Joe Fagnano Makes Ravens 53-Man Roster, Bueckers, Stewart Battling for Playoff Positioning
FAGNANO MAKES BALTIMORE RAVENS 53-MAN ROSTER
Husky fans received exciting news on Sunday night after the Baltimore Ravens announced that Joe Fagnano had made their initial 53-man roster. The former Husky star put the finishing touches on Friday during the Raven’s final preseason game after throwing 19-of-27 for 162 passing yards with two touchdowns, one passing and one rushing, in a 41-3 Baltimore victory against the Washington Commanders.
In three games, Fagnano went 56-of-75 for 509 passing yards with four total touchdowns (three passing and one rushing). The 509 passing yards led the entire NFL, while the 74.7 completion percentage was second, only behind the Los Angeles Rams 2026 first-round pick and former Alabama quarterback star Ty Simpson. Fagnano’s 100.4 passer rating was fourth-best behind Joe Milton III (former Tennessee quarterback), Simpson and Kyle McCord (former Ohio State/Syracuse QB)
The Ravens went 3-0 during the preseason, outscoring their opponents by a total of 65 points, by far the largest point differential in the league. The Rams had the second-best point differential at +44.
Fangno is one of three quarterbacks on the Ravens’ roster, alongside two-time MVP Lamar Jackson and Tyler Huntley.
Justin Joly
In the fourth quarter of the Denver Broncos’ final preseason game, Justin Joly snuck past the Minnesota Vikings’ defense to haul in a wide-open 88-yard touchdown in a 34-6 victory. Joly was open about nearly the distance between Rentschler Field to Storrs, but the former Husky registered his first career NFL preseason touchdown in the 28-point victory. Joly finished the game with two catches for a team-leading 95 yards and the one score.
In three preseason games, the Broncos 2026 fifth round pick caught five passes for 105 yards and one touchdown.
Joly was waived by the Broncos on Sunday per @mikeklis9news/X. On Sunday night, Broncos GM explained why they decided to let go their fifth round pick from the 2026 NFL Draft.
Editor's Note: Shifting to our WNBA coverage, following Sunday’s August 30th results, the league will now enter a two-week pause for the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup. The regular season will resume on Thursday September 17th and end on Thursday September 24th. The WNBA postseason will begin three days later on Sunday September 27th.
BUECKERS’ 17 SPOILS EDWARDS’ 26 IN WINGS WIN
Aaliyah Edwards capped the strongest month of her career thus far by tying her career-high with 26 points in a 97-71 loss to the Dallas Wings in Texas on Sunday night. Edwards had set that mark just five days earlier against the Chicago Sky. The third-year player shot 8-of-16 from the field, including 2-of-3 from three and 8-of-9 from behind the arc. The two three-pointers marked the first time in Edwards’ career that she made multiple three-pointers in the same game. Entering this season, she had made zero three-pointers in her career, going 0-of-25 from beyond the arc. With four games remaining in the season, she is now 6-of-14 from three-point range.
In six games during the month of August, she averaged a career-best 16.8 points per game for a single month, along with 6.3 rebounds, while shooting 38-of-68 (55.8%) from the field, 2-of-4 (50.0%) from three-point range and 23-of-27 (85.2%) from the free-throw line.
Meanwhile, Paige Bueckers scored 15 points with six assists as the Wings jumped out to a 32-18 first quarter lead and never looked back. Bueckers accounted for 10 of those points between three field goals and two assists.
Christyn Williams made her 2026 WNBA debut as the former Husky played the final five minutes of the game. She scored one point on 1-of-2 from the free throw line along with one rebound. The Wings signed Williams to a Developmental contract back on August 14th, five days before Azzi Fudd was ruled out for the season with a knee injury.
Olivia Nelson-Ododa missed her fourth straight game with a right knee injury.
Heading into the World Cup break, the Wings, Washington Mystics and New York Liberty are tied for sixth place with identical 24-16 records. All three teams have clinched playoff berths, but the final five games of the regular season will likely determine which team earns the sixth, seventh and eighth seeds.
STEWART, LIBERTY WIN SEASON-SERIES AGAINST STEVENS, SKY
For the third time in four tries, the New York Liberty defeated the Chicago Sky on Saturday afternoon after an 85-66 win in Brooklyn. The previous two New York victories were each by one point, but after the Liberty outscored the Sky 21-11 in the first quarter, they never looked back.
Breanna Stewart scored five of her 13 points in the opening 10 minutes. She nearly finished with a double-double after recording nine rebounds, two steals and two blocks in 27 minutes. Azura Stevens posted six points and one block in 20 minutes for the Sky.
COLLIER STARTS HOT, FADES OVER FINAL THREE QUARTERS
For the first time all season, the Minnesota Lynx have dropped its second straight game after falling to the Atlanta Dream 89-81 on Sunday. Naphessa Collier scored 17 points (11 in the first quarter) with seven rebounds, two assists and two steals in 35 minutes. She went 4-of-6 from the field in the opening quarter, including 1-of-1 from three-point range and the free-throw line, before scoring just four points on 1-of-9 shooting for the rest of the game.
