The Guru’s WNBA Report: Connecticut Ends Franchise Run With a Win; Playoffs Set as Washington, Minnesota, and Las Vegas Romp and Golden State Rallies

 Content updating with Lynne Roberts firing and other items.

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsgurux

UNCASVILLE, Conn. – In any other scenario the end of the WNBA regular season here Thursday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena would have been eclipsed by the ending shuffling into the final standings setting up what promises to be an exciting last piece of September and all October of playoff basketball that if the finals go the seven-game distance, which did not occur last season in their first time in expanded format, will last until 24 hours before the collegiate basketball season opens with a double header in Rome between the men’s and women’s teams of Villanova and Notre Dame.

The Connecticut Sun, in a two year-rebuild, would have been focused on getting back to the glory days jumped started as a lottery team with a bunch of talent rich candidates, while the Toronto Tempo, finishing its first year as an expansion squad, would have reflected on surviving a debut hampered by injuries but also having the same focus as a lottery participant.

However, as one of the top storylines has been the welcoming of expansion cities coming into the fold until the end of the decade when Philadelphia becomes the 18th team following the arrivals of Golden State (2025), Cleveland (2028), and Detriot (2029), the latter two returning to previous WNBA towns, Wednesday saw a 24-season saga come to its conclusion with the Sun headed to Houston, rebranded as the Comets, the same name as the original operation in the Lone Star State that won the first four league titles (1997-2000).

The ownership is NBA, but a different group than the previous management in charge of one of the eight charter members when the WNBA launched in 1999, coached by Van Chancellor and headlined by Hall of Famers Sheryl Swoopes, Cynthia Cooper, and Tina Thompson.

When the Mohegan Tribe, which acquired the former Orlando Miracle and became the first non-NBA group involved with the WNBA, put the team up for sale, it appeared to be targeted for nearby Boston, which would have seen the team leap from one of the smaller markets to a major city that would still be accessible by the passionate fan base here that grew beyond the crowd raised on the domination by the University of Connecticut.

Indeed, there has been much UConn DNA involved; team president Jen Rizzotti was the dynamic point guard on the first NCAA champion of 11 more to come out run by Geno Auriema, and general manager Morgan Tuck was a later star with the Huskies, while media people in the Nutmeg State covering the collegians doubled up in the summer also  dealing with the Sun.

Both Rizzotti and Tuck have been hired to run the team in its new city, which, for Rizzotti is a return to a place she played for two seasons after the New England Blizzard was part of the collapse of the American Basketball League in the second month of its third season, a demise set when the powerful NBA announced the coming of the WNBA.

 Rizzotti, however, was filled with emotion here after the team thrilled the sellout crowd of 8,911 adding to the nostalgic final chapter of the Sunset Season with a 95-81 victory, book marked when rookie and Duke alum Ashlon Jackson nailed a 3-pointer and scored her 18th point, the team high for the night and final score in franchise history.

When the final buzzer sounded the crowd stood up and applauded as the team took one more set of photos.

“‘Coach (Frenchman Rachid Meziane) spoke about us playing for our pride - pride for our fans, pride for our name, pride for the organization itself. I think we did just that.”

Thank yous were issued throughout from both sides after the game ended, to the point that Meziane presented one of the consistent local media beat members with a bottle of French wine.

The Sun (11-33), which snapped a six-game losing streak, finished tied for 13th with Toronto and ahead of last-place Seattle (8-36) while behind the also-lottery teams tied for 10th in Phoenix (16-28), last season’s surprise runner-up to Las Vegas, Chicago and Los Angeles, and ninth-place Portland (17-27), this season’s other expansion team that was still nine games behind the last playoff qualifier in eighth place New York (26-18).

Saluting the crowd, Rizzotti proclaimed to the crowd, “You guys have been our family for 24 years. I know how hard it is. You have proved that Connecticut deserves a WNBA team.

