Napheesa Collier tops Aaliyah Edwards in Unrivaled 1-on-1 final
MEDLEY, Fla. — Napheesa Collier of the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx took home $200,000 on Friday after she beat Washington Mystics forward Aaliyah Edwards in the final of the Unrivaled 1-on-1 Tournament.
The winner’s check was the largest one-day prize in women’s basketball history, Unrivaled commissioner Micky Lawler said, a big payday that was among the goals of Collier and fellow WNBA star Breanna Stewart when they founded the 3-on-3 league.
Unrivaled gives WNBA players opportunities to compete in the United States and earn good salaries — an especially attractive option for players who for years suited up overseas in the offseason to supplement their income. Players earn an average salary of more than $220,000 during the eight-week season, which is close to the maximum base salary in the WNBA.
“My entire WNBA salary is what I just got in 30 minutes of playing one-on-one,” Collier said. “Which is insane to even say. And same for [playing] overseas. A lot of people, this is their full contract, so you’re playing seven months for this kind of money.”
Collier, a No. 1 seed in the 30-player tournament, won the best-of-three series 2-1 over the eighth-seeded Edwards to become Unrivaled’s first one-on-one champion.
Each game between the former UConn standouts was played to a winning score of 8, with Edwards coming from behind to take the opener and Collier winning the final two.
Collier’s five Unrivaled teammates each received $10,000 from the tournament’s $350,000 prize pool. Edwards got $50,000 for reaching the final.
Collier hopes women’s basketball embraces the one-on-one format.
“You see guys or boys playing in the parks — like pickup or one-on-ones, and you don’t see that on the women’s side as much,” she said. “So that’s something we’re trying to change, just that atmosphere where everything’s not as organized basketball, but just playing in your backyard or at the park.”
The win capped a dominant tournament run for Collier, who plays for Unrivaled’s Lunar Owls and leads Unrivaled in scoring at 29.3 points per game.
Earlier Friday, Collier overwhelmed former UConn teammate and No. 6 seed Azura Stevens in their semifinal matchup. Collier scored the first eight points of the game, and the reigning WNBA Defensive Player of the Year relied on stifling defense to win 11-2.
Collier breezed past Katie Lou Samuelson in the first round before winning a physical second-round battle against Rickea Jackson. She then beat her Lynx and Lunar Owls teammate Courtney Williams to reach the semifinals.
She shot her way past Edwards in the decisive Game 3, making 4 of 6 shots and holding Edwards scoreless.
Edwards, who plays for the Mist in Unrivaled, beat two top-seeded opponents on her way to the final, cruising past No. 1 seed Arike Ogunbowale 11-2 in the first semifinal matchup earlier Friday. Before that, she shut down No. 1 seed Stewart 12-0 in the opening round. After earning a second-round bye, Edwards topped third-seeded Allisha Gray 12-6.
Ogunbowale and Stevens won $25,000 each for reaching the semifinals. Rounds up to the finals were single-elimination and played to a winning score of 11. All games had traditional scoring, with each basket worth either two or three points.
The 22-year-old Edwards is preparing for her second season with the Mystics and hopes her performance Friday shows how hard she has been working to improve.
“I’m proud of myself. No one could take that away from me,” Edwards said. “All the work I put in. I was able to just showcase that and kind of let everyone know that, you know, I’m not one to play with.”
Collier noted that the physicality of some matchups left a lot of players gassed during the tournament, which is something she said could be addressed next season.
She’d love to see a similar event for NBA players.
“It’s up to the players if they want to do it,” Collier said. “You’re putting your name on the line. You’re putting your reputation on the line. It’s a vulnerable situation. So again, I really commend everyone who competed in this because … anyone can win.”
