out around $252K. A starter in Turkey can make four times that. Spain, Russia (pre-2022), China — the offseason migration is the economic backbone of the women's game. 40+ Pro leagues worldwide $1M+ Top KBSL salaries 16 EuroLeague Women clubs Oct–May Euro season Tier 1 · continental competition EuroLeague Women. The Champions League of women's club basketball. 16 teams, group stage into playoffs, Final Four crowns the champion. Dominated historically by Russian and Turkish clubs; Spanish and Czech sides regularly contend. 🇹🇷 Turkey Fenerbahçe Öznur Kablo 2023 & 2024 EuroLeague Women champs. Perennial top-4. Home: Ülker Sports Arena, Istanbul. 🇪🇸 Spain Perfumerías Avenida Salamanca-based. 2011 champions, consistent playoff side. 🇨🇿 Czechia ZVVZ USK Praha 2015, 2018, 2022 champions. Prague powerhouse. 🇫🇷 France LDLC ASVEL Féminin Lyon. Founded by Tony Parker. Fast-rising challenger. 🇮🇹 Italy Famila Schio Vicenza region. 2022 Final Four. 🇭🇺 Hungary Sopron Basket 2022 EuroLeague Women champions — small-market Cinderella. 🇹🇷 Turkey Galatasaray Istanbul rival to Fener. Historical EuroLeague Women title (2014). 🇷🇺 Russia (suspended) UMMC Ekaterinburg Six-time champs (2003, 13, 16, 18, 19, 21). Banned from FIBA/EuroLeague since Feb 2022. Official standings & scores → Top domestic leagues Where the WNBA winters. The league-by-league breakdown of where U.S. stars spend their offseason. 🇹🇷 KBSL (Turkey) ING Kadınlar Basketbol Süper Ligi 12 teams. Highest salaries in women's basketball. Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray, Çukurova, Mersin. Oct–May. Fed site (Turkish) → 🇪🇸 LF Endesa (Spain) Liga Femenina de Baloncesto 14 teams. Technical, patient basketball. Perfumerías Avenida, Valencia, Spar Girona lead. Sep–May. FEB site → 🇫🇷 LFB (France) Ligue Féminine de Basketball 12 teams. Basket Landes, Lyon ASVEL Féminin, Bourges Basket. Strong national-team pipeline. LFB site → 🇮🇹 Serie A1 (Italy) Serie A1 Femminile 14 teams. Venezia, Schio, Campobasso. Long-standing destination for European pros. 🇦🇺 WNBL (Australia) Women's National Basketball League 8 teams. Nov–March. Birthplace of the Opals — Jackson, Taylor, Cambage, Magbegor. WNBA-adjacent playing style. WNBL site → 🇨🇳 WCBA (China) Women's Chinese Basketball Association 18 teams. Nov–March. Short but lucrative season. Hosted A'ja Wilson, Diana Taurasi, Brittney Griner historically. 🇰🇷 WKBL (Korea) Women's Korean Basketball League 6 teams. Short season, high pay for imports. Asan Woori, Yongin Samsung. 🇯🇵 WJBL (Japan) Women's Japan Basketball League 12 teams in W-League (top flight). ENEOS Sunflowers, Fujitsu Red Wave. Deep domestic pool, strong national team. 🇧🇷 LBF (Brazil) Liga de Basquete Feminino 10 teams. Sesi Araraquara, Campinas. Dec–May. Historical home of Hortência, Paula & Magic Paula. 🇺🇸 Athletes Unlimited AU Pro Basketball Offseason U.S. league (Jan–Feb). Rotating-roster format, player-scored. Short schedule, high visibility. AU site → 🇺🇸 Unrivaled 3-on-3 players' league Launched Jan 2025 by Breanna Stewart & Napheesa Collier. Miami-based, 30 WNBA stars, equity + top-tier base salary. Unrivaled → 🇩🇪 · 🇮🇱 · 🇵🇱 · 🇬🇷 · 🇸🇰 European second tier DBBL (Germany), WBL Premier League (Israel), Basket Liga Kobiet (Poland), A1 Ethniki (Greece), EWBL (Slovakia) — all routinely sign WNBA fringe/mid-tier players. --- ## Texas high school women's basketball — UIL, TAPPS, TCAL · hoopwomen URL: https://hoopwomen.com/highschool/ Texas high school women's basketball — UIL, TAPPS, TCAL · hoopwomen UIL · TAPPS · TCAL · private-school leagues Friday night hoops. Texas high school girls basketball runs hotter than most states' college games. 1,100+ schools across six UIL classifications, six TAPPS classifications, plus TCAL and independent schools. The state tournament at the Alamodome is a three-day basketball festival. 6 UIL classifications 6 TAPPS classifications ~1,100 UIL member schools Alamodome State tournament host UIL · University Interscholastic League 6A down to 1A. The UIL classifies public schools by enrollment every two years. Conference 6A (largest) through 1A (smallest). Each classification runs its own state bracket. Class Enrollment Recent state champs Historic powers 6A 2,220+ DeSoto (2024), Duncanville (2023, 22), DeSoto (2021) DeSoto · Duncanville · South Grand Prairie · Manvel 5A 1,300–2,219 Frisco Liberty (2024), Mansfield Timberview (2023, 22) Mansfield Timberview · Amarillo · Kerrville Tivy · Killeen Ellison 4A 545–1,299 Hardin-Jefferson (2024), Fairfield (2023, 22) Fairfield · Hardin-Jefferson · Fredericksburg · Hirschi 3A 230–544 Brownsboro (2024), Winnsboro (2023) Brownsboro · Winnsboro · Ponder · Hitchcock 2A 105–229 Martins Mill (2024), Gruver (2023, 21) Gruver · Martins Mill · Nocona · Lipan 1A <105 Dodd City (2024), Nazareth (2023, 22, 21) Nazareth (15 titles) · Slidell · Dodd City · Moulton TAPPS · Texas Association of Private & Parochial Schools The private-school parallel. Six classifications (6A–1A) running parallel to UIL. Bishop Lynch (Dallas) and Antonian Prep (San Antonio) are perennial national powers. TAPPS 6A (largest) Bishop Lynch · Antonian Prep · Plano Prestonwood Christian Top of the TAPPS pyramid. Routinely produce multiple D1 signees. TAPPS 5A & 4A Trinity Christian-Cedar Hill · Bishop Dunne · Fort Worth Christian Mid-tier privates with strong basketball programs. TAPPS 3A / 2A / 1A Christian/parochial · small enrollment Rural religious private schools; deeply loyal community programs. TCAL · Texas Christian Athletic League The third option. Alternative to UIL & TAPPS for smaller private and Christian schools. Competitive but lower profile. The Dallas-Fort Worth corridor The Metroplex is the best girls-basketball region in the country, period. DeSoto & Duncanville (Dallas County) have won or finaled eight of the last ten 6A titles. Mansfield Timberview is 5A's perennial. Bishop Lynch dominates TAPPS 6A. Every Power 5 program recruits DFW. The Houston corridor Cy Woods, Clear Brook, Manvel, Cy Ranch, Fort Bend Marshall. Manvel has produced multiple WNBA players. The combined Cy-Fair, Katy, Spring Branch, Fort Bend districts rival DFW in sheer depth. Recruiting resources MaxPreps Texas girls basketball — standings, schedules, rosters, stats for every UIL team UIL basketball portal — official brackets, rules, state tournament info TAPPS — private school association Prep Girls Hoops Texas — recruiting coverage and rankings 247Sports women's basketball recruiting — class rankings, commits ← Back to Texas hub --- ## Pro Leagues — WNBA, Unrivaled, AU, overseas · hoopwomen URL: https://hoopwomen.com/leagues/ Pro Leagues — WNBA, Unrivaled, AU, overseas · hoopwomen Pro women’s basketball · four circuits The leagues . Year-round pro hoops for women has stopped being a paradox. Between the WNBA summer, the winter Unrivaled circuit, the spring Athletes Unlimited season, and the overseas leagues filling every gap, a top player can play 11 months a year without leaving the pro game. Here’s the map. Summer · May to October WNBA The flagship. Fifteen teams in 2026, $250M expansion fees, a media-rights deal that put the league on ABC, NBC, Prime, ION, CBS, and USA simultaneously for the first time. Our deepest coverage area. May 16 — mid-October. National TV most nights, League Pass for the rest. Winter · January to March Unrivaled The 3-on-3 winter league founded by Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart. Played on a half-court, equity stakes for players, top WNBA stars choosing it over overseas contracts. January — mid-March. National TV partner; full schedule on the league site. Spring · February to March Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball Rotating-team format — rosters reshuffle every week based on individual point totals. Pioneered the player-as-team-co-owner model. Short, intense season with surprisingly good basketball. Late February — late March. ESPN+ + AU streaming. Year-round · September to May Overseas circuit Where