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Unrivaled basketball: Highlights from Monday night wins by Lunar Owls, Laces

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MEDLEY, Fla. — Two of the six Unrivaled teams have finished the first two weeks of the new women’s basketball league’s season with undefeated records.

The good news is fans won’t have to wait long to see them face each other.

The Lunar Owls and Laces, both 4-0, will meet in the second of two games Friday night in Unrivaled’s third week.

League co-founder Napheesa Collier had 19 points and 16 rebounds, while Allisha Gray added 19 points and the game-winning basket for the Lunar Owls in a 67-57 win over the Vinyl in the first of two games Monday.

Kayla McBride scored 31 points, including the game-winning basket, and Tiffany Hayes added 24 points to help the Laces remain undefeated with a 71-62 win over the Rose in the second game.

McBride is looking forward to facing two of her teammates from the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx — Collier and point guard Courtney Williams — on Friday night.

“It's just an interesting dynamic because two of my teammates are on that team. My other teammates. They're not my teammates right now. But looking forward to that, and hopefully just keep building on what we're doing,” McBride said after the win.

The Unrivaled league continues to be a work in progress with players and coaches growing more familiar with the fast-paced, full-court and 3-on-3 format.

McBride said she felt like she played more than the 19 minutes she logged in Monday’s game, just from the back-and-forth nature of the 72-foot court (94 feet is standard regulation) and with two fewer players on the court.

“I think just taking two people off the court, you have every single person involved in every play,” Collier said after her game. “I think that's a big difference.”

While the Lunar Owls and Laces are undefeated, the Vinyl team led by Rhyne Howard and Arike Ogunbawale fell to 2-2 after losing both games in Week 2.

The Phantom and the Rose were able to get their first wins of the season on Saturday night, but are 1-3. They'll meet in the first game Friday before the Lunar Owls and Laces play.

The Mist, led by Unrivaled co-founder Breanna Stewart, are 0-4 after the first two weeks.

Check out these highlights from USA TODAY Sports on Monday night's Unrivaled games:

Laces vs. Rose highlights

Lunar Owls vs. Vinyl highlights

Unrivaled final score: Laces 71, Rose 64

Kayla McBride scored 31 points, including the game-winning basket, and the Laces remain undefeated with a 71-62 win over the Rose on Monday night.

Tiffany Hayes added 24 points, while Kate Martin had seven points and six rebounds in the win.

But both players missed potential game-winning free throws, while McBride also missed a drive to the basket in the fourth quarter.

Still, the Laces were able to stay undefeated.

The Laces and Lunar Owls are the only 4-0 teams in Unrivaled after the first two weeks of action.

Brittney Sykes had 18 points, while Angle Reese had 17 points and seven rebounds for the Rose, who got their first win Friday, but fell to 1-3.

Unrivaled score: Laces 60, Rose 50 after third quarter

Target winning score: 71

Kayla McBride has 26 points, Tiffany Hayes has 20 points and nine rebounds, and the Laces lead the Rose 60-50 heading into the fourth quarter. The target winning score necessary to win is 71 points.

Angel Reese leads the Rose with 13 points and six rebounds, while Brittney Sykes has 12 points and Chelsea Gray has nine points.

Unrivaled halftime score: Laces 34, Rose 32 after second quarter

Tiffany Hayes and Kayla McBride each have 12 points, and the Laces hold a 34-32 lead over the Rose at the end of the first half.

Brittney Sykes leads the Rose with 10 points, while Angel Reese has eight points and six rebounds. Reese picked up two offensive fouls in the first 40 seconds of the second quarter on moving screen violations.

Unrivaled score: Rose 17, Laces 15 after first quarter

Tiffany Hayes, Kayla McBride and Stefanie Dolson have five points each, and the Laces lead 17-15 over the Rose after the first quarter.

Kate Martin nearly scored a game-tying bucket at the end of the first quarter buzzer for the Laces, but it did not count.

Five of the Rose’s six players scored in the first quarter with Chelsea Gray scoring five points. Angel Reese has four points and four rebounds.

Unrivaled final score: Lunar Owls 67, Vinyl 57

Napheesa Collier led the way with 19 points and 16 rebounds, Allisha Gray added 19 points and the game-winning basket for the Lunar Owls in a 67-57 win over the Vinyl in the first of two games Monday night.

Skylar Diggins-Smith also added 16 points for the Lunar Owls, who are 4-0 after the second weekend in Unrivaled.

Aliyah Boston and Jordin Canada each scored 14 points, while Arike Ogunbowale had 12 points for the Vinyl, who dropped both games in the second week after a 2-0 start.

