February 4, 2026
Unrivaled makes history with record-breaking Philly tour stop in week 4
Natasha Cloud: 'What a beautiful return of investment when you put players first and you build a business plan around them'
Unrivaled made its first-ever tour stop in Philadelphia this weekend, marking a historic moment for the league and for women’s basketball, drawing a record-breaking 21,490 fans.
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The tour stop featured two matchups: the first between the Breeze BC and Phantom BC, and the second between the Lunar Owls BC and the Rose BC. Each game featured a Philadelphia native in Phantom guard Natasha Cloud and Rose guard Kahleah Copper.
Natasha Cloud protests with ‘Abolish ICE’ sign
During player introductions, before facing the Breeze BC, Cloud stepped up at the top of the arena aisle, holding up an ‘Abolish ICE’ sign, joining league co-owner Mist BC forward Breanna Stewart, who did the same in her player introduction last week.
“I think it’s extremely important, so I’m going to continue to stand up,” Cloud told reporters postgame in Miami on Sunday. “We have a legitimate issue in this country. We have a job and a duty to protect not only our Constitution, but everyone that falls within the confines of that Constitution, and that’s everyone that is here in the United States. So for right now, yeah, I’m going to continue to walk out with a sign that says, ‘Abolish ICE’ until we abolish ICE.
“It’s unnecessary to have these minions out and abducting kids and taking families and breaking families apart. This is not the American values that we know and we love very well, and it never will be a part of it, and we’re never going to allow this to be normalized in our society. I think it’s crazy, and so I’m just really proud to be a part of a bigger overall of just understanding what it means to be in these seats right now and utilize these platforms.”
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Phantom sneak past Breeze
The first matchup between the Breeze and the Phantom went down to the wire in a back-and-forth game. Phantom stole the game from the Breeze at the end when Phantom guard Kelsey Plum drove to the basket for a layup.
This matchup entertained and awed fans as Plum and Breeze guard Paige Bueckers jarred back and forth. The Phantom defeated the Breeze 71-68 for their fifth win of the season.
Marina Mabrey goes off
During the second matchup of the night, Lunar Owls BC guard Marina Mabrey had the entire crowd on their feet as she set a new Unrivaled single-game scoring record.
Mabrey finished the game with 47 points, including 27 in the first quarter alone. She also set a new record for three-pointers made in a single game, going 10-for-15 from behind the arc.
Mabrey stepped up for the Lunar Owls with the absence of forward Aaliyah Edwards, who missed the game due to a right-hand injury. Edwards has been averaging a double-double this season thus far.
Mabrey told reporters after the game that she wasn’t in the right headspace the last few games that she played, motivating her to perform better in this game.
“…I just had to reset and give my team what we needed, and also just the trust of my teammates. They really give me the ball and kind of spread out and trust me, no matter what. And Temi [Fagbenle] set some really great screens, and Skylar[Diggins] had some really great input on the actions that get me open. So I can really only credit my coaches and teammates for that,” Mabrey told reporters postgame on Friday.
She alluded to internet noise, such as social media comments and media articles, being a reason for her mindset being off recently.
“Some athletes always say, like, ‘oh, I don’t really care whatever.’ Sometimes that shit gets to me. So I’m not gonna sit here and act like it doesn’t… like any other human, I don’t want people talking bad about me, so when they do, sometimes I get upset and get in my head so, yeah, I got upset, but now I got over it… my mom just always says, ‘get over yourself’ So I got over myself,” Mabrey said.
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Mabrey also reflected on what her 47 points — which are the most she’s scored across her professional career — mean as she continues to expand her game.
“In the past, I’ve always kind of put a lid on what I think I can do, and just kind of taking it off and just seeing where it goes. This is kind of the first step for me, just being able to see a 47-point game in my career. I’ve never done that, so just letting that fuel me and not limiting the light that I can shine,” Mabrey said.
Philadelphia 76ers center Andre Drummond was in attendance, sitting courtside to support his long-time friend Mabrey. Drummond joined the broadcast in Philadelphia and joked around after chest bumping Mabrey by her teams bench, “I’m going to take responsibility for this. I told Marina before the game, ‘I’ve come to see you play so many times for the Sun and you had a bad game. You need to get yourself together,” he said with a smile.