“And I just want you all to know that no matter what happens from here, this team, as they move onto the next chapter of their careers, the success that all of them have in their future, you will always be part of that. Always.”

All season the team brought back legendary coaches and players who helped make the team the gold standard in terms of operation while falling short several times of a WNBA title, the most recent in 2019 when the Sun were beaten in a full five-game series by Washington, coached by the Sun’s original and longtime mentor Mike Thibaut, whose daughter Carly was an original ball girl and now is not far away to the near South as a successful coach of Fairfield, which has won three straight Metro (formerly MAAC) titles and earned a national ranking in the Associated Press women’s poll.

Thibault was one of the last honorees brought back in Sunday’s home game against Minnesota, whose support coaching staff includes former Sun and Lynx all-time great Lindsay Whalen and Thibault’s son Eric, whose previously succeeded his father coaching Washington, while Dad remained GM until both were let go several years ago.

Mike has been coach of the Belgian national team following Meziane after the latter’s hire by the Sun.

Houston ended up with a team, set in action by now-departing commissioner Cathy Engelbert, who spoke much of the city just missing making the expansion group, out of a round which Boston had not submitted a bid.

Back at Wednesday’s game, Jackson was 5-for-9 on three-pointers. Rooie Raegan Beers added 17 points with eight rebounds, former UConn standout Aaliyah Edwards had 16 points, rookies Hailey Van Lith and Gianna Kneepkins each scored 12.

Edwards, in a postgame TV interview afterwards, shouted to the crowd, “This is the basketball capital of the world, baby! Don’t ever forget!” echoing the claim her alma mater makes off the slew of women’s national titles and multiple crowns won by the men’s team.

Toronto, headed by former New York Liberty coach Sandy Brondello, let go last fall one season removed from guiding the franchise to its first WNBA title in then-29 seasons of existence, against Connecticut got 28 points from rookie Kiki Rice, one of a record six draftees from NCAA champion UCLA.

Isabelle Harrison had 19 points, Laura Juskaite scored 15, and Kia Nurse scored 10 points.

Before the game, Brondello, looking at the first season of the Tempo, noted having just two weeks to put a team together, a situation created due to how late labor negotiations went until a landmark major deal brought the start of multi millions of dollars in salaries.

WNBA Playoffs Set

Though the eight teams in the field were decided several weeks ago, the seed placement overall went undetermined for all but two teams into Thursday night.

Defending champion Las Vegas (31-13), winner of three of the last four titles, defeated Phoenix handily 100-82 on the road as A’ja Wilson, the former South Carolina star and favorite to win another MVP for the season, which would be her fifth, scored 34 points, while Jewell Loyd off the bench scored 25 points.

It wasn’t totally in the bag as it seemed when the Mercury cut a 31-point deficit to nine midway in the fourth period until the rally died in the act of a pair of offensive fouls and a technical.

Fourteen more points for the winners came from Stephanie Talbot, while Chelsea Gray scored 12 of 56 percent shooting from the field, with 28 assists, while Jackie Young had 11 assists and 10 more helpers from Gray.

Wilson’s 30 tied a league mark she set last year with her total happening 13 times this season scoring 30 or more.

Philadelphia-born Kahleah Copper, a Rutgers grad, scored 18 for Phoenix while Shay Ciezki, a former Penn Stater, scored 13 and Natasha Mack scored 12.

That left the final piece of the season-ending puzzle to Golden State (32-11), which a year ago set an expansion record with season wins and qualifying for the playoffs before record sellout home crowds of 18,040, that have marked every game the past two seasons.

The Valkyries were even better this year, narrowly close to winning the No. 1 seed when Minnesota slumped the last two weeks, but on Thursday, in what was veteran Nneka Ogwumike, the longtime president of the players’ association, in her final career game, performing with Los Angeles at home, scored 17 points with 15 boards and five assists for the Sparks with her 19th double-double and 134th to finish six on the career charts, while Dearica Hamby and Rae Burrell each scored 15.