most WNBA stars play their off-season. Spain, France, Turkey, Italy, Australia, Korea, Brazil, Czech. Pay scale that makes the WNBA salary chasm look worse. Most leagues run September — April / May. Covered when WNBA stars are on the rosters. A note on hierarchy: the WNBA is our default subject. The other three circuits get coverage at a cadence proportional to their seasons (Unrivaled in winter, AU in spring, overseas year-round but spike when transfer news breaks). --- ## Affiliate Setup — application checklist · hoopwomen / girlhoop URL: https://hoopwomen.com/monetize/ Affiliate Setup — application checklist · hoopwomen / girlhoop Operational · private · for Paul only Affiliate setup . Step-by-step application checklist for every affiliate / referral program linked from /shop/ on hoopwomen.com and girlhoop.com. Tick boxes as you go. The activation command at the bottom flips monetization on across both sites once you have your IDs. How this works. Each program below has its own application form, approval timeline, and ID format. After you’re approved, you collect a tracking id (a tag, a campid, an aid, a pid) — copy each one into the table at the bottom of this page. When all (or most) are filled in, run the activation command and every shop link on both sites starts earning. Programs you already have Amazon Associates have direct You already have colinfirthfan-20 for Austen/Firth properties. Recommend creating a separate tracking id for the basketball sites so the reports are clean. Sign in at affiliate-program.amazon.com → Account Settings → Manage Tracking IDs Click "Add Tracking ID" → create hoopwomen-20 and girlhoop-20 Decision: use one shared tag walhus-20 across both sites for simpler reporting, OR split per-site for granular performance data. Recommendation: split. Record tag(s) at the bottom of this page: replace __AMZ_TAG__ eBay Partner Network have direct You already have an EPN account. Need to create or pick a campid for the basketball sites. Sign in at partnernetwork.ebay.com Tools → Campaigns → Create Campaign — one campaign per site (e.g. "hoopwomen-vintage", "girlhoop-vintage") Copy the campid from each campaign (10-digit number) Record campid(s): replace __EBAY_CAMP__ Tier 1 — Tickets (highest revenue per click) SeatGeek Affiliate apply via Impact + direct ~$10 per first-time-buyer plus ongoing % of repeat sales. Approval typically 1-3 business days. Strong fit for a schedule-driven site. Apply at seatgeek.com/affiliates (or via the SeatGeek program on Impact at impact.com ) List both site URLs (hoopwomen.com, girlhoop.com), audience description: "women’s basketball + WNBA fans, magazine + reference" Wait for approval email (1-3 days) Log in → copy your affiliate id ( aid= parameter) Record: replace __SEATGEEK_AID__ StubHub Affiliate apply via Impact % of order value. Approval through Impact, usually 2-4 business days. Largest secondary inventory of any ticket marketplace. Sign up at impact.com as a publisher (one Impact account covers many programs) Search for "StubHub" in the marketplace, click Apply Once approved, copy your partner id ( pid parameter on tracking links) Record: replace __STUBHUB_PID__ TickPick Affiliate apply direct Per-purchase commission. Direct program, fastest approval (often same-day). Apply at tickpick.com/about-us/affiliates Once approved, log in to dashboard, find your affiliate id ( aid ) Record: replace __TICKPICK_AID__ Tier 2 — Streaming (best fit for /watch/ readers) YouTube TV apply via CJ Affiliate ~$20-40 per signup. Best CPC of any streaming partner. Approval through CJ usually 3-7 business days. Sign up as a publisher at cj.com Search for "YouTube TV" in the advertiser directory, apply After approval, generate a tracking link — the aid parameter is your id Record: replace __YTTV_AID__ FuboTV apply via Impact Per-signup commission. Sports-first bundle — high relevance for our audience. In your Impact dashboard, search "FuboTV" and apply Generate a tracking link, copy the aid parameter Record: replace __FUBO_AID__ Sling TV apply via Impact Per-signup commission. Cheapest path to USA Network / ESPN for WNBA viewers. Apply via Impact — search "Sling" Record: replace __SLING_AID__ Peacock Premium apply via Impact Per-signup commission. Required for NBC’s Sunday-matinee WNBA window. Apply via Impact — search "Peacock" or "NBCUniversal" Record: replace __PCOCK_AID__ Paramount+ apply via Impact Per-signup commission. Required for CBS’s Saturday-afternoon WNBA broadcasts. Apply via Impact — search "Paramount Plus" Record: replace __PARA_AID__ Tier 3 — Apparel Fanatics apply via Impact ~7-10% on most categories. Largest jersey + apparel selection in sports. Apply via Impact — search "Fanatics" Record: replace __FANATICS_PID__ Lids apply via Impact % of order. Best WNBA cap selection on the open web. Apply via Impact — search "Lids" Record: replace __LIDS_PID__ Tier 4 — Books Bookshop.org apply direct 10% on books. Supports indie bookstores. Editorial-tone fit for hoopwomen. Apply at bookshop.org/info/affiliates — "I’m a media platform / publisher" Approval usually 1-2 days — you get an affiliate id ( aid ) Record: replace __BOOKSHOP_AFF__ Audible is part of Amazon Associates — no separate signup. Existing __AMZ_TAG__ covers Audible links automatically. Tier 5 — Aggregator (every outbound link, automatically) Skimlinks apply JS aggregator ~25% revenue share, but it auto-monetizes EVERY outbound link to 48,000+ merchants. Set-and-forget. The placeholder script is already commented into every page on both sites — uncomment after registration to activate. Apply at skimlinks.com/publisher List both URLs in the application; describe site as women’s basketball editorial + reference Approval typically 5-10 business days (Skimlinks is selective — needs the site to look real, which it does) After approval, dashboard gives you a Publisher ID (numeric) Record: replace __SKIM_PUB__ AND uncomment the |" done # 6. Sync both sites to B2 immediately rclone sync /var/www/hoopwomen.com/ b2:walhus-backup/hoopwomen.com/ --transfers=4 --tpslimit=4 --exclude "*.bak*" rclone sync /var/www/girlhoop.com/ b2:walhus-backup/girlhoop.com/ --transfers=4 --tpslimit=4 --exclude "*.bak*" # 7. Verify a sample link in browser echo "Done. Visit https://hoopwomen.com/shop/ & https://girlhoop.com/shop/ and check links don't contain '__' anymore." If you only have a few IDs ready, run with empty exports for the rest — the placeholders simply stay in place and those specific links won’t earn until you do another pass. Safe to run as many times as you need. Recommended order of operations Today (5 min): add the hoopwomen-20 and girlhoop-20 tracking ids in your existing Amazon Associates account. Fastest immediate revenue. Today (5 min): create eBay Partner Network campaigns for each site using your existing EPN account. This week: open one Impact account at impact.com . Apply to StubHub, Fanatics, Lids, Peacock, Paramount+, FuboTV, Sling all at once — one application form per program, all in the same Impact dashboard. This week: open one CJ Affiliate account at cj.com . Apply to YouTube TV. This week: direct apps for SeatGeek, TickPick, Bookshop.org. Each takes 5 minutes. Next week: apply for Skimlinks last (selective, needs you to wait while a real visitor history accumulates — better odds with a few days of traffic on file). When most IDs are in: run the activation sed above. Don’t wait for 100% — partial monetization is better than zero. Tax + reporting note Each program issues a 1099 if you exceed their threshold ($600/year for most). The biggest networks (Impact, CJ, Amazon) consolidate paymentsand 1099s into a single year-end packet per platform. Keep an eye on January — that’s when the forms land in your inbox. --- ## Olympics & FIBA — women's international basketball · hoopwomen URL: https://hoopwomen.com/olympics/ Olympics & FIBA — women's international basketball · hoopwomen Olympic history · 1976–present The streak. Women's basketball joined the Olympic program in 1976. The U.S. has won gold nine times. The current streak is eight straight — stretching back to 1996 — and 61 consecutive Olympic wins through Paris 2024. It is one of the longest winning runs in team-sport history. 