Rose win Unrivaled’s first women’s 3-on-3 title

MIAMI — After drawing an and-1 opportunity on the last play of the game, Brittney Sykes knocked down the 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.

Sykes said that before Monday’s game she was working with Rose coach Nolda Henry on drawing the exact kind of foul that ultimately sent her to the line for the winning point.

In the moment, Sykes was light-headed. “I had been cheering on Chelsea [Gray] too hard,” she said.

Gray was awarded the playoff MVP award after her 18-point, eight-assist performance. She said she entered Unrivaled with a chip on her shoulder. Coming off 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 percent. 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.”

Each player on the championship-winning club is awarded $50,000 in prize money, in addition to what Unrivaled claims to be the highest average salary in women’s team 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 Monday could be considered a slower night.

But she had her fingerprints all over the game, namely through her facilitating.

Early in the second quarter, as Vinyl double-teamed Gray, cutting off her access to the basket and any clear looks to her teammates, she flashed Azura Stevens a look directing her to cut toward the hoop. Gray threw a no-look, over-the-shoulder pass to Stevens for wide-open layup.

“Point Gawd right there,” Stevens yelled out during the postgame news conference. Stevens was the primary beneficiary of Gray’s court vision and passing abilities Monday, finishing with 19 points and 18 rebounds.

Without Angel Reese, who sat out her second straight game because of 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 of Stevens. “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,” Stevens said. “As the other big, I had to step up.”

Rose have been shorthanded for much of the season, missing Kahleah Copper for the final five weeks because 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 going to 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 leading team’s score entering the final period.

Monday’s target score was 62. Gray hit a midrange jumper just above the free throw line to get 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 Rose to 59. That set up Sykes’ winning 3-point play.

Rose started the season 1-4. Copper sent Henry a negative post she saw about Rose on social media, and they decided to print it out and post it on the wall of their locker room as 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!”