Women's Fastbreak On SI

Napheesa Collier Wins Unrivaled 1v1 Tournament

The inaugural Unrivaled one-on-one tournament has its winner.
Grant Young|
Oct 18, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier (24) reacts to her missed shot against the New York Liberty during the first half of game four of the 2024 WNBA Finals at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images
Oct 18, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier (24) reacts to her missed shot against the New York Liberty during the first half of game four of the 2024 WNBA Finals at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

The Unrivaled one-on-one women's basketball tournament has undoubtedly been one of the highlights of this league's inaugural season.

There's nothing like the world's best basketball players going mano a mano while being broadcast on national TV. And while a ton of players have impressed across the tournament, the top who stood out among the pack were both former UConn Huskies: Unrivaled co-founder and Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier and 2024 WNBA rookie for the Washington Mystics, Aaliyah Edwards.

These two stars met in the Unrivaled one-on-one tournament final after Edwards defeated Arike Ogunbowale and Collier beat Azurá Stevens during the Semifinals.

Unlike the rest of the tournament, the Finals were a best-of-three series, with each game being to 8 points instead of 11. Edwards secured Game 1 by a score of 9-6. Then Collier secured a smooth Game 2 victory by a score of 9-4.

Therefore, the tournament — and $200,000 cash prize to the winner — all came down to Game 3.

And it was Napheesa Collier who emerged victorious in Game 3, blanking Edwards by a score of 8-0 and as a result, getting crowned as the first Unrivaled one-on-one champion in the league's history.

It was a successful evening for all four semifinalists, as they all got $25,000 for getting this far in the tournament. Being the runner-up, Edwards got $50,000. And every player on Lunar Owls BC gets $10,000 solely from being Collier's teammate.

The Unrivaled broadcast noted how Collier was keen on doing this one-on-one tournament when putting the league together with co-founder Breanna Stewart. And we can now understand why.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.

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