9 U.S. Olympic golds 8 straight, since 1996 61 consecutive Olympic wins 1976 Women's debut (Montreal) Olympic gold medals Every final since 1976. Year Host Gold Silver Bronze Final score 2024 Paris 🇺🇸 USA 🇫🇷 France 🇦🇺 Australia USA 67–66 FRA 2020 Tokyo (2021) 🇺🇸 USA 🇯🇵 Japan 🇫🇷 France USA 90–75 JPN 2016 Rio 🇺🇸 USA 🇪🇸 Spain 🇷🇸 Serbia USA 101–72 ESP 2012 London 🇺🇸 USA 🇫🇷 France 🇦🇺 Australia USA 86–50 FRA 2008 Beijing 🇺🇸 USA 🇦🇺 Australia 🇷🇺 Russia USA 92–65 AUS 2004 Athens 🇺🇸 USA 🇦🇺 Australia 🇷🇺 Russia USA 74–63 AUS 2000 Sydney 🇺🇸 USA 🇦🇺 Australia 🇧🇷 Brazil USA 76–54 AUS 1996 Atlanta 🇺🇸 USA 🇧🇷 Brazil 🇦🇺 Australia USA 111–87 BRA 1992 Barcelona 🇪🇺 Unified Team 🇨🇳 China 🇺🇸 USA UT 76–66 CHN (semi: USA lost) 1988 Seoul 🇺🇸 USA 🇾🇺 Yugoslavia 🇸🇺 USSR USA 77–70 YUG 1984 Los Angeles 🇺🇸 USA 🇰🇷 S. Korea 🇨🇳 China USA 85–55 KOR · Soviet boycott 1980 Moscow 🇸🇺 USSR 🇧🇬 Bulgaria 🇾🇺 Yugoslavia USA boycott 1976 Montreal 🇸🇺 USSR 🇺🇸 USA 🇧🇬 Bulgaria USSR 112–77 USA FIBA Women's World Cup The quadrennial championship. Held every four years, two years off the Olympic cycle. U.S. has won 11 of 19 since 1953; dominant in the modern era with 4 straight (2010, 14, 18, 22). Year Host Gold Silver Bronze 2026 Berlin Upcoming — Sept 2026 2022 Sydney 🇺🇸 USA 🇨🇳 China 🇦🇺 Australia 2018 Tenerife 🇺🇸 USA 🇦🇺 Australia 🇪🇸 Spain 2014 Turkey 🇺🇸 USA 🇪🇸 Spain 🇹🇷 Turkey 2010 Czech Rep. 🇺🇸 USA 🇨🇿 Czech Republic 🇪🇸 Spain 2006 Brazil 🇦🇺 Australia 🇷🇺 Russia 🇺🇸 USA 2002 China 🇺🇸 USA 🇷🇺 Russia 🇦🇺 Australia 1998 Germany 🇺🇸 USA 🇷🇺 Russia 🇦🇺 Australia 1994 Australia 🇧🇷 Brazil 🇨🇳 China 🇺🇸 USA 1990 Malaysia 🇺🇸 USA 🇾🇺 Yugoslavia 🇨🇺 Cuba Continental championships The five FIBA zones. FIBA AmeriCup USA v. Brazil v. Canada Most recent winner: USA (2023). Held every 2 years. EuroBasket Women Spain, Belgium, France 2023 winner: Belgium. 2025 winner: Belgium (back-to-back). Asia Cup Japan, China, Australia Most recent winner: Australia (2023). Includes Oceania teams. AfroBasket Women Nigeria, Senegal, Mali Nigeria's D'Tigress have won 5 straight (2017, 19, 21, 23, 25). Commonwealth Games Australia, England, Canada Held every 4 years; basketball dropped from 2026 program. FIBA 3x3 Women Olympic sport since Tokyo 2020 Gold: USA (2020), Germany (2024). Fast-growing. --- ## Overseas — where WNBA stars play the off-season · hoopwomen URL: https://hoopwomen.com/overseas/ Overseas — where WNBA stars play the off-season · hoopwomen Year-round circuit · September to May The overseas . For most WNBA players the W is the summer job. The salary chasm sends them to Spain, France, Turkey, Italy, Australia, Korea, Brazil, and the Czech Republic for the rest of the year — where the top contracts can pay 10x a WNBA max. Coverage here when WNBA names are on the rosters. The leagues we track Spain · Sep–May Liga Femenina Endesa The top European league for paid talent. Avenida, Valencia, Casademont Zaragoza are the perennial powers. Where most American mid-career WNBA names land. France · Sep–May Ligue Féminine de Basket (LFB) French top flight. ASVEL Féminin (Tony Parker’s club), Bourges, Villeneuve d’Ascq lead the table most years. Turkey · Oct–Apr Kadınlar Basketbol Süper Ligi (KBSL) Highest-paying league in the world for women. Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray, Beşiktaş write the biggest checks. Italy · Oct–May Serie A1 Schio, Venezia, Sesto San Giovanni at the top of the table. Italian league has produced more WNBA-MVP-caliber off-season runs than any other. Australia · Nov–Mar Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) Counter-cycle to the WNBA — their season runs Aussie-summer (our winter). Where Sami Whitcomb, Ezi Magbegor, and other Aussies of the W go home. Korea · Oct–Mar Women’s Korean Basketball League (WKBL) Six-team league, two-foreign-import limit. Reliable mid-tier paycheck for WNBA backups. Brazil · Nov–Apr Liga de Basquete Feminino (LBF) Sesi Araraquara, Sampaio Basquete the recent powers. Has produced WNBA breakouts (Erika de Souza, Damiris Dantas). Czech · Sep–May ŽBL (Czech Women’s Basketball League) USK Praha is the club, the rest is parity. Eurobasket and EuroLeague bids run through here. Coverage scales to U.S. attention — we focus on the rosters with WNBA names on them. Transfer windows (especially August + January) get news posts; deep-dives on EuroLeague Women playoffs in March. --- ## Top players — profiles · hoopwomen URL: https://hoopwomen.com/players/ Top players — profiles · hoopwomen Profiles · the faces of the sport The players. From the MVPs who set the standard to the rookies redefining what a WNBA season looks like. Thirty profiles that cover the generation the sport is built on and the one taking it over. 30 Featured profiles 3× MVP titles held by A'ja Wilson 6 Olympic golds (Taurasi) 1 Still active, still writing it Current WNBA stars The W right now. G · Indiana Fever Caitlin Clark NCAA all-time scoring leader (men's or women's D1) at 3,951 points. 2024 ROY. Tripled Fever attendance as a rookie. The player ESPN built a whole season around. 5'10" Height Iowa College 2024 Drafted F · Chicago Sky Angel Reese 2023 NCAA champion MOP. Set the WNBA single-season rebounding record as a rookie. Her Unrivaled/off-court brand might be bigger than her on-court game — both are big. 6'3" Height LSU College 2024 Drafted F · Las Vegas Aces A'ja Wilson 3× WNBA MVP (2020, 22, 24). 2× champion. 2024 Olympic gold MVP. The best player in the world, period — first to crack 1,000 points in a WNBA season (2024). 6'4" Height South Carolina College 2018 Drafted F · New York Liberty Breanna Stewart 2× WNBA MVP, 2× WNBA champion, 4× NCAA champion at UConn. Co-founder of Unrivaled. A top-3 all-time type of résumé, still expanding. 6'4" Height UConn College 2016 Drafted G · New York Liberty Sabrina Ionescu Only NCAA player ever with 2,000 pts / 1,000 reb / 1,000 ast. 3× WNBA All-Star, 2024 champion. Set the WNBA 3-point contest record (37 points) in the All-Star Game vs. Steph Curry. 5'11" Height Oregon College 2020 Drafted G · Dallas Wings Paige Bueckers 2021 Wooden Award winner as a UConn freshman. 2025 NCAA champion. No. 1 overall pick in 2025. Bueckers' NIL deals make her one of the highest-paid women's college athletes in history. 6'0" Height UConn College 2025 Drafted F · Minnesota Lynx Napheesa Collier 2024 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year. 4× All-Star. Co-founder of Unrivaled (with Stewart). Won 2024 Commissioner's Cup MVP. 6'1" Height UConn College 2019 Drafted F · Indiana Fever Aliyah Boston 2022 Wooden Award, 2022 NCAA champion. 2023 WNBA ROY. 3× All-Star in three seasons. Quietest dominant post player in the league. 6'5" Height South Carolina College 2023 Drafted G · Phoenix Mercury Kahleah Copper 2021 WNBA Finals MVP with the Sky. Traded to Phoenix 2024 — scored 30+ six times in first half of season. 3× All-Star. 6'1" Height Rutgers College 2016 Drafted G · Las Vegas Aces Kelsey Plum 2× WNBA champion. NCAA all-time scorer before Clark broke the mark. 2021 Olympic 3x3 gold. Founded the Dawg Class camp for girls. 5'8" Height Washington College 2017 Drafted F · LA Sparks Cameron Brink Stanford dominant defender. Drafted 2nd overall in 2024; tore ACL in June. Expected back 2025 — one of the league's tallest (6'4") at-rim defenders. 6'4" Height Stanford College 2024 Drafted F · Chicago Sky Kamilla Cardoso 6'7" Brazilian center. 2024 NCAA champion, dunked en route. Gold Star rookie year in Chicago. Dunks in games. 6'7" Height South Carolina College 2024 Drafted Top college players · 2025-26 The next wave. G · USC Juju Watkins 2024 Freshman of the Year — led USC to Elite Eight as a freshman, 27 ppg. Dunked in a HS game. Likely No. 1 pick whenever she declares. 