Unrivaled: How Rae Burrell led Vinyl into the playoffs

Unrivaled’s playoff picture is much clearer after Vinyl beat Lunar Owls, 75-68, on Monday night to claim the sixth and final playoff spot.

While Vinyl’s win was the most important thing to happen in Unrivaled on Monday, there was another game on the schedule.

Mist beat Breeze 95-70, putting them at No. 2 in the league. While Breeze is oozing with young talent, Mist has veteran leadership, with players like Breanna Stewart, Arike Ogunbowale and Allisha Gray, and looks to be peaking at the right time.

Sweet Baby Rae powered Vinyl into the playoffs

Vinyl won for many reasons on Monday, but the main reason was Rae Burrell.

She had one of her best games of the season, scoring 30 points and grabbing five rebounds. Thanks to her consistent offensive production, Vinyl earned the victory.

Lunar Owls put up a fight in this contest.

There were five different lead changes in the opening quarter, and Marina Mabrey had 15 of her team’s 21 points in the first seven minutes. Skylar Diggins then kept Lunar Owls in the game, scoring all six of her points in the second quarter at the end of the frame to keep her team within one at the half, 45-44.

Burrell shone for Vinyl, scoring 17 points on 5-for-9 shooting in the first half. She was scoring on all three levels and converting on some very difficult shots around the rim.

In the third, Vinyl began to separate themselves from Lunar Owls. The duo of Burrell and Rhyne Howard went on a 14-4 run to push their team up to a nine-point advantage. Lunar Owls countered with Aaliyah Edwards, who scored 10 points in the quarter, but Vinyl was still ahead 63-59 at the end of the third, setting the winning score at 74.

Vinyl started the fourth out on a 6-2 run, putting them in a perfect position to win. Mabrey made one final push, going on a 5-0 run to delay the inevitable, but Burrell scored on a layup to secure Vinyl the final playoff spot.

While Burrell played best for Vinyl, Howard had a good game as well. She had 14 points, four rebounds and four assists. Erica Wheeler had 13 points, and Brittney Griner had 12 points on 6-for-9 shooting. For Lunar Owls, Mabrey was an offensive force with 30 points, and Edwards scored 26 points and 13 rebounds.

Mist peaking at the right time

The Mist dominated for the entirety of their contest against the Breeze.

Not only was Mist dominant, but their play was also balanced.

Gray had a team-high 27 points along with seven rebounds. Stewart had 24 points, six rebounds and six assists, and Ogunbowale had 20 points. As a team, Mist dominated the boards winning the rebounding battle 39-29. They also were a perfect 7-for-7 from the charity stripe.

Breeze couldn’t get things going offensively on Monday night.

They shot 5-for-20 from deep and lost the first three individual quarters soundly. Cameron Brink had one of her better games of the year with 21 points and eight rebounds, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the shooting woes the rest of Breeze experienced.

While Unrivaled’s six playoff teams are now known, their positions are far from secure.

The No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, Mist and Laces, have identical records, and so do the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds, Breeze and Rose. So, the playoff bracket will not be settled until the conclusion of the regular season on Friday.