The Sparks had built a 69-57 lead with 4:42 remaining in regulation, and if it held, the Valkyries would slip to a third seed, depriving them of home court advantage if meeting the Aces in the best-of-five semifinals.

But Golden State suddenly stirred and deprived Los Angeles from the field the rest of the way until the last shot of the game for a 69-57 victory as the visitors finished on a 17-4 run.

Gabby Williams, another of the slew of UConn stars in the league, scored 14 points in 20 minutes, eight in the final 90 seconds, while Kaitlyn Chen, who played undergrad ball for Ivy champion Princeton before concluding as a graduate at UConn, scored 14 of her 18 points in the final quarter.

When the Valkyries were introduced as the first expansion outfit in a long time, the owner, who also owns the successful NBA Golden State Warriors, predicted a title within five years, a forecast of which the team lead by last season’s coach of the year in Natalie Nakase are projecting much faster.

Nakase, the first Asian American coach in the league, who was a former Becky Hammon assistant in Las Vegas, suddenly was a potential candidate to retain her coach of the year title, pending how many ballots still had not been cast for postseason awards from a nationwide media panel, whose ballots are due Friday.

On the other side by Friday morning Lynne Roberts, hired a year ago from Utah, was fired, ESPN cited sources, after the Sparks missed the playoffs in both her seasons.

Meanwhile, another coaching candidate is Sydney Johnson, whose Washington Mystics (27-17) weren’t predicted to make the playoffs but landed the fifth seed with the most wins in franchise history, more than the title achievers in 2019, after exciting a home crowd by capping it off with a 101-93 win over the Chicago Sky as second-year pros Sonia Citron scored 21 points and Kiki Iriafen scored 16 with 15 boards, both players being late insertions into openings on what became the Gold Medal winning USA champions over France earlier this month.

The Mystics finished the season strong, winning seven of eight and 16 of 19, and sweeping Chicago 3-0.

Michaela Onyenwere added 16 points and Georgia Amoore scored 14 with 12 from reserve Cotie Mahon, a rookie. Shakira Austin grabbed 11 of the Mystics dominating 44-27 advantage on the boards.

Veteran Courtney Vandersloot scored 16 for Chicago, as did Kamila Cardoso and Sydney Taylor, a walk-on rookie who was stellar all season for the visiting Sky.

Washington last played in the postseason in 2023.

The move to fifth was made possible by the remaining game of the night as Minnesota (33-11), which had dominated the season but slumped down the stretch, including a Monday blowout loss from Indiana (28-16), but backed into the top seed when Golden State was upset in overtime by Phoenix, on Wednesday paid back the Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell Fever 86-66 despite for the second straight game missing rookie sensation Olivia Miles with a calf injury.

Kayla McBride for the winning Lynx, shoot 6-for-10 from deep and finished with 22 points, Natasha Howard scored 21, and Courtney Williams had nine points, seven boards, with 10 assists.

Indiana’s Mitchell had her record 20-plus scoring streak stopped at 27 games, held to 10 points, while Clark was much worse with a season-low two points shooting 1-for-12 from the field.

Several days ago, the Fever, which was heading to finish on a high note, lost the season tiebreaker to Washington.

Crowds on the final night of the regular season continued to be plentiful.

Besides the sellout here at Connecticut, Minnesota drew 15,221 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, which gained the top seed for the second straight year after being upset last season in the semifinals by Phoenix, which had opened ousting then-defending champion New York, which Wednesday for the second straight night fell to Atlanta, enabled the Dream to finish fourth.

Dallas won its game Wednesday to end a playoff drought by landing the seventh seed.

Washington, moving to the larger Capital One Arena, drew 9,798 down town in the nation’s capital, as opposed to its smaller CareFirst Arena in the Southeast portion of the city.

The Mercury in the Arizona Desert drew 12,385 at the Mortgage Matchup Center, which hosted the NCAA Women’s Final Four in April when UCLA won its first national title in the organization, having won a previous crown led by Ann Meyers Drysdale under the Association for Intercollegiate Athletic for Women (AIAW) in 1978.

