Recap: Team Effort Guides Team Gray Past Team Mitchell, 115-108

Eric Rhew

Mar 10, 2024

DALLAS — Guard Allisha Gray registered her second double-double of the season and guard/forward Rae Burrell poured in a season-high 28 points as Team Gray closed Week Two with a 115-108 victory over Team Mitchell in Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball action at Fair Park Coliseum on Sunday evening.

The win allowed Team Gray to close the week with a 2-1 record, while Team Mitchell lost its second straight game to finish the week at 1-2.

Gray, who received Game MVP honors for the fifth time in six games this season, scored 22 points and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds while adding seven assists. The league’s leaderboard point leader converted 6-of-17 field goal attempts and was 9-for-10 from the free throw line en route to 676 leaderboard points.

Burrell, meanwhile, collected her first career Game MVP honor after leading all players with 28 points, converting 8-of-12 field goal attempts along with all nine free throws. The MVP 2 selection finished with a game-high 739 leaderboard points.

Center Kalani Brown added 18 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the field and an 8-for-9 effort at the free throw line, while guard Air Hearn (14), guard/forward Haley Jones (13) and forward Emily Engstler (12) also scored in double figures.

Guard Tiffany Mitchell paced Team Mitchell in the loss, scoring 25 points with six assists and five rebounds to receive the game’s MVP 3 distinction.

KEY MOMENT

After the teams battled to a 102-102 tie with 2:19 remaining, Team Gray rattled off 11 of the game’s next 14 points to claim a 113-105 advantage with 18 seconds left on a pair of free throws by guard Air Hearn.

LEADERBOARD IMPACT

Gray will remain in the top spot on the leaderboard after her 676-point performance and enters Week Three with a 454-point advantage over guard Natasha Cloud entering Week Three. They will be joined by Mitchell and guard Odyssey Sims in the captain’s chairs for the season’s penultimate week.

NOTES OF INTEREST

Team Mitchell initiated a captain’s challenge for an out-of-bounds call with 20.7 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, which was unsuccessful … Team Gray also initiated a captain’s challenge of a foul called against forward Emily Engstler with 9.7 seconds left, which was unsuccessful … Teams are now 6-for-16 in captain’s challenges this season.
Team Gray erupted for 36 points in the first quarter, marking the most points by a team in a single period this season … The team shot 62.5 percent from the field, knocking down 16-of-24 field goal attempts.
The 36 points scored by Team Gray in the opening frame also match the league record for points in a first quarter, which was set by Team Hawkins against Team Cloud on February 18, 2022.
Team Gray became the first team in league history to register 60 or more points in a first half after finishing with 65 points … In addition, the 115 combined points were the most in a first half in league history, surpassing the 110 combined points between Team Cloud and Team Hawkins on February 18, 2022.
Team Gray also dished out 18 assists in the first half, which are the most by a team in any half in league history.
Team Mitchell and Team Gray combined to make 60-of-67 free throws in Sunday’s Week Two finale.
Team Gray established a new Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball single-game record by making 31 free throws against Team Mitchell on Sunday afternoon … The squad was 31-for-37 from the charity stripe, surpassing the previous standard of 29 made free throws by Team Hillmon on March 22, 2023, against Team Smith.
Team Mitchell converted its first 26 free throws before Mitchell missed the second of two foul shots with 5:17 remaining in the fourth quarter … It was the team’s only missed free throw in 30 attempts.
Team Gray’s .543 field goal percentage was the best single-game mark by a team this season.
Engstler became the second player in Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball history to record 20 or more blocked shots in a season and has a league-high 21 blocks through the first two weeks … Forward Theresa Plaisance had 22 rejections during the 2023 campaign.
A player has posted four blocks in a single half five times in league history after Engstler’s four rejections in the opening half … She finished the game with five blocked shots as Team Gray set a new league single-game standard with 13 rejections.
Gray fashioned the third double-double of her Athletes Unlimited career with her 22 points and 10 rebounds on Sunday … She also accumulated 600 or more leaderboard points for the fifth time in six games this season.
Hearn tied the league single-game record for the most field goal attempts without a miss after going 5-for-5 in the win for Team Gray … Center Akela Maize also went 5-for-5 against Team Russell on February 5, 2022.