La Salle advanced to the Atlantic 10 quarterfinals with a 59-51 win over St. Louis in the second round of the conference tournament on Thursday at the Henrico Sports & Events Center in Glen Allen, Va.
The sixth-seeded Explorers (18-12, 10-8 A-10) were led Ashleigh Connor’s 16 points.
La Salle won its 18th game of the season, the best win total for Mountain MacGillivray in his eight seasons as head coach. It is the most wins for an Explorers team since 2006-07, when La Salle finished 19-11.
La Salle has won six of its last seven games and will make its first appearance in an A-10 quarterfinal since 2021 when the Explorers face third-seeded Richmond on Friday night.
— Atlantic 10 Women's Basketball (@A10WBB) March 6, 2026
Aryss Macktoon scored 15 points and pulled down 14 rebounds. The redshirt sophomore guard was recently named the A-10 Defensive Player of the Year.
Alyssa Koerkenmeier led St. Louis with 18 points. Koerkenmeier, the A-10 Rookie of the Year, also grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked five shots.
La Salle’s Aryss Macktoon (center) finished with 15 points and 14 rebounds against St. Louis on Thursday night.
What we saw
La Salle never trailed, but its lead stayed within a few possessions for much of the first half. An extended 12-2 Explorer run over the final 6 minutes, 16 seconds of the second quarter pushed La Salle’s lead to 10 at halftime.
Macktoon scored eight points in the second quarter, including a turnaround mid-range jumper before halftime.
— Atlantic 10 Women's Basketball (@A10WBB) March 6, 2026
Both offenses sputtered in the third quarter. St. Louis was held scoreless for a 6:43 stretch but still outscored La Salle by three in the frame. The Explorers had a 42-35 advantage entering the fourth.
Despite going scoreless from the field over the final 2:57 of the game La Salle held on for the win.
La Salle led by as many as 10 points in the fourth, but the Billikens trimmed the Explorers’ lead to four with 1:13 remaining.
With a chance to make it a one-possession game, St. Louis’ Alexia Nelson drove into the lane against Macktoon, but her shot was blocked by a rotating Amiya Moses to keep La Salle’s lead at four with 22 seconds to go.
Up next
No. 6 La Salle will face No. 3 Richmond in the A-10 quarterfinals on Friday (7:30 p.m., CNBC).
Despite St. Joseph’s ending the regular season with consecutive losses, it did not waver against Duquesne in the second round of the Atlantic 10 tournament.
The Hawks built a 14-point first-quarter lead on Thursday and, after seeing that lead whittled to six at halftime, turned up their defense to hold the Dukes scoreless for the first 4 minutes, 43 seconds of the third quarter.
That defense allowed St. Joe’s to push its lead back to double figures to secure a 66-45 win over Duquesne (12-19, 4-14) and earn a spot in the A-10 quarterfinals.
The Hawks (20-10, 10-8) will face fourth-seeded Davidson in the quarterfinals on Friday (1:30 p.m., USA app).
Statistical leaders
Guard Gabby Casey missed the Hawks’ regular-season finale with an ankle injury but returned to the lineup on Thursday. She showed no signs of rust and finished with 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Guard Jill Jekot delivered a strong all-around performance with nine points and a team-high 11 rebounds. Forward Faith Stinson and guard Aleah Snead each chipped in 10 points.
St. Joe’s guard Jill Jekot made 3 of 4 shots from deep on Thursday.
The Hawks were red-hot from downtown, shooting 10-for-23 on three-pointers, which is the first time they made double-digit threes since Jan. 24 against Duquesne. St. Joe’s held the Dukes to 30.8% shooting from the field and forced 20 turnovers.
What we saw
St. Joe’s jumped out to an 8-2 lead behind a pair of three-pointers from Casey and Jekot. The Dukes tried to battle back, but the Hawks kept the offensive intensity high. Casey and Snead hit another pair of threes to spearhead a 10-0 run midway through the first quarter.
The Hawks made five three-pointers in the first five minutes and held a 21-7 lead. However, their luck from downtown faded, which allowed Duquesne to hang around. The Dukes entered the second quarter trailing, 25-14. They used a 6-0 run in the final two minutes of the first half to head to the locker room down, 34-28.
