NEW YORK (AP) — The Minnesota Lynx have three straight games against the New York Liberty due to a scheduling quirk.
A rematch of last season's WNBA Finals feels in some ways like a playoff series for the Lynx, who beat the Liberty on Sunday 83-71 before traveling home. The team doesn't play again until hosting New York on Saturday. The Lynx then return to Barclays Center to face the Liberty on Aug. 19, playing three times in nine days.
“It’s a weird schedule, three games in nine days,” Minnesota guard Kayla McBride said. “You get to know a team and what they like to do."
New York doesn't have the same luxury, heading west for back-to-back games against Los Angeles and Las Vegas on Tuesday and Wednesday before traveling to play Minnesota for the home and home set.
“It would have been nice to have it be spread out a little bit,” New York coach Sandy Brondello said. “It’s a series with a few games extra for us, not for them.”
This is the fifth time since 2013 that one team has played another in three straight games in the regular season, according to Stats Perform. New York and Las Vegas played three straight games against each other in 2022. The year before the Lynx had three consecutive matchups against Indiana.
A number of factors go into scheduling such as arena availability.
The two teams will have played four times over a three-week stretch with Minnesota winning the first matchup at home on July 30.
New York star Breanna Stewart will most likely miss all of the games while recovering from a bone bruise in her right knee. Minnesota's Napheesa Collier, who is a front-runner for the MVP this season, was out for Sunday's matchup while dealing with a sprained right ankle. She might miss the next two meetings as well as she recovers.
“You never know what’s going to happen with teams and like the league didn’t know that Phee and I were both going to be out,” Stewart said. “You want to see everybody full throttle. That's the first game of the season or the second or the third, not August.”
Minnesota (27-5) currently has the best record in the WNBA with New York 6 1/2 games behind.
AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve calls out to players during the first half of a WNBA basketball game against the Las Vegas Aces Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025, in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)
WENGEN, Switzerland (AP) — Host Italy has a new contender in Alpine skiing with the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics three weeks away.
Giovanni Franzoni claimed his first World Cup victory on the famed Lauberhorn course in a super-G Friday — four months after his close friend and former roommate, Matteo Franzoso, died in a crash during preseason training in Chile.
The 24-year-old Franzoni — a former world junior champion in super-G, downhill and Alpine combined — was the first racer on course and took advantage of the No. 1 bib to deliver a near-perfect run.
Reaching a top speed of 140.44 kph (87 mph), Franzoni finished 0.35 seconds ahead of Stefan Babinsky of Austria and 0.37 ahead of downhill world champion Franjo von Allmen of Switzerland.
Franzoni handled the tricky Canadian Corner and Kernen S sections on the upper portion of the course cleaner than anyone else.
“I made the difference on the turn where I crashed a few years ago,” he said, referring to his season-ending fall in a super-G in 2023 that resulted in thigh surgery.
Swiss overall World Cup leader Marco Odermatt, a four-time winner in Wengen, placed fourth, 0.53 behind.
The top American was Ryan Cochran-Siegle in sixth.
Franzoni also led both downhill training sessions and could be a contender in the classic downhill on Saturday. His previous best World Cup finish was third in a super-G on home snow in Val Gardena last month.
Now Franzoni will be among the leaders for Italy’s team in Bormio, where men’s Alpine skiing will be contested during the Olympics.
“If you had told me that I would be third in Val Gardena and then win here — on the two courses that I've had the most trouble on — I wouldn't have believed it,” Franzoni said.
The opening ceremony for the Games is scheduled for Feb. 6.
“I don't know about the future, but the present has changed," Franzoni said. "We always live day by day.”
Marco Schwarz, the Austrian who won the previous super-G in Livigno, Italy, last month, missed the race due to sickness.
Also sitting out this weekend is Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, the Norwegian standout who returned this season after a horrific crash in Wengen two years ago.
“This year," Kilde said on Instagram this week, "it’s just a little too early.”
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Giovanni Franzoni of Italy takes a jump during the alpine ski, men's World Cup super-G race, in Wengen, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP)
Switzerland's Marco Odermatt reacts at finish line during an alpine ski, men's World Cup super-G, in Wengen, Switzerland, Friday Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanni Zenoni)
Switzerland's Franjo von Allmen reacts at finish line during an alpine ski, men's World Cup super-G, in Wengen, Switzerland, Friday Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanni Zenoni)
Austria's Stefan Babinsky speeds down the course during an alpine ski, men's World Cup super-G, in Wengen, Switzerland, Friday Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)
Italy's Giovanni Franzoni reacts at finish line during an alpine ski, men's World Cup super-G, in Wengen, Switzerland, Friday Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanni Zenoni)
Italy's Giovanni Franzoni speeds down the course during an alpine ski, men's World Cup super-G, in Wengen, Switzerland, Friday Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)
