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Paige Bueckers' expansion Breeze among Unrivaled winners as season tips
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- Paige Bueckers' expansion Breeze among Unrivaled winners as season tips
Unrivaled has opened Season 2.
The 3-on-3 women's basketball league which is based in Miami came out of the gate hot with four games on Monday, Jan. 5.
Unrivaled expanded from six to eight teams , adding Hive BC and Breeze BC and a player development pool. The total number of player spots now stands at 54.
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In the early games, Allisha Gary helped Mist BC dominate Hive BC and Laces BC rallied to beat Vinyl BC. Defending champ Rose BC won their season opener fueled by 35 points from Chelsea Gray . And, Paige Bueckers and the expansion Breeze won the nightcap.
Here are the results from Monday's games:
Breeze BC 69, Phantom BC 62
Paige Bueckers had 24 points, six assists and five rebounds in her Unrivaled debut to help the expansion Breeze to their first win in franchise history. Rickea Jackson added 16 points and Dominique Malonga 15 points and 14 rebounds, including nine offensive boards.
Tiffany Hayes had 20 points to lead the Phantom. Aliyah Boston add 18 points and seven rebounds.
Rose BC 80, Lunar Owls BC 60
After winning Unrivaled's inaugural championship with Rose BC in March and her fourth WNBA title with the Las Vegas Aces in October, guard Chelsea Gray's domination continued with a 35-point performance which included five 3-pointers.
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"I always say that I'm a call within the storm, and that's the way I see the game. That's the way I play," said Gray, who rounded out her stat line with eight assists, five rebounds and three steals. "I know my stats, but everybody came and contributed tonight."
Mist BC 72, Hive BC 56
Allisha Gray had 21 points and nine rebounds to lead the Mist past the Hive in the season opener. Gray was asked postgame about how her game lends itself to the wide open spaces of 3-on-3.
"I am thinking be a bucket, in my mind, nobody can guard me and I am not going to be exposed," Gray said. " I know I am a bucket, so be a bucket."
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Veronica Burton added 14 points and eight rebounds for the Mist in her first Unrivaled game. Breanna Stewart and Arike Ogunbowale had 12 points each.
The Hive, one of two expansion franchises, had a double-double off the bench from Monique Billings . She had 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Laces BC 58, Vinyl BC 42
Brittney Sykes had 19 points and seven rebounds and Jackie Young added 15 points to help the Laces power past the Vinyl in the other early game. The Laces trailed 35-27 at the half but outscored the Vinyl 15-7 in the third quarter.
"We just had to be aggressive, get to the paint, we were shooting a lot but just trusting each other," Sykes said when asked about the comeback postgame.
Erica Wheeler had 12 points off the bench to lead the Vinyl.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Paige Bueckers' expansion Breeze among Unrivaled winners as season tips
