Just call her angel of the morning
Leveling The Playing Field
You made it!
The only thing better than that Friday feeling? Knowing the weekend brings a plethora of postseason play, including tonight’s 8 p.m. ET World Series Game 1. You know the drill: We’ll have a special edition preview in your inbox later today. Until then, step to the plate with the rest of today’s sports news.
WNBA Finals
🏀 Sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare
The GIST: All eyes are on the WNBA as the best-of-seven Finals series continues with tomorrow’s 1 p.m. ET Game 4. Everything’s coming up Atlanta Dream (up 2-1) after a lopsided Game 3 victory — here’s who’s handing out Ls in the ATL and how the Golden State Valkyries can respond on the road. All hoops, all the time.
💭 The Dream have been a nightmare for the Valks: A 26-point blowout win on Wednesday, punctuated by a historic third straight double-double for Angel Reese has flipped this series on its head. The Dream are beating GSV at their own game behind an electric home crowd, lights-out defense, and penchant for forcing turnovers.
- Led by Reese, this defense has held Golden State to just 68 points a game in these Finals, 14 less than their regular-season average. Uncharacteristically quiet on offense, Rhyne Howard has played her part on D, setting a Finals record with 11 steals in two games.
💜 What’s going on with Golden State?: Series can change on a dime, but the Valks have looked out of sorts these last two games, suffering their first back-to-back losses since August. What’s more, this squad’s signature defense was nowhere to be found in Game 3 as they surrendered 97 points, the second-most they’ve allowed this postseason.
- As for the offense, Gabby Williams hasn’t been herself since a Game 1 collision, shooting a dismal 8-for-33 from the floor in GSV’s last two losses. Whether it’s “urgency” or a focus on taking care of the basketball, the Valks need to cook up something to get back into this one.
NWSL
⚽ Time waits for no woman
The GIST: It’s the penultimate weekend of NWSL regular-season play and the stakes are sky-high with five of the eight playoff berths, first-round and semifinal home-field advantage, and the NWSL Shield all on the line this weekend. Here are the games on our radar as clinching opportunities abound.
🌧️ Seattle Reign vs. 👑 Utah Royals — Tonight at 9:30 p.m. ET: Seattle’s right in the mix, clinging to the eighth and final spot. The Royals, meanwhile, have tumbled in the second half of the season, currently sitting in sixth with their leading scorer, Mina Tanaka, still out with a hamstring injury. Taking her place? Canadian Cloé Lacasse, who’s had success against the Reign in the past.
🦁 North Carolina Courage vs. 🌹 Portland Thorns — Tonight at 10 p.m. ET: This one’s worth staying up for as Golden Boot leader Ashley Sanchez and the Courage trail the aforementioned Reign by one point in the standings. A win keeps their playoff hopes alive. On the other side of the ball, Thorns star Sophia Wilson will do everything to help her squad clinch tonight rather than leaving their fate to Decision Day.
🦇 Gotham FC vs. 💜 Orlando Pride — Sunday at 3 p.m. ET: Defending champs Gotham currently hold the top seed, but a loss in this one would open the door for another team to snatch it along with home-field advantage in the first two rounds. The Bats suffered just their second L in 15 games last week and will be hungry for some stability heading into the postseason.
👻 Washington Spirit vs. ⚡ Kansas City Current — Sunday at 5 p.m. ET: A battle between the current No. 3 and No. 4 seeds, this one has potential playoff preview written all over it. But first things first for the not-yet clinched Current, they can secure their spot with a win, a draw, a Royals win, or a Portland win or draw. We love options.
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🏈 Chicago Bears beat New England Patriots to kick off NFL Week 7
Bears quarterback (QB) Caleb Williams (308 yards, two touchdowns) won last night’s battle of rising third-year signal callers, outlasting Pats QB Drake Maye (321 yards, two touchdowns) en route to the 30–24 win. It was an emotional dub in the Windy City as da Bears paid tribute to legendary head coach Mike Ditka.
- And that’s just the beginning of a stacked Week 7 slate highlighted by the 8:20 p.m. ET Sunday Night Football showdown between the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs and reigning champ Seattle Seahawks. So seated.
🏎️ Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli could claim his first World Drivers’ Championship at Austin Grand Prix
The grid is giddying on up to Austin, Texas, where Antonelli has a chance to clinch his maiden crown this weekend. He’s not getting his hopes up, but if the 20-year-old wants to become F1’s youngest champ, he’ll need a first-place finish on Sunday and his teammate George Russell must place in the bottom half of the standings. With just six races to go, every point counts.
🎓🏈 Only five undefeated teams remain heading into college football Week 8
Those perfect records will be put to the test starting with No. 1 Miami, who’ll try to avoid becoming the third consecutive top seed to fall to an unranked opponent when they face Pitt tomorrow at 12 p.m. ET. Then at 3:30 p.m. ET, No. 2 BYU and No. 9 UCLA take on Central Florida and Michigan State, respectively, before 6-0 No. 10 Utah wraps up the night against 6-1 No. 14 Houston at 10:15 p.m. ET.
- Elsewhere on the gridiron, No. 19 Texas could fall out of the rankings completely if they lose to No. 7 Ole Miss at 7:30 p.m. ET, with QB Arch Manning in danger of being benched. Life comes at you fast.
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Their data shows multi-sport fandom is on the rise, with NBA and NHL fans making up the fastest-growing crossover pairing. So the only tough call is which team you’ll be repping on game day.
Today’s email was brought to you by Lisa Minutillo, Rachel Fuenzalida, Lauren Tuiskula, Grace DePaull, and Charlotte Mackenzie. Fact-checking by Elisha Gunaratnam and Mikaela Perez. Ops by Elisha Gunaratnam and Briana Ekanem. Managing edits by Lauren Tuiskula and Lisa Minutillo. Head of content Ellen Hyslop.