6'2" Height Sierra Canyon (CA) HS 2023 Enrolled F · UConn Azzi Fudd Gatorade HS Player of the Year 2021. Dealt with multiple injuries but came back for UConn's 2025 run as a grad transfer. Elite shooter. 5'11" Height St. John's Catholic Prep (MD) HS 2021 Enrolled F · South Carolina MiLaysia Fulwiley 2024 SEC Sixth Woman of the Year. Handles and scoring burst that could make her a top-10 WNBA pick. Columbia, SC native — playing for Dawn Staley at home. 5'10" Height Keenan HS (SC) HS 2023 Enrolled G · LSU Flau'jae Johnson 2023 NCAA champion, 2024 SEC Freshman of the Year. Also a signed recording artist on Jay-Z's Roc Nation. A basketball/rap dual career. 5'10" Height Sprayberry HS (GA) HS 2022 Enrolled G · Texas Rori Harmon Cypress Creek (TX) product — 2024 Big 12 DPOY. Vic Schaefer's floor general. Returned from ACL tear to anchor Texas's SEC debut. 5'6" Height Cypress Creek (TX) HS 2021 Enrolled G · UCLA Lauren Betts Stanford transfer who became the best post player in the nation. Led UCLA to 2025 Final Four. Projects as a top-3 pick when she declares. 6'7" Height Grandview HS (CO) HS 2022 Enrolled G · Notre Dame Hannah Hidalgo 2024 ACC Freshman of the Year. Fastest to 500 career points in ND history. Dribble penetration and finishing at 5'6". 5'6" Height Paul VI Catholic (NJ) HS 2023 Enrolled G · Ole Miss Madison Scott DeSoto (TX) alum. SEC All-Defensive team. Among the Texas pipeline's most consistent producers. 6'2" Height DeSoto (TX) HS 2020 Enrolled F · TCU Hailey Van Lith Third program (Louisville → LSU → TCU). Transfer-portal poster child. 2024 Elite Eight with LSU. High-volume scorer. 5'7" Height Cashmere HS (WA) HS 2020 Enrolled Legends The ones who built it. C · retired · Mercury Diana Taurasi All-time WNBA leading scorer (10,646 pts). 3× WNBA champ, 6× Olympic gold, 3× NCAA champ at UConn. Retired 2025. The GOAT discussion starts here. 6'0" Height UConn College 2004 Drafted G · retired · Storm Sue Bird 4× WNBA champ, 5× Olympic gold, 13× All-Star. Coached basketball IQ in a jersey. Now part-owner of the Seattle Storm. 5'9" Height UConn College 2002 Drafted F · retired · Sparks Candace Parker 2× NCAA champ, 2× MVP, 3× WNBA champ (16, 21, 23). The first woman to dunk in an NCAA tournament game. HOF 2025. 6'4" Height Tennessee College 2008 Drafted C · retired · Mercury Brittney Griner Career WNBA dunks leader (24). 2014 WNBA champ. Detained in Russia 2022, returned Dec 2022. Back with Atlanta 2025. 6'9" Height Baylor College 2013 Drafted C · retired · Sparks Lisa Leslie First WNBA dunk (2002). 2× champ, 3× MVP, 4× Olympic gold. Coached the Sparks. HOF 2015. 6'5" Height USC College 1997 Drafted F · retired · Comets Sheryl Swoopes 4× WNBA champion with Houston's dynasty. 3× MVP, 3× Olympic gold. Texas Tech legend (1993 NCAA champ, 47 points in the title game). HOF 2016. 6'0" Height Texas Tech College 1997 Signed F · retired · Lynx Maya Moore 4× WNBA champ with Minnesota. 2× NCAA champ. Stepped away 2019 to work on a wrongful conviction case — freed Jonathan Irons, then married him. Never returned to play. 6'0" Height UConn College 2011 Drafted C · retired · Comets Tina Thompson First pick in WNBA history (1997). 4× champion with Houston. The original franchise cornerstone. HOF 2018. 6'2" Height USC College 1997 Drafted G · retired · Comets Cynthia Cooper-Dyke First two WNBA Finals MVPs (1997, 98). 4× champion. The league's first dominant star. HOF 2010. 5'10" Height USC College 1997 Signed --- ## Podcasts — what to listen to · hoopwomen URL: https://hoopwomen.com/podcasts/ Podcasts — what to listen to · hoopwomen In your ears · the curated commute list For the drive home . A short list. The W is overserved by hot-take radio and underserved by careful long-form audio — here’s what we actually queue up. Plus the hoopwomen pod, which is the show we wish existed and so we’re making it. the hoopwomen pod Pilot · ~45 min · coming May 2026 The new media map. Forty-five minutes on the 2026 rights deal: ABC, NBC, Prime, ION, CBS, USA, NBA TV. Who got what, what changed in the negotiation, and what the next CBA does with the bigger pool. Hosted by the editors. New episode every two weeks during the season. Apple Podcasts — soon Spotify — soon RSS feed — soon The reading list, in audio What we actually listen to . A short, opinionated list. Updated when one earns its place or stops earning it. A’ja A Touch More Sue Bird & Megan Rapinoe Two retired stars, two leagues, one of the most listenable women’s-sports shows running. Game theory, business of sport, the occasional confession. Wave Sports + Ent. Hoop The Bird’s Eye View LaChina Robinson Veteran ESPN analyst’s long-form podcast. Coach interviews, game breakdowns, the occasional college crossover. Highest-density basketball talk on the W beat. Just Women’s Sports No Cap No Cap Sports / Wnbz Rotating WNBA voices Rotating cast of journalists and former players doing weekly recaps. Less prepared than the Bird-Robinson axis but more reactive — usually catches news the same day. Independent Tea Tea with A & Phee A’ja Wilson & Napheesa Collier Two MVPs in conversation. Banter-forward but the basketball talk is real when they want it to be. Tone-setter for the player-podcast era. iHeart / The Volume RAS Ros Gold-Onwude on Hoops Ros Gold-Onwude NBA-side broadcaster who keeps a side practice on the W. Best when she has a coaching guest on; you’ll come away with one new tactical concept per episode. Various Burn It Burn It All Down (archive) Founding crew, retired Ended its run, but the archive is still the deepest collection of long-form women’s-sports interviews on the open web. Ten years of context for anyone showing up new. Archive only A show we should be listening to that isn’t on this list? Email editorial@hoopwomen.com . --- ## Power rankings — pre-season · hoopwomen URL: https://hoopwomen.com/power-rankings/ Power rankings — pre-season · hoopwomen The hoopwomen power index · week 0 · pre-season Pre-season rankings . A predictive ranking, not a who-played-best-last-week ranking. The number one team is the one most likely to win a title; the number fifteen is the one least likely. Refreshed every Sunday once the games matter. Week 0 · published 2026-05-02 · Next refresh: Sunday after Opening Weekend. 1 New York Liberty East — Defending champion. Held the core. Coaching continuity. Roster ready to defend. 2 Las Vegas Aces West ↑ 1 A’ja health is the year’s most-watched variable; if she plays 30 games, this is the title pick. 3 Minnesota Lynx West — Collier’s ceiling, Reeve’s system. Same recipe that nearly took it last year. 4 Indiana Fever East ↑ 2 Third-year jump expected. Chemistry is the question, talent isn’t. 5 Phoenix Mercury West ↑ 3 Free-agent winners. The fit-rather-than-stars approach finally has the right pieces. 6 Connecticut Sun East ↓ 2 Lost more than they replaced. Rebuild, but a soft one — should still make the play-in. 7 Seattle Storm West — Veteran-led, durable. Ceiling is the second round; floor is the play-in. 8 Atlanta Dream East ↑ 1 Best young core in the East. One starter away from a real run. 9 Washington Mystics East — Health-dependent. Points-per-game ceiling is real if everyone stays on the floor. 10 Dallas Wings West ↓ 3 Lost too much in the off-season. Rebuilding without the lottery shine. 11 Chicago Sky East — Year-two of the Reese-led era. Chemistry trending right, ceiling still capped. 12 Los Angeles Sparks West ↑ 1 New regime, new system. Won’t make the playoffs; will be the most-improved by EOY. 13 Golden State Valkyries West — Year two of the expansion build. Punching slightly above weight thanks to coaching. 14 Toronto Tempo East expansion Year one. Better-than-Vegas-1.0 roster but still a Year One team. Crowd will be the story. 