NEW YORK (AP) — The WNBA hoped to create some buzz with its inaugural Rivals Week, which is slated to begin on Saturday. Unfortunately, injuries to key players like Napheesa Collier, Breanna Stewart, Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese has dampened some of the excitement.
The week was set to tip-off with a primetime matchup between Clark's Fever and Reese's Sky on Saturday night. Clark is definitely out while still recovering from a groin strain that's sidelined her already for a few weeks. Reese has missed four of the past five games with a back injury.
Collier and Stewart were set for a second meeting between Minnesota and New York on Sunday, but neither will play in the game. Collier is sidelined with a sprained right ankle and Stewart has a bone bruise in her right knee. The two teams played an epic WNBA Finals last season, although both sides have downplayed it being a rivalry just yet.
“It’s a rivalry because of what happened in the Finals last year and I think it’s good that it has people talking,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said. “We have passionate fans. We have people talking about our league and that’s a good thing.”
Right now only four games separate second-place New York (18-10) from eighth place Golden State (14-14) with a month left in the season.
“The timing of that week is critical, because in August you start to really make that playoff push,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said back when the Rivals Week was announced. “So it would be great to have those matchups during that period to drive that playoff push into September and crown a champion in October.”
Minnesota remained the No. 1 team in the poll with Atlanta and New York behind the Lynx. Riding a five-game winning streak, Indiana moved up to fourth. Phoenix and Seattle followed the Fever. Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Golden State were the next three. Washington, Dallas, Connecticut and Chicago rounded out the poll. It's the first time since Week 6 that the Sun aren't at the bottom of the poll.
Las Vegas' blowout loss to Minnesota on Saturday drew an average viewership of 1.6 million fans, peaking at 2 million. As a whole, games on ABC are up 20% from the regular season last year on the network.
Collier of Minnesota was the AP player of the week after averaging 24 points, six rebounds and 3.5 assists to help the Lynx win both their games last week. Other players receiving votes included Allisha Gray of Atlanta, Natasha Howard of Indiana and Sabrina Ionescu of New York.
Minnesota at New York, Sunday. With Stewart and Collier both missing this game a little of the luster has come out of it. Still, it's a WNBA Finals rematch and there's definitely a little extra on this game.
AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese (5) reacts after receiving a traveling violation during the first half of a WNBA basketball game against the Minnesota Lynx Tuesday, July 22, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark looks on from the bench during the first half of a WNBA basketball game against the Dallas Wings Friday, Aug. 1, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Las Vegas Aces guard Jackie Young (0) defends against Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier (24) during the first half of a WNBA basketball game Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025, in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea have seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says has ties to Venezuela, part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil.
The U.S. Coast Guard boarded the tanker, named Veronica, early Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on social media. The ship had previously passed through Venezuelan waters and was operating in defiance of President Donald Trump’s "established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean,” she said.
U.S. Southern Command said Marines and sailors launched from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to take part in the operation alongside a Coast Guard tactical team, which Noem said conducted the boarding as in previous raids. The military said the ship was seized “without incident.”
Several U.S. government social media accounts posted brief videos that appeared to show various parts of the ship’s capture. Black-and-white footage showed at least four helicopters approaching the ship before hovering over the deck while armed troops dropped down by rope. At least nine people could be seen on the deck of the ship.
The Veronica is the sixth sanctioned tanker seized by U.S. forces as part of the effort by Trump’s administration to control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil products and the fourth since the U.S. ouster of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid almost two weeks ago.
The Veronica last transmitted its location on Jan. 3 as being at anchor off the coast of Aruba, just north of Venezuela’s main oil terminal. According to the data it transmitted at the time, the ship was partially filled with crude.
Days later, the Veronica became one of at least 16 tankers that left the Venezuelan coast in contravention of the quarantine that U.S. forces have set up to block sanctioned ships, according to Samir Madani, the co-founder of TankerTrackers.com. He said his organization used satellite imagery and surface-level photos to document the ship movements.
The ship is currently listed as flying the flag of Guyana and is considered part of the shadow fleet that moves cargoes of oil in violation of U.S. sanctions.
According to its registration data, the ship also has been known as the Gallileo, owned and managed by a company in Russia. In addition, a tanker with the same registration number previously sailed under the name Pegas and was sanctioned by the Treasury Department for being associated with a Russian company moving cargoes of illicit oil.
As with prior posts about such raids, Noem and the military framed the seizure as part of an effort to enforce the law. Noem argued that the multiple captures show that “there is no outrunning or escaping American justice.”
Speaking to reporters at the White House later Thursday, Noem declined to say how many sanctioned oil tankers the U.S. is tracking or whether the government is keeping tabs on freighters beyond the Caribbean Sea.
“I can’t speak to the specifics of the operation, although we are watching the entire shadow fleet and how they’re moving,” she told reporters.
But other officials in Trump's Republican administration have made clear they see the actions as a way to generate cash as they seek to rebuild Venezuela’s battered oil industry and restore its economy.
Trump met with executives from oil companies last week to discuss his goal of investing $100 billion in Venezuela to repair and upgrade its oil production and distribution. His administration has said it expects to sell at least 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan oil.
Associated Press writer Ben Finley contributed to this report.
This story has been corrected to show the Veronica is the fourth, not the third, tanker seized by U.S. forces since Maduro’s capture and the ship also has been known as the Gallileo, not the Galileo.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a press conference, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks at a news conference at Harry Reid International Airport, Nov. 22, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill, File)