Defense dominated the first half of the third quarter as both teams struggled to make shots. Amid Duquesne’s drought, St. Joe’s connected on five of its last seven shots in the third quarter.
The Hawks entered the fourth quarter with a 53-35 advantage and never allowed the Dukes to mount a real comeback as they extended their lead to as many as 23 points.
Game-changing play
St. Joe’s led, 43-31, with over four minutes remaining in the third quarter and was looking to put the game out of reach. Jekot stepped up to deliver the basket the Hawks were looking for with a three-pointer that pushed their lead to 15 with 3:33 left in the period.
Then with 18 seconds left in the third, Casey dealt the Dukes’ comeback hopes another blow when she got free for a three and nailed it to give the Hawks an 18-point advantage, their largest of the game to that point.
After more than six months of searching, The Stoop Pigeon has finally found its home. The women’s sports hub will be located at the intersection of Broad and Pine Streets — giving Philly fans a view of City Hall, and the perfect place to reminisce on past championship parades.
“It’s a location that people immediately identify with,” said Lori Albright, the managing partner of The Stoop Pigeon. “As soon as we say Broad and Pine, people are like, ‘Oh my God, that’s where I watched the Phillies parade.’”
The Stoop Pigeon has been in the making for a few years. It all started with Jen Leary’s creation in spring 2024: Watch Party PHL, which hosted monthly events at local sports bars to bring fans together and provide a safe and inclusive place to watch women’s sporting events — with the sound on..
Since then, they’ve continued to grow — and so has the city’s women’s sports team, including the announcement of its own WNBA team — and Leary realized it was time for a brick-and-mortar location.
“It’s been truly amazing to go from where we were two-and-a-half years ago when I started doing this,” Leary said. “I could not find a single place in the city showing women’s sports at all, let alone with the sound on, to where we are now — packing places with like 700 people wanting to watch women’s sports. It’s incredible.
“It just shows you that if you give people a space, they will come out and support women’s sports, but you have to give them the opportunity to do that. And we are doing that here in Philly.”
Watch Party PHL founder Jen Leary holds the “Philly is a women’s sports town” shirt that went viral after Aubrey Plaza wore it to a Liberty game.
The women’s sports hub, which will be open seven days a week from 7 a.m. to midnight, will double as a cafe by day and a watch bar at night. The cafe includes partnerships with several Philly-based companies, including coffee from Rival Bros, pastries from Crust Vegan Bakery and Second Daughter, and drinks, including locally brewed beers, ready to drink cocktails, and non-alcoholic beverages, from Sterling Pig Brewery, with whom they previously partnered for a women’s sports themed beer.
They’ll serve a number of items named after women athletes and Philadelphia favorites. Some of the items include: The Dawn Staley latte, the Victory Veggie Burger (named after Victory Brewing), Ora-cini balls (named after Ora Washington), Vivian Shoe-Stringer fries, a KFC pulled-chicken sandwich in honor of Kahleah Copper’s “KFC” nickname, and a Tastykake bread pudding as an homage to the Philadelphia-based snack brand.
“The goal was to have a local take on a menu,” Leary said. “This isn’t going to be a restaurant, but we’re definitely going to have things that will make people want to come back. We want to make sure they enjoy their time with us and stay. So we’re going to have vegetarian options, we’re going to have vegan options, we’re going to have allergy-free options.”
With a number of big sporting events coming to Philly in 2026 — including the MLB All-Star Game, the PGA Championship, and the FIFA World Cup — Leary, Albright, and their partners, Fawn McGee and Megan DiTolla, plan to open in June.
“We really want everyone to feel welcome,” Leary said. “So we want it to be family-friendly. You can bring your kids. The whole reason we’re very intentional about not calling it a bar is because we want people who don’t drink to feel comfortable there.”
When The Stoop Pigeon opens, it will join Marsha’s on South Street, which opened in September, as the latest sign that “Philly is a women’s sports town.”
Three Villanova women’s basketball players received Big East honors on Thursday, including a most improved player of the year award.
Sophomore guard Jasmine Bascoe was unanimously selected to the Big East All-Conference first-team for the second consecutive season. Bascoe averaged 18.7 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists in the regular season. She totaled a career-high 30 points against Fairfield on Nov. 5.