15 Portland Fire West expansion Year one. Most-watched expansion roster build in league history; still a year away. Methodology A weighted blend — not a pure projection model, not a pure opinion poll, but the honest combination editors use when they argue out a Top 15. Returning production (40%) — on-court value retained from last season’s roster, weighted by minutes played in playoff games. Off-season delta (30%) — net of free-agent signings, trades, and draft picks. Expansion drafts count as net-zero baseline. Coaching continuity (15%) — same staff vs. new staff. Continuity tends to outperform turnover in season one of a rebuild. Health prior (10%) — expected availability of the team’s top three players, based on three-year injury history. Editor adjustment (5%) — the part we own. Used sparingly. Always defensible in writing. power_index = .40·returning + .30·delta + .15·coaching + .10·health + .05·editor Wrong about a team? Tell us why — editorial@hoopwomen.com . We publish disagreement letters when they earn the column inch. --- ## Shop — gear, tickets, streaming, books · hoopwomen URL: https://hoopwomen.com/shop/ Shop — gear, tickets, streaming, books · hoopwomen Curated picks · transparent partnerships The shop . Tickets, streaming subscriptions, jerseys, books. The things our editors actually buy and recommend, with affiliate links that throw a small commission our way at no cost to you. No banner ads, no sponsored content. How this page works. Most links below are affiliate or referral links — we earn a small commission when you buy through them, at no cost to you. We only recommend things our editors use or genuinely rate. We never accept payment to feature a product. Full disclosure policy at /about . Tickets, by marketplace. Tier 1 · tickets For any WNBA, NBA, or college game. Each marketplace has slightly different inventory and fee structures — cross-shop on tip-off day for the best resale prices. SeatGeek WNBA tickets → SeatGeek Best deal-finding UI in tickets. Color-coded value scoring on every seat. Use code SEATGEEK10 for $10 off your first order. Browse WNBA → StubHub WNBA tickets → StubHub The original, biggest ticket marketplace. FanProtect guarantee. Strongest secondary inventory for sold-out games. Browse WNBA → TickPick WNBA tickets → TickPick No buyer fees. The price you see is the price you pay. Often the cheapest of the three on the same seats. Browse WNBA → Streaming, by network coverage. Tier 2 · streaming Match the network to the bundle. Our /watch/ page tells you which network carries which game; this section tells you which streaming bundle includes which network. WNBA League Pass WNBA League Pass Carries every game not on a national network. The most essential single subscription if you watch the W seriously. Annual pass cheaper than monthly. Subscribe → YouTube TV YouTube TV Cleanest single bundle for WNBA fans. Carries ABC, ESPN, NBC, Peacock, USA, CBS, NBA TV — only ION needs an antenna or extra add. Try free trial → FuboTV FuboTV Sports-first streaming bundle. Carries the same networks as YouTube TV plus deeper RSN coverage in many markets — useful for local-market WNBA simulcasts. Try free trial → Sling TV Sling TV Cheapest path to USA Network and ESPN. Sling Blue + Sports Extra covers most weeknight WNBA windows for under $50/mo. Browse plans → Peacock Peacock Premium Required for NBC’s Sunday-matinee window plus every Peacock-exclusive WNBA game (and there are a lot of them). Subscribe → Paramount+ Paramount+ For CBS Saturday-afternoon games and the occasional CBS Sports Network simulcast. Bundles cheaply with Showtime. Subscribe → Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Required for the Thursday-night WNBA doubleheader. Comes with the rest of Prime; the WNBA games alone justify the membership for fans. Try Prime → Apparel, jerseys, gear. Tier 3 · merch Official team merchandise plus the indie sportswear lines we actually wear. Caps go further than jerseys for everyday rotation. Fanatics WNBA jerseys → Fanatics Official WNBA team apparel. Largest selection, fastest shipping. New player jerseys land here first. Shop WNBA → Lids WNBA caps → Lids Best WNBA cap selection on the open web. New Era 9FORTY and 59FIFTY in every team colorway. Easiest gift purchase on the page. Shop caps → Amazon · Wilson Official WNBA basketball Wilson is the official WNBA game ball. Indoor/outdoor versions available. The 28.5″ size is the standard for women’s play. Shop balls → Breaking T Breaking T · player tees The shop that drops a player-of-the-moment shirt the morning after a big game. Officially licensed, worth catching the limited drops. Shop drops → Togethxr Togethxr · women’s sports Bird/Morgan/Kim’s women’s-sports media + apparel co-op. The “Everyone Watches Women’s Sports” tee earned its hype. Shop → eBay Vintage WNBA → eBay Where retro Houston Comets, original Liberty, and rookie-card finds live. Set a saved search for any team or player you collect. Browse vintage → Books on the W. Tier 4 · reading list A small, opinionated reading list. Memoirs, league histories, coaching books that translate. Bookshop.org links route 10% to indie bookstores. Bookshop.org Sue Bird · This Book Is for All Sue Bird’s 2024 memoir. Long-form on the league’s growth, post-playing-career strategy, and the Diana Taurasi rivalry told properly. Buy → Amazon WNBA league histories Amazon’s aggregate of WNBA history books. Mostly out-of-print finds; new entries land sporadically. Worth a saved search. Browse → Bookshop.org Women’s basketball list Curated indie-bookstore list. New titles surface here before they hit Amazon’s recommendation algorithm. See list → Amazon Audible WNBA audiobooks Memoirs and league histories in audio. Best for the daily commute or the morning walk. First trial month is free. Browse → Programs we run. Index · partners A complete index of every partner program linked from this site, by tier. Open and listed so you know exactly what’s being routed where. Tier 1 — Tickets SeatGeek Per-purchase commission StubHub % of order via Impact TickPick Per-purchase Tier 2 — Streaming YouTube TV Per-signup CJ FuboTV Per-signup Impact Sling TV Per-signup Impact Peacock Per-signup Impact Paramount+ Per-signup Impact Amazon Prime Amazon Associates Tier 3 — Apparel Fanatics % of order via Impact Lids % of order via Impact Amazon (gear) Amazon Associates eBay (vintage) eBay Partner Network Tier 4 — Books Bookshop.org 10% · supports indies Amazon Books Amazon Associates Audible Amazon Associates Tier 5 — Auto-aggregator (every outbound link, automatically) Skimlinks Footer JS · ~25% rev share Editorial firewall. Affiliate revenue does not influence editorial decisions. The columnists choose their subjects, the features editor picks the long-form pieces, and the rankings methodology is published. If a product or partner stops earning its place, it leaves the shop. Pitches at editorial@hoopwomen.com . --- ## Sitemap · hoopwomen URL: https://hoopwomen.com/sitemap/ Sitemap · hoopwomen Site index Every page on hoopwomen.com . Human-readable sitemap. Machine-readable version at /sitemap.xml . The pro game WNBA Leagues /wnba/ All 13 franchises, 2026 expansion (Toronto, Portland), owners, coaches, titles. WNBA Draft /draft/ Every No. 1 pick since 1997, with college and career outcomes. Player profiles /players/ 30 profile cards — current WNBA stars, top college, all-time legends. Women who can dunk /dunkers/ The complete in-game dunk history, 1984–present. Global leagues /global/ EuroLeague Women, KBSL (Turkey), LF Endesa (Spain), WNBL, WCBA, WKBL, WJBL, LFB, Serie A1, AU, Unrivaled. Olympics & FIBA /olympics/ Every Olympic final 1976–2024, FIBA World Cup results, continental championships. Texas Texas hub /texas/ All 23 Texas D1 programs, D2/D3/NAIA/JUCO overview, UIL primer. UIL · TAPPS · TCAL /highschool/ Six UIL classifications, TAPPS private-school brackets, state champions. College College overview /college/ NCAA D1 conference-by-conference, plus D2, D3, NAIA summaries. Division I /college/#d1 32 D1 conferences, 364 programs. Division II /college/#d2 ~313 programs, 23 conferences. Division III /college/#d3 ~440 programs, 40+ conferences. NAIA /college/#naia ~189 programs, 19 conferences. Directory & tools All teams directory /teams/ Searchable, filterable table of all 1,227 programs — filter by division, conference, state. Chrome extension /extension/ Toolbar popup that ships the same 1,227-program directory into your browser. Extension download .zip (~10KB) Sideload-installable via chrome://extensions developer mode. Data feeds XML sitemap /sitemap.xml Search-engine sitemap. robots.txt /robots.txt Crawler rules. Team dataset (JSON) /assets/data/extension-teams.json All 1,227 programs as flat JSON. Consumed by the Chrome extension. Have a page we're missing? Email us . ← Home --- ## Social — where hoopwomen lives on the internet · hoopwomen URL: https://hoopwomen.com/social/ Social — where hoopwomen lives on the internet · hoopwomen Community · threads · press Where hoopwomen lives on the internet. Active discussion threads about the site, the dunkers list, and the 1,227-program directory. Jump in, add a player we missed, flag a correction. Reddit threads r/wnba · Reddit Women Who Can Dunk — the complete list Top 10 current dunkers (Malonga #1), plus the full history from Georgeann Wells 1984 through the Juju Watkins class. Community actively suggesting additions. Posted 2026-04-22 Open thread → r/IndianaFever · Reddit Any Fever player who can dunk in a game? Cross-post of the dunkers list with an open question to the Fever community about current roster dunk candidates. Posted 2026-04-22 Open thread → r/nba · Reddit Built a reference for every in-game dunk in women's basketball Cross-audience post into the bigger NBA community — the Paula McGee and Natalie Williams angles drew the most interest. Posted 2026-04-22 Open thread → Replace the three Reddit links above with the specific thread URLs once the posts are live. Current links go to the subreddit landing pages as a fallback. Coming next Bluesky Launch post Where the women's basketball writers moved to. Targeting Howard Megdal, Lyndsey D'Arcangelo, Natalie Weiner. Planned X Thread with the Top 10 dunkers Visual thread — one post per dunker, screenshot of each profile card. Planned Product Hunt Chrome extension launch Lead with the extension (PH loves tools). Tuesday morning ET in May 2026. Planned Hacker News Show HN: hoopwomen "I built a static women's basketball reference with a Chrome extension" — HN enjoys zero-dependency sites. Planned Help spread the word ← Home Get the Chrome extension --- ## Texas women's basketball — college & HS · hoopwomen URL: https://hoopwomen.com/texas/ Texas women's basketball — college & HS · hoopwomen From El Paso to Orange The Lone Star state of hoops. Texas birthed Sheryl Swoopes, Clarissa Davis-Wrightsil, Charli Collier, Kyla Deck, Rori Harmon. Baylor won three NCAA titles in nineteen years. The UIL 6A state title game routinely fills the Alamodome. Texas basketball, like everything in Texas, is its own category. 23 D1 programs 6 UIL classifications 3 Baylor NCAA titles 1,100+ Texas high schools Division I · 23 programs The Texas D1 map. Every four-year D1 women's basketball program in the state of Texas, by conference. School City Conference Arena / note Link Texas Austin SEC Moody Center · moved SEC 2024 · Vic Schaefer head coach Site → Texas A&M College Station SEC Reed Arena · 2011 NCAA champions Site → Baylor Waco Big 12 Foster Pavilion · 3 NCAA titles (05, 12, 19) Site → TCU Fort Worth Big 12 Schollmaier Arena · Mark Campbell HC Site → Houston Houston Big 12 Fertitta Center · Ronald Hughey HC Site → Texas Tech Lubbock Big 12 United Supermarkets Arena · 1993 NCAA champs (Sheryl Swoopes) Site → SMU Dallas ACC Moody Coliseum · jumped to ACC 2024 Site → UTSA San Antonio American Convocation Center · Karen Aston HC Site → UTEP El Paso Conference USA Don Haskins Center Site → North Texas Denton American Super Pit Site → Rice Houston American Tudor Fieldhouse · historic mid-major power Site → Sam Houston Huntsville Conference USA Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum Site → Texas State San Marcos Sun Belt Strahan Coliseum Site → Stephen F. Austin Nacogdoches WAC William R. Johnson Coliseum · "Ladyjacks" Site → Abilene Christian Abilene WAC Moody Coliseum Site → Tarleton State Stephenville WAC Wisdom Gym · moved D1 2020 Site → UT Arlington Arlington WAC College Park Center Site → Lamar Beaumont Southland Montagne Center Site → TAMU-Corpus Christi Corpus Christi Southland American Bank Center Site → TAMU-Commerce Commerce Southland Field House · D1 since 2022 Site → Houston Christian (HCU) Houston Southland Sharp Gymnasium Site → Incarnate Word San Antonio Southland McDermott Center Site → Prairie View A&M Prairie View SWAC William Nicks Building · "Lady Panthers" Site → Texas Southern Houston SWAC H&PE Arena · "Lady Tigers" Site → D2 · D3 · NAIA · JUCO in Texas Below D1 is still serious basketball. D2 · Lone Star Conference Dominant Texas D2 Angelo State, West Texas A&M (perennial Elite Eight), TAMU-Kingsville, TAMU International, UT Tyler, UT Permian Basin, Dallas Baptist, Cameron (OK), Lubbock Christian. Deep, physical, ranked nationally most years. D3 · ASC & SCAC American Southwest + Southern Hardin-Simmons, Howard Payne, McMurry, Mary Hardin-Baylor, Concordia Texas, LeTourneau, East Texas Baptist, Texas Lutheran, Sul Ross State, Southwestern U. NAIA · Sooner + Gulf Coast The pipeline to D1 transfers Wayland Baptist, Texas Wesleyan, Our Lady of the Lake, University of the Southwest (NM), Huston-Tillotson (Austin HBCU), Jarvis Christian, LSU-Alexandria. Wayland Baptist has 30+ national tournament bids. NJCAA · Texas juco The Hill College machine Trinity Valley, Hill, Blinn, Kilgore, South Plains, Midland, Odessa, Weatherford, Lee College. Produce more D1 transfers than any state — Trinity Valley alone has sent 50+ to the top flight. UIL · TAPPS · TCAL The Texas high school pipeline. UIL 6A down to 1A, TAPPS 6A down to 1A parallel for private schools, TCAL for charter/Christian schools. 1,100+ high schools playing competitive girls basketball. 6A · the majors DeSoto · Duncanville · Manvel · South Grand Prairie DeSoto & Duncanville alternate 6A titles since 2016. Both send half-dozen D1 signees each year. 5A Frisco Liberty · Amarillo · Killeen Every classification has a recruiting story. 5A is where new powers emerge each cycle. 4A & 3A Fairfield · Brownsboro · Hitchcock Small-town Texas basketball — 1,000-seat gyms, big reputations. TAPPS 6A Bishop Lynch · Antonian Prep · Trinity Christian-Cedar Hill The Dallas–San Antonio corridor dominates TAPPS. UIL 2A & 1A Gruver · Martins Mill · Slidell Rural Texas championship brackets. Bus rides, sold-out gyms. State Tournament Alamodome · San Antonio All six UIL classifications play the girls state championship at the Alamodome over 3 days each March. Full UIL / TAPPS guide → --- ## Unrivaled — the 3-on-3 winter league · hoopwomen URL: https://hoopwomen.com/unrivaled/ Unrivaled — the 3-on-3 winter league · hoopwomen Winter circuit · January to March Unrivaled . The 3-on-3 winter league founded by Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart. Played at one venue in Florida, half-court, four-quarter format with a target-score win condition. Equity stakes for every player. Pulled top WNBA names off the overseas circuit in its first season. What we cover Schedule + broadcast windows — updated weekly while the league is in season (Jan–Mar) Player movement — signings, equity-stake announcements, the WNBA crossovers (who’s playing both, who’s skipping the W to focus here) Format reporting — rules and target-score system as the league iterates Editorial — features on the league’s economics and the pro women’s pay landscape First Unrivaled coverage drops with the regular WNBA features when the W season tips. Standalone Unrivaled column launches January, when their season starts. Official site → unrivaled.com --- ## Watch — every WNBA broadcast home, by network · hoopwomen URL: https://hoopwomen.com/watch/ Watch — every WNBA broadcast home, by network · hoopwomen 2026 WNBA · by