For Ogwumike’s final game, Los Angeles at home in the Crypto.com Arena, formerly named the Staples Center, drew 15,965.

The Matchups

The playoffs open Sunday with first-round action consisting of best-of-three 1-1-1 formats, followed by a best-of-five semifinals in a 2-2-1 arrangement before the finals are played in a 2-2-1-1-1 arrangement.

Anyone can win with upsets possible in all four opening rounds, besides the semifinals and finals, as proven by New York’s recent win at Minnesota, a team two years ago the Liberty beat to win the championship at home at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn in overtime in an exciting Game 5.

All four series will begin Sunday with No. 1 Minnesota hosting No. 8 New York at 2 p.m. on ABC, while No. 4 Atlanta hosts No. 5 Washington at 7 p.m. on Amazon Prime, No. 2 Golden State hosts No. 7 Dallas at 9 p.m. on USA Net, and No. 3 Las Vegas at 4 p.m. on ABC hosts No. 6 Indiana, which a year ago when injury-riddled, narrowly came close to upsetting the Aces in the semifinals.

On Tuesday, two games hosted by lower seeds will be played with Indiana hosting Las Vegas at 6:30 p.m. on Amazon Prime and New York hosting Minnesota at 8:30 p.m. on USA Net, likewise on Wednesday, Washington hosts Atlanta at 7 p.m. on ESPN in the CareFirst Arena and Dallas hosts Golden State at 9 p.m. on ESPN.

If necessary, one or two elimination games will be played Thursday back in Minnesota and Las Vegas, and one or two more on Friday back in Atlanta and Golden State.

The semifinals best of five series opens Sunday, Oct. 4, on NBC at a time to be announced and on ABC at 4 p.m.

ESPN and Peacock have Games 2 on the following Wednesday, while Games 3 air Friday, Oct. 9 on ESPN2 and Peacock.

ABC and NBC have Games 4 the following Sunday while potentially decisive Games 5 will be played the following Wednesday, Oct. 14 on ESPN and Peacock.

The best of seven finals open in the home of the highest surviving seed Saturday at 3:30 p.m. on NBC and stay in place Monday, Oct. 19, at 8 p.m. on USA Net.

The lower seed then hosts Game 3 Thursday at 8 p.m. on USA Net and if necessary Game 4 Saturday at 3:30 p.m. on NBC.

Potential Game 5 goes back to the high seed on Monday, Oct. 26, at 8 p.m. on USA Net, the low seed if necessary hosts a  first-ever Game 6 at 8 p.m. on USA Net the following Thursday while the high seed gets a penultimate Game 7 Saturday at 8 p.m. on USA Net, which would be the last or if the finals finish earlier under departing Commissioner Cathy Engelbert, whose retirement is set for Dec. 31 unless a successor had not yet been hired.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     

Breaking - Unrivaled Returns to Philly Feb. 15

 UNRIVALED RETURNS TO PHILADELPHIA FOR SECOND “PHILLY IS UNRIVALED PRESENTED BY XFINITY” TOUR STOP

 

Xfinity, an official partner of Unrivaled, returns as presenting partner for the league’s games at Xfinity Mobile Arena following last season’s record-setting debut

 

MIAMI (September 10, 2026) — Today, Unrivaled announced its return to Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia for the league’s third season, building on the record-breaking success of last year’s inaugural “Philly is Unrivaled presented by Xfinity” tour stop. 

 

Unrivaled will take the court at Xfinity Mobile Arena on February 15, 2027, with tickets going on sale today at 4 p.m. ET, available via Ticketmaster and unrivaled.basketball/tours/2027/philadelphia.Unrivaled newsletter subscribers will have access to an exclusive presale from 3-4 p.m. ET, and fans must subscribe at unrivaled.basketball/newsletter to be sent pre-sale access information. The games will be simulcast at 7:30 p.m. ET on TNT, truTV, and HBO Max, with participating clubs to be announced at a later date and timing subject to change. 

