AP
Aaliyah Edwards on Monday pulled off the stunner of the opening round of the Unrivaled one-on-one tournament, beating top-seeded Breanna Stewart 12-0.
The tournament to be played over three days featured 23 of the WNBA’s 36 players. A few had other commitments and a couple others were out with injuries.
Stewart got the ball first against Edwards and missed a contested layup. Edwards then hit a three-pointer from the corner and a jumper from the elbow to go up 5-0.
The Mist’s Aaliyah Edwards, right, controls the ball as Angel Reese of Rose defends during their three-a-side game at the Unrivaled tournament at Wayfair Arena in Medley, Florida, on Saturday. The Mist lost the game 71-66, but made the tournament final, which they lost 85-81 against the Lunar Owls.
Photo: AFP
The player who scores keeps the basketball.
Edwards hit two layups and a three-pointer to seal the win.
Stewart, a two-time WNBA Most Valuable Player, missed the three shots she took.
Edwards, who is teammates with Stewart, did not pull off the only upset of the evening as No. 7 seed Shakira Austin topped Chelsea Gray 12-2.
The other winners were Napheesa Collier, Kahleah Copper, Rhyne Howard, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Allisha Gray and Rickea Jackson.
Rae Burrell, Azura Stevens, Courtney Williams, DiJonai Carrington and Satou Sabally all advanced to the second round because their opponents were injured and did not play.
Arike Ogunbowale and Jewell Loyd each had byes in the first round as top seeds.
Edwards received a bye into the quarter-finals as the other first-round matchup in her bracket was not played because of injuries to Kate Martin and Marina Mabrey.
The second round and quarter-finals were to be played yesterday, with the semi-finals and finals on Friday.
Rounds up until the finals are single-elimination, with games played to 11 points or 10 minutes, whichever is reached first.
The finals are to be a best-of-three series with the winning score for each game also to 11.
The players in the one-on-one tournament are competing for a US$350,000 prize pool, with the winner to take home US$200,000.