Bascoe leads the Big East in points and assists per game.
Jasmine Bascoe was named to the Big East All-Conference First Team for the second consecutive season.
Junior forward Brynn McCurry was named Big East Most Improved Player of the Year after returning from an ACL tear that sidelined her for all of last season. McCurry was also named to the Big East All-Conference second-team after averaging 10.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 3.1 assists. She totaled four 20-point games and scored double digits in 10 of Villanova’s first 13 conference games this season.
After only having two double-digit scoring performances before her injury, McCurry returned to total 17 this season. During her freshman season, she only averaged 2.7 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 11.6 minutes off the bench.
McCurry leads the team in rebounding with 5.5 rebounds per game (159 total) and is second on the team in scoring behind Bascoe.
Kennedy Henry, a Westtown graduate, was named to the conference’s All-Defensive team and unanimously voted to the All-Freshman team. She was a starter in all 27 games this season. The McDonald’s All-American nominee averaged 9.4 points and four rebounds during the regular season. She also led the team in steals (66) and was second in blocks (24) behind senior Denae Carter (34).
Henry is currently tied for the most steals by a Wildcat in their freshman season. She is one steal shy of breaking the record.
Villanova is the No. 2 seed in the Big East Tournament and will play the winner of No. 7 Providence and No. 10 DePaul in the quarterfinals on Saturday at the Mohegan Sun Arena.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ally Sentnor scored in the 55th minute and the United States beat Canada 1-0 on Wednesday in the SheBelieves Cup tournament, the Americans’ seventh straight shutout.
Sentnor scored her seventh international goal off a corner from Rose Lavelle, gathering the ball on a bounce before punching it past two defenders and Canada goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan.
The U.S. hasn’t allowed a goal since a 3-1 win over Portugal last October, a stretch of 714 minutes.
“Honestly, our goal was just to win the game,” Sentnor said. “I think going into a rivalry game, we knew what was going to happen. It was going to be on the line and Canada gave us an incredible performance, and we really had to work for this win.”
United States midfielder Sam Coffey (left) celebrates a goal by teammate Ally Senator in the second half of a SheBelieves Cup soccer match against Canada on Wednesday.
The United States sat atop the SheBelieves table with two wins, ahead of Canada and Colombia with one each. The Colombians defeated Argentina 1-0 in the early match Wednesday at ScottsMiracle-Gro Stadium.
The United States is 55-4-9 against Canada since their first meeting in 1986. The U.S. won the last meeting, 3-0, in July.
The Canadians’ last win in the series came at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Jessie Fleming converted a penalty in a 1-0 semifinal victory. Canada went on to win the gold medal.
U.S. coach Emma Hayes included Trinity Rodman in the starting lineup despite Rodman taking a hit in the back late in Sunday’s 2-0 SheBelieves victory over Argentina in Nashville. Rodman struggled with a nagging back injury last year.
Canada, which defeated Colombia 4-1 in the tournament opener, was without captain Fleming because of an illness.
The game was scoreless after the first half despite the United States dominating possession by nearly 70%.
Sentnor, who plays professionally for the Kansas City Current, broke the stalemate with her third goal of the year. The 22-year-old was named U.S. Soccer’s young player of the year in 2024.
Canada coach Casey Stoney felt her team showed “huge progress” from the last time the Canadians faced the United States, but was disappointed about conceding on a set piece.
“I think we were competitive throughout the game. I think we kept our distances better, we had good discipline,” Stoney said. “I think we had moments in their box where we can have a little bit more composure.”
Colombia will play the United States on Saturday in the tournament finale in Harrison, New Jersey. Canada plays Argentina in the early game.
It is the 11th annual SheBelieves Cup hosted by the United States. Canada was making its fourth appearance in the tournament.
The Neumann Goretti girls’ basketball team bus was almost as quiet as the church the players were in a day earlier. Everyone sat in their usual places.
Saints coach Andrea “Petey” Peterson was in the front right seat, her hair in its familiar bun, her head resting on her outstretched arm across the windowsill, her AirPods in, a way to insulate herself from the world that Saturday morning in early December. The day before had been her mother’s funeral.