 

“When Philadelphia became the first new market to host an Unrivaled game, the incredible response from fans showed what this league could become in cities across the country,” said Matt Lederer, Vice President of Brand Partnerships & Engagement, Comcast. “As we enter the second year of our partnership, we are excited to bring Unrivaled back to Xfinity Mobile Arena and build on that momentum. Unrivaled’s player-first approach has created an authentic connection among its athletes, partners and fans, and we are proud to help bring that experience back to one of the most passionate basketball communities in the country.”

 

Philadelphia is the third host city to be revealed through “Unrivaled on Tour with Ally,” the league’s month-long, cross-country bus tour engaging fans in each of its season three tour markets. The bus arrived in Philadelphia following its first two stops in New York and Boston. The remaining host cities will be announced as the tour continues across the country through early October. 

 

The Philadelphia stop builds on Unrivaled’s successful debut in the city last season, when more than 21,000 fans packed Xfinity Mobile Arena for the league’s first-ever regular-season games outside of Miami. The event set an all-time attendance record for a regular-season professional women’s basketball game and became the most-attended event in Xfinity Mobile Arena history. The record-setting turnout underscored the demand for Unrivaled in one of the country’s most passionate basketball markets. 

 

“We’re thrilled to welcome Unrivaled back to Xfinity Mobile Arena,” said Blair Listino, Chief Financial and Administrative Officer for Comcast Spectacor. “Last year’s stop in Philadelphia was electric and proved what we’ve known: Philly sports fans show up for women’s sports in a big way. Bringing Unrivaled back reflects our continued commitment to growing women’s sports in our city while showcasing world-class competition and delivering unforgettable events for fans across the region.”

 

Unrivaled is teaming up with the Philadelphia Sisters, the league’s official watch party partner in Philadelphia. To tip off the partnership, “Unrivaled on Tour with Ally” will make its Philadelphia stop at Dock Street Brewery South from 7-9 p.m. ET. Due to limited capacity, the event is first come first served, and fans must be 21+ to attend. Media interested in covering the activation should RSVP to pr@unrivaledleague.com. 

 

“Philadelphia is known for having some of the most passionate sports fans in the country, and we saw that firsthand last season,” said Micky Lawler, Unrivaled Commissioner. “After the incredible response we received, we couldn’t imagine taking Unrivaled on tour without coming back to the city where our story on the road began.”

 

The complete season three schedule, including ticket information for games at Sephora Arena in Miami, will be announced in the fall. Fans can find the latest updates at unrivaled.basketball/toursand across Unrivaled’s social channels.

The Guru’s UPSHOT League Report: Charlotte Huge 4th Quarter Rally over Host Jacksonville Gains Upset and Leads to First League Championship

 By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsgurux

For all but opening day of the regular season and three quarters of the inaugural title game Saturday night in Jacksonville, Fla., the host Wave owned the new four-team UPSHOT League.

Then in the final period the visiting two-seed Charlotte Crown put a regal finish in the packed VStar Memorial Arena rallying from what had been a 14-point deficit earlier in the second half, and paced by Deja Kelly, who scored 29 points with six boards, to claim the deed to the first championship in the developmental women’s pro league with a stunning 81-76 victory off a 32-19 fourth quarter that still had a chance to be regained by the Wave, which ebbed on a pair of missed potential game-tying 3-pointers with less than 30 seconds remaining in regulation.

Kelly, who starred collegiately at North Carolina and Oregon, easily won the Ann Meyers Drysdale MVP trophy.

The Naismith and Women’s Basketball Hall of Famer, for who the trophy is named, and also was a four-time all-American at UCLA, was in the arena as one of the investors as were women’s hoops greats Cheryl Miller and Tamika Catchings, who also have a stake in the league.

Our colleague Rob Knox was on hand for IX Sports and the quotes in this post are drawn on his excellent coverage.

