Recap: Team Mitchell Avoids 0-3 Sweep by Outlasting Team Hull

Eric Rhew

Mar 03, 2024

DALLAS — Guards Kelsey Mitchell and Zia Cooke combined to score 47 points with nine rebounds as Team Mitchell outlasted Team Hull to secure a 90-77 victory in the opening game of Sunday’s Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball doubleheader at Fair Park Coliseum.

Team Mitchell (1-2) salvaged a win in its final game of the opening week, while Team Hull suffered its third consecutive loss.

Mitchell, who earned her second career win as a team captain, claimed MVP 2 distinction after scoring 23 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field, including a 6-for-11 effort from three-point range. The former Ohio State standout accumulated 557 leaderboard points to complete the week.

Cooke, meanwhile, led all players with 603 leaderboard points following an MVP 3 performance. The former South Carolina product knocked down 7-of-19 field goal attempts and 8-of-10 free throws to pace Team Mitchell with 24 points.

Guard Lexie Hull secured her second Game MVP honor of the season by leading all players with an Athletes Unlimited career-high 31 points. Hull, who claimed MVP 1 accolades and 456 leaderboard points, shot 10-for-21 from the floor and 8-of-9 from the charity stripe in addition to tallying six rebounds and a game-high and personal career-high six assists.

Forward Ruthy Hebard narrowly missed a double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds in the loss for Team Hull.

KEY MOMENT

Led by nine points from Cooke, Team Mitchell sprinted to an 18-8 lead in the game’s opening five minutes and never trailed from that point. Cooke scored 17 of her points in the opening half as Team Mitchell led by 48-32 at the intermission.

NOTES OF INTEREST

Team Mitchell became the second team this season to collect 50 or more rebounds in a game after finishing with 51 rebounds … The squad also set the team season high with 55 caroms in its loss against Team Sims on Thursday night.
Team Hull becomes the eighth team to lose all three games in a week in Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball history … In addition, a team has authored an 0-3 record in the opening week of all three seasons.
Mitchell ended her six-game losing streak as a team captain and improved to 2-7 all-time in the captain’s role.
Mitchell, who notched her 15th career 20-point game, has registered a double-digit scoring output in 10 consecutive games dating back to last season.
Mitchell earned her 19th career Game MVP honor, which is the most by any player in the league’s three-year history … Hull also earned her fifth career Game MVP award, including her second in a row.
Hull now owns four games of 20 or more points in her Athletes Unlimited career.
Guard/forward Ty Young set her personal Athletes Unlimited career high with 13 rebounds in the win for Team Mitchell on Sunday, the most by any player in the league this season.
Forward Maddy Siegrist posted her second double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds.