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USA Today
15-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
2025 WNBA midseason report: Answering all the biggest questions at the halfway point
With the 2025 WNBA All-Star Weekend upon us in Indianapolis, the 2025 season is officially reaching its halfway point. The season has gone in some fascinating directions, some expected (the Minnesota Lynx dominating), some unexpected (the Las Vegas Aces struggling). However, with as much as we can glean from the halfway point, what are our biggest takeaways from the 2025 WNBA campaign so far? FTW's Meghan L. Hall and Cory Woodroof have looked at some of the big WNBA questions at the season's halfway mark and tried to do some prognosticating for what is ahead in the season's second half. Who is the MVP at present? Who are the teams to watch in the second half of the year? What could the 2025 WNBA Finals look like? We get into all of that in our 2025 WNBA midseason report. Who is the 2025 WNBA MVP at this point? Meghan L. Hall: If picking this award today, it's likely Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier. Collier's been the best player on both sides of the ball. Just in case anyone needed an example of her dominance, Collier leads the league in scoring and has 10 games of 25 points or more. (No one else in the WNBA has more than five.) She is also ranked top 10 or better in rebounds, steals and blocks. MVPhee. That said, keep an eye on Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas. Thomas is averaging nearly a triple-double (15 points, seven rebounds and 9.6 assists per game) and has become one of the best facilitators, if not the best, in the league. She leads the WNBA in assists and has eight games with 10 or more assists. Cory Woodroof: Minnesota Lynx forward Nahpeesa Collier is the de-facto MVP candidate right now, and it's not really all that close. There just hasn't been a player in the WNBA this season who has given as much as she does on both sides of the court. She's eclipsed Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson as the best player in the league this season. Wilson may reclaim her crown next year, but it's Collier's world. We're all just living in it. She should win this. Who are the fiercest 2025 WNBA title contenders at the halfway point? Meghan L. Hall: This season, there's a ton of parity amongst the contending teams. There hasn't been one team that's been completely dominant. The Minnesota Lynx started extremely well, but even they have shown they can be beaten by virtually anyone. The defending champion New York Liberty were running like a well-oiled machine until an ankle injury to forward Jonquel Jones all but stopped their momentum. The Phoenix Mercury are weathering the storm of not having everyone healthy as they experience what feels like a mountain of injuries, including multiple missed games by three starters. Then, there's the Seattle Storm and Atlanta Dream, who have shown flashes of a championship-caliber team but are inconsistent from night to night. Still, barring a meltdown, Minnesota is the frontrunner for the team most likely to walk away with a title. Cory Woodroof: There isn't a team in the WNBA this year that feels unbeatable. Even elite squads like the Minnesota Lynx and the New York Liberty don't inspire quite as much confidence in their playoff bona fides as they both did last year. The Phoenix Mercury, another contender, can't get superstar guard Kahleah Copper healthy. The Atlanta Dream and Seattle Storm have both fading a bit down the stretch, too, after excellent starts. The Indiana Fever have struggled to stay consistent, the Golden State Valkyries aren't as sharp on the road as they are at home and the Washington Mystics feel too young to really make it past the first round of the playoffs, given they make it. The Las Vegas Aces have Wilson, so never count them out, but it's been an uphill battle all season long to get wins. The Lynx, Mercury and Liberty feel like the teams to beat right now, but the problem is you can definitely beat them. However, once Copper gets healthy and the Liberty get superstar center Jonquel Jones back, we'll be curious how those teams start to build momentum going into the playoffs. The same can be said of the Fever once that team gets into a better groove with superstar guard Caitlin Clark shaking off her injury-plagued start to the season. Who is the most improved player in the WNBA so far this season? Meghan L. Hall: Someone who has likely gone under the radar is New York Liberty forward Kennedy Burke. After changes to the Liberty's bench last season, Burke has taken on a larger role and is taking full advantage of it. The New York forward has career highs in points (9.2 per game), rebounds (2.5 per game), assists (1.3 per game) and shooting from the field (50-percent). She's even draining a blistering 47.9-percent of her 3-point shots, also a career high. Don't sleep on the growth of Burke. Cory Woodroof: Indiana Fever guard Lexie Hull had this in the bag until the last couple of weeks, but Los Angeles Sparks forward Azurá Stevens is playing the best basketball of her career and keeping the Sparks competitive amid a down year. Stevens is boasting career highs in minutes per game (29), points per game (14.7), rebound per game (8.7) and steals per game (1.5) right now. Her 39.6-percent rate on 3-point attempts is a career high, too. The Sparks' record might not show for it, but Stevens has been exceptional. She should have made the All-Star Game. Which 2025 team is the biggest surprise? The biggest disappointment? Meghan L. Hall: The Golden State Valkyries have been 2025's best surprise. Expansion franchises aren't typically very good during their first season, but Golden State didn't get the memo. There's no true "star" on the team, and surprisingly, none of that has mattered. It's why the Valkyries have already produced an All-Star (forward Kayla Thornton), head coach Natalie Nakase has a June Coach of the Month award, and the team has the WNBA's fourth-ranked defense (99.2 defensive rating). Additionally, Golden State is already in a position to elbow its way into the WNBA playoffs, and that feels like a massive win for a new franchise. Biggest disappointment? The Connecticut Sun. After losing all five starters, players from the bench and its head coach, Connecticut was bound to be bad, but watching the Sun melt down game after game has been painful to watch. Forward Tina Charles, forward Aneesah Morrow and guard Saniya Rivers are doing yeoman's work to keep the team in games, but most days, it feels all for naught. Connecticut has the league's worst offensive and defensive rating and has been dealing with injury after injury all season long. It feels like a stretch right now to say the Sun could get to 10 wins, and that's a travesty. Cory Woodroof: It's hard not to marvel at "Ballhalla" and the job Natalie Nakase and company have done to build the Golden State Valkyries into a legitimate playoff contender. It didn't matter that the Valkyries featured mostly expansion draft selections and rookies; the team has played outstanding defense and can keep up with some of the league's best offenses. While 2026 WNBA free agency could hurt Golden State more than most teams, the foundation and promise might be strong enough to lure new players to the Bay. As far as disappointments go, the Aces should be better than this. Trading away superstar guard Kelsey Plum looks worse and worse as time goes on, and coach Becky Hammon seems to be missing former assistants Nakase and Tyler Marsh (Chicago Sky). The team has a lot of talent, but the roster depth hasn't really stepped up outside of rookie guard Aaliyah Nye. It's not impossible to imagine the team missing the playoffs outright. Wilson is otherworldly, but she can't do it alone. Which WNBA team should we all watch in the second half of the season? Meghan L. Hall: The Washington Mystics. Last season, Washington flirted with snagging a playoff spot, only to be on the outside looking in. This year, they are firmly in the conversation for a postseason bid and are already close to surpassing their 2024 14-game win total. That's a gigantic victory for a rebuilding team and gives them real confidence. Guard Brittney Sykes has done a ton of the heavy lifting to get them there, but so have contributions from rookies Kiki Irifaen and Sonia Citron. Irifaen started hot, earning May Rookie of the Month honors, but it's arguably been Citron who has been the consistent glue for Washington. Keep an eye on the back of their season; 20 wins are within sight. Cory Woodroof: The Fever, the Fever, the Fever. This team hasn't been able to see its offseason vision through so far this year, but Clark getting healthier and finally starting to gel with the rest of the roster should put other teams on notice. Indiana hasn't lived up to its sky-high expectations yet, but that might be coming sooner than later. Watch rookie forward Makayla Timpson, whose minutes have been going up in recent games. She's not DeWanna Bonner (at least not yet), but she's starting to assert herself as the post presence Indiana has been missing. Once Clark's shots start falling with more regularity and the team gets more reps in at full strength, Indiana has the star power, roster depth and coaching to cause problems for any opponent in the WNBA playoffs. Vets like forward Aliyah Boston, guard Kelsey Mitchell, forward Natasha Howard and guard Sophie Cunningham have all been great lately, and guard Aari McDonald continues to prove herself to be the perfect backup point guard for Clark. Don't forget guard Lexie Hull, too, who was playing like