Breanna Stewart Leads Mist Over Kelsey Plum And Phantom To Win Unrivaled Title

She was a two-time authorities champion successful precocious schoolhouse coming retired of nan Syracuse area. She past was a four-time NCAA champion astatine UConn. She’s won three WNBA titles, 3 World Cup golden medals, 3 Olympic golden medals, moreover 2 EuroLeague titles.

And now, adhd an Unrivaled title to nan operation — a convention that she co-founded.

Breanna Stewart has won it all.

Stewart and Mist are nan queens of Unrivaled for 2026, topping Phantom 80-74 successful nan title crippled Wednesday nighttime to headdress nan league’s 2nd season. Stewart scored 32 points, mounting nan reside by scoring Mist’s first 12 points of nan 2nd half and her squad — which went 0-2 against Phantom successful nan regular play — wouldn’t way again.

“What I’ll retrieve nan astir about this Mist squad is we mightiness not beryllium nan loudest, but we’re going to activity nan hardest,” said Stewart, who was picked arsenic MVP of nan last — and whose squad will divided a $600,000 winners’ pool.

It ended somewhat controversially: an violative foul connected Stewart was overturned to a artifact connected review, giving her a free propulsion to triumph nan title. Stewart swished nan shot, and confetti fell from nan tile successful celebration.

“Just focused connected doing it for my team,” Stewart said.

Sparks prima Kelsey Plum carried Phantom pinch 40 points connected 14-for-21 shooting, on pinch six rebounds and 5 assists.

It was a superb effort — but Stewart and Mist had conscionable a spot excessively much.

“It’s difficult erstwhile it ends for illustration this,” Plum said. “But overall, it was an astonishing season.”

Arike Ogunbowale had 19 and Allisha Gray scored 12 for Mist, while Kiki Iriafen scored 13 and Tiffany Hayes had 12 for Phantom.

“There was complete religion successful this group,” Mist coach Zach O’Brien said. “I’m conscionable gladsome we sewage it done.”

Stewart and Napheesa Collier are credited arsenic nan co-founders of nan league, 1 that if thing other has filled a void connected almanac for nan women’s pro game.

“I deliberation that location was a abstraction that wasn’t benignant of being utilized arsenic acold arsenic what master women’s hoops players were doing,” Stewart said. “We utilized to person a seven-month blackout play wherever you didn’t cognize what these master hoops players were doing. And now you know.”

The mobility is what comes next.

The WNBA and its players do not person a labour statement for adjacent season, 1 that is slated — astatine this constituent — to commencement successful astir 2 months. The WNBA has told nan players’ national that it needs to get a woody successful spot by this coming Tuesday to commencement nan play connected time.

And for now, there’s nary denotation that’ll happen. That intends nan Mist-Phantom last could beryllium nan past pro women’s crippled successful nan U.S. for a while.

Some will constituent to mediocre tv ratings arsenic a motion of trouble, while others tin constituent to crowds drawn this play successful Brooklyn and Philadelphia arsenic signs of imaginable for Unrivaled. Players opportunity it works, and there’s nary plans to extremity now.

“People astir apt uncertainty us, that we tin prolong it,” Unrivaled CEO Alex Bazzell said. “That’s what drives america and that’s besides what drives these players They’re each competitors and we are, too.”

Unrivaled — a 3-on-3, full-court crippled played connected a 72-foot floor, shorter than an NBA aliases assemblage tribunal — sells itself connected being fast-paced, pinch an 18-second changeable clock, 7-minute quarters and plentifulness of unfastened abstraction for players to create.

Kelsey Plum dribbles against Veronica Burton successful nan 2nd quarter.

(Leonardo Fernandez / Getty Images)

The title crippled didn’t disappoint successful that regard.

They were nan apical 2 seeds entering nan playoffs — Phantom 1, Mist 2 — and Wednesday was backmost and forth. It was 24-24 aft 1 quarter, 43-43 astatine nan half, neither squad having led by much than 7 astatine immoderate point.

Mist led 68-62 going to nan fourth, an untimed last 4th wherever 11 points get added to nan starring people arsenic nan end-of-game target.

To triumph nan title: first squad to 79 wins. Mist scored nan first six points of nan last quarter, going up by 12. Plum answered pinch 5 consecutive points, pushing her full to 35 for nan nighttime and getting Phantom wrong 74-67.

But Mist held nan lead nan remainder of nan way, and Stewart — arsenic she has truthful galore times — had a title to savor.

“It was our extremity from Day One to beryllium here, to beryllium connected this podium,” O’Brien said.