Basketball Season 2: Movers of Week 4
Week 4 of Athletes Unlimited Basketball featured a rigid leaderboard, as athletes dig their heels in to secure their spot in the rankings heading into the final week of games. Most changes were by only one or two spots and seven athletes hold the same rank they did last week.
Sydney Colson made the most significant push up the board up 10 spots, while Jasmine Walker moved up eight and Essence Carson jumped five.
- Team Sims (2-1) was the highest win point earner of the week with 600 total win points
- Team Hillmon (2-1) was next in win points with 550; they won one less quarter
- Team Bell (1-2) made up for their game losses with the most quarters wins of the week with seven for 500 win points
- Team Smith (1-2) finished with 450 total win points for the week
Mover of the Week: Sydney Colson
Sydney Colson was on fire throughout Week 4, scoring an AU career-high 24-points for Team Smith on Saturday evening. She dropped 20 points earlier in the week, and had a season-high five caroms in Friday’s matchup against Team Hillmon.
She added 19 assists across the weekend.
Colson, who is now No. 24 on the leaderboard, was again taken in the second round of the draft. She will play with Team Sims for the first time in Week 5.
Performing their best: Essence Carson & Jasmine Walker
Essence Carson and Jasmine Walker each posted the best performance of their AU careers in Week 4.
Carson’s minutes across the three games were gradual as she returned from a hamstring strain. Saturday night she went out blazing, combining for 22 points with her captain Odyssey Sims in the final quarter to rally their gold squad to a win.
Talk about CLUTCH 👀
Hear from MVP 1️⃣ @EssenceCarson on how Team Sims put together the impressive comeback that capped off Week 4 👏@savannaecollins | #AUHoops pic.twitter.com/evu1evCnmm
— Athletes Unlimited (@AUProSports) March 19, 2023
Carson finished with a career-high 21 points and was voted MVP 1 by the athletes and Unlimited Club members for +90 points. She made 8-of-14 field goal attempts and was 3-for-5 beyond the arc. She also tacked on eight rebounds for a season-high 551 leaderboard points in a single game.
Her performances upped her draft stock too; she was selected in the fourth round by captain Sims to finish out the season together.
Walker, who was Carson’s teammate on Team Sims, posted a season-high 22 points against Team Bell, which earned her MVP 1 honors, and two three-point performances over the weekend. She accumulated the fifth-most leaderboard points of any player, grabbing 1,159, capped by an eight-rebound performance — one shy of her season-high.
She now sits at No. 17 on the leaderboard and will play for Team Hillmon in the final week.
Back in the captain’s chair: Isabelle Harrison
Forward Isabelle Harrison has held fast to the top of the leaderboard all season, never dropping below sixth overall. She was the orange team captain back in Week 2 and bounced to fifth, sixth and now fourth on the leaderboard to lead the team in purple in the last set of games.
The teams she has been on have left her low in win points compared to the other top-ranked athletes. For example, Sims, NaLyssa Smith, and Naz Hillmon all have over 2,450 win points total while Harrison has only 1,900 win points total.
This demonstrates just how dominant her performances have been for her 2,441 stat points (2nd in the league) and 330 MVP points (tied for second overall) to carry her to the top.
Two-pointers have been her bread and butter; she leads the league with 121 made and is ahead in the category by 30. Plus, she’s consistent with a 56.4% field goal percentage.
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Unmoving week-to-week: Odyssey Sims
While most other athletes shift up and down on the leaderboard, Odyssey Sims has been guaranteed gold and No. 1 overall for four consecutive weeks. As a captain, she has gone 2-1 every week and collected 2,600 win points. She ranks first in the league in stat points overall with 2,707 and is tied for the second-most MVP points.
She holds first in statistical categories as well including minutes played (463), points scored (321), free throws made (71), and assists (89).
Sims holds the top spot 474 total points ahead of Smith in second place.
Tune in
Tune in to the Athletes Unlimited Preview Show on Wednesday, March 22 at 5:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. CT on YouTube. Then, Week 5 begins with Team Hillmon vs. Team Smith at 6 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. CT on WNBA League Pass and the Women’s Sports Network.
Savanna Collins is the Digital Media Reporter at Athletes Unlimited. You can follow her on Twitter @savannaecollins.
