Happy Basketball Wednesday, presented by The BIG EAST Conference. The 2026 WNBA season is underway, and while it would be irresponsible to make any sweeping judgements from what we’ve experienced thus far, I do think several early trends are worth keeping in mind as we start to make sense of the new campaign.
Basketball Insider
The first was evident in the national TV showcase on Saturday afternoon between the Dallas Wings and the Indiana Fever, but has been clear from all of the games played already: offense is up. A quick-and-dirty way of seeing this: entering Tuesday night’s games, 11 of 15 teams held offensive ratings north of 100 (in other words, a point per possession or more). In 2025? 10 of 13. Not a big difference, right?
Well, the high in 2025 was Minnesota at 109.5. So far in 2026, six teams are north of 110. The ceiling, early on, is elevated. And remember: typically, in the WNBA, offensive numbers leaguewide are typically lower early on than they tend to be by the end of the season.
By contrast, pace typically starts fast and slows down. Even so, in the month of May 2025, exactly one team — the Indiana Fever — passed 100, and just barely, at 100.1. By the end of the season, Los Angeles led the league, at 96.84. So far in 2026, entering Tuesday night’s games, five teams sat at a pace of 103.8 or greater. The league-leading 2025 Sparks would sit 13th among 2026 teams.
I am extremely wary of drawing conclusions from such a small sample size. But this duality reflects a clear effort made by the league this past offseason to de-emphasize physical play and make it harder to slow things down generally.
About that: there are some early complaints over how many fouls are getting called. Last season, the Connecticut Sun led the WNBA in fouls per game, at 19.6. So far in 2026? 10 of 15 teams are getting whistled for at least 20 fouls per game.
“That’s insane,” Breanna Stewart said postgame on Sunday, after the Liberty were called for 31 fouls, Washington 27, in a Liberty overtime win. “We said it last game, I know it’s going to take time of figuring out what’s the standard of what’s going to be called. But there’s calls that are being called that are unnecessary on both sides. And then there’s no flow. So, I don’t know. I still don’t know.”
Listen now to The IX Sports Podcast and Women’s Sports Daily
We are excited to announce the launch of TWO new podcasts for all the women’s sports fans out there looking for a daily dose of women’s sports news and analysis. Stream on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or anywhere you listen to podcasts, and make sure to subscribe!
With respect to Stewart: not only is this how it has to be if the league is to address and alter the level of physicality, but, with an adjustment period, an open, freer-flowing game will absolutely play to Stewart’s benefit specifically. There will be a competitive advantage to those teams who figure it out fastest, though. And that is generally understood, especially by those who weren’t just expressing frustration directly following a game that clocked in at two hours and 41 minutes.
“In all of our offseason [conversations], [we] have asked the officials to call everything,” Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White told Yahoo Sports’ Cassandra Negley Saturday. “The challenge, and the question sometimes, is, is it consistent? So that will be the next growth phase and growth area. But this is what we need to clean up some of the stuff that we saw last year. So there is going to be frustration early. But, it’s necessary.”
The league has been investing in officiating; it has created a new role, WNBA Referee Performance and Development Advisor, and hired longtime official Eric Brewton for the job. The early returns are undeniably different, appear to dovetail with the overall goals of the league, and are likely to improve from here as everyone gets used to the new rules.
In a week where Front Office Sports got around to totaling up the new media rights deals (north of $3 billion) and Napheesa Collier herself allowed that perhaps calling Cathy Engelbert the worst leader in the world was “a little dramatic”, not to mention massively successful debut home games for the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire, even those most predisposed to asserting the sky is falling (or even the Sky, who won their opener!) were left with nothing to work with.
This week in women’s basketball
Alysha Clark, experienced but not old.
A masterclass tick-tock from Alexa on the CBA negotiations.
Maitreyi’s WNBA preview is endlessly entertaining.
Marisa went big on Kelsey Plum.
Five at The IX: Dominique Malonga, Seattle Storm
Mondays: Soccer
By: Annie Peterson, @AnnieMPeterson, AP Women’s Soccer
Tuesdays: Tennis
By: Joey Dillon, @JoeyDillon, Freelance Tennis Writer
Wednesdays: Basketball
By: Howard Megdal, @HowardMegdal, The IX Sports
Thursdays: Golf
By: Marin Dremock, @MDremock, The IX Sports
Fridays: Hockey
By: @TheIceGarden, The Ice Garden
Saturdays: Gymnastics
By: Jessica Taylor Price, @jesstaylorprice, Freelance Writer
