Breanna Stewart scores 32 points, leads Mist to 80-74 win over Kelsey Plum and Phantom in Unseeded Final – The Mercury News

MEDLEY, Fla. – Was a two-time state champion in high school from the Syracuse area. He was then a four-time NCAA champion at UConn. She won three WNBA titles, three World Cup gold medals, three Olympic gold medals, and even two EuroLeague titles.

And now, add the Unmatched title to the mix – a league he co-founded.

Breanna Stewart has won it all.

Stewart and Mist are the Unrivaled Queens of 2026, topping the Phantoms 80-74 in Wednesday night’s championship game to clinch the league’s second straight season.

Veronica Burton of the Golden State Valkyries also played a big role in the Mist champion. He started alongside Stewart and Allisha Gray and Burton contributed six points, five assists, two rebounds and a block.

Stewart scored 32 points, setting the tone by scoring the Mist’s first 12 points in the second half and his team – which went 0-2 against the Phantoms in the regular season – never trailed.

“What I’ll remember most about this Mist team is that we may not talk much, but we’re going to work hard,” said Stewart, who was named the finals MVP – and whose team will split the $600,000 prize pool.

It ended somewhat controversially: a foul on Stewart was overturned by a block on review, giving him a free throw to win the title. Stewart threw the gun, and confetti fell from the ceiling in celebration.

“I’m focused on doing it for my team,” said Stewart.

Kelsey Plum carried the Phantoms with 40 points on 14-for-21 shooting, along with six rebounds and five assists.

It was a great effort – but Stewart and Mist had too much. Arike Ogunbowale had 19 and Allisha Gray scored 12 for the Mist, while Ex-Stanford star Kiki Iriafen scored 13 and Valkyries guard Tiffany Hayes scored 12 for the Phantoms. Hayes chipped in with five rebounds and four assists.

“There was absolute hope in this team,” said Mist coach Zach O’Brien. “I’m glad we did it.”

Stewart and Napheesa Collier are credited as the founders of the league, which if nothing else filled a gap in the women’s game calendar.

“I think there was a place that could have been used in the way that professional women’s basketball players were doing,” Stewart said. “We had a seven-month blackout where you didn’t know what these professional basketball players were doing. Now you do.”

The question is what comes next.

The WNBA and its players do not have a labor agreement for next season, which is – currently – slated to begin in about two months. The WNBA has told the players’ union that it needs to reach an agreement by next Tuesday in order to start the season on time.

And yet, there is no indication that it will happen. That means the Mist-Phantom finals could be the last women’s pay-per-view in the US for a while.

Incomparable — a 3-on-3 full court game played on a 72-foot floor, shorter than an NBA or college court — sells itself on speed, with an 18-second shot clock, 7-minute quarters and plenty of open space for players to create.

The title game did not disappoint with that.

It was the top two seeds that went into the playoffs – Phantom 1, Mist 2 – and Wednesday it was back and forth. It was 24-24 after one quarter, 43-43 at halftime, with neither team leading by more than seven at any time.

The Mist led 68-62 going into the fourth, final quarter with no timeout when 11 points were added to the lead as the game’s final goal.