In the back, the Neumann Goretti team whispered, the volume down from the blaring noise that typically wends through the bus during chartered away trips. None of Peterson’s players were surprised that their coach was on the bus with them, traveling to their season opener against St. Mary’s on Long Island in New York.
“I remember that trip,” said Saints senior guard Kamora Berry. “I remember seeing Coach Petey’s hair bun in the back of the bus and thinking we have to do this for her. There was no doubt in my mind she would be there that day. She is so strong. I would be a mess. Anyone would be.
“Think about it. Coach Petey is on a bus with us going to a game the day after her mother’s funeral. Who does that?”
Apparently, Andrea Peterson.
She is in her 12th season as Neumann Goretti’s head coach. She is the most accomplished girls’ high school basketball coach in the area, with six state championships, including last season’s first Class 4A title in school history (plus two in Class 2A and three in 3A), two Catholic League championships, and six District 12 titles.
In 2015, Peterson was named the national Naismith Coach of the Year, guiding the Saints to a 30-0 finish and a No. 1 ranking nationally by USA Today. Her team will compete in the first round of the state Class 4A playoffs on Saturday against Susquenita of Perry County.
Somehow, she manages to run her childcare business, Christopher’s Footprints, in Norwood, Delaware County, coaches Neumann Goretti, which is really a 12-month long responsibility, runs her AAU Philly Legacy program, all while raising her sibling’s three children on her own, and easily working between 70 to 80 hours a week during the four-month high school basketball season.
Who does that?
Apparently, she does.
Peterson says she derives her wrought-iron will power from her parents, Thomas and Alice, who were in ill health and died within 133 days of each other last year, though in many ways she channels old-world coaches like the raspy-voiced John Chaney and towering John Thompson.
Her friends and family joke there is a cuddly side to her, you just have to peel away the prickly cactus thorns. She has no filter. What she says, she means. She is demanding. Unbending. Stubborn. And incredibly loyal and giving.
The loyal and giving side, Peterson says, comes from her mom, who temporarily fostered three children one Christmas after their family house burned down. The diamond-hard edges, she laughs, comes from Thomas, a Vietnam veteran who fought PTSD most of his adult life and worked countless hours in baggage claim at Philadelphia International Airport.
Her players say that if you do not know Coach Petey, she can be intimidating and cold. Peterson will also be the first to acknowledge that she is not looking to be anyone’s buddy, because no one comes between her and her players. And she wins. She has won many times with players from hard, sometimes unimaginable backgrounds.
Legendary Westtown coach Fran Burbidge has known Peterson since she was 11, a pigtailed stubby little girl who played tackle football for the Brookhaven Jets. She’s the sixth of seven children and wanted to be like her older brothers, Joey and Chris.
Burbidge remembers when his daughter Chrissy played for the AAU Comets and Cardinal O’Hara and Peterson was playing for the Philadelphia Belles and Archbishop Carroll. Burbidge became good friends with her father and followed Peterson’s path to Carroll, where she won two Catholic League championships, one time canning a free throw with 5.3 seconds left to win the 2003 PCL title over O’Hara.
Burbidge, who has known Peterson for 30 years, now coaches against her.
“Through coaching AAU and here at Westtown, I have coached a lot of different kids, from a lot of different backgrounds, and there are certain things that you have to deal with as a coach, and with Andrea, she coaches great kids at Neumann Goretti, but she coaches kids who take the train home at night and kids that are homeless,” Burbidge said.
“She coaches kids who come from some rough situations. I don’t think a lot of people understand that about Andrea and what she does, because she’s been so successful as a basketball coach.
“Because Neumann Goretti, under her, has been so successful, they have the misconception Neumann Goretti is a basketball factory with talented kids that flock to them. It’s a lot more complicated than that.”
Andrea Peterson coaches her team during practice in January.
Peterson had players, according to many associated with the program, who were from broken backgrounds, some homeless and some abused, and a few survivors of domestic abuse.
She was a four-year starter at Carroll for Hall of Fame coach Barry Kirsch. How Peterson maintains everything she does is beyond him. Kirsch knew of her tireless work ethic as a player, which she continues as a coach.
She has an ability to relate to city players, because in many ways, she comes from the same rowhouse working-class existence as they do.
