Thus far in Unrivaled Basketball, the Breeze have found themselves in the conversation for making the postseason. The Youngins were sitting with a 4-2 mark ahead of their matchup against the Laces on Monday evening. However, the Laces entered with a four-game winning streak.
Following the first quarter, the Breeze possessed an 20-17 lead as Paige Bueckers and Phoenix Mercury guard Kiana Williams each hit two three-pointers. The second quarter saw much more scoring from the Laces with 24 points in the quarter. Guard Brittney Skyes of the Seattle Storm led the way in the quarter with 11 points. At the half, the Youngins found themselves down by a score of 41-38.
Both teams found their groove from the field as a combined 46 points were scored in the third quarter. Sykes once again led the Laces in scoring in a quarter with 13 in the third. For the Breeze, Bueckers scored 10 in the quarter. As the Laces held a 65-60 lead at the conclusion of the third quarter, the winning score would be 76 points or more.
In the fourth quarter, the Breeze offense cooled as it put up just seven points as the Laces won 76-67 on a two-point layup by Alyssa Thomas. The win put the Laces at 6-1 and atop the Unrivaled Basketball standings as the Breeze dropped to 4-3.
Laces Vs. Breeze Unrivaled Basketball Recap
In the loss, Bueckers led the Breeze with 22 points along with six rebounds and four assists. Next, Malonga put up another double-double with 18 points and 11 boards. Cameron Brink scored 11 points while grabbing six boards and blocking four shots.
Golden State Valkyries guard Kate Martin added 10 points with five assists and rebounds. Kiana Williams scored six points as the Youngins were without Rickea Jackson. She was out due to a Right Upper Extremity injury.
No surprise as Sykes led the Laces and the game with 31 points in addition to four rebounds and assists. Thomas went nine-of-12 from the field, scoring 19 points while Naz Hillmon had a double-double. Hillmon scored 15 points and getting 11 rebounds. Jordin Canada put up 10 points and notched seven boards in the victory. Like Jackson, Maddy Siegrist was out for the Laces with a Right Upper Extremity injury.
Up next for the Breeze is the Phantom in Philadelphia on Friday night while the red-hot Laces face the Vinyl on Saturday night in Miami.
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