For those wondering from her name, Meyers Drysdale is the widow of the late L.A. Dodgers pitching sensation Don Drysdale.

“Ann Meyers Drysdale is a legend, so to have won an award that’s named after her is truly a blessing,” Kelly said. “It’s an honor. Obviously, I would have loved to win the regular season MVP, and I think I deserved it.

“But the championship MVP means a little bit more, so we’ll take that. And the fact that we won the ‘chip means a lot more. I’m truly blessed. It’s truly an honor, a great award. There’s so much meaning behind it, and to be the first, that’s a blessing in itself,” she continued.

“So, it’s a great award, but I couldn’t have done it without my team. They have helped me throughout this whole season. We got a lot of MVPs on our team who could’ve been up for that award, too. They have been so supportive and a great value to what I was able to do on the court.”

Charlotte (23-11), whose season could be considered an omen of the Crown’s eventual result, started 1-6 and then caught fire to eventually finish two games behind Jacksonville (25-9) but way ahead of the Greensboro Groove (11-23) and Savannah Steel (9-25).

By seed it may look like an upset, but the Crown picked up late summer wins on the Wave to draw closer down the stretch.

Next year Nashville and Baltimore join with league co-founders being Donna Orender, a Queens (N.Y.) star in the late 1970s who was the second president of the WNBA and is UPSHOT Commissioner, Andy Kaufman, who is CEO of Zawyer Sports & Entertainment, and Deloitte veteran Mark Walsh, the organization from which WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert previously worked.

Jacksonville is coached Jess Bogia, a native of Philadelphia who coached in the nationally prominent AAU Philadelphia Belles and was on several collegiate staffs, while Trisha Stafford-Odom coached Charlotte in the comeback.

Of Kelly, Stafford-Odom told Knox, “What I see is actually an introvert for the most part, pretty quiet, pretty shy, and has the weight of the world by her people’s expectations and mainly people that don’t know her.

“There are assumptions that fly all over the place about what she may be like because she’s such an exceptional scorer, exceptional basketball player,” Stafford-Odom said. “She’s such a beautiful young lady, but what I’ve learned is that she’s a beautiful spirit who allowed me to coach her to do something different and expand her game.

“What I would love people to know about Deja Kelly is that she’s an individual willing to sacrifice,” the Charlotte coach explained. “She’s very unselfish, and her goal is about winning. But she’s a wonderful soul. She’s grateful for her opportunities, and she’s a bucket.”

And just like the WNBA, the crowd did not lack for notables, primarily NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal, a league official partner off his brand Dunkman, which designs and supplies the league’s uniforms, shoes, and gear.

At halftime, according to Knox, he whispered some advice to Stafford-Odom as the team came off the floor.

The Wave in the contest continued to surge coming out of the break on an 8-0 run to go up 44-30 with 8:05 left in the third period.

Then the tide began to turn, KK Dean finishing with 14 points for Charlotte, while Reigan Richardson and AD, formerly known as Asia Durr, each scored 11. Down the stretch Kylie Kornegay-Lewis scored nine points.

Jacksonville’s Ariel Hearn and Rennia Davis each scored 15 points, Jasmine Walker scored 11, and Shyanne Sellers and Lindsey Pulliam each scored 10. Adut Bulgak grabbed 11 boards.

Other notables at the game where former WNBA stars Muriel Page and Kym Hampton, who scored the New York Liberty’s first basket in the league’s inaugural 1997 game in Los Angeles against the Sparks.

Cheltenham’s Laura Harper, the MVP of Maryland’s 2006 NCAA overtime championship in Boston against ACC-Rival Duke now coaching Towson, was in the house to see her former Tigers player Kornegay-Lewis.

Said Charlotte’s Qunizia Fulmore, “The environment wad definitely lit. For this to be a new league, I am so surprised. We have so many supporters. Some of our Charlotte fans I always see at home games were here. Even the Jacksonville fans were very respectful and nice, saying they love watching us play as well. It’s just such a good vibe, especially for this to be the first year for this league. I’m genuinely impressed.”

