MIAMI — After drawing an and-1 opportunity on the last play of the game, Brittney Sykes knocked down the game-winning free throw and Rose beat Vinyl 62-54 to secure Unrivaled’s inaugural championship, capping off the first season of the women’s 3-on-3 basketball league.
It was ironic the game ended on this play. Sykes said that before the game that she was working with Rose coach Nolda Henry on drawing the exact kind of foul that ultimately sent her to the line to win the game.
In the moment Sykes was light-headed, she said.
“I had been cheering on Chelsea too hard,” Sykes said.
Gray was awarded the playoff MVP award after her 18-point, eight-assist performance. She entered Unrivaled with a chip on her shoulder. Coming off of a disappointing season in the WNBA, she had something to prove.
“Hell yeah, there was motivation,” Gray said. “Last year was hard. It was rough. Even when I came back I wasn’t 100%. A lot of people thought I was. I put the work in, I do my job and then I talk after…I want to compete and make others better. That’s always been my goal. So yeah, I had a little chip on my shoulder and also that $50k on the line.”
As Gray alluded to, each player on the championship-winning club is awarded $50,000 in prize money, in addition to what they say to be the highest average salary in women’s sports, plus equity in the league.
Coming off of a league-high 39 points in the semifinals the night before, Gray’s 7-of-22 shooting performance could be considered a slower-scoring night.
But she had her fingerprints all over the game, namely through her facilitating.
Early in the second quarter, as Vinyl doubled Gray, cutting off her access to the basket or any clear looks to her teammate, she flashed Stevens a look directing her to cut toward the hoop. As Stevens made her move, Gray threw a no-look over-the-shoulder pass, hitting Stevens directly on target, who was now a wide-open lay-in.
“Point gawd right there,” Stevens yelled out during their team-wide news conference. Stevens was the primary beneficiary of Gray’s court vision and passing abilities on Monday, finishing with 19 points and 18 rebounds.
With no Angel Reese, who missed her second straight game with a left-hand injury, Stevens was tasked with picking up the slack left by Unrivaled’s Defensive Player of the Year.
“I knew they were going to put two on the ball, so I said Z if you roll, I’m going to hit you every time,” Gray said about her teammate. “Z was so efficient tonight. She was huge. Getting inside the paint, rolling, and playing defense. I am really proud of her. She was sprinting into screens, making herself available and she knew I would pass her the basketball if she was open.”
“Without Angel, we knew we had to step it up,” Steven said. “As the other big, I had to step up.”
Rose has been shorthanded all season long, missing Kahleah Copper for the final five weeks of the season with a right leg injury.
“We are a team of relentless dogs that refused to be denied,” Rose coach Nola Henry said at center court during the trophy presentation. “From day one they counted us out. Kah went down, they counted us out. Azura was out and they counted us out. Angel down, they counted us out. What they gonna say now?”
Unrivaled’s format features three seven-minute quarters and a fourth-quarter played toward a “winning score” which is calculated by adding 11 points to the team leading heading into the final period.
Monday’s target score was 62. Gray hit a midrange jumper just above the free throw line to get the Rose to 57 points. On the next play, Stevens got a piece of the ball to make Vinyl’s Jordin Canada miss and then secured the rebound. She passed the ball back to Gray, who took another jumper, this time just inside the 3-point line, bringing the Rose to 59. This set up Sykes’ game-winning 3-point play.
The Rose started the season going 1-4. Copper sent Henry a negative post she saw about Rose on “X”, and they decided to print it out and post it on the wall of their locker room as a reminder and motivation.
“Everyone in the locker room, we know what we are capable of,” Copper said. “We know what we could do. And you know what we did? What did we do? No. 1. In the inaugural season. Shoutout to unrivaled!”