Unrivaled score: Lunar Owls 55, Vinyl 44 after third quarter

Target winning score: 66

Napheesa Collier leads the way with 15 points and 15 rebounds, while Allisha Gray also has 15 points for the Lunar Owls, who need to reach 66 points to secure the victory and stay undefeated.

Aliyah Boston leads Vinyl with 14 points and nine rebounds.

Unrivaled halftime score: Lunar Owls 41, Vinyl 33 after second quarter

Napheesa Collier leads three Lunar Owls in double figures with 13 points and nine rebounds, and they have a 41-33 lead over the Vinyl at halftime.

Skylar Diggins-Smith has 12 points, while Allisha Gray has added 11 points for the Lunar Owls.

Aliyah Boston and Rae Burrell each have 10 points for the Vinyl after the first half.

Unrivaled score: Lunar Owls 19, Vinyl 14 after first quarter

Napheesa Collier is off to another fast start with seven points and six rebounds for the Lunar Owls, while Arike Ogunbowale has seven points and four rebounds for the Vinyl after the first quarter.

How to watch Unrivaled games Monday night on TV

Unrivaled is available on cable television on TNT in the United States, and TSN+ in Canada.

How to live stream Unrivaled games on Monday night

Unrivaled games are also available to live stream on Max, and internationally on YouTube.

Vinyl (2-1) vs. Lunar Owls (3-0) preview

Collier has been dominant, averaging 31.7 points with 11.7 rebounds through three Unrivaled games for the Lunar Owls, which stayed undefeated against Phantom on Saturday night.

Howard (21.0 points per game) and Dearica Hamby (19.0 ppg) are the third- and fourth-highest scorers in Unrivaled for the Vinyl, which lost its first game to the Laces on Friday night.

Rose (1-2) vs. Laces (3-0) preview

Kayla McBride, of the Laces, is Unrivaled’s second-leading scorer, averaging 23.7 points per game. Laces beat Vinyl on Friday night to stay undefeated.

Rose is led by Kahleah Copper, who has 18.7 points through the club’s first three games. Rose beat Mist on Friday night for its first win.

Jewell Loyd, Kelsey Plum trade adds intrigue to Unrivaled

One Unrivaled player will be playing for a new WNBA team next season after a blockbuster trade was reported late Sunday night.

The Seattle Storm have reached an agreement to trade Jewell Loyd to the Las Vegas Aces in a three-team deal that will send Kelsey Plum to the Los Angeles Sparks, a person with knowledge of the trade confirmed to USA TODAY Sports.

Seattle will also acquire the No. 2 pick in the 2025 WNBA draft and 6-foot-7 center Li Yueru from the Sparks. Los Angeles also gets the No. 9 pick in 2025 from the Storm, while the Aces get the No. 13 pick in the 2025 draft from the Sparks, according to ESPN.

Loyd and Plum were teammates on the U.S. women's basketball team that won the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Both are two-time WNBA champions.

Unrivaled second weekend results

Friday

Saturday

What is Unrivaled?

Unrivaled – the new women’s basketball league started by WNBA stars Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart – will play its inaugural season from January to mid-March.

Six teams with 36 of the best women’s basketball players in the world, including Sabrina Ionescu and Brittney Griner, will compete in 3-on-3, full court games for the next nine weeks.

Where is Unrivaled playing games?

Games will be played at Wayfair Arena in Medley, Florida, which is in the Miami metropolitan area, about 7 miles from Miami International Airport.

Unrivaled team names and rosters

  • Laces: Stefanie Dolson, Tiffany Hayes, Natisha Hiedeman (relief player contract), Kate Martin, Kayla McBride, Alyssa Thomas, Jackie Young.

  • Lunar Owls: Shakira Austin, Napheesa Collier, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Allisha Gray, Courtney Williams, Cameron Brink (IR).

  • Mist: DiJonai Carrington, Aaliyah Edwards, Rickea Jackson, Jewell Loyd, NaLyssa Smith (relief player contract), Breanna Stewart, Courtney Vandersloot.

  • Phantom: Natasha Cloud, Brittney Griner, Sabrina Ionescu, Marina Mabrey, Satou Sabally, Katie Lou Samuelson.

  • Rose: Kahleah Copper, Chelsea Gray, Lexie Hull, Angel Reese, Azura Stevens, Brittney Sykes.

  • Vinyl: Aliyah Boston, Rae Burrell, Jordin Canada, Dearica Hamby, Rhyne Howard, Arike Ogunbowale.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Unrivaled games Monday night: Highlights from Lunar Owls, Laces wins