THE EVE EDITION
FIRST BLUSH | WED OCT 21
Atlanta gets its first home WNBA Finals game in 13 years tonight, and it gets it with the series level. Angel Reese’s 30 points and 16 rebounds gave the Dream the first Finals win in franchise history on Monday in San Francisco, and Golden State, beaten only once in these playoffs before that, now has to win in Atlanta to take control again.
The afternoon belongs to Rotterdam, where China and the United States start the team final 0.467 apart after qualifying. Supertubos has its finals day too, with two world champions, Molly Picklum and Caitlin Simmers, still in the women’s draw and Picklum fresh from ending Erin Brooks’ 15-heat winning streak. In Ningbo, Marta Kostyuk starts her week with the last WTA Finals place still in sight.
Top-10 volleyball comes to Knoxville tonight when #4 Kentucky visits #9 Tennessee, the U-17 Women’s World Cup sends Canada, Japan and Brazil back out in the second round of group games, and the LPGA starts its week in South Korea late tonight.
#2 Golden State Valkyries at #4 Atlanta Dream
Atlanta beat Golden State 79-65 on Monday for the first Finals win in franchise history, after 10 straight losses dating to 2010, and brings the series home level. Angel Reese scored 30 with 16 rebounds on 10 of 16 shooting, and the Dream held the Valkyries to nine points in the third quarter. Gabby Williams, who scored 26 in Golden State’s 68-64 win in Game 1, made 3 of 15 shots in Game 2, while Jordin Canada had 13 points and 10 assists. The Valkyries won all three regular-season meetings and had lost only once in the playoffs before Monday. Game 4 is also at State Farm Arena, on Saturday at 1:00 PM.
EVE’s Edge: Atlanta to win, 77-71. Reese has found her rhythm, and a first home crowd of the series gives the Dream the edge in another low-scoring night. (Series tied 1-1.)
Ekaterina Alexandrova vs. #3 Marta Kostyuk
Kostyuk opens her week 10th in the Race to the WTA Finals with 3,920 points, 815 behind Karolína Muchová, who holds the last place in the eight-woman field. A Ningbo title is worth 500, so she needs more than this week, but Iga Świątek’s withdrawal has left her the nearest player still chasing. Kostyuk had a first-round bye as the #3 seed. She beat Alexandrova 6-3, 6-2 in the third round of the US Open and comes in off a three-set loss to Maria Sakkari in Wuhan. Alexandrova, last year’s runner-up here, beat wildcard Hanyu Guo 6-2, 6-3 on Tuesday, and defending champion Elena Rybakina leads the draw.
EVE’s Edge: Kostyuk to win, 6-4, 6-3. She has the bigger reason to be here, and she handled Alexandrova easily in New York.
Women’s Finals at Supertubos
Molly Picklum ended Erin Brooks’ run of 15 straight heat wins in the quarterfinals, closing out the first surfer since Stephanie Gilmore in 2008 to win three tour events in a row. Brooks still climbed to fourth. The win moves Picklum to second in the live rankings, and a title here, her first of the year, would take the lead from Carissa Moore. She meets Lakey Peterson, who knocked out Portuguese hope Teresa Bonvalot. Caitlin Simmers beat Moore 11.50-8.93 and faces Bettylou Sakura Johnson, who edged wildcard Kika Veselko 7.43-7.34.
EVE’s Edge: Picklum to win Peniche, over Simmers in the final. She has never reached a final in Portugal, but she surfed the closing minutes against Brooks like a world champion.
Women’s Team Final in Rotterdam
China and the United States finished qualifying 0.467 apart, China on top with 164.996. The Americans were better on vault, bars and floor, but China outscored them by nearly three and a half points on beam, where Qingying Zhang posted the best score of the competition, 15.100. Skye Blakely was second in the all-around and reached three event finals, and Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade topped vault. Germany and Great Britain missed the final. Eight teams start from zero, with three up and all three scores counting on every event, so one fall can swing the title.
EVE’s Edge: USA to win gold, China silver. The Americans were stronger on three of the four events, and a clean beam rotation is all they need to turn qualifying around.
#4 Kentucky at #9 Tennessee
Kentucky is 15-3, and setter Kassie O’Brien leads the nation with 11.80 assists per set. Brooklyn DeLeye hit .593 with 34 kills in wins at Oklahoma and Arkansas last week and became the program’s career aces leader, and Morgan Gaerte had nine blocks at Oklahoma. Tennessee has won five straight, leads the nation with 14.73 kills per set and holds opponents to .182 hitting. Kennedi Rogers averages 4.55 kills per set and Chelsea Sutton 1.37 blocks. It is the 91st meeting between the programs, and Kentucky won both last season, the second a four-set SEC Tournament semifinal.
EVE’s Edge: Kentucky to win, 3-1. Tennessee’s attack can win sets in Knoxville, but O’Brien and DeLeye give the Wildcats the steadier offense over four.
UNBUCKLING THE BELT
U-17 Women’s World Cup. The second round of group games continues with Canada against Norway and Japan against France at 11:00 AM, then Ghana against Brazil and Venezuela against Zambia at 2:00 PM.
EuroLeague Women. Fenerbahçe visit Rapid Bucharest at 12:30 PM, and FC Barcelona play at Valencia Basket at 2:00 PM, both on YouTube.
LPGA. The first round in Haenam, South Korea, starts on Golf Channel at 10:00 PM.
AEW. Women’s matches and segments from Coral Gables at 8:00 PM on TBS / HBO Max.