a Most Improved Player candidate until only recently. Coach Stephanie White has done a tremendous job keeping the ship aloft, but the team may now be ready to capitalize. Don't be shocked if they go on a run in the second half. Which players are you most curious about at the trade deadline? Meghan L. Hall: Washington Mystics forward Aaliyah Edwards was injured to start the season, forcing the Mystics to play Iriafen much sooner than anticipated. The rookie quickly developed a rapport in the starting lineup and considerable impact with her production. Iriafen's rise left Edwards, who started 17 games in 2024, on the outside looking in. As Edwards struggled to get back to form, it became more apparent that she may not fit into Washington's frontcourt rotation. The Mystics are already fielding possible trade scenarios, and it wouldn't be shocking to see her moved (to Dallas Wings, perhaps?) ahead of the Aug. 7 deadline. Cory Woodroof: Guard Arike Ogunbowale hasn't played to her standards in Dallas this season, and you wonder if she will be the big name available at the trade deadline. She's one of the most lethal shooters in the WNBA when she's hot, and any team serious about winning a title this year should at least consider bringing her in. Sure, she's a free agent with most everyone else in 2026, but even a couple of months of a rejuvenated Ogunbowale could change the landscape for a contending team. A title is worth the price, and the Wings could probably snag a first-round pick for the star guard. Other names that intrigue are fellow Wings guard DiJonai Carrington, Wings center Teaira McCowan, Sun guard Marina Mabrey (once she's healthy) and Sky guard Rebecca Allen. Predict the 2025 WNBA playoffs... Meghan L. Hall: There's entirely too much movement at the moment to accurately predict who will be what seed ― although Lynx, Mercury, Liberty and Storm feel pretty close to the top four. If that's the case, a Minnesota-New York 2024 Finals rematch would feed families, but the Mercury make it very hard to dismiss them as a WNBA Finals-caliber team. That said, leaning into the Lynx and Liberty rivalry feels like the more surefire scenario, and under the leadership of Collier, Minnesota will hoist another franchise trophy. Collier wins Finals MVP to pair with her regular-season MVP, and forward Jessica Shepard is the X-factor off the bench. Cory Woodroof: Let's say... the top-seeded Lynx top the eighth-seeded Mystics (2-0), the second-seeded Mercury top the seventh-seeded Valkyries (2-1), the third-seeded Liberty top the sixth-seeded Storm (2-0) and the fourth-seeded Fever top the fifth-seeded Dream (2-1). In the semifinals, the Lynx will get past the Fever in four games, while the Mercury and Liberty go the full five. We'll say the Mercury will have the Lynx waiting for them in the finals, and that Minnesota needs six games to bring back the WNBA championship trophy back to Target Center. For yet another season, the Commissioner's Cup loser will hoist the most important hardware at the end of the season. A surprise, though: guard Courtney Williams balls out and wins the Finals MVP award over the regular-season MVP Collier.
USA Today
30-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Caitlin Clark tops early WNBA MVP betting odds
Caitlin Clark tops early WNBA MVP betting odds What can't Caitlin Clark do? She rewrote the record books for the Iowa Hawkeyes. She was the WNBA Rookie of the Year in her first season in a runaway vote. She now has her sights set on being the best in the entire league, entering her second year in the WNBA. Already viewed as one of the league's brightest stars, and arguably already the face of the WNBA, Caitlin Clark is looking to make a playoff run with the Indiana Fever and possibly collect a WNBA MVP Award in doing so. Ahead of the 2025 WNBA Season, Meghan L. Hall of For The Win looked into the WNBA MVP odds and found that Caitlin Clark is currently atop the betting ranks to take home the hardware this year. Clark leads the pack of early betting favorites for the MVP award but is closely trailed by reigning MVP A'ja Wilson, Napheesa Collier of the Minnesota Lynx, with longer shots of Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu making appearances as well. Caitlin Clark looks to build on a rookie year that saw her average 19.2 points, 8.4 assists, and 5.7 rebounds per game. She is back in action at 12 p.m. CT on Saturday, May 3, against the Washington Mystics as the WNBA preseason gets underway. The Indiana Fever open up the regular season against the Chicago Sky on Saturday, May 17, at 2 p.m. CT on ABC. Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes and opinions. Follow Riley on X: @rileydonald7
USA Today
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Would a gorilla or 100 men win a fight? Our brilliant staff makes picks.
