From overtime winners to 40-point performances, there’s been no shortage of excitement and stellar basketball thus far in AU Hoops. As we reach the midpoint of the season, week three is one you won’t want to miss.
Week Two Highlights
Courtney Williams Elam Game Winner
The week's final game was an overtime thriller between Team Harrison and Team Sims. Isabelle Harrison forced a second overtime period on a free throw with 4 seconds left. This season, Athletes Unlimited has implemented the “Elam Ending” where in the case of a second overtime, the first team to score seven points wins. Williams took charge after captain Harrison fouled out, and after the teams traded scores three times, she secured the comeback win with a jumper.
Isabelle Harrison 40-Point Game
Isabelle Harrison started the week off with a career-high 40 points and 12 rebounds on 15 of 23 shooting. This marked Harrison’s fifth career double-double at Athletes Unlimited, and though the team couldn’t pull out the win, the performance earned Harrison MVP 3 honors.
Odyssey Sims Career High
Odyssey Sims scored a career-high 37 points, along with eight rebounds and eight assists. This was done on 10-of-25 shooting from the field and 15-for-17 at the free throw line. Despite the team loss, this performance secured MVP 2 honors for Sims.
Rookie Season
The rookies have been making this season theirs, putting up big numbers and occupying seven of the top ten spots on the leaderboard. Captain Naz Hillmon put up a 33-point and 12-rebound double-double, earned MVP 1 honors, and led her team to sweep the games 350 win points. This performance by Hillmon against Team Harrison set the league single-game record for leaderboard points earned with 834. Jordin Canada was awarded MVP 1 when she put up a season-high 25 points, along with eight rebounds and five assists. In the matchup between Team Smith and Team Hillmon, Smith led her team with 22 points and nine rebounds. Leading Team Hillmon was Theresa Plaisance who scored 23 points on 10-of-16 shooting, and Allisha Gray who put up 20 points, six assists, and five rebounds.
Week Three Overview
This week's teams feature three returning captains from week two: Odyssey Sims, Naz Hillmon, and NaLyssa Smith, along with Kelsey Mitchell making her season two captain debut. Mitchell is the third-highest-scoring player in the league and is the MVP points leader. The week three schedule is as follows:
Wednesday, March 8
Team Hillmon vs Team Smith 3:00 PM/PT - WNBA League Pass and Women’s Sports Network
Team Sims vs Team Mithell 5:30 PM/PT - WNBA League Pass and Women’s Sports Network
Friday, March 10
Team Mitchell vs Team Smith 3:00 PM/PT - WNBA League Pass
Team Hillmon vs Team Sims 5:30 PM/PT - WNBA League Pass and Women’s Sports Network
Saturday, March 11
Team Mitchell vs Team Hillmon 3:00 PM/PT - Bally Sports and WNBA League Pass
Team Smith vs Team Sims 5:30 PM/PT - Bally Sports and WNBA League Pass
Players to Watch
Lexie Hull
Lexie Hull, currently sixth on the leaderboard, was last week's 3rd overall point earner. In the words of Cindy Brunson, she “defends like her ability to breathe depends on it,” leading the league with 15 steals and 10 blocks. She’s been shooting 40.7% from three and scored in double digits in all three games last week.
Allisha Gray
Allisha Gray’s second week at Athletes Unlimited has been full of big performances
-20 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 steals
-18 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals
-17 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists
As she continues to play alongside Captain Naz Hillmon, her new Atlanta Dream teammate, Gray is sure to continue with solid performances and make her way up the leaderboard.
Kierstan Bell
Kierstan Bell has scored double-digits in all but one game this season and closed out week two with her first double-double of the season, scoring 18 points and 11 rebounds, with some big crunch-time shots. I see Bell being an important factor for Team Sims this week as she looks to make her way up from the ninth spot on the leaderboard.
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