Mabrey was then asked about their relationship during a press conference, where she jokingly rolled her eyes and smiled before responding.
“Well, first off, I’ve known him since like, eight years old. Him and my brother played together. He’s close to my whole family, and he’s been really supportive of me as I’m coming up in this basketball world. He was talking mess with me before the game, saying, like, ‘oh are you gonna make a shot today?’ Like, all right, whatever, Andre, don’t talk to me,” Mabrey said with a smile.
“Also, when I was walking off the court, he was like, ‘get your composure.’ Like, shut up. So he’s like, my big bro. So we were kind of like, just going back and forth. But honestly, I really appreciate him. He comes to games in Connecticut, which is not the easiest place to come to. So as much as he gets on my nerves, he really is just my guy, that’s my bro.”
The Lunar Owls went on to defeat the Rose BC 85-75, to win their second game of the season behind Mabrey, who reached the winning score with a game-winning layup.
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Record-breaking attendance
Fans showed out for ‘Philly is Unrivaled’ as a record-breaking 21,490 fans flooded the stadium with a rainbow of different Unrivaled jerseys and a sea of various posters spread throughout the stands.
“This is amazing,” Bueckers told reporters on Friday. “Even when we were warming up, the crowd was screaming, and they were just really there to support. You look up in the stands, and you just see so many different colored jerseys, because there’s just so many women to support. And so that’s really, really huge, and it’s beautiful to see, just because we feel like the women before us paved the way, and now we’re finally getting the recognition, the media coverage, accessibility, on TV, we’re playing in an NBA arena too and sold out 21,000, so it really means a lot.
“…growing up watching the game and knowing how amazing these women, those women were, and how many people have paved the way, and then what we want for the next generation as well. So it’s just really amazing to be a part of, and we never want to take it for granted, just these opportunities that are in front of us.”
Friday night’s tour stop wasn’t just sold out, but they also set three new attendance records, including the all-time attendance mark for a professional women’s basketball regular season game, which was previously set by the Indiana Fever and Washington Mystics (20,711 fans) on Sept. 19, 2024.
They also set the record for all-time attendance for a professional basketball game, men’s or women’s, at Xfinity Mobile Arena. The previous record, 21,305, was set during Michael Jordan’s last game as a Bull in the city on April 17, 1998.
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The third record they set was the all-time attendance record for any event, including concerts, in Xfinity Mobile Arena history. The Backstreet Boys set the previous record with their ‘Into the Millennium’ Tour on Sept. 29, 1999, with 21,424 fans.
“Honestly, it was just incredible,” Stewart told reporters on Saturday. “I think, to see the build-up, see the announcement that we were going to Philly, just the fans continuing to kind of talk about it, the players, especially Tash and Kah, wanting to go back home and play in front of that crowd. But even watching the game…People were tuned in, they were locked in. Some of them probably, well, most of them probably haven’t came to an Unrivaled game live. And I thought that both games didn’t disappoint. And Marina, with the night cap of 47 and having the crowd on their feet the entire game was something that was really exciting.”
Philly welcomes home Cloud and Copper
Unrivaled was able to highlight Philadelphia hometown heroes, Cloud and Rose BC guard Kahleah Copper, this weekend.
The crowd roared during player introductions for both Cloud and Copper, welcoming them home to the state where it all began. Cloud took center court following her game, where she got emotional as she spoke to the crowd.
She reflected on how no one thought she would ever be where she is today and expressed the love she has for her city. Copper took center court during that evening as well, thanking the fans and also sharing her love for the city.
“But man, what a beautiful event that we were able to put on. What a beautiful return of investment when you put players first and you build a business plan around them, and what a success it was. So all the young little boys and girls, I hope that they’re inspired. And not only through the game of basketball. You don’t have to play sports to be able to have a blessing. Have a blessing in your life… You can be a scholar, you can go into music, you can go into fashion. And there’s so many different things outside the city of Philadelphia that I hope we inspired all those kids to go dream and reach for,” Cloud said on Sunday.
