Sidelines with Lily

Beyond the league’s established contenders, a handful of rising teams and developing young cores could quietly reshape the 2026 season. Teams to Keep an Eye on Ahead of Opening Tip Las Vegas Aces Entering the season with a target on their back, the defending 2025 WNBA Champions Las Vegas Aces are a team to certainly follow. Only taking 3 losses in the 2025 postseason, the Aces were hungry back then for the title and still are today. With very few changes in last year's roster, the Aces are coming into this season with the same mission and chemistry. One notable addition Head Coach Becky Hammon made in the offseason was signing Chennedy Carter from free agency. This signing of Carter allows for even more depth in the guard position, and a leader to take control likely coming off the bench. Aside from being the defending champs, the Aces are worth watching because of their superstar talent. Led by not only All-Stars Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray, but also 4x WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson,...

  With a star-studded class entering the league, the 2026 WNBA Draft did not disappoint and three teams under rebuild did exceptionally well when on the clock making selections. Washington Mystics: A 4th Overall Pick: Lauren Betts, UCLA Coming into this draft with three First-Round picks (4th, 9th, and 11th), the Washington Mystics were looking to maximize the assets they had to build around their young core: Sonia Citron, Kiki Iriafen, and Georgia Amoore. With players like Azzi Fudd, Olivia Miles, and Awa Fam Thiam getting selected with the first three picks, the Mystics' first selection of the night was a no-brainer: Lauren Betts. The newly crowned National Champion out of UCLA was one of the top prospects entering the draft and was even in talks of being the First-Overall Pick at times. Standing at 6'7", Betts brings the height and size that the Mystics desperately need to play alongside Kiki Iriafen. In fact, Betts and Iriafen played together at Stanford in what would ...

  The 30th year of the WNBA has almost arrived! Here are the latest draft predictions and who to watch for in the 2026 WNBA Draft. Lottery Pick Projections 1. Dallas Wings: Azzi Fudd, UConn The First Overall Pick stirs up controversy and debates each year, but this year, it had been like no other. In past years, such debates may have been had over numerous players within a strong draft class, but in the 2026 draft it is commonly debated to be either Azzi Fudd or Olivia Miles. Both coming off impressive final collegiate seasons, Fudd and Miles both exhibit what the Dallas Wings need: a true point guard. Searching for the perfect guard to play around the 2025 First Overall Pick, Paige Bueckers, the Wings are fortunate to have such great options once again. In their senior seasons, both Fudd and Miles played phenomenally on all levels, though Miles outscored Fudd in every category aside from shooting splits. An all-around player, Miles can do it all as she averaged 19.6 points, 7.2 re...

  Quickly stacking up to five players entering the portal, it is rumored that Virginia Tech's Sophie Swanson and Spela Brecelj also intend to transfer. A Nationwide Rise in Portal Entries It is with no doubt that the statement can be made that the transfer portal has become a mess in terms of how many athletes enter it each year. Within just the first day of the transfer portal opening for men's and women's college basketball players, over 1,200 women have entered the portal. Because of this obscene number of players desiring to find a place somewhere else, a new rule is in the making. NCAA leadership is in talks of a new rule to be made that after August 1, 2026, college athletes may only transfer once in their collegiate careers. While this rule is still up in the air and being refined in hopes to control the chaos within the portal, there is one thing that many fans love to blame: NIL. Through NIL deals, college athletes are able to not only make money but make a name fo...

With a historic run full of records and defining show outs throughout the season, the UCLA Bruins make history, taking down the South Carolina Gamecocks and capturing their first National Championship. A Monstrous Final Victory What Worked for UCLA? Coming into this matchup, the clear goal of the South Carolina Gamecocks was simple: prevent the dominant scoring ability of UCLA's Lauren Betts, forcing the Bruins to rely on the other well-rounded seniors that played around the star center. UCLA held control this entire matchup with their largest lead being 35 points, though it came in an unexpected way. While South Carolina was able to keep Betts at just a 14-point 11-rebound double-double, it was UCLA's Gabriela Jaquez who stole the show. Shooting at least 50% from both field-goal percentage and beyond the arc, Jaquez had everything going for her in the biggest game of her college career. The senior guard's 20-piece was accompanied by 10 rebounds, recording just her second d...

Just hours after Mackenzie Nelson announced that she would transfer out of Virginia Tech, Carys Baker became the third Hokie to personally announce that she would be entering the transfer portal.  View this post on Instagram A post shared by Carys Baker (@carysbaker11) Baker's Time at Virginia Tech A Promising Freshman Role Entering the program as a true freshman during Coach Kenny Brooks' final year at Virginia Tech (2023-2024), Carys Baker had a slow start to her career. Because of her versatility in terms of post-work and outside shooting, Baker was able to contribute from anywhere for the Hokies. That said, in her freshman season, Baker didn't hear her number called as much because she was playing behind the perfect post-guard duo: Elizabeth Kitley and Georgia Amoore. Despite only seeing the court for an average of 11.8 minutes per game, Baker made the most of her playing time, recording as much as 13 points in their matchup with William & Mary. ...

Saturday afternoon, the redshirt sophomore guard for Virginia Tech, Mackenzie Nelson took to Instagram to announce her intentions to enter the transfer portal. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Mackie (@mac_nelson3) A Look Back at Nelson's Career at Virginia Tech Sidelined to Start Recruited by former Virginia Tech head coach, Kenny Brooks, Mackenzie Nelson was a prospect in which Hokie Nation was excited for. The 2x Gatorade Player of the Year for Connecticut brought promise for the future of Virginia Tech Women's Basketball as the Elizabeth Kitley and Georgia Amoore era was drawing to a close in the coming year. In what would have been her freshman season, Coach Brooks redshirted Nelson in the 2023-2024 season. This decision allowed for Nelson to utilize all four years of playing ability following this redshirt season while also surrounding her with the team she would soon join, to get a feel for what was to come. The opportunity to remain on th...

  Sending the two best teams in the country to the National Championship game, these two Final Four matchups showed the fire, competitiveness, and heart that comes with being at the top. Two Games: One Goal Togetherness Prevails as South Carolina Outplays UConn With their seasons on the line, both teams came out strong as the game was tight in the first half. Serah Williams got UConn started early with their first four points and sparked the little scoring of Sarah Strong who put up 8 points in the first half. Remaining fairly silent with just 2 points in the first half was the Huskies' Azzi Fudd who would only go on to score 8 points in the entire game. On South Carolina's end, Ta'Niya Latson was running it for the Gamecocks, keeping them behind just 2 points in the first half and contributing 6 points of her own and 16 total in the matchup to lead South Carolina to the victory. With the scoring contributions of Agot Makeer, Tessa Johnson, and Joyce Edwards, the Gamecocks ...