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Unrivaled’s inaugural 1-on-1 tournament started this week, and despite some bumps, it turned out to be a fun experiment for the players and fans. The league had to condense the bracket after several players dropped out because of “lingering injuries and to prioritize player well-being for regular-season games,” and the tournament’s atmosphere could be improved by letting fans in on any trash talk happening on the court. But the games were fun, and the players were clearly all in on winning their games.
The players were candid about their motivation in the tournament — it’s the money. The winner will get $200,000, and each of her clubmates will get $10,000. The runner-up gets $50,000. Each of the semifinalists is guaranteed at least $25,000. As semifinalist Aaliyah Edwards is on her rookie contract for the Washington Mystics in the WNBA, the top prize is more than double her reported salary of $73,499. Even for the players who are veterans with bigger contracts, $200K is still a considerable chunk of change.
That motivation opened the door for some memorable moments in the first, second and quarterfinal rounds of the tournament.
Edwards had a solid rookie year, starting 17 games for Washington and playing for Canada in the 2024 Olympics. However, injuries hampered her success last summer, and she was given a No. 8 seed on the bracket. But in the 1-on-1 tournament, Edwards has shown she is not a player to look past. It started with an upset of her Mist teammate — and two-time WNBA MVP — Breanna Stewart in less than two minutes. In the next round, she knocked out Allisha Gray in another upset.
“I don’t think I focus on people being surprised at the fact that I’m playing well,” Edwards told reporters in Miami. “I’m just focusing on trusting in my work and making sure to do whatever it takes me to win. I’ve always been that type of player. I’ve always just tried to be a smaller player. So I think just now people are realizing it. But you know, I’m not gonna get a hot head or anything like that. I’m going to stay true to who I am and how my parents raised me, and just be that greedy player.”
#8 SEED AALIYAH EDWARDS IS THE FIRST SEMI-FINALIST
Aaliyah Edwards upsets Allisha Gray 12 😶🌫️ – 6 🦉 pic.twitter.com/axI1l22uop
— Unrivaled Basketball (@Unrivaledwbb) February 12, 2025
“People sleep on Aaliyah [Edwards],” said Arike Ogunbowale, Edwards’ next opponent in the semifinals. “I’ve been watching her and she’s moving for being a post. She’s got a package on offense that I got to be ready for, but she has to guard me too.”
Courtney Williams and Napheesa Collier play together both on the Minnesota Lynx in the WNBA and the Lunar Owls in Unrivaled. However, that friendship was put to the side with money on the line in a quarterfinal game. Williams had to win a physical game over Rhyne Howard to get there, while Collier had to beat out Rickea Jackson. Williams was her usual crafty self on defense, but Collier, who’s an Unrivaled co-founder alongside Stewart, was too good. She won 12-4, and the two immediately hugged when the game ended.
Azurá Stevens also had to beat a WNBA teammate to get to the semifinals, barely allowing Los Angeles teammate Rae Burrell to get any shots off in a 12-2 win.
Former WNBA teammates Ogunbowale and Satou Sabally played in the final quarterfinal on Tuesday night. The pair have played together for four years in Dallas, though Sabally was traded to Phoenix in the offseason. Sabally went 2-11 from the field, opening the door for Ogunbowale to win 12-8 in a physical matchup.
“Of course there’s some bragging rights,” Ogunbowale said afterward. “We were teammates for a long time and I got a lot of respect for Satou for sure and I wish her the best in the future, but I had to get the win.”
The tournament will wrap up on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. ET on TNT, with two semifinals and three finals games. The big difference between these 1-on-1 games and what the players are used to, whether that’s 3-on-3 or 5-on-5 games, is that there are no breaks. There’s no one to pass to, and there’s no one coming in to substitute in. Conditioning is huge, as well as the ability to start strong. As Stewart found out against Edwards, a hot opponent can get to 11 very quickly.
