Happy Saturday! Welcome to The Next’s Daily Briefing, featuring the daily Watch List, W Roundup and NCAA Roundup, and Yesterday’s Recap. The WNBA season is fully underway, and four games are under our belts — with some surprising results from opening night, some expected ones. We had career days from Dana Evans and Jordin Canada in a thriller in Chicago; Candace Parker moving up the all-time leaderboards; Elena Delle Donne really playing basketball; Indiana finally being fun to watch; and Seattle and Las Vegas making mincemeat of Minnesota and Phoenix, respectively.
But first, a big ol’ NCAA transfer portal update.
W Roundup
For complete coverage of all 12 teams, be sure to catch up on our team previews:
Watch List, Saturday, May 7
(All times in Eastern)
Connecticut @ New York, 6 p.m., ESPN
Atlanta @ Dallas, 8 p.m., CBS Sports Network
NCAA Roundup
Transfer portal
New to the portal:
- Taylor Chavez, combo guard, Arizona
- Emily Kiser, center, Michigan
- Destiny Littleton, off-ball guard, South Carolina
- Jade Loville, off-ball guard, Arizona State
- Ashley Scoggin, off-ball guard, Nebraska
- Taylor Soule, combo forward, Boston College
- Morasha Wiggins, off-ball guard, North Carolina. The rising sophomore was the composite No. 38 player in the class of 2021.
Out of the portal:
- Brinae Alexander: The off-ball guard out of Vanderbilt committed to Maryland
- River Baldwin: The center out of Florida State committed to N.C. State
- Aijha Blackwell: The big out of Mizzou committed to Baylor
- Haley and Hanna Cavinder: The point guards out of Fresno State committed to Miami
- Kennedy Brown: The center out of Oregon State committed to Duke
- Christianna Carr: The wing out of Syracuse committed to Arkansas
- Chrislyn Carr: The point guard out of Syracuse (no relation to Christianna) committed to Louisville
- Taya Corosdale: The big out of Oregon State committed to Duke
- Bella Cravens: The big out of Nebraska committed to TCU
- Dalayah Daniels: The center out of Cal committed to Washington
- Molly Davis: The point guard out of Central Michigan committed to Iowa
- KK Deans: The point guard out of West Virginia committed to Florida
- Lauren Ebo: The center out of Texas committed to Notre Dame
- Dre’una Edwards: The big out of Kentucky committed to Baylor
- Uju Ezeudu: The point guard out of Denver committed to FGCU
- Dyaisha Fair: The point guard out of Buffalo committed to Syracuse
- Lauren Fields: The off-ball guard out of Oklahoma State committed to Arizona
- Clara Ford: The center out of Boston College committed to Virginia Tech
- Jasmine Franklin: The big out of Missouri State committed to Tennessee
- Caitlyn Harper: The center out of Cal Baptist committed to Purdue
- Jillian Hollingshead: The big out of Georgia committed to Tennessee
- Gabby Hutcherson: The combo forward out of Ohio State committed to Pitt
- Rita Igbokwe: The center out of Pitt committed to Mississippi
- Jordyn Jenkins: The big out of USC committed to UTSA
- Aubrey Joens: The off-ball guard out of Iowa State committed to Oklahoma
- Morgan Jones: The big wing out of Florida State committed to Louisville
- Taylor Jones: The center out of Oregon State committed to Texas
- Greta Kampschroeder: The wing out of Oregon State committed to Michigan
- Lou Lopez Sénéchal: The combo forward out of Fairfield committed to UConn
- Koi Love: The big out of Arizona committed to USC
- Esmery Martinez: The big out of West Virginia committed to Arizona … after LSU reported that she’d signed with the Tigers a week prior
- Jazmine Massengill: The combo guard out of Kentucky committed to Florida State
- Brynna Maxwell: The wing out of Utah committed to Gonzaga
- Abby Meyers: The wing out of Princeton committed to Maryland
- Kari Niblack: The combo forward out of West Virginia committed to Georgia
- Ashley Owusu: The point guard out of Maryland committed to Virginia Tech
- Elisa Pinzan: The point guard out of USF committed to Maryland
- Sammie Puisis: The off-ball guard out of Florida State committed to USF
- Angel Reese: The big out of Maryland committed to LSU
- Eniya Russell: The point guard out of South Carolina committed to Kentucky
- Stephanie Soares: The center out of The Master’s University (NAIA) and ESPN’s former No. 53 recruit in class of 2018 committed to Iowa State
- Cameron Swartz: The wing out of Boston College committed to Georgia Tech
- Sara Scalia: The wing out of Minnesota committed to Indiana
- Jana Van Gytenbeek: The off-ball guard out of Stanford committed to Baylor
- Stephanie Visscher: The combo guard out of SFA committed to Michigan State
- Aaronette Vonleh: The center out of Arizona committed to Colorado
- Kylee Watson: The big out of Oregon committed to Notre Dame
- Priscilla Williams: The off-ball guard out of Syracuse committed to USF
- Bendu Yeaney: The combo guard out of Arizona committed to Oregon State
Friday, May 6 recap
Washington beat Indiana, 84-70. The Fever trailed by one point in the mid-first quarter before allowing 12 straight, and they trailed by as many as 21 in the second quarter before cutting the gap to six in the mid-fourth. The teams combined to shoot 22.5% from three; Indiana won the rebounding battle by 11 but committed 14 turnovers and 20 fouls.
Big Elena Delle Donne led Washington — in her first home opener in four years — with 21 points on 8-for-16 shooting from the field and 1-for-5 from three, nine rebounds (three offensive), three assists and two blocks without a turnover; point guard Natasha Cloud notched 17 points on 6-for-13 shooting (0-4 3pt.), four rebounds and six assists; off-ball guard Ariel Atkins scored 15 points on 6-for-11 FG (1-4 3pt.) with three assists and no turnovers.
Indiana was led by combo guard Kelsey Mitchell’s 17 points on 7-for-16 shooting from the field and 2-for-7 from three, three rebounds and three assists; NaLyssa Smith recorded a double-double in her professional debut with 13 points (5-13 FG, 0-3 3pt.) and 13 rebounds against three turnovers and four fouls in 35 minutes; rookie center Queen Egbo had 10 points on 5-for-9 shooting, six rebounds and two assists against three fouls in 20 minutes.
Los Angeles beat Chicago, 98-91 in overtime. The Sky led 12-2 after a dominant first 3.5 minutes, but the Sparks led by the late second quarter; Chicago then led by five with less than 90 seconds to go before Dana Evans fouled Jordin Canada on a late three attempt to allow her three free throws to send it to overtime. The teams combined to shoot 50.4% from the field; the Sky had 28 assists on 36 buckets; the teams combined for 30 assists, 45 turnovers and 44 fouls.
Canada led Los Angeles with a career-high-tying 21 points on 6-for-11 shooting from the field (0-1 3pt.) and 9-for-9 from the line, four rebounds, eight assists and two steals against three turnovers; big Nneka Ogwumike had 19 points on 7-for-10 shooting (2-3 3pt.), seven rebounds, two assists and three steals against three turnovers; off-ball guard Lexie Brown and point guard Chennedy Carter each scored 12 points off the bench — Brown on 4-for-5 shooting from three (0-1 from two) with three rebounds, five assists and two steals; Carter on 4-for-5 shooting from two in just 12 minutes.
Evans led the Sky with a career-high 24 points on 9-for-17 shooting (2-7 3pt.), five assists and four steals against four fouls; big Candace Parker had 21 points on 8-for-14 shooting from the field and 3-for-7 from three, six rebounds, six assists and three steals against six turnovers and four fouls; big Emma Meesseman notched 12 points on 6-for-11 FG (0-1 3pt.), eight rebounds and five assists against four turnovers; center Azurá Stevens scored 13 points on 6-for-13 shooting (1-3 3pt.), plus six rebounds and two assists without a turnover; point guard Courtney Vandersloot recorded 11 points on 2-for-7 shooting from the field (1-3 3pt.) and 6-for-6 from the line and eight assists against eight turnovers and four fouls.
Las Vegas beat Phoenix, 106-88. The Aces jumped out to a 20-7 lead and were up by 22 a couple minutes into the second quarter. Las Vegas shot 58.2% from the field and 52.4% from three while holding Phoenix to 25.0% from deep; the Aces won the rebounding battle by 12; they committed 16 turnovers and 23 fouls.
Las Vegas was led by combo forward Dearica Hamby’s 24 points on 11-for-14 shooting (1-2 3pt.), seven rebounds and two blocks against three turnovers and four fouls; combo guard Kelsey Plum had 20 points on 7-for-16 shooting from the field and 5-for-9 from three, six rebounds and seven assists against five turnovers and three fouls; wing Jackie Young scored 20 points on 8-for-10 FG, plus three rebounds and four assists against four turnovers and three fouls; big A’ja Wilson recorded a double-double on 15 points (5-8 FG, 0-1 3pt., 5-6 FT) and 11 rebounds, plus two assists.
Combo guard Skylar Diggins-Smith led the Mercury with 25 points on 10-for-18 shooting (1-3 3pt.) and three rebounds without a turnover; point guard Shey Peddy scored 16 points on 6-for-12 FG (2-5 3pt.) with two assists and two steals; center Tina Charles and combo guard Diana Taurasi combined for 24 points on 8-for-27 from the field and 1-for-10 from three and seven rebounds, with Charles adding three assists and three steals and Taurasi notching nine assists.
Seattle beat Minnesota, 97-74. The teams were tied at halftime before the Storm won the third quarter 34-14. Seattle shot 53.0% from the field and 48.0% from three while holding the Lynx to 39.2% and 19.0%, respectively; Minnesota assisted on 23 of its 31 buckets; the Storm notched 14 steals, part of 17 forced turnovers; the teams combined for 34 fouls.
Seattle was led by big wing Breanna Stewart’s 17 points on 6-for-14 shooting from the field and 2-for-5 from three, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals and no turnovers against three fouls in 26 minutes; combo guard Jewell Loyd matched those 16 points on 6-for-12 shooting (1-4 3pt.), plus three rebounds, two assists and two steals against three fouls in 22 minutes; backup combo guard Epiphanny Prince scored 13 points on 5-for-6 FG (3-3 3pt.), with two assists and two steals without a turnover; backup wing Stephanie Talbot notched 11 points on 4-for-6 from the field (1-2 3pt.), two rebounds, three steals and two blocks; point guard Sue Bird recorded 11 points (3-4 3pt.), nine rebounds and two steals against three turnovers in just 22 minutes.
Center Sylvia Fowles led the Lynx with 16 points on 8-for-14 FG, four rebounds and two assists without a turnover in 23 minutes; off-ball guard Aerial Powers had 14 points on 6-for-16 shooting from the field and 1-for-6 from three, three rebounds and four steals against three turnovers.
