MIAMI — Neither Alyssa Thomas nor Jackie Young will play in tonight’s Unrivaled game between the Laces and the Rose.
Photo by David Berding/Getty Images
Noa Dalzell is a senior writer covering the WNBA and all of women’s basketball for Breakaway, SB Nation’s women’s sports vertical, as well as the Celtics for CelticsBlog.
Young, a three-time WNBA All-Star and Las Vegas Aces guard, has yet to make her Unrivaled debut due to a knee injury. Thomas, a perennial MVP candidate who has spent her 11-year WNBA career with the Connecticut Sun, was one of Unrivaled’s early standouts. But, she hurt her knee in the fourth quarter of Friday’s game, and left in the fourth quarter. The exact specifics of her injury have yet to be disclosed.
On Monday morning, the league announced that neither player will be active for tonight’s game. In turn, Natisha Hiedeman will be reassigned from the Phantom to the Laces club after signing a relief player contract earlier this month.
Hiedeman, a WNBA free agent who most recently played on the Minnesota Lynx, has played three games with the Phantom so far this season after coming in to fill in for Marina Mabrey, who strained her calf in training camp. She’s one of two relief players who have signed Unrivaled contracts this season, the other being NaLyssa Smith, who joined the Mist club after DiJonai Carrington suffered an injury.
Now, she’ll be reassigned to one of the league’s winningest rosters, after averaging 10 points per game in three games this season.
Previewing Unrivaled action on Monday night
Unrivaled, the new professional women’s basketball league taking place in Miami, is in its second weekend of action.
The Laces are one of two undefeated teams so far this season, and have been led by Kayla McBride (23.7 points per game), Tiffany Hayes (18.7 points), Kate Martin (11 points), and Stef Dolson (9.3 points).
The Rose (1-2) and the Laces (3-0) are set to tip-off at 8:45 pm ET on TNT. Before that matchup, the Vinyl (2-1) and Lunar Owls (3-0) will face off at 7:30 pm ET.
The Vinyl should have a full roster comprised of Dearica Hamby (19 points per game), Rhyne Howard (21 points), Arike Ogunbowale (15.7 points), Rae Burrell (8.7 points), and Aliyah Boston (7 points).
The Lunar Owls have been led by league co-founder Napheesa Collier (31.7 points, 11.7 rebounds), Allisha Gray (19 points), Skylar Diggins-Smith (15.3 points), Courtney Williams (10 points, 5.3 assists), and Shakira Austin (4.7 points). Their sixth player, Cameron Brink, won’t be available this season as she recovers from a torn ACL.
