Unrivaled: The sights, sounds from Napheesa Collier’s 200K win

If Teresa Weatherspoon’s body language was anything to go by, the final night of Unrivaled’s inaugural 1-on-1 Tournament was never going to be a relaxing evening.

The Vinyl head coach was a ball of energy, with her support for Arike Ogunbowale palpable from across the court. After warming up with the Vinyl guard, Weatherspoon uneasily took her seat—shifting back and forth like a boxer’s coach in the ring, hyping Ogunbowale up, elbows on her knees, chin in her hands. All intensity and focus.

That energy was needed. Ogunbowale, touted as possibly the best 1-on-1 player in the women’s game, fell to rookie Aaliyah Edwards 11-2 in the night’s first semi-final. Edwards, who has dominated the tournament all week and defiantly smashed expectations as a No. 8 seed, commented ahead of the game, “Seed is just a number.” She had the energy to back that up, minute by minute, bucket by bucket.

Aaliyah Edwards celebrates her semi-final victory over Arike Ogunbowale.

And just like that, a tournament that began with 23 competitors had only three left, and Napheesa Collier and Azurá Stevens were up next.

Is there ever a time at which Collier shows up on the court simply to play around? The answer to that question was made evident by her decisive 11-2 victory over Stevens. Both women brought a hyper-competitive vibe to their match, their mutual frustration, and even anger, clearly written on their faces as they squared off. For fans of women’s sports, there’s nothing quite like seeing women at the top of their game in the heat of the moment, eyes blazing.

Napheesa Collier bested Azurá Stevens in the second semi-final game.

With the semi-finals concluded, only the finals, played as a best-of-three set, was left. In a quick post-game interview, Collier laid out her game plan: “Try to do what got me here, lock down on defense, and get to my hot spots on offense.”

Everything seemed to be going Collier’s way in the first round of the finals until, very suddenly, things were not. The Lunar Owls forward had the edge on the rookie from Mist for most of the game, until Edwards was fouled and pulled ahead 7-6. Victory was a lay-up away only moments later, and Edwards closed things out 9-6. Edwards’ dedication and steely focus were evident in between games, when she came back on the court to shoot and refused to leave without making the last shot. For the first time all week, Edwards had the opportunity to shoot for first possession but missed the shot.

Collier made it clear she didn’t come out to lose a second time, hitting her first shot within seconds. The pair traded shots back and forth until Collier pulled ahead 7-4 before the eight-minute mark (and was promptly fouled). The free throw was hers, pushing Collier to an 8-4 victory and guaranteeing a third (and final) battle between the two.

Aaliyah Edwards and Napheesa Collier faced off in a best-of-three battle in the finals of Unrivaled’s 1-on-1 Tournament.

The third game began much as the second, with Collier driving hard and almost immediately hitting two points. Edwards met her energy, but failed to get a bucket in the first minute and fouled Collier soon after.

Collier hit another shot a minute and a half into the game, raising the score to 4-0. After a turnover, the ball was back in the vet’s hands and she didn’t waste a second. The score was 6-0 at 7:45. Collier clinched victory soon after, a shutout at 8-0.