Dorka Juhasz did not play as she joined Team Hungary earlier in the week ahead of the FIBA World Cup games.
GOLDEN STATE INCHES CLOSER TO LYNX TOP SPOT
In just her second start of the season, Tiffany Hayes scored a game-high 18 points while Kaityln Chen netted 15 points in a 86-69 Golden State Valkyries’ victory at the Portland Fire on Sunday. Kiah Stokes was held scoreless in 12 minutes and Serah Williams recorded eight points and five rebounds for the Fire. Golden State leading scorer Gabby Williams did not play as she joined Team USA ahead of the FIBA World Cup games.
The visitors jumped out to a 28-14 lead in the opening quarter, with Hayes and Chen both playing a key role in the early surge. Hayes scored eight of the first 10 Valkyrie points in the opening four-plus minutes. Then it was Chen who accounted for the next five Golden State points after picking up an assist in transition and then knocking in an open three-pointer for a 15-4 Golden State lead. Hayes finished her 14-point first quarter with two straight three-pointers to give Golden State a two-touchdown lead. Williams scored all eight of her points in the second half for Portland.
Following the Lynx’s loss to the Dream, Golden State (29-11) is two games back of the Minnesota Lynx for the number one seed in the upcoming WNBA playoffs. The Fire (16-24) have lost four out of their last five games.
NURSE CATCHES FIRE FROM THREE AGAINST ACES
For the second time in four games, Kia Nurse connected on four three-pointers, but the Toronto Tempo fell behind by 10 points after the first quarter and could never recover, falling 93-73 to the Las Vegas Aces on Friday night. Nurse finished the game with 12 points in 25 minutes.
Then on Saturday, Nurse scored two points on 1-of-4 shooting, including 0-of-2 from behind the arc in a 101-69 Tempo loss to the Phoenix Mercury.
Nurse started both games against the Aces and Mercury, marking her second and third starts of the season.
Toronto (11-29) has now lost four games in a row.
Chris Freeman (Houston Texans)
- Waived back August 14th per @jonmalexander/X
Chase Lundt (Buffalo Bills)
- SUNDAY: Waived by the Buffalo Bills per @JoeBuscagila/X
Valentine Senn (Arizona Cardinals)
- SUNDAY: Waived by the Arizona Cardinals per @TannerPhifer/X
Nate Carter (Atlanta Falcons)
- FRIDAY: Four carries for 13 yards in a 17-12 victory against the Miami Dolphins. Carter played in all three Falcons’ preseason games and rushed 27 times for 63 yards (2.3 yards per carry) and one rushing touchdown.
- Carter was waived by the Falcons on Sunday per @marcraimondi/X
Lou Hansen (Houston Texans)
- FRIDAY: One catch for four yards in a 16-13 loss to the Carolina Panthers. Hansen caught two passes for seven yards in two preseason games.
- Hansen was waived by the Texans on Sunday per AaronWIlson_NFL/X
Serah Williams (Portland Fire)
- FRIDAY: 0 points (0-1 FG), 2 rebounds, 2 blocks in 13 minutes. The Fire defeated the Atlanta Dream 101-83.
Katie Lou Samuelson (Seattle Storm)
- SUNDAY: 4 points (1-4 FG, 0-3 3-FG, 2-2 FT), 2 assists, 1 steal in 17 minutes. The Storm were defeated by the Los Angeles Sparks 90-74.
Stefanie Dolson (Seattle Storm)
- SUNDAY: 5 rebounds, 3 assists in 14 minutes. The Storm were defeated by the Los Angeles Sparks 90-74.
George Springer
Springer will enter the month of September on a five-game hitting streak as the former Husky is hitting batting .556 (10-18) with five extra base hits (three doubles, two home runs), along with four RBI’s and five runs during that stretch. Springer, whose batting average couldn’t get his average above .215 until mid June, is now batting .254 on the season with 14 home runs and 45 runs batted in.
Anthony Sears
In his second career major league appearance, Anthony Sears was dialed in against the back-to-back World Series champions, Los Angeles Dodgers. The southpaw allowed just two hits in 2 ⅔ scoreless innings in a 2-1 Detroit Tigers victory.
Sears entered the game in the top of the seventh with the score tied at 1-1. After allowing a leadoff double to Kyle Tucker, the former Husky got the next three batters in order. First, he retired Teoscar Hernandez on a fly out to center field, struck out Kike Hernandez swinging and on a 3-2 count got Miquel Rojas to fly out to right field to end the inning. Sears continued his groove into the eighth inning against three future Hall of Farmers:
An impressive feat for the 23-year-old, who faced three hitters in the top of the ninth inning. Sears induced a popout from Max Muncy, surrendered a single to Tommy Edman, and then got revenge on Tucker by forcing him to ground into a fielder’s choice for the second out of the inning. Kenley Jansen relieved Sears, who left the ballgame with the score still tied at 1.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Tigers walked off on a Kevin McGonigle walk-off single.
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