During the game, all-league honors were given to the Waves’ Hearn and Davis, Charlotte’s Kelly and Scaquilla Nunn, Greensboro’s Diamond Johnson, another Philly native, and Lasha Petree of Savannah.

Hearn was the season MVP and Waves teammate Taylor Soule won the Sixth Women award, while Nunn was defensive player of the year.

For the UPSHOT co-founders, the outcome and entire season was an affirmation of their vision.

“It’s actually really hard to put into words,” Orender said. “I’d love to be able to pour out this most eloquent quote.

“It’s actually overwhelming in a way, right? You work hard for something. You believe in it. It comes together piece by piece, and then all of a sudden it’s there.

“It’s a tremendous amount of hard work by so many people. It’s incredibly validating, and then it’s also so very gratifying. … We’re laying down a foundation that is going to be built upon, and that honestly, that’s heavy stuff.”

Not to be left out among the league front office is the glue, former WNBA great Taj McWilliams-Franklin, who also played for the ABL’s Philadelphia Rage and is the league’s vice president of operations running the day-to-day infrastructure.

Several players have already found their way onto WNBA rosters.

It’s been mentioned to league officials that perhaps Philadelphia in 2028 and or 2029 can serve as a run-up to the coming of the WNBA in 2030, given the sellout Unrivaled drew last winter, though South Philly is not needed for an UPSHOT team to perform.

The first cities chosen don’t have much pro sports competition in the summer but even where it exists, attendance showed the explosion of women’s sports interest.

The league drew $40 million investment revenue.

“It’s no longer a talent issue in women’s basketball,” Miller told Knox. “It’s a spot issue. It’s a roster issue. We need more leagues like this. I just wanted to be a part of something from ground zero to where it is today. I’m super excited about where UPSHOT is going because it has a bright future.”

Games were available all season, including the championship, for free via the league’s YouTube channel.

“This league is so vital in the sense that not everyone gets the opportunity to play in the WNBA,” Miller said. “There are only so many spots, and only so many teams (the WNBA will have 18 after Philly arrives in 2030) and some players haven’t evolved their games quite enough yet, so they need that opportunity to strengthen, improve, and expand them. So this league is a perfect fit.”

Added Catchings, who broadcasts collegiate games in the winter on national networks, “It’s a really good league. We’re watching the talent tonight. I’m looking at the players I got a chance to call in the college game, and seeing them still succeed is a blessing.

“We’re a big family, and it’s really a tight-knit family. And it doesn’t matter whether it’s the WNBA, the UPSHOT League, a college game, or players playing overseas. Being able to come out and see good talent and good games, I think it’s important for our young ones, too, to see.”

Though on the losing side, Sellers was upbeat recapping her season.

“It was super fun tonight. The energy in the building was electric. It just shows we need more teams and that everybody is excited about women’s basketball. The growth of the game is exciting, and I couldn’t be more grateful for it,” Sellers continued.

“Playing in this league has been a huge blessing for me because I could be home sitting on my couch and trying to get individual work in. There’s nothing like playing the game that can really prepare you for the moment. I am super grateful for everything that has happened. I’ve gotten to connect with a bunch of different people. We come from all walks of life, and we’ve made it work. It’s a blessing.”

Meyers Drysdale, a summed it up, saying,“It shows that the UPSHOT League is needed. It’s an elite league that gives opportunity to women.

“The fact that it started small, and these cities don’t have pro sports, you can see by the fans that they’re hungry for it. They’re excited about it. You’ve got families here. You’ve got adults from everywhere coming to watch these women play that have a skill level that deserves the attention that it’s getting,” Myers Drysdale, who broadcasts NBA Phoenix Suns and WNBA Phoenix Mercury games, continued.

“I’m just proud of these young women that are out here playing because they’ve got the opportunity to fulfill their dream.”