Recap: Team Gray Rallies in Wild Week One Finale for 107-103 Victory

Eric Rhew

Mar 03, 2024

DALLAS — Guards Allisha Gray and Tiffany Mitchell combined to score 54 points with eight rebounds as Team Gray rallied to down Team Sims, 107-103, to complete the opening week of the 2024 Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball season at Fair Park Coliseum on Sunday afternoon.

The win allowed Team Gray to complete a perfect 3-0 record to begin the season, while Team Sims had its quick two-game losing streak snapped to finish at 2-1.

Gray, who earned Game MVP honors for the eighth consecutive game, tallied 29 points on 9-of-21 shooting, including a 4-for-10 effort from three-point range, while sinking seven of her eight free throws. She also added four rebounds, four assists and three steals to end the night with 647 leaderboard points.

Mitchell, meanwhile, chipped in 25 points after connecting on 10-of-18 field goal attempts, including a 2-for-5 performance from long range. The game’s MVP 2 selection also tallied four rebounds and a game-high four steals en route to 625 leaderboard points.

Forward Emily Engstler completed the MVP trio for the winning side, contributing 16 points with four rebounds and three assists. Engstler, who finished the opening week with a league-high 11 blocked shots, secured 530 leaderboard points in the victory.

Guard Natasha Cloud added a double-double of 15 points and 12 assists while adding seven rebounds for Team Gray, which shot 52.2 percent from the field, including a 55.3 percent clip in the opening 20 minutes.

Guard Odyssey Sims, who completed her sixth consecutive week as a captain dating back to last year, paced six Team Sims players in double figures after netting 22 points, including a 10-for-13 effort at the free throw line. She also dished out an Athletes Unlimited personal career-high 16 assists, including 10 in the first half, while adding four rebounds.

KEY MOMENT

Trailing by a 96-88 margin with 3:37 remaining in regulation, Team Gray scored 17 of the game’s next 20 points to gather a 105-99 lead on a pair of Engstler free throws with 15.6 seconds left. The squad nailed all seven of its field goal attempts during the outburst along with all three of its free throws.

NOTES OF INTEREST

Team Gray initiated a captain’s challenge on a foul against guard Natasha Cloud with 15 seconds remaining in the second quarter, which was successful … In addition, Team Sims initiated a captain’s challenge on a foul against guard/forward Angel McCoughtry with 4:56 left in the fourth quarter, which was unsuccessful … Teams are now 3-for-7 in captain’s challenges this season.
Team Gray became the seventh team in Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball history to win all three of its games in a single week after averaging a league-best 99.3 points per contest.
Team Sims scored 54 of its 93 points in the paint and received 29 points from its bench in the loss.
Team Gray’s 52.2 percent success rate from the field on Sunday was the best mark in the opening week.
Sims established a new Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball record with 10 assists in the first half against Team Gray on Sunday … The previous mark was nine assists in a half, which occurred four times.
Sims’ 16 assists are the third-highest single-game total in Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball history … Cloud owns the standard with 19 assists against Team Hawkins on February 26, 2022, while guard Jordin Canada dished out 17 assists against Team Sims on March 25, 2023, in the season finale.
With her eighth consecutive Game MVP award, Gray matches the all-time record in any Athletes Unlimited sport … Outside hitter Bethania De La Cruz established the record with eight straight Match MVP honors from April 2, 2022 to October 6, 2023.
Sims authored her sixth career contest with 10 or more assists, which are the most of any player in league history.
Sims also stands as the first player in league history to finish a game with 20 or more points and at least 15 assists.
Team Sims became the second squad to have six players score in double figures this season … Team Gray had six players with 10 or more points in its Opening Night victory over Team Hull.
In three games this week, Team Gray shot 50.9 percent from the field and had five players average 10 or more points per game.
Cloud completed the sixth double-double of her Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball career, while Sims owns seven career double-doubles following Sunday’s Week One finale.