It was a week that captured everything WNBA basketball can be: a rookie rewriting the record books, a veteran big making her case as the league's most consistent force, and a seven-time All-Star delivering a scorched-earth indictment of her own franchise. Notre Dame alumni were at the center of all of it.
Olivia Miles Is Already Historic
The accolades keep coming for the Lynx's rookie guard. Miles was named WNBA Rookie of the Month for August — a recognition that feels almost understated given the records she's been breaking. The former Irish star has surpassed a former Finals MVP with a record-setting statistical feat, and WNBA legend Diana Taurasi has publicly singled her out as women's basketball's most transcendent young star — a distinction that bypasses even Caitlin Clark in Taurasi's estimation.
Miles continued to produce even in defeat. In Minnesota's 89-81 loss to the Atlanta Dream on Sunday — the game that snapped the Lynx's eight-game winning streak — she dropped 21 points and five rebounds. The loss dropped Minnesota to 31-9, but the team's road résumé remains elite; it was just their third road loss of the season. Fellow Irish alum Kayla McBride added 17 points and three steals in the defeat.
The record Miles broke came in that very game, which made the loss sting a little more. The Lynx, still firmly in playoff position, will look to regroup after the FIBA World Cup break.
Shepard and the Wings Are Rolling
While the Lynx stumbled, the Dallas Wings soared. Jessica Shepard posted 17 points and 10 rebounds in a dominant 97-71 win over the Connecticut Sun on Monday night, notching her 22nd double-double of the season — a stunning number that underscores her emergence as one of the most reliable big players in the league. She finished with a +19 plus-minus, and the Wings have now won four straight.
The 24-16 record is the franchise's best since 2007, when the team played as the Detroit Shock. Fellow Notre Dame alum Arike Ogunbowale chipped in 18 points and a +10 in the blowout, giving the Irish a two-player punch that helped send Connecticut home badly beaten. The win came in the final game before the FIBA World Cup break, giving Dallas maximum momentum heading into the stretch run.
Diggins Calls Out the Sky — Loudly
The most combustible storyline of the week has nothing to do with wins or losses. Skylar Diggins was officially placed on the season-ending injury list with a right knee injury, ending her first season in Chicago. She will focus on recovery and return in 2027.
But Diggins didn't go quietly. At a press conference, she made clear she believes the knee injury is not a coincidence — and pointed directly at the Chicago Sky's still-unfinished practice facility as her biggest frustration. "A lot of us were promised that," she said of the facility, according to reporting. The comments landed like a thunderclap, with Diggins calling out the organization's lack of resources and infrastructure in unusually direct terms for an active player.
The Sky signed Diggins this offseason on a two-year deal. That investment now sits in jeopardy, with a franchise already under scrutiny facing pointed criticism from one of its highest-profile players.
For Notre Dame, the week was a study in contrasts: the future arriving in Minneapolis in the form of Miles, the present thriving in Dallas with Shepard and Ogunbowale, and a painful situation in Chicago that Diggins refuses to let anyone ignore.
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