Angel Reese came back to Unrivaled, at least in part, to help defending champ Rose BC make a push to the playoffs.
While Reese scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds in a productive 10 minutes, Rose lost, 80-78, in her return to Hive BC on Friday night at Sephora Arena in Miami. Rose is now 5-7 and in fifth place in the standings with two regular-season games to go. The top six teams will make the postseason.
Kelsey Mitchell scored 27 points and hit the game-winning layup for Hive in a game which included 19 lead changes and 16 ties. Azurá Stevens, who the Rose traded away to make room for Reese, added 20 points and eight rebounds in 11 minutes off the bench.
Reese joining Rose is made possible by a recent three-way trade, the second in league history. The trade sent Vinyl BC guard Courtney Williams to Breeze BC, Hive BC guard Saniya Rivers to Vinyl and Rose forward Stevens to Hive.
Rose guard Kahleah Copper had been begging Reese to return to Unrivaled on social media all season. Under a recent TikTok video of Reese unboxing items she bought while traveling in Australia, Copper said, ‘You unboxing [expletive], like bring your ass to Miami.’ She later added, ‘Inbox this Rose jersey.’
Cooper scored a game-high 29 points for the Rose on Friday. Shakira Austin added 17 points and nine rebounds.
Reese was named Defensive Player of the Year and made Unrivaled history with the league’s first 20-20 game last season.
‘Angel [Reese], she’s, obviously, a young player, a really well-known player and someone who did really well last year. Her team won.’ Unrivaled co-founder Napheesa Collier said ahead of Reese’s return. ‘To have her back on the Rose is awesome.
‘She’s just been such a huge addition to Unrivaled, and so, even though it’s only the end of the season, we’re happy to have her.’