network · times Eastern Where to watch . Find a game by the box it’s on. The same WNBA schedule we publish at /wnba/schedule/ , but cut by network — ABC, NBC, Prime Video, ION and the rest. Pick the channel you already have, see what’s coming. ABC NBC / Peacock Prime Video ION CBS / Paramount+ USA Network NBA TV League Pass ABC Saturday-afternoon broadcast tentpole. Disney’s national WNBA cover. over-the-air · streaming via your TV provider Sat, Jun 6 1:00 PM Seattle Storm @ Minnesota Lynx Sat, Jun 6 3:00 PM Golden State Valkyries @ Las Vegas Aces NBC / Peacock Sunday matinees on NBC broadcast, Monday-night doubleheaders on Peacock and NBC Sports Network. cable + Peacock subscription · NBC over-the-air Sun, May 17 1:30 PM Las Vegas Aces @ Atlanta Dream Sun, May 17 6:00 PM Seattle Storm @ Indiana Fever Mon, May 18 8:00 PM Washington Mystics @ Dallas Wings Sun, May 24 3:30 PM Dallas Wings @ New York Liberty Mon, May 25 8:00 PM Portland Fire @ New York Liberty Mon, Jun 1 10:00 PM Minnesota Lynx @ Phoenix Mercury Prime Video Thursday-night doubleheaders. Two games every week, included with Amazon Prime. included with Prime · amazon.com/prime Thu, May 21 8:00 PM Golden State Valkyries @ New York Liberty Thu, May 21 10:00 PM Los Angeles Sparks @ Phoenix Mercury Thu, May 28 8:00 PM Las Vegas Aces @ Dallas Wings Thu, May 28 10:00 PM Indiana Fever @ Golden State Valkyries Thu, Jun 4 7:00 PM Atlanta Dream @ Indiana Fever Thu, Jun 4 9:00 PM Golden State Valkyries @ Minnesota Lynx ION Friday Night Hoops. Three or four games every Friday, almost always including the late West-Coast game. free over-the-air · most cable + streaming bundles Sun, May 3 5:00 PM preseason · New York Liberty @ Connecticut Sun Sun, May 3 7:00 PM preseason · Las Vegas Aces vs Dallas Wings Fri, May 8 7:30 PM preseason · Connecticut Sun @ New York Liberty Fri, May 8 7:30 PM preseason · Washington Mystics @ Toronto Tempo Fri, May 8 10:00 PM preseason · Golden State Valkyries @ Seattle Storm Fri, May 22 7:30 PM Dallas Wings @ Atlanta Dream Fri, May 22 7:30 PM Golden State Valkyries @ Indiana Fever Fri, May 22 10:00 PM Connecticut Sun @ Seattle Storm Fri, May 29 7:30 PM Phoenix Mercury @ New York Liberty Fri, May 29 7:30 PM Los Angeles Sparks @ Washington Mystics Fri, May 29 7:30 PM Minnesota Lynx @ Chicago Sky Fri, May 29 10:00 PM Atlanta Dream @ Portland Fire Fri, Jun 5 7:30 PM Connecticut Sun @ Chicago Sky Fri, Jun 5 10:00 PM Dallas Wings @ Los Angeles Sparks Fri, Jun 5 10:00 PM Phoenix Mercury @ Portland Fire CBS / Paramount+ Selected Saturday-afternoon broadcasts on CBS, simulcast and streaming on Paramount+. CBS over-the-air · Paramount+ subscription Sat, May 23 1:00 PM Minnesota Lynx @ Chicago Sky Sat, May 23 8:00 PM Los Angeles Sparks @ Las Vegas Aces Sat, Jun 6 8:00 PM Indiana Fever @ New York Liberty USA Network NBCUniversal’s weeknight overflow. Wednesday and Monday games not on the parent NBC slot. most cable + live-TV streaming Wed, May 20 7:00 PM Portland Fire @ Indiana Fever Wed, May 20 9:00 PM Dallas Wings @ Chicago Sky Wed, May 27 7:00 PM Phoenix Mercury @ New York Liberty Wed, May 27 9:00 PM Atlanta Dream @ Minnesota Lynx Mon, Jun 1 8:00 PM Seattle Storm @ Dallas Wings Wed, Jun 3 8:00 PM Toronto Tempo @ New York Liberty Wed, Jun 3 10:00 PM Phoenix Mercury @ Seattle Storm NBA TV League-owned channel. Sunday-night and weeknight national windows on games not picked up elsewhere. cable bundle · NBA League Pass app Sun, Jun 7 7:00 PM Portland Fire @ Los Angeles Sparks WNBA League Pass The league’s own streaming service. Carries every game not on a national network — including all preseason exhibitions. subscription · wnba.com/leaguepass Sat, May 2 7:00 PM preseason · Nigeria @ Indiana Fever Sun, May 3 3:00 PM preseason · Washington Mystics @ Atlanta Dream Sun, May 3 7:00 PM preseason · Los Angeles Sparks @ Portland Fire Sun, May 17 7:00 PM Chicago Sky @ Minnesota Lynx Sun, May 17 7:00 PM Toronto Tempo @ Los Angeles Sparks Mon, May 18 10:00 PM Connecticut Sun @ Portland Fire Tue, May 19 10:00 PM Toronto Tempo @ Phoenix Mercury Wed, May 20 10:00 PM Connecticut Sun @ Seattle Storm Thu, May 21 8:00 PM Toronto Tempo @ Minnesota Lynx … plus every other regular-season game not picked up by ABC, NBC/Peacock, Prime Video, ION, CBS, USA, or NBA TV. Local-market broadcasts Some markets get a regional simulcast on the home team’s RSN or team app on top of League Pass — MNMT for the Mystics, MSG for the Liberty, NBC Sports Bay Area for the Valkyries, and so on. Each team’s site (linked from the WNBA hub ) has its current local-broadcast deal. Source & refresh Schedule and network assignments pulled from ESPN . We re-pull weekly. The league’s own page at wnba.com/schedule is authoritative if a TV listing has shifted since publication. Want the chronological view? See /wnba/schedule/ . --- ## WNBA — every team, every draft class · hoopwomen URL: https://hoopwomen.com/wnba/ WNBA — every team, every draft class · hoopwomen The W · founded 1996, played 1997 The W . Thirteen teams today, fifteen in 2026, expansion bids lined up behind them. The 2024 season drew the highest ratings in league history. The 2025 draft was the most-watched ever. This is the boom nobody saw coming until they did. 1997 First season 30 years in 2026 15 teams in 2026 12 champion franchises Franchises · 2026 The thirteen. Listed by founding year. Click any franchise to open its official page for live roster, schedule, stats. East · 1997 charter New York Liberty Brooklyn, NY · Barclays Center Owner: Joe & Clara Tsai · HC: Sandy Brondello Champions: 2024 Team site → East · 1997 charter Washington Mystics Washington, DC · CareFirst Arena Owner: Monumental Sports · HC: Sydney Johnson Champions: 2019 Team site → West · 1997 charter Los Angeles Sparks Los Angeles, CA · Crypto.com Arena Owner: Magic Johnson Enterprises group · HC: Lynne Roberts Champions: 2001, 2002, 2016 Team site → East · 1998 Atlanta Dream Atlanta, GA · Gateway Center Arena Owner: Larry Gottesdiener / Renee Montgomery group · HC: Karl Smesko — Team site → East · 1999 Indiana Fever Indianapolis, IN · Gainbridge Fieldhouse Owner: Herb Simon · HC: Stephanie White Champions: 2012 Team site → East · 2000 Connecticut Sun Uncasville, CT · Mohegan Sun Arena Owner: Mohegan Tribe · HC: Rachid Meziane Conference champs: 2005, 2019, 2022 Team site → West · 1997 charter Phoenix Mercury Phoenix, AZ · PHX Arena Owner: Mat Ishbia · HC: Nate Tibbetts Champions: 2007, 2009, 2014 Team site → West · 2000 Seattle Storm Seattle, WA · Climate Pledge Arena Owner: Force 10 Hoops · HC: Noelle Quinn Champions: 2004, 2010, 2018, 2020 Team site → West · 1999 Minnesota Lynx Minneapolis, MN · Target Center Owner: Glen Taylor / Wolves group · HC: Cheryl Reeve Champions: 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017 Team site → West · 2006 Chicago Sky Chicago, IL · Wintrust Arena Owner: Michael Alter · HC: Tyler Marsh Champions: 2021 Team site → West · 2008 (OKC Shock) Dallas Wings Arlington, TX · College Park Center (2026 move to Dallas) Owner: Bill Cameron group · HC: Chris Koclanes As Detroit Shock: 2003, 2006, 2008 Team site → West · 2018 (rebrand) Las Vegas Aces Las Vegas, NV · Michelob ULTRA Arena Owner: Mark Davis · HC: Becky Hammon Champions: 2022, 2023 Team site → West · 2025 expansion Golden State Valkyries San Francisco, CA · Chase Center Owner: Joe Lacob / Warriors group · HC: Natalie Nakase Inaugural season 2025 Team site → Coming 2026 The next two. Expansion no. 14 and 15 — Toronto and Portland — play their inaugural seasons in 2026. The league is targeting 16 teams by 2028. 2026 Toronto Tempo Canada's first WNBA team. Owned by Larry Tanenbaum's Kilmer Sports Ventures (Raptors / Maple Leafs group). Plays at Coca-Cola Coliseum. HC hiring in spring 2026. 