Napheesa Collier clinched the Unrivaled one-on-one tournament in a most fitting fashion.
The forward, who is the reigning WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, shut out Washington Mystics forward Aaliyah Edwards 8-0 in the deciding game of the best-of-three final on Friday night in Medley, Fla.
Collier, of the Minnesota Lynx, lost the first game 9-6 but took the second game 9-4. Collier defeated the Los Angeles Sparks’ Azura Stevens 11-2 in one semifinal, which also was played on Friday. By the same score, Edwards knocked off Arike Ogunbowale of the Dallas Wings in the other semifinal.
Collier won the $200,000 first prize, and her Lunar Owls teammates (Courtney Williams, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Allisha Gray, Cameron Brink and Shakira Austin) each got $10,000. On her path to the title, Collier defeated Williams in the quarterfinals.
Edwards claimed $50,000 as runner-up.
It wasn’t all about the money, said Collier, an Unrivaled co-founder who will receive $214,284 this season for the Lynx.
“Of course we want to win the prize money, but we want to further the culture (of the sport) ,” she said. “It feels great to win that money, I’m not going to lie. But it makes it better we get to share it with our team. I’m excited for that.”
–Field Level Media