Would a gorilla or 100 men win a fight? Our brilliant staff makes picks. It's one of those age-old hypotheticals that sends the internet into a non-stop debate: could 100 men beat a gorilla in a fight? There's no good answer, and it's become a very hot topic all over social media sites as people argue over the outcome, because maybe we need something fun to debate over right now. In the tradition of what color is The Dress and classics like Laurel or Yanny, we here at For The Win decided that it was a good time to give our own answers to this very tough and very hypothetical question. Here are thoughts from some of our writers and editors: Gorilla wins I cannot believe I'm debating if 100 people would be able to win against a gorilla. This is deeply unserious. When a gorilla rips off someone's face mid-fight and casually tosses them to the side like a banana peel, nobody better say a word. Put some respect on Harambe Jr. -- Meghan L. Hall Gorilla wins over panicky people Are there many combinations of 100 people who, working together, could easily win? Of course, but these groups are the exception. The average group would freak out, panic and die quickly. Most people, including you dear reader, are getting rocked. -- Blake Schuster Humans win, but at what cost? I believe in the power of friendship. We're taking that gorilla down. We all won't live — most of us will die. But, together, we can do the impossible and whoop Donkey Kong. I have a strategy. -- Mike Sykes Humans over gorillas, mostly The humans are going to lose some good soldiers, but as long as the group of (highly specialized) 100 understands they won't all make it, and the first few are willing to sacrifice themselves, I guess they could eventually win. I say "they" because I personally won't be a part of that group. -- Prince Grimes It's humans FTW This is very simple. One hundred people fighting the gorilla will win ... but it'll be a pyrrhic victory. The gorilla will put up a fight but eventually, the humans will win simply by overpowering the gorilla. -- Charles Curtis
USA Today
30-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Women's March Madness bracket predictions, picks for Elite Eight games
Women's March Madness bracket predictions, picks for Elite Eight games Show Caption Hide Caption Paige Bueckers hits career-high 40 points in March Madness game vs Oklahoma UConn star Paige Bueckers reminds media that her teammates helped her reach this career mark. The Huskies will move on to the Elite 8 round of the women's NCAA tournament. And we're onto the Elite Eight in women's March Madness! What a slate of matchups we've got ahead. All four No. 1 seeds — UCLA, South Carolina, USC, Texas — are still alive, but their opponents are real threats. Paige Bueckers and No. 2 UConn keep cooking, Bueckers dropping 40 points in the Sweet 16 against Oklahoma. Hailey Van Lith and No. 2 TCU continued their historic run, Van Lith pouring in 26 to upset Notre Dame. So, here is the full Elite Eight March Madness schedule and expert predictions from reporters across the USA TODAY Sports Network. Time, TV: 1 p.m. Sunday (ABC) Meghan L. Hall, For The Win: South Carolina South Carolina Lulu Kesin, The Greenvile News: South Carolina South Carolina Cydney Henderson, USA TODAY: South Carolina South Carolina Jenna Ortiz, Arizona Republic: South Carolina South Carolina Maxwell Donaldson, The Gadsden Times: South Carolina If South Carolina wants to beat Duke and keep its title defense alive, the Gamecocks will need contributions from more than just Chloe Kitts and MiLaysia Fulwiley. South Carolina is in pursuit of its fifth consecutive Final Four, while Duke looks to move on to the Final Four for the first time since 2006. Time, TV: 1 p.m. Sunday (ABC) Meghan L. Hall, For The Win: UCLA UCLA Lulu Kesin, The Greenvile News: LSU LSU Cydney Henderson, USA TODAY: UCLA UCLA Jenna Ortiz, Arizona Republic: UCLA UCLA Nancy Armour, USA TODAY: UCLA UCLA Maxwell Donaldson, The Gadsden Times: LSU This matchup marks a rematch of last year's Sweet 16, when LSU defeated UCLA 78-69. The Bruins are in search of their first Final Four appearance, while LSU looks to return to the Final Four for the first time since their title run in 2023. Texas vs. TCU women's basketball predictions Time, TV: 7 p.m. Monday (ESPN) Meghan L. Hall, For The Win: TCU TCU Lulu Kesin, The Greenvile News: Texas Texas Cydney Henderson, USA TODAY: TCU TCU Jenna Ortiz, Arizona Republic: TCU TCU Nancy Armour, USA TODAY: Texas Texas Maxwell Donaldson, The Gadsden Times: TCU TCU Jordan Mendoza, USA TODAY: TCU The Horned Frogs advance to their first Elite Eight appearance (and Hailey Van Lith's fifth) riding a 13-game win streak, and will meet No. 1 Texas and Madison Booker, the SEC Player of the Year, in the Elite Eight. Texas' offense has grabbed all the headlines, but the Longhorns defense has stepped up in the NCAA tournament. Texas forced the nation's top scoring offense into 18 turnovers, nine of which came in fourth quarter. UConn vs. USC women's basketball predictions Time, TV: 9 p.m. Monday, ESPN Meghan L. Hall, For The Win: UConn UConn Lulu Kesin, The Greenvile News: UConn UConn Cydney Henderson, USA TODAY: UConn UConn Jenna Ortiz, Arizona Republic: UConn UConn Nancy Armour, USA TODAY: UConn UConn Maxwell Donaldson, The Gadsden Times: UConn USC proved they are fully capable of winning without Watkins in a 67-61 win over No. 5 Kansas State. Freshman guard Kennedy Smith led the way with 19 points. The Trojans will be tasked with slowing down a red-hot Bueckers, who's in midst of a legendary streak in the final women's NCAA Tournament of her career. She scored a career-high 40 points in UConn's win blowout win over No. 3 Oklahoma.