2026 Portland Fire Revival of the original 2000–02 Portland franchise. Owned by Lisa Bhathal Merage's Raj Sports. Plays at Moda Center alongside the Blazers. Front office building throughout 2025–26. The draft Every first pick since 1997 . The WNBA Draft moved to primetime on ESPN for 2024 — Caitlin Clark's year — and never went back. Below: the No. 1 picks. Full draft archive, 1997–present → --- ## WNBA Schedule 2026 — every game, every network · hoopwomen URL: https://hoopwomen.com/wnba/schedule/ WNBA Schedule 2026 — every game, every network · hoopwomen 2026 WNBA Season · regular-season tips May 16 The schedule . Every WNBA game, the network carrying it, and the tip-off in your local Eastern time. Updated from the ESPN schedule. Networks change occasionally for big matchups — we re-pull weekly. ABC ESPN / ESPN2 NBC Peacock USA Network ION CBS / Paramount+ Prime Video NBA TV WNBA League Pass About the 2026 broadcast picture. The WNBA's new media-rights deal kicked in for the 2026 season — ESPN/ABC, NBC/Peacock, and Amazon Prime Video share the bulk of national windows. Friday nights stay with ION (Scripps), Saturday afternoons land on ABC or CBS , Sunday primetime rides NBC/Peacock , Thursday nights belong to Prime Video , and weeknight overflow runs on USA Network or NBA TV . Every game not on a national network airs on WNBA League Pass — the league's own streaming service, including preseason exhibitions like tonight's Fever vs Nigeria. Local-market broadcasts on RSNs vary by team. Preseason · May 2026 Tune-up week. Exhibition games before the regular-season tip on May 16. Most go untelevised; the games on this list are the ones broadcasters picked up. Sat, May 2 Preseason 1 game 7:00 PM Nigeria @ Indiana Fever WNBA League Pass Sun, May 3 Preseason 4 games 3:00 PM Washington Mystics @ Atlanta Dream WNBA League Pass 5:00 PM New York Liberty @ Connecticut Sun ION 7:00 PM Las Vegas Aces vs Dallas Wings ION 7:00 PM Los Angeles Sparks @ Portland Fire WNBA League Pass Fri, May 8 Preseason 3 games 7:30 PM Connecticut Sun @ New York Liberty ION 7:30 PM Washington Mystics @ Toronto Tempo ION 10:00 PM Golden State Valkyries @ Seattle Storm ION Opening week · May 16–22 The bell rings. Regular season tips Saturday May 16. NBC takes the marquee Sunday matinee; Prime Video opens Thursday. ION owns Friday night. Sun, May 17 Opening Sunday 4 games 1:30 PM Las Vegas Aces @ Atlanta Dream NBC / Peacock 6:00 PM Seattle Storm @ Indiana Fever Peacock / NBCSN 7:00 PM Chicago Sky @ Minnesota Lynx WNBA League Pass 7:00 PM Toronto Tempo @ Los Angeles Sparks WNBA League Pass Mon, May 18 Monday night 2 games 8:00 PM Washington Mystics @ Dallas Wings Peacock / NBCSN 10:00 PM Connecticut Sun @ Portland Fire WNBA League Pass Tue, May 19 Tuesday 1 game 10:00 PM Toronto Tempo @ Phoenix Mercury WNBA League Pass Wed, May 20 Wednesday 3 games 7:00 PM Portland Fire @ Indiana Fever USA Network 9:00 PM Dallas Wings @ Chicago Sky USA Network 10:00 PM Connecticut Sun @ Seattle Storm WNBA League Pass Thu, May 21 Prime Video Thursday 3 games 8:00 PM Golden State Valkyries @ New York Liberty Prime Video 8:00 PM Toronto Tempo @ Minnesota Lynx WNBA League Pass 10:00 PM Los Angeles Sparks @ Phoenix Mercury Prime Video Fri, May 22 ION Friday Night Hoops 3 games 7:30 PM Dallas Wings @ Atlanta Dream ION 7:30 PM Golden State Valkyries @ Indiana Fever ION 10:00 PM Connecticut Sun @ Seattle Storm ION May 23–31 · Memorial weekend onward The grind starts. CBS lights up Saturday afternoon. NBC keeps a Sunday window. The Friday ION block runs four games for the first time. Sat, May 23 Memorial weekend 3 games 1:00 PM Minnesota Lynx @ Chicago Sky CBS 6:00 PM Portland Fire @ Toronto Tempo WNBA League Pass 8:00 PM Los Angeles Sparks @ Las Vegas Aces CBS Sun, May 24 Sunday 3 games 3:00 PM Phoenix Mercury @ Atlanta Dream WNBA League Pass 3:30 PM Dallas Wings @ New York Liberty NBC 6:00 PM Washington Mystics @ Seattle Storm WNBA League Pass Mon, May 25 Memorial Day 2 games 8:00 PM Portland Fire @ New York Liberty Peacock / NBCSN 10:00 PM Connecticut Sun @ Golden State Valkyries WNBA League Pass Wed, May 27 Wednesday 5 games 7:00 PM Phoenix Mercury @ New York Liberty USA Network 8:00 PM Toronto Tempo @ Chicago Sky WNBA League Pass 9:00 PM Atlanta Dream @ Minnesota Lynx USA Network 10:00 PM Connecticut Sun @ Portland Fire WNBA League Pass 10:00 PM Washington Mystics @ Seattle Storm WNBA League Pass Thu, May 28 Prime Video Thursday 2 games 8:00 PM Las Vegas Aces @ Dallas Wings Prime Video 10:00 PM Indiana Fever @ Golden State Valkyries Prime Video Fri, May 29 ION Friday Night Hoops 4 games 7:30 PM Phoenix Mercury @ New York Liberty ION 7:30 PM Los Angeles Sparks @ Washington Mystics ION 7:30 PM Minnesota Lynx @ Chicago Sky ION 10:00 PM Atlanta Dream @ Portland Fire ION June 1–7 · ABC enters Week three. ABC's first Saturday doubleheader of the season. Prime Video and ION keep their standing windows; CBS slips in for prime weekend matchups. Mon, Jun 1 Monday 2 games 8:00 PM Seattle Storm @ Dallas Wings USA Network 10:00 PM Minnesota Lynx @ Phoenix Mercury Peacock / NBCSN Tue, Jun 2 Tuesday 4 games 7:30 PM Connecticut Sun @ Atlanta Dream WNBA League Pass 7:30 PM Chicago Sky @ Washington Mystics WNBA League Pass 10:00 PM Portland Fire @ Golden State Valkyries WNBA League Pass 10:00 PM Las Vegas Aces @ Los Angeles Sparks WNBA League Pass Wed, Jun 3 Wednesday 2 games 8:00 PM Toronto Tempo @ New York Liberty USA Network 10:00 PM Phoenix Mercury @ Seattle Storm USA Network Thu, Jun 4 Prime Video Thursday 2 games 7:00 PM Atlanta Dream @ Indiana Fever Prime Video 9:00 PM Golden State Valkyries @ Minnesota Lynx Prime Video Fri, Jun 5 ION Friday Night Hoops 3 games 7:30 PM Connecticut Sun @ Chicago Sky ION 10:00 PM Dallas Wings @ Los Angeles Sparks ION 10:00 PM Phoenix Mercury @ Portland Fire ION Sat, Jun 6 ABC Saturday 4 games 1:00 PM Seattle Storm @ Minnesota Lynx ABC 3:00 PM Golden State Valkyries @ Las Vegas Aces ABC 6:00 PM Washington Mystics @ Atlanta Dream WNBA League Pass 8:00 PM Indiana Fever @ New York Liberty CBS / Paramount+ Sun, Jun 7 Sunday 2 games 3:00 PM Chicago Sky @ Toronto Tempo WNBA League Pass 7:00 PM Portland Fire @ Los Angeles Sparks NBA TV Source. Game-by-game schedule data pulled from ESPN's WNBA schedule . Times shown are Eastern. Networks shown are the U.S. national/regional broadcasts ESPN lists at the time of pull; local-market broadcasts (e.g., MNMT, MSG, NBC Sports Bay Area) are not included here. We re-pull weekly — if a TV listing has changed since publication, the league’s own schedule at wnba.com/schedule is authoritative. Reference Where to find each network. A pocket guide to the 2026 WNBA broadcast lineup — what each network airs, and how to watch. ABC / ESPN / ESPN2 Disney’s WNBA package — marquee Saturday afternoons on ABC, weeknight games on ESPN/ESPN2. Stream on ESPN+ or via your TV provider login at espn.com/watch. NBC / Peacock Sunday matinees and Monday-night doubleheaders. Peacock streams every NBC-aired WNBA game; many additional games are Peacock-exclusive. Prime Video Amazon’s Thursday-night WNBA package — two games per Thursday, included with Prime membership at amazon.com/prime. ION Friday-night triple- or quadruple-headers via Scripps Networks. Free over-the-air with an antenna; on most cable / streaming bundles. CBS / Paramount+ Selected Saturday afternoons on CBS broadcast plus simulcast on Paramount+. Paramount also streams additional CBS Sports Network games. USA Network NBCUniversal’s weeknight overflow window for games not on NBC or Peacock. Carried on most cable / live-TV streaming services. NBA TV League-owned channel with national WNBA windows on Sundays and weeknights. Bundled with most cable packages and the NBA League Pass app. WNBA League Pass The league’s own streaming service. Carries every game not on a national network , plus the preseason. Live + on-demand. Subscribe at wnba.com/leaguepass ; an annual pass covers the regular season and playoffs. Local RSNs & team apps Some markets get a regional simulcast on the home team’s RSN or team app on top of League Pass. Check the team’s site (linked from our WNBA hub ) for local-market broadcast details. ---