đ Unrivaled Weekly: Donât ever call her doll
From The GIST (hi@thegistsports.com)

Leveling The Playing Field
Itâs not just any Unrivaled week, itâs 1-on-1 Tournament week, meaning the next two days are all about pure hoops â just ask Lola Bunny. If Space Jam taught us anything, itâs that Lola knows her stuff. Thatâs why no one calls her doll, and everyoneâs tuning in.
- As always, weâre here to break down the leagueâs hottest hands, vibe-check the top off-court moments, and unpack the plays that hit different. Letâs hoop to it.
Angel Reese is back. ICYMI: The superstar is returning to Unrivaled, reuniting with Rose BC for the remainder of the season. Thatâs it. Thatâs the vibe check.
đ´ Whatâs in a sleeper pick?

The GIST: The first round of the 1-on-1 Tournament presented by Sprite is done and dusted, narrowing the field to 16 contenders. Ready the crown because one Unrivaled athlete is about to be $200K richer as the tourney continues tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET before wrapping tomorrow.
- But who will it be? We could focus on the voting favorites, like Pod Aâs No. 1 seed Kelsey Mitchell or Pod Bâs expected representative Paige Bueckers â but we wonât. Instead, letâs discuss our sleeper picks from each group. This oneâs for the underdogs.
đ§ď¸ Veronica Burton (Pod A): Burton authored the only first-round shutout, blanking Courtney Williams 11â0. And we didnât even see VBâs lockdown defense because Williams never touched the ball. After her one and only miss, Burton hauled in the offensive rebound to maintain possession.
- Burtonâs size (sheâs just five-foot-nine) could disadvantage her if she advances beyond positional pod play, so expect her to make up for it with that aforementioned relentless D.
đ Arike Ogunbowale (Pod B): Pod B was all chalk, leaving Ogunbowale as the lowest remaining seed, but she certainly didnât look like it in her first-round win. Widely considered one of the best 1-on-1 players in the game, Ogunbowaleâs bag is the deepest in the league.
- Whether itâs a spicy step back, a slick hesitation move, or a fadeaway, sheâs an isolation expert and can create space in a multitude of ways. Oh, and sheâs as clutch as they come.
đż Rae Burrell (Pod C): Length, athleticism, and versatility are Sweet Baby Raeâs biggest assets. Burrellâs lightning fast, and at six-foot-two, she has the length to disrupt defensively. Not to mention, she can score at all three levels: at the rim, in the midrange, and from beyond the arc.
- At her best, Burrell is a force to be reckoned with, but she can sometimes struggle with consistency. If she can put it all together, a lucrative payday just might be coming her way.
đš Shakira Austin (Pod D): Post players are doing it all â and Austinâs the perfect archetype. Sheâs a towering six-foot-five with handles and uses her speed and physicality to dominate both sides of the ball. Case in point? Those two first-round blocks on Wednesday.
- Perhaps Austinâs biggest strength is her brain: She adjusts to matchups exceptionally well and loves to lean on counter moves, like reverse pivots and stepthroughs. Buckets, loading.
Mist BCâs (and last yearâs 1-on-1 runner-up) Aaliyah Edwards secured an 11â8 win over Breezeâs Dominique Malonga, but the first-round dub isnât as straightforward as it seems: Edwards was the only player to shoot a worse percentage than her opponent and still win, making just 33% of her shots, compared to Malongaâs 40%.
- Howâd she flip the script? Edwards pressured Malonga into four turnovers (three shot clock violations and a lost ball), neutralizing Malongaâs hotter hand. Turns out the math doesnât always add up.
đĽ Seventh-place Hive BC will make the postseason
Two squads have already punched tickets to the six-team playoff: the top-seeded Laces (8-2) and Phantom BC (8-3). With two games slated for Tuesday night, four teams have an extra game to play before the final two weekends of action â and one of them is Hive.
- This team has been buzzing lately, beating Breeze 70â68 in their most recent tilt. Their remaining slate includes a struggling Rose squad thatâs lost three of their last four and the last-placed Lunar Owls. Theyâll need some help, but stranger things have happened.
As always, thanks for crashing the boards with us.
Yours through timeouts and technicals,
The GIST Team
Todayâs email was brought to you by Lisa Minutillo. Fact-checking by Elisha Gunaratnam. Managing edits by Lauren Tuiskula. Head of content Ellen Hyslop.