“Andrea always understood the game beyond her years,” Kirsch said. “You never had to explain anything to her. She was like having a coach on the court in high school. Her teammates respected her and loved her. You could see then Andrea was going to be a great coach. The relationship she has with her players is beyond reproach.
“She does not want the attention on her. She wants it on her team. Andrea has always been incredibly hard on herself, because I had her as a student. Maybe it’s why she takes on Neumann Goretti, because no one in the Catholic League has a harder job than her. Look at Carroll, O’Hara, [Archbishop] Wood, they get players from solid homes, and she is dealing with kids with challenging situations.”
‘Focused on the moment’
Peterson originally grew up in Brookhaven and moved to Norwood. She was one of seven in a three-bedroom home, with the five girls sleeping in bunk beds, and Joey in a separate room. After her older brother Christopher passed away on Mother’s Day 1994 in a car accident, when Peterson was 10, their mother, Alice, began sleeping by the door.
Alice, one of 10 children with South Philadelphia roots, would get so nervous watching Andrea play at Carroll she would rock back and forth in her seat. She did not know much about basketball, so she would yell, “Score that touchdown,” at Andrea’s games. Alice and Thomas more than a few times put up the family rent so Andrea could play summer AAU basketball.
“Seeing my mom at my games, knowing I was her baby girl in these big games, made me happy. My parents always made sure I had what I wanted, and that is what drives me today,” Peterson said. “I was spoiled. We never wanted for anything. But as you get older, you realize how life really is, and what your parents sacrificed. We knew we weren’t living in a mansion.”
Growing up, Joey would take “Angie,” as her family calls her, to Norwood Park to play with grown men when she was 13 on the asphalt courts. Peterson would get knocked around, and Joey never ran to pick her up.
“That’s where Angie got her toughness, and we weren’t about to help her up,” Joey said. “I think it’s why Angie was able to get on that bus the next day after our mother’s funeral. That tells you who she is, and about her commitment.
“I have to tell her to slow down sometimes. Our whole family tells her that. It is nonstop, between the basketball, the daycare, taking on our dad a few years ago, and now my sister’s kids. She is able to get focused on the moment in the moment.”
Andrea Peterson ends practice with a line up, doing special hand shakes with her players on Jan. 14.
Peterson first went to St. John’s University out of Carroll but decided to come home to care for her parents, who were in ill health. She transferred to Drexel, where she received her undergraduate in sports management and graduate degree in higher education, becoming the first college graduate in her family.
One time Peterson quit basketball while in grade school, because she felt that her father was living too vicariously through her and that nothing was good enough in his eyes.
They had a heart-to-heart to settle their differences. Peterson felt that was a coming-of-age moment.
“I was always stubborn, like my dad, and if that conversation doesn’t take place, I don’t know if I would have left basketball, but I wanted to show him I could do this on my own,” said Peterson, who wore the No. 22 because it was Christopher’s birthday and her daycare business is named after him.
“I knew what I had to do to get a college scholarship. I knew I was in love with basketball, and I knew that was where my path would go. I was told I wouldn’t make it at St. John’s. I was considered too small, too slow. I love being told I can’t do something. You can tell me 10 things, nine positive and one negative. I’ll hear the one negative and turn that into a positive.
“I hear it every year that Neumann Goretti isn’t good enough. You do not have to like us, but you have to respect my kids and our program, and the culture that we built.”
Thomas wanted more for his daughter, and he was even coaching her while she was coaching. Thomas would keep the articles written about his little “Angie” tucked under his bed.
During the last months of her father’s failing health, Peterson was his sole caretaker. Before he died, she said, he told her, “Thank you for making me proud.”
Andrea Peterson won her second PCL title as Neumann Goretti’s head coach on Feb. 23, 2025.
After each practice this season, her players have made it a habit to hug Peterson and tell her they love her.
“We know what Coach Petey has been through,” Berry said. “It’s why we dedicated this season to her. She buried both her parents last year and never missed a practice or training session. She was always there for us. We have to be there for her.
“I think high school players take for granted what their coaches do. We don’t. Coach Petey was on the bus with us going to a game the day after she buried her mother. I mean, who does that?”
