Recap: Team Cloud Ends Team Gray's Unbeaten Run With 93-90 Verdict

Eric Rhew

Mar 09, 2024

DALLAS — Guard Lexie Brown erupted for a career-high 27 points, including a 6-for-9 effort from three-point range, as Team Cloud handed Team Gray a 93-90 setback to finish Saturday’s Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball doubleheader at Fair Park Coliseum.

The win allowed Team Cloud to even its record at 1-1, while Team Gray dropped to 1-1.

Brown received MVP 1 distinction after knocking down 8-of-14 field goal attempts and all five of her free throws in addition to eight rebounds with five assists. The former Duke standout secured a career-high 715 leaderboard points, including 325 stat points.

Guard Natasha Cloud followed in MVP 2 fashion after tallying 17 points with eight assists and five rebounds, giving her 497 leaderboard points in the victory. Guard Lexie Hull completed the MVP trio for the winning side, claiming MVP 3 accolades after chipping in 17 points with seven rebounds and four assists.

Team captain Allisha Gray led four Team Gray players in double figures with 22 points, including an 11-for-13 showing at the free throw line, while guard Air Hearn followed with 17 points.

KEY MOMENT

Trailing by a 76-74 margin with 4:49 remaining, Team Cloud netted nine of the next 12 points to take an 83-79 lead on a lay-up by guard/forward Ty Young with 2:12 left. Team Gray was able to close the margin to two points five times in the final two minutes, but could not even the score.

LEADERBOARD IMPACT

Lexie Brown’s career-high 715 leaderboard points moved her into eighth place in the league standings, a rise of nine spots. Cloud also moved into second place on the leaderboard and stands just 100 points ahead of guard Tiffany Mitchell, who is in third place heading into Sunday’s Week Two finales.

NOTES OF INTEREST

Team Cloud initiated a captain’s challenge of a foul called against Cloud with 57.9 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, which was unsuccessful … Team Gray initiated a captain’s challenge of a foul called against guard Sequoia Holmes with 14.2 seconds remaining, which was unsuccessful … Teams are now 6-for-12 in captain’s challenges this season.
Team Gray is the first squad to record multiple quarters with 30 or more points since March 2, 2024, when Team Gray fashioned a pair of 30-point frames against Team Mitchell.
Cloud earned her first victory as a captain since February 23, 2023, against Team Cole, snapping a three-game skid … Cloud now owns a 7-10 record in six stints as a team captain.
Gray had her personal streak of nine consecutive game victories snapped … Gray, who lost for just the second time in her last 13 outings, stands 12-8 in her two-year Athletes Unlimited career.
Gray also saw an end to her streak of earning Game MVP honors in nine consecutive contests, the longest streak by a player in any Athletes Unlimited sport.
Gray extended her streak of consecutive games with 20 or more points to eight in a row, but failed to reach the 25-point mark for just the second time in her last 10 appearances dating back to last season.
Brown tied the Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball single-game record by knocking down her six three-pointers … It is the 11th time in league history where a player has made six triples in a game.
Brown also recorded her fourth career 20-point outing, including the first 25-point effort in her three Athletes Unlimited seasons … She has notched at least 22 points in each of her two games during Week Two.
Center Adut Bulgak notched the first double-double of her Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball career after scoring 12 points with a season-high 12 rebounds.
Guard Haley Jones tallied a season-high 12 rebounds and seven assists in the loss for Team Gray … Jones had registered 10 total assists in her first four games this season.
Forward Emily Engstler, who collected her third game with four or more blocked shots this season, now has a league-best 16 rejections through five games … Engstler’s 16 blocked shots are tied for the third-highest single-season total in league history … Only forward Theresa Plaisance (22 in 2023) and center Kalani Brown (17 in 2022) have more blocks in a single campaign.