Stevens and Collier will face off in one of the semifinals. They know each other well, as they played together at UConn before heading to the WNBA. Standing at 6-foot-6, Stevens has the considerable height advantage, and she’s shown throughout the tournament that she has the speed and agility to get to the basket. Collier is the reigning WNBA Defensive Player of the Year and was dominant as she took out Katie Lou Samuelson, Rickea Jackson and Courtney Williams to get to the semifinals. She can score from anywhere on the court, which could neutralize Stevens’ height advantage.
“I’ll definitely have to do something different I did in the other rounds because she is really long,” Collier said of Stevens. “I’m going to have to move her and try to go under her and play really good defense, but one step closer to the final.”
“It’s going to be an exciting matchup”
Z and Phee face off on Friday, Feb 14th, in the Semifinals 👑 pic.twitter.com/91ri9DoexS
— Unrivaled Basketball (@Unrivaledwbb) February 12, 2025
The other semifinal features Ogunbowale and Edwards. Ogunbowale is the only guard to make the semifinals, and she gives up seven inches in height to Edwards. But Ogunbowale is a strong, muscular guard who doesn’t get pushed around under the basket. She’s a shooter who will shoot from anywhere, and if she gets hot early, the game will be over quickly for Edwards. Edwards will have to continue to do what she has been doing throughout the tournament. She wasn’t intimidated by Stewart or Gray, despite all they’ve accomplished, and Edwards needs to view Ogunbowale the same way.
After the semifinals, the two winners will play a best-of-three series to decide who wins the $200,000.
Azurá Stevens, Napheesa Collier, Aaliyah Edwards and Arike Ogunbowale advanced to Friday’s semifinals
Aaliyah Edwards, upset machine
Teammates faced off for some memorable games
What’s next for Unrivaled’s 1-on-1 tournament
Unrivaled 2025: Napheesa Collier Wins 1 vs. 1 Bracket and $200K Prize Money
Napheesa Collier won the first-ever Unrivaled one-on-one tournament after defeating Aaliyah Edwards in the finals on Friday, and she’ll now take home $200,000 too.
The Minnesota Lynx and Lunar Owls star fell 9-6 to Edwards in Game 1 but rebounded with a 9-4 win in Game 2. In the tournament-deciding Game 3, Collier shut Edwards out, 8-0, for the big win.
Collier won five matchups to earn the 200K, defeating Katie Lou Samuelson, Rickea Jackson and Courtney Williams over the first three rounds.
The semifinals and finals both took place Friday. Collier defeated Azurá Stevens 11-2 in the semis before facing Edwards, a No. 8 seed who engineered an amazing run to the finals capped by a 11-2 win over Arike Ogunbowale in the semis.
The best-of-three finals featured games up to eight points with two- and three-point buckets. Made baskets resulted in the scoring player getting the ball back.
Here’s a look at how the finals went down, game-by-game.
Game 1: Edwards 9, Collier 6
In Game 1, Collier took a 6-4 lead after back-to-back two-pointers. She had two more possessions to get the winning bucket, but neither shot went down.
Edwards took advantage after the second basket, charging into the lane for a three-point play that put her up 7-6. She then immediately scurried to her left and hit another layup while being fouled to take the 9-6 victory.
Game 2: Collier 9, Edwards 4
Edwards jumped out to a 4-2 lead after back-to-back buckets and appeared in control here. However, Collier bore down on defense, getting a key block and gaining possession down two. She never gave the ball back and engineered a 7-0 run to close the contest, including a clutch three to take a 7-4 edge.
Game 3: Collier 8, Edwards 0
As the score indicates, this one was all Collier, who score four two-point buckets in the win. Edwards only had two possessions, one of which ended in a missed shot and the other which resulted in a turnover.
Despite the finals loss, Edwards authored a phenomenal run and receives $50,000 for her efforts. Stevens and Ogunbowale each got $25,000 for making the semifinals. Collier’s Lunar Owls teammates also get $10,000 apiece.
Unrivaled now returns to regular-season play on Tuesday. Collier’s Lunar Owls have dominated the league, starting out 8-0.
