Unrivaled Semifinals in Brooklyn: Who Will Meet in the Championship?

Unrivaled's second championship pairing will be determined with a couple of three-on-three thrillers in Brooklyn.

They may be "Unrivaled," but only two will survive the cold on the trek back to South Beach.

The domestic three-on-three league co-founded by Breanna Stewart brought its work home with its originator, as the league's second annual semifinals are underway at Barclays Center. Best-known for hosting Stewart's most recent title with the New York Liberty—who downed a Minnesota Lynx group headlined by Unrivaled co-founder Napheesa Collier—the arena on Atlantic Avenue is hosting an elite pair in the name of determining the most glorious trios.

Unrivaled crowd at tip-off:#Unrivaled pic.twitter.com/UW7KUkdt52

— Geoff Magliocchetti (@GeoffJMags) March 3, 2026

In the opening matchup, top-ranked Phantom will look to stave off yet another upset bid penned by the artists of Vinyl. Though carrying the talents of Kelsey Plum, the Ghost Gang will be without newly-crowned Defensive Player of the Year Aliyah Boston after she left the regular season finale with an injury. Stewart will play to her metropolitan crowd in the late-nightcap, as she and the Mist will look to unleash a championship deluge against Paige Bueckers and her fellow young guns on Breeze.

Keep track of the action below ...

[recap]

(1) Phantom 83, (6) Vinyl 75

Game one featured a case of Kelsey Plum putting Phantom over the top: despite adding Aliyah Boston to an expansive injury report, the Ghost Gang is on its way to the final after ending another Vinyl upset bid. Denied free throws on a furious drive in the end, Plum ended the game in a more traditional three-point fashion that inched one tally past the target score.

Though Vinyl featured the services of local heroine Teresa Weatherspoon, the Brooklyn crowd was firmly in the corner of Phantom reserve Natasha Cloud. With the one-year anniversary of her trade to the WNBA's New York Liberty approaching, Cloud played the crowd up en route to 14 points off the bench while posting a game-best plus-14 in just over 15 minutes.

KELSEY PLUM CALLED GAME AND SENDS THE PHANTOM TO THE UNRIVALED CHAMPIONSHIP GAME 🚨🔥 pic.twitter.com/u2VJfQmWa2

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 3, 2026

She was one of four ghosts in double-figures, accompanied by Plum, Tiffany Hayes, and Kiki Iriafen, who had a double-double for the second straight game to the tune of 17 points (including five in the untimed fourth) and 11 boards. Rounding out the Phantom's spooky six were develop pool entrants Aziaha James (one assist, plus-five) and Makayla Timpson, who were each called upon to fill in for Boston and Evans.

Vinyl was thus denied a reprise of its unexpected role in the Unrivaled championship game. It certainly wasn't for the lack of Dearica Hamby and Rae Burrell: Hamby (11-of-14) went blow-for-blow with Plum for a good part of the game before she was somewhat bottled up in the third, held to but six points as Phantom erased a lead that reached as high as nine. Burrell at least ended her Unrivaled tour on a double-double high note, scoring 12 while pulling in 10 and dishing out six.

Hamby and Plum lived up to their respective reputations as the star attractions in setting the game's tone: while Phantom used its early advantage to jump out to an early lead, classic Vinyl sharpshooting allowed the score to stay contained at no more than seven and even led to a halftime lead after Erica Wheeler sank a triple with four seconds before halftime. The underdogs even briefly boasted the largest lead of the game through a speedy saga of seven in a row early in the third, capped off by Burrell hitting a three before sinking a technical foul shot charged to Cloud.

Letting up 21-5 tally over the last four minutes of the fateful frame, however, officially scared off Vinyl from a comeback. Phantom took the lead for good with 11 in a row over the last 2:10, taking the lead for good on consecutive triples from Hayes before her fellow crowd-pleaser Cloud put up an and-one to help give Phantom control of the target score. Wheeler and Hamby briefly downed the deficit to three before a Hayes lineup and Plum's final fling sealed the deal.

(2) Mist 73, (5) Breeze 69

Arike Ogunbowale celebrates her birthday by knocking down the game-winner in a 16-point comeback at a sold-out Barclays Center!

The Mist will take on Phantom in the UNRIVALED Championshippic.twitter.com/mhqHqDf3bV https://t.co/xfcGzOMBvW

— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) March 3, 2026

Breanna Stewart made sure that her one guaranteed foray onto Barclays Center hardwood was well worth the wait: the Unrivaled co-founder helped her Mist club overcome a 16-point deficit from the end of the first period to put up a comeback victory punctuated by a three-pointer from birthday girl Arike Ogunbowale.

While many eagerly anticipated Stewart's Unrivaled debut at the arena where she currently makes her WNBA living, it was Breeze star Rickea Jackson that stole the show in the early going. Jackson assisted on Paige Bueckers' opening double and then put up nine of the next 11 points of the game to help Breeze build a 13-0 lead just after three minutes went by. The lead reached 16 at the end of the period, which saw each of the three Breeze starters (Bueckers, Jackson, and Dominique Malonga) pull in at least three rebounds each en route to a plus-9 advantage on the glass.

While Breeze's interior prowess allowing them to keep the shots close, Ogunbowale offered a hint of what was to come with a pair of crucial three-pointers within the final two-plus minutes of the frame, a couple that allowed the deficit to finally dip the affair back under 10. Stewart and Allisha Gray (not to mention the long range of Alanna Smith) offered further Mist momentum but Bueckers and Malonga seemed to have a numerical answer at every turn.

Even with public favor drifting toward the Stewart-led comeback, her fellow UConn legend Bueckers boosted the lead back up to 10. That triple yielded a Mist timeout, which Ogunbowale ended with a three of her own to tip off a run of 10 straight that consisted exclusively of Stewart points from there on out.

Stewart's original equalizer was rejected by Cameron Brink but her immediate putback made Brooklyn hysterical. Futile interior heroics from Brink served as a tragically recurring them for the Breeze: she turned down Stewart again as the Mist sought a lead but Smith created a long-sought lead with a three that put them within a possession of the target score.

Brink again rose up with a putback of a Bueckers misfire to keep things at one, but Stewart fought off two women for the crucial rebounds after Ogunbowale's original attempt at closer failed. Granted a second opportunity for her birthday, Ogunbowale sank the last of five threes to set up the championship match down south.

Thus ends the road for the exciting antics of Breeze BC, which nearly staged a championship run behind several sterling young talents on the women's basketball circuit. Malonga (18 points, 14 rebounds) and Bueckers (17 points, 10 rebounds) each had double-doubles in defeat while Jackson and Brink joined them in the double-figure scoring sisterhood.

Mist BC will square off against Phantom BC for the Unrivaled championship on Mar. 4 at 9:30 p.m. ET. The title game will be broadcast on TNT, truTV, and HBO Max.

Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags

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