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After eight weeks of regular-season games, the playoff picture for Unrivaled’s first postseason is set.
The No. 1 seed Lunar Owls will take on the No. 4 Vinyl, while the No. 2 Rose will face the No. 3 Laces.
The Vinyl entered Monday night with the same record as the Mist, both 8-5. But by halftime of the Mist’s game against the Lunar Owls, the Vinyl knew they wouldn’t have to think about potential tiebreakers.
The Mist trailed by 14 points at halftime and 27 by the start of the fourth quarter in their 92-58 loss. The Vinyl monitored the game from the practice court just yards from the main court.
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“We were keeping an eye on it. You have to focus on your game but you can see exactly what’s happening before you go out there,” Aliyah Boston said.
Boston said it was “absolutely” nice to know her team clinched a playoff spot before it faced the Rose, which beat the Vinyl 74-46.
“I think we have done a great job with executing, even though tonight was tough,” Boston said. “Just understanding that sometimes the ball doesn’t fall, but we have one more game and then possibly another, so now, all of our focus is on that.”
Each member of the championship club will receive an additional $50,000.
“Any time there is money on the line, I think everyone ups the ante,” Courtney Williams said. “We are going to come in, get after it, and we’re going to get this money.”
The Lunar Owls have been dominant all season, finishing 13-1. Led by co-founder Napheesa Collier, they have repeatedly credited their buy-in as one of the reasons they’ve been so successful.
“We have been saying this whole season that we’re 0-0,” Lunar Owls coach DJ Sackmann said. “That’s been the mindset going into every game … nothing is changing [in the playoffs]. We are still 0-0.”
The Rose are the biggest threat to the Lunar Owls. They handed the Lunar Owls their only loss, and since early February, the Rose have been displaying a high-powered offense led by Chelsea Gray.
But their attention is on the status of Angel Reese, who left Monday’s game in the third quarter because of an apparent wrist injury. Just before halftime, Reese kept grabbing at her surgically repaired left wrist. She was taken out early in the third quarter.
Rose coach Nola Henry did not have an update on Reese after the game but said she hoped to have one soon.
The playoffs begin Sunday.