Unrivaled put on a clinic and hosted a panel for community day sponsored by Under Armour. Over 100 youth athletes were in attendance to celebrate the city and basketball. Mabrey was in attendance for the clinic along with Copper and Cloud. Lunar Owls head coach DJ Sackmann helped lead the scrimmage as well.
“At the clinic that DJ[Sackmann] ran, I thought it was awesome to see all the girls there. They were so excited to see Kah, she’s a role model for them. So just being able to support Kah in Philly, honestly, and Tash Cloud,” Mabrey said.
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Copper and Cloud were able to tour their teammates around their home cities, showing them some of their firsts and favorite food options too. Copper made sure that all the Unrivaled tour players didn’t leave Philadelphia before having a Philly cheese steak.
“It was really cool too, just to be in Kah’s hometown, in Tasha’s hometown… I know Kah went and showed her team her hometown and where she grew up in, the basket that she grew up on. It’s just really cool to see those stories. And it really means a lot to them, and it means a lot to us to bring it there,” Bueckers said.
Free throw challenge: Round 2
During Unrivaled’s second game in Philadelphia, they honored Breeze BC guard Bueckers at half court for winning the free-throw challenge, which came with a $50,000 prize. While presenting Bueckers with a large upscaled check, the league announced that they were launching a second free-throw challenge in partnership with Xfinity, with another $50,000 prize attached to it.
The new free-throw challenge runs from Jan. 30 to the conclusion of the regular season on Feb. 27. The player with the highest free-throw percentage at the end of the regular season will win the $50,000 prize.
In order to be eligible for the prize, a player has to appear in a minimum of five games and attempt at least 10 free throws.
With the success that Unrivaled had in Philedelphia co-founder Napheesa Collier told reporters that next season they planned on having multiple tour stops. Collier’s husband and Unrivaled president Alex Bazzell is already teasing that Philly may be one of those tour stops.
StudBudz night
On Monday night, the league hosted their StudBudz theme night as The StudBudz themselves, Hive BC guard Natisha Hiedeman and Vinyl BC guard Courtney WIlliams faced off.
The Vinyl defeated the Hive 74-71 in a back-and-forth thriller.
The duo later joined the TNT Unrivaled broadcast for the second game featuring the Mist BC and the Laces BC. They were seen dancing and having fun with Lisa Leslie while assisting on her call of the game. They even put their StudBudz chain around play-by-play commentator Brendon Glasheen.
The players participating in Unrivaled (left photo) separated into four pods, A-D and the prize pot distribution (right photo). (Photo credit: Unrivaled Basketball)
One-on-one voting opened
Unrivaled has brought back their one-on-one tournament for a second season in a row, featuring a $300,000 prize pool, which begins on Feb. 11. Unrivaled has split 32 players into four position-based pods A through D.
Fans have the chance to rank the players one through eight, to have a say in who will face off in the first round of one-on-one.
The 16 first-round matchups will take place on Feb. 11, followed by the second round and quarterfinals taking place on Feb. 13. The tournament will conclude on Feb. 14 with the semifinals and finals.
Each game will be for 10 minutes in length or until a player reaches the winning score of 11 for every round except the championship, which will feature a best-of-three format with a winning score of seven for each game.
The champion will recieve $200,000 and the runner-up will recieve $50,000. Each semifinalist will also receive $25,000.
There is one more weekend of regular-season games before Unrivaled takes a pause for its one-on-one tournament.
Here is this weekend’s schedule (all times in ET). All games will be streaming on truTV and HBO Max. Friday’s games will also show on TNT.
Friday, February 6 (Philadelphia, PA)
Hive BC vs Breeze BC (7:30 p.m.)
Lunar Owl BC vs Laces BC (8:45 p.m.)
Saturday, February 7
Rose BC vs Vinyl BC (7:30 p.m.)
Phantom BC vs Mist BC (8:45 p.m.)
Monday, February 9
Vinyl BC vs Phantom BC (7:30 p.m.)
Rose BC vs Mist BC (8:45 p.m.)