Maggie Doogan left Cardinal O’Hara as one of the best players to come out of the Catholic League. Now in her senior year at Richmond, she’s staking her claim as one of the best to play in the Atlantic 10.
For the second year in a row, Doogan was named conference player of the year after leading the Spiders (25-6, 15-3 A-10) to their third straight season with 25-plus wins.
She became just the third player in the school’s history to reach the 2,000-point mark behind nine double-doubles this season. She set an A-10 single-game scoring record with a 48-point night against Davidson on Jan. 10 — the most points in a Division I women’s basketball game this season — and turned in a 35-point effort in Saturday’s win over St. Joseph’s.
This marked the first time in four seasons that a St. Joe’s player hasn’t been named a first-team all-conference selection. However, Gabby Casey led the Hawks as a second-team selection and was named A-10 Most Improved Player. A three-time conference player of the week, Casey, a junior guard from Quakertown, leads St. Joseph’s with 16 points and 6.4 rebounds per game.
Aleah Snead earned third-team honors as the one-two punch with Casey in the Hawks’ offense. Snead, a junior guard and Penn Charter alumna, led the team in assists with 90 during the regular season and averaged 11.3 points.
St. Joseph’s will open its A-10 tournament campaign as the No. 5 seed and will play the winner between No. 12 Duquesne and No. 13 Virginia Commonwealth in second-round action on Thursday (1:30 p.m., ESPN+).
Gabby Casey (left) was named to the all-Atlantic 10 second-team, leading St. Joseph’s to the No. 5 seed in the upcoming women’s tournament.
Macktoon leads La Salle
After a much-improved season, La Salle took home several honors, specifically Aryss Macktoon, who picked up defensive player of the year and second-team all-conference honors and was named to all-defensive team.
Macktoon, a redshirt sophomore guard who was joined on the A-10’s second team by teammate Ashleigh Connor, ranks among the top 10 in the nation in steals per game (3.3), highlighted by eight she had in a 81-70 road win over Lehigh in November. Macktoon broke the Explorers’ single-season steals record in Saturday’s win over Loyola Chicago. Macktoon also averages 15.2 points and leads La Salle in rebounding with 7.3 per game.
Stole the show📺@aryssmacktoon30 has been named the Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year, the first in La Salle history.
🔭1st in Steals (3.3) 🔭4th in Rebounds (7.3) 🔭8th in Points (15.2) 🔭12th in Minutes (32.4) 🔭23rd in Blocks (0.5) pic.twitter.com/YgYLZDsh1u
— La Salle Women’s Basketball (@LaSalle_WBB) March 3, 2026
Macktoon and Connor, a redshirt junior who leads the team in points (15.6 per game), and assists with 112, guided the Explorers to a No. 6 seed in the A-10 tournament, a big jump from their No. 14 seed in 2024-25.
La Salle awaits the winner between No. 11 St. Louis and No. 14 Fordham in the second-round nightcap on Thursday (7:30 p.m., ESPN+).
NEW YORK — If someone starts making money somewhere, the Big Apple often isn’t far behind trying to claim a piece.
So when Philadelphia’s hosting of Unrivaled’s women’s basketball league banked $2 million in revenue, turning profits for the league and Comcast, it wasn’t surprising that this city wanted in.
Nor was it surprising that Unrivaled wanted it too. The three-on-three circuit and Brooklyn’s Barclays Center had already talked about next season, but a deal quickly came together to move this season’s playoff semifinals here. It was a natural fit for a venue renowned for drawing some of the WNBA’s biggest and loudest crowds to New York Liberty games.
“When this opportunity came up, they jumped right on it,” Paige Bueckers of Breeze BC and the Dallas Wings said. “I played here a couple times before, and the atmosphere in the arena is just electric. [Philadelphia] was everything that we could have dreamed that it would be, and so it’s obviously an opportunity that we want to take advantage of again.”
Paige Bueckers (right) working against Arike Ogunbowale in the Breeze vs. Mist semifinal.
How would this scene compare to Xfinity Mobile Arena’s record crowd of 21,490, as the city unleashed itself from a 28-year-wait to see professional women’s basketball in person?
Natasha Cloud played diplomat, being both a Broomall native and Liberty fan favorite.
