With Satou Sabally still sidelined, Dana Evans inactive as well and Tiffany Hayes leaving Saturday night’s Unrivaled game early, Phantom BC was left with just four players in 3-on-3 action against Lunar Owls BC.
That was no problem for the shorthanded Phantom (1-1), who coasted to a 94-60 win over the Lunar Owls (0-2), in large part thanks to Kelsey Plum.
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Plum, a four-time All-Star and two-time champion in the WNBA, put up 38 points on 16-of-22 shooting to go along with 8 rebounds and 11 assists.
Not only did she flirt with the first triple-double in Unrivaled’s young, two-season history, but she also tied the league’s single-game scoring record, which is owned by co-founder Napheesa Collier and Las Vegas Aces and Rose BC guard Chelsea Gray.
Collier, a five-time WNBA All-Star for the Minnesota Lynx, is currently recovering from surgery on both of her ankles and is reportedly expected to miss the next four to six months. So she won’t play for the Lunar Owls this year.
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That said, her league still has plenty of star power, which is on display as WNBA Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations continue to drag on amid the W’s most important offseason yet.
Plum, who averaged 19.5 points per game for the Los Angeles Sparks last season in the WNBA, teamed up with Aliyah Boston for a combined 59 points on Saturday.
Boston, a three-time WNBA All-Star center for the Indiana Fever, stacked 10 rebounds and knocked down three triples. Plum was 4 of 8 from deep against the Lunar Owls.
Natasha Cloud, a veteran guard for the New York Liberty, chipped in five 3s. And Kiki Iriafen, a one-time WNBA All-Star forward who’s coming off her rookie season with the Washington Mystics, scored in double figures, too. She made the game-winning basket in the paint.
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The Phantom’s 94 points matched the most a team has scored in an Unrivaled game.
“It was really fun tonight,” Plum said in her on-court postgame interview, via truTV.
“I thought it was a great team win. We came out with tremendous energy. Tiff went down, so we had to pick her up. I thought Kiki was unbelievable. AB, Tash hitting 3s. It was a great team win. Just proud. Way to bounce back. Everyone’s great in this league, right? So it’s really just about being resilient, and it was a great win.”
