Hamby stuns Lunar Owls with game winner in Unrivaled semifinal

MIAMI — Dearica Hamby jabbed to her right, then crossed over to her left trying to weave around Napheesa Collier, searching for an open look late in Sunday’s Unrivaled semifinal contest.

Needing just two points to reach the fourth quarter’s winning score to end the game, Hamby was looking for a game winner. She didn’t want to give Collier or anyone else a chance to steal the game on the other end.

Hamby took two big steps to her left to position herself parallel with Collier — the WNBA’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year — and the basket. With all of her force, she scooped the ball into the hoop.

The shot punched the Vinyl’s ticket to Unrivaled’s championship game as they knocked off the No. 1 seeded Lunar Owls 73-70 in the biggest upset of the season. The Vinyl will face the Rose, who won Sunday’s earlier semifinal, in Monday’s final.

“We’ve been counted out this entire season,” Hamby said. “We consider ourselves underdogs but that didn’t show in our locker room. We never stopped believing in ourselves. We just kept going. It was led by [Teresa Weatherspoon] night in, night out, every practice, she continuously believed in us and continued to pour faith in us. She kept saying she had a vision for us.”

Editor’s Picks

1 Related

Heading into Sunday’s games, the 13-1 Lunar Owls were heavy favorites to win the inaugural title. Before the semifinals doubleheader tipped off Sunday, Collier was awarded the league’s MVP. Lunar Owls coach DJ Sackmann was named Coach of the Year a few days prior.

But on Sunday evening, everything went right for the Vinyl at the perfect time.

For a split second, Collier had an opportunity to take a go-ahead 3-pointer to try to seal the game for the Lunar Owls, but she passed up the shot.

“In this game, if you miss an opportunity, you’re in trouble,” Sackmann said.

He continued: “It definitely stings. We’ve been on the other side of this a couple of times this season where the other team gets a little stagnant offensively, misses a couple of shots and we come back the other way. So I know what it feels like and it’s not good. … We’re definitely disappointed.”

Pesky defender Skylar Diggins-Smith knocked the ball out of bounds twice after disrupting the Vinyl’s offense. Once the ball was inbounded to Hamby, she and Collier faced off one-on-one.

“I felt like she was going to jump, and I was going to have a clear right-handed layup,” Hamby said. “I went right, and she jumped it, so I went back left, and I know people think I don’t like to go left, that I don’t use my left hand, but I used it when it mattered.”

Hamby finished the game with 16 points and 15 rebounds, while Collier scored 36, tying her season high.

The best scoring performance of the night, though, came in the first semifinal matchup — the Rose’s 63-57 win over the Laces. Chelsea Gray scored 39 — the most points from any player in a single game at Unrivaled.

Gray shot 15-of-23 from the floor, including 5-of-8 from 3 with the winning 3-pointer. She leads Unrivaled with seven game winners this season.

play

Chelsea Gray waves goodbye after walk-off 3 to reach finals

Chelsea Gray caps her huge performance with a winning 3 to send the Rose to the Unrivaled finals.

“I just want to take the best shot possible, get to my spot,” Gray said. “I put in the work, and I take all of those shots all the time in practice and in other games. The only difference is the time on the clock or the stakes coming off of the game.”

With the Rose down by 13 at halftime, Gray huddled her teammates in the locker room and reminded them that this was a game of runs.

“I just said let’s set small goals for us. Let’s get it tied going into the fourth, OK, we were just down two,” Gray said. “It’s about putting together a lot of increments. When you look at it as a big picture, it’s too large. It can overwhelm you. So let’s just set the smallest goals and try to achieve them and then you’re on to the next one.”

The Rose stormed into the third quarter on a 13-2 run and outscored the Laces 23-12 in the period. Gray scored 15 of her points in the third.

Gray and the Rose were playing without newly named Defensive Player of the Year Angel Reese, who was sidelined with a left hand injury. Postgame, Rose coach Nola Henry said she didn’t know whether Reese would be available to play in the championship.

“It’s the next-person-up mentality. That’s what it always consists of,” Gray said. The Rose also have been playing without Kahleah Copper since Feb. 7 as she deals with a right leg injury.

Henry showed a special appreciation for Gray, whom the coach said has been “carrying us all year long.”

“At full strength, they counted us out,” Henry said. “Down Kahleah, they counted us out. Angel down, they counted us out. We’ve been counted out all year long and we’ve taken that challenge personally. Every player on our team has stepped up and embraced the difficulties. … We embody what a resilient team is.”

The Rose are entering the final as favorites. After starting the season 1-4, the Rose became one of the hottest teams in the league following the one-on-one tournament in mid-February, winning six of their last eight games.

Meanwhile, the Vinyl needed until their final game of the regular season to secure a spot in the playoffs after inconsistent results all year.

Monday’s championship game is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.