Roses Are Champions! A Look Back On Unrivaled’s Inaugural Season
- Christina Colistra
- Mar 26
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 4
The Roses are the first-ever Unrivaled Champions! The league’s inaugural season ended on March 17. While the season was short, a lot happened in those eight weeks. Let’s take a look back at this exciting season.
Team Records
The Unrivaled championship took place on March 17. The Roses won against the Vinyls 62-52.
The Roses finished with a record of 8-6 while the Vinyls finished 5-9. The Laces and Lunar Owls fell short of winning during the semi-finals. The Laces had a good run during the season with seven wins and seven losses. The Lunar Owls overwhelmingly had the best record with 13 wins and just one loss. The Mist and Phantom did not make the playoffs. The Mist had a record of 5-9 and the Phantom’s was 4-10.
Crown The One
One of the most exciting parts of the season was the 1v1 tournament where they “Crown The One.” All of the players, minus a few who were injured, competed in the tournament. The players were competing for $350,000; where they could win up to $200,000 for themselves. Each teammate of the winner would win $10,000 each, the runner-up would receive $50,000 and the players that made it to the semifinals would receive $25,000.
One of the biggest shocks during the 1v1 was in the first round. Number eight seed Aaliyah Edwards from the Mist BC played against her clubmate Breanna Stewart, who was the number one seed. Stewart went scoreless against Edwards.
The final four of the 1v1 consisted of Azurá Stevens playing Naphessa Collier and Aaliyah Edwards playing Arike Ogunbowale. Collier and Edwards moved onto the final round. The final went for three rounds with Collier winning two of them and was crowned the one winning $200,000.
Making History
Unrivaled is changing basketball for women and with that comes a lot of history and barriers they are breaking. One of those barriers is pay. Unrivaled is the highest paying professional women’s sports league. Most players have a higher salary in Unrivaled than they do in the Women’s National Basketball Association. While they have a set salary, they have the opportunity to make more money through the 1v1 tournament and the championship game. Each player on the championship team receives $50,000.
Notable Players
Napheesa Collier was named the Most Valuable Player of the league. Collier played a huge role in the Lunar Owls winning 13 out of their 14 games. She proved herself to be one of the best players in the league for 3v3 and in the 1v1 tournament. Collier averaged 25.7 points and 10.6 rebounds per game.
Angel Reese was named Unrivaled Defensive Player of the Year. Reese led her team, Rose, in blocked shots for this reason. She also led the league in rebounds per game, which was 12.2.
Chelsea Gray was named Unrivaled Finals Most Valuable Player. During the championship game, Gray put up 18 points and had eight assists. Along with previously winning a WNBA Championship, being named WNBA Finals MVP, and an Olympic Gold Medal, Gray can now add Unrivaled Champion and Unrivaled Finals MVP to her list of accomplishments.
Fashion
Unrivaled players showed up to their games in style. Players had fun with their fits and made sure to pop off for the Sephora tunnel.
Courtesy of Mist Basketball Club, Lace Basketball Club via Threads
Edited by Brittany Snow
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