In N.W.S.L. Season to Forget, One Last Day to Cheer

By BY KEVIN DRAPER from NYT Sports After the Washington Spirit and Chicago Red Stars meet for the championship, their league will enter the most consequential off-season in its history.https://nyti.ms/3kVjwOC

N.C.A.A. Expands Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament

By BY ALAN BLINDER from NYT Sports Beginning with the competition in March 2022, the women’s bracket will include 68 teams, up from 64, as the N.C.A.A. continues to try to rectify gender disparities.https://nyti.ms/3CpHHus

Jane Brown Grimes, a Rare Female Force in Tennis, Dies at 80

By BY RICHARD SANDOMIR from NYT Sports She was a top executive at three organizations, including the International Tennis Hall of Fame, where she was later inducted.https://nyti.ms/3c9xTtW

Transgender Athletes Face Bans From Girls’ Sports in 10 U.S. States

By BY DAVID W. CHEN from NYT Sports Over the past two years, nine states have enacted laws to bar transgender girls and women from competing in girls’ and women’s sports. Another relied on an executive order for a ban.https://nyti.ms/3ml1JS7

Outside Hotlines for Athletes Are a Sign of Strained Trust in Sports

By BY DAVID W. CHEN from NYT Sports From women’s soccer to college sports, athletes have lost faith in leagues and organizations handling abuse and other complaints.https://nyti.ms/3EaPvBz

New Chief of Women’s Soccer League Vows to ‘Get Our House in Order’

By BY JULIET MACUR from NYT Sports Marla Messing, installed as the interim chief executive of the National Women’s Soccer League, takes over after the league was rocked by allegations of abuse of players.https://nyti.ms/3BWVysC

Raiders Coach’s Emails Included Homophobic and Misogynistic Comments

By BY KEN BELSON AND KATHERINE ROSMAN from NYT Sports A trove of emails in a separate workplace misconduct case shows Raiders Coach Jon Gruden went beyond previously disclosed racist comments to issue broad tirades.https://nyti.ms/3avycOA

Headgear Reduces Concussions in High School Girls’ Lacrosse, Study Shows

By BY BILL PENNINGTON from NYT Sports A University of Florida study includes data from roughly 350,000 games and practices in more than 30 states. Headgear for girls has been mandated in Florida since 2015, and remains hotly debated.https://nyti.ms/3Dn16wV

N.C.A.A. to Use ‘March Madness’ Slogan for Women’s Basketball, Too

By BY ALANIS THAMES from NYT Sports The slogan has long applied only to the men’s college basketball tournament, drawing criticism that the women’s game has been left behind.https://nyti.ms/3ojKjXh

Seattle Has a Winning Basketball Team. Good Luck Finding a Jersey.

By BY KURT STREETER from NYT Sports Inside the arena, Seattle Storm fans bring the passion. Outside, the city has yet to fully embrace a team that has won four W.N.B.A. championships.https://nyti.ms/3hRFPDk

Seattle Has a Winning Basketball Team. Good Luck Finding a Jersey.

By BY KURT STREETER from NYT Sports Inside the arena, Seattle Storm fans bring the passion. Outside, the city has yet to fully embrace a team that has won four W.N.B.A. championships.https://nyti.ms/3AtO8wf

U.S. Soccer Proposes Collective Talks on Equal Pay

By BY ANDREW DAS from NYT Sports Seeking a new way out of a costly legal battle, U.S. Soccer’s president asks the men’s and women’s teams to negotiate together on the biggest obstacle: World Cup bonuses.https://nyti.ms/3E6h4N7

What to Know About the Sexual Misconduct Lawsuits Against Deshaun Watson

By BY BEN SHPIGEL from NYT Sports Twenty-two women have filed civil lawsuits in Texas accusing the quarterback of a pattern of coercive and lewd behavior.https://nyti.ms/3zY9iT7

Breanna Stewart’s Golden Journey to Motherhood

By BY KURT STREETER from NYT Sports “I went from one emotion to the next,” the W.N.B.A. star said. “From winning a gold medal to realizing, OK, I’m going home, and my daughter is going to be born in less than 24 hours.”https://nyti.ms/3iOH9aI

Facing Outrage Over Bikini Rule, Handball League Signals ‘Likely’ Change

By BY JENNY GROSS from NYT Sports In the weeks since Norway’s women’s beach handball team was fined for wearing shorts instead of bikini bottoms, other countries have increased pressure for a change in federation rules.https://nyti.ms/2VNr6AU

Joan Ullyot, Debunker of Limits on Women Who Run, Dies at 80

By BY ANNABELLE WILLIAMS from NYT Sports Dr. Ullyot argued in her research, and showed over miles and miles in competition herself, that, yes, women are built to run marathons. Olympic officials finally agreed.https://nyti.ms/3rRvhI0

Katie Ledecky aims to be the long-awaited first female champ in an Olympic 1,500 freestyle.

By BY MATTHEW FUTTERMAN AND GWEN KNAPP from NYT Sports https://nyti.ms/3rE1ZfJ

The Olympics Rely on, but Don’t Support, Black Girl Magic

By BY KURT STREETER from NYT Sports Naomi Osaka, Simone Biles and Gwen Berry are among the Black women athletes who will be counted on to provide standout performances in Tokyo even as they fight to be respected.https://nyti.ms/3By3MYf

Paralympic world champion speaks out after she was told her shorts were ‘too revealing.’

By BY AMANDA MORRIS from NYT Sports Britain’s Olivia Breen said male athletes took off their shirts without incident, but she was told her briefs were too short.https://nyti.ms/3BoaD6Q

Women’s Handball Players Are Fined for Rejecting Bikini Uniforms

By BY JENNY GROSS from NYT Sports Norway’s beach handball players were each fined 150 euros for wearing shorts rather than the required bikini bottoms. A spokeswoman for the International Handball Federation said she didn’t know the reason for the rule.https://nyti.ms/3roGZd5