“This is just a testament to the demand [for] women’s basketball right now,” the Phantom BC guard said. “This [night] is going to sell out tonight again, just like Philly did. And this is why we’re going to continue to stand on our worth and our value because when you give the product, the demand is there.”
One could guess that New York would deliver more cash. Fans here will pay up for a big show, and the Barclays Center recently added swaths of new luxury seating.
Before Monday’s games, Unrivaled CEO Alex Bazzell met with the media and said, “this is already a profitable trip,” including over $1 million in ticket revenue alone.
Natasha Cloud (left) defending Brittney Griner during the Phantom vs. Vinyl semifinal.
Philadelphia keeps a record
He also was unabashed in drawing a straight line from Unrivaled’s success in Philadelphia to going on the road again a few weeks later. This night came together in just three weeks, from landing the building to selling it out.
“To be honest with you, it was somewhat of an internal split room on, ‘Should we pull the trigger on this? Should we not?’” he said. “Coming off Philly and having that great success was one thing, but it was also we had time to strategize and plan [and] had a great partner like Xfinity come in behind it and help amplify it [as a sponsor].”
In the end, the executives trusted their gut and were rewarded.
“This was all organic,” Bazzell said. “We can look at all the data that you want, but, ultimately, the decision came down to: We didn’t play it safe to build this league, so we don’t start playing it safe now. That’s not in our DNA.”
On one count, Brooklyn always was going to land far short of Philadelphia. The Barclays Center is a much smaller venue than Xfinity Mobile Arena, and its full house Monday was 18,261.
So Philadelphia gets something to claim while it waits for its own WNBA team in 2030, and it’s a mark that could stand for a while. Just three pro basketball arenas nationwide have larger capacities: Detroit, Washington, and Chicago.
“Philly was amazing, from everything that I saw and from talking to everybody that came back,” Brittney Griner, a star of Vinyl BC and the Atlanta Dream, said after watching those games from afar. “It looked amazing on TV — they packed out that stadium. It shows how much women’s basketball is growing and there’s a love and there’s a need and people want to come and watch.”
Breanna Stewart, one of Unrivaled’s cofounders, said, “the conversation from the players was just a tremendous amount of appreciation” for the turnout.
“What I think is probably the coolest about Philly is we went to a non-WNBA city,” she said. “People came, and they cared, and whether they had to travel in [or] all those types of things, it showed how big of a deal it is.”
Looking at a return
Of course, the superstar of Mist BC and the New York Liberty admitted her bias toward Brooklyn, as one would expect. And since this was a playoff game, she had to earn the right to play in it.
“Ever since I knew that this was possible … for it to come to fruition and full circle that fast is something that I couldn’t wait to be a part of,” she said. “Like, my team needed to be here in the semis. I didn’t want to come as a spectator; I wanted to be playing.”
Stewart duly delivered, willing Mist to a 73-69 win with a fourth-quarter comeback that had the crowd roaring. She piled up 23 points, eight rebounds, and five assists, dishing the last to Arike Ogunbowale for a game-sealing three-pointer on the Wings star’s birthday.
Bazzell confirmed there are plans to keep touring next season, and there’s a lot of “inbound interest” from potential hosts. He didn’t name specific cities, but he did say preliminary talks with the Barclays Center had started with looking at next year instead of this one.
— Unrivaled Basketball (@Unrivaledwbb) March 3, 2026
He also said “going to cities that really don’t get to see these stars up close” matters. And he threw the door wide-open to a return to Philadelphia, though it might not happen next season
“We want to find our way back to Philly,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s next year, the following year, or the year after — we do want to hit new markets. … There’s obviously other NBA markets we still want to think about going to. So I would anticipate new venues, new cities next year when we do announce our [schedule].”
The last word goes to a player who was a star of both touring nights. Kelsey Plum led Phantom BC to a win in Philadelphia and another here, this time scoring 31 points in an 83-75 victory over Vinyl. A longtime villain in Brooklyn from past years with the Las Vegas Aces, this time she was roundly cheered.
“Basketball cities, right? And I think they just love the game,” she said. “I thought everyone put on a show, and that’s what you want for the fans.”
NASHVILLE — Lindsey Heaps had a goal and an assist, and Jaedyn Shaw also scored to propel the United States to a sixth straight shutout victory, 2-0 over Argentina in the SheBelieves Cup on Sunday.
The U.S. has outscored opponents 27-1 over its past seven games. Coach Emma Hayes’ squad hasn’t lost since falling 2-1 to Portugal in Chester, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 23.
Heaps scored from the top of the box in the 19th minute. Emma Sears worked the ball out of the left corner and into the box, then passed to a wide-open Heaps, who converted with her left foot. It was her 39th international goal, the most on the current U.S. roster.
Shaw found the back of the net from the top left corner of the box. Her right-footed shot curved toward the left post and into the net for her 10th international goal.
After Shaw scored, Lilly Reale was treated for a right leg injury and replaced by Emily Fox.
During stoppage time, Argentina’s Milagros Martín was assessed a yellow card for shoving Trinity Rodman in the back. That sparked concerns about a recurrence of the back injuries that have bothered Rodman for years.
The U.S. dominated possession, holding the ball 67.7% of the time. The Americans had three shots on target, while Argentina had just one on target against U.S. goalkeeper Claudia Dickey.
The SheBelieves Cup — a four-team round-robin that also includes Canada and Colombia — moves to Columbus, Ohio, on Wednesday, when the Americans will take on Canada. The Canadians beat Colombia 4-1 earlier Sunday.
Inquirer staff writer Jonathan Tannenwald contributed to this report.
During La Salle’s last game against Loyola Chicago on Jan. 21, the Explorers led by nine entering the fourth quarter. It was all for naught, though, as the Ramblers stormed back for a four-point win.
Just over a month later, the teams faced off again. And again, La Salle held a nine-point lead entering the fourth quarter. But this time, the Ramblers couldn’t rally, and the Explorers won, 70-57. La Salle’s victory in the regular-season finale broke a tie for sixth place in the A-10 standings.
“I was really pleased that we turned the loss out there into a win here,” Explorers coach Mountain MacGillivray said. “Identical scores going into the fourth quarter. In this one, we found a way to extend the lead and come away with the win.”
Redshirt junior guard Ashleigh Connor tied her career high with 26 points and added nine rebounds. Aryss Macktoon and Kiara Williams scored 11 points each, and Macktoon also had 11 rebounds and four steals. More on those steals later.
The Explorers (17-12, 10-8 A-10) shot 46.3% from the floor, while limiting Loyola Chicago to 35%, including just 17.4% from deep.
Alex-Anne Bessette and Alexus Mobley led the Ramblers (13-16, 9-9) with 13 points each. Mobley added 10 rebounds.
Explorers guard Aryss Macktoon (0) shoots the during Saturday’s game. She finished with a double-double.
What we saw
Connor helped La Salle jump out to a 7-0 lead as part of her 12-point, two-assist first half.
“We are fighting for the highest-place seed we can get, and so trying to just leave it all out there,” Connor said. “Giving everything I got for these girls just because they deserve it.”
The Ramblers wouldn’t remain silent, though. Senior guard Kira Chivers (11 points) scored five points in 18 seconds to cut Loyola’s deficit to two, but Connor drilled a three-pointer to swing momentum back toward La Salle. Loyola got within three early in the second quarter, but despite a nearly two-minute drought from the field to close the first half, La Salle went into intermission up, 31-25.
La Salle forward Kiara Williams (24) shoots the during Saturday’s game against Loyola Chicago.
Despite not scoring in the first half, Macktoon was all over the court for La Salle. She had six rebounds, three assists, and two steals through 20 minutes. The scoring began to click in the second half, though, and Loyola had no answers for her. Macktoon hit a three to give La Salle a 39-29 lead at the 6-minute, 29-second mark of the third quarter then combined with Connor to score 15 of their team’s 21 fourth-quarter points.
Macktoon knew she was approaching the La Salle single-season steals record of 95, set by Ashley Gale in 2010-11. But it was business as usual after the opening tip.
Macktoon entered Saturday’s game with 92 and tied the record early in the third quarter. Loyola Chicago trailed by nine with three minutes left and had a chance to keep the game close. Instead, Macktoon poked the ball away from Mobley for the record and derailed the chances of a Ramblers comeback.
