For four quarters on Wednesday, Kelsey Bloom and Brianna Stewart competed in the championship match in a qualifier like no other.
Bloom produced a title game-record 40 points for the top-seeded Phantoms. Stewart finished with 32 points, including the winning free throw, to lead the second-seeded Mists to an 80-74 victory and the 2026 title at Sephora Arena in Medley, Florida.
Stewart and Mist’s teammates Veronica Burton, Alisha Gray, Areke Ogunbowale, Alana Smith and Lee Yuero will split the $600,000 Unrivaled prize pool.
How did Stewart, who was named MVP, and The Mist win on Wednesday? We break down the unparalleled finish as the 3v3 League concluded its second season.
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Semi-final results | Summary of the first round
How did the fog win the championship
The winning play was not without controversy. With the fog just one point away from a winning score, Stewart drove inside and was called on first for an offensive attack on Tiffany Hayes. Fog coach Zach O’Brien challenged the play, and the officials overturned the call and placed Stewart at the free throw line with a chance to win the game. For the second year in a row, the free throw decided the tournament like no other.
Stewart finished with 32 points on 11-of-15 shooting, including 3-for-4 on 3-pointers.
Bloom did everything she could to carry the Phantoms past the finish line, scoring 40 points on 14-of-21 shooting from the field and 6-of-7 from 3. She scored 18 points in the first quarter, hitting four 3-pointers.
But it wasn’t enough to beat Stewart and the Mists, especially after the Phantoms lost Aaliyah Boston to injury in the playoffs. Kiki Eryavin, who entered the starting lineup, did her best to fill the void for Boston, the peerless Defensive Player of the Year, and finished the game with 13 points and 11 rebounds. But what Boston contributes is difficult to replicate.
The Mist had one of the most potent offenses, leading the league in scoring in the regular season, and got an incredibly even scoring night from every player who was on the court. Stewart was one of four Mist players to score in double figures. Ogunbowale scored 19 points, while Gray and Smith scored 23 points.
Game player
Stewart quickly set the tone for the fog on both ends of the field. She has been one of the league’s best scorers and most efficient shooters all season, and on Wednesday she shot 73.3% from the field.
Stewart scored 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting in the first half. By the end of the third period, she had 26 points. When she stepped to the free-throw line for the winning point, O’Brien said during the trophy presentation ceremony that he knew the Mists would win.
turning point
Stewart started the second half on the heater, opening the game up for Mist. The score was tied at 43 at halftime, but Stewart helped the Mist build a quick eight-point lead to give them momentum for the rest of the night.
Opening the third period, Stewart outscored the Phantoms 12-2 on her own, accounting for all of the Mist’s points in that round. During this stretch, the Phantoms went to a small-ball lineup — partly because without Boston, they didn’t have the bigs to back up Eriavin. Natasha Cloud was forced to guard Stewart for long periods, and Stewart took advantage of the mismatch.
The Phantoms got back into the game and cut the deficit from 10 to four points with Bloom leading the way. But the advance of the fog was too much to overcome.
Semi-final results
(1) Phantom 83, (6) Vinyl 75
Playing without injured Boston (18.9 PPG, 9.7 RPG), the top-seeded Phantoms trailed 49-46 at halftime despite Bloom’s 18 points. Forward Derica Hamby dominated the second quarter, scoring 11 points on 7-of-9 shooting for the Vinyls. They extended the lead to eight points early in the third period, but then Cloud (14 points, 4 assists, 2 steals) powered the Phantoms’ defense and Bloom took over offensively.
For the sixth time this season, Bloom scored the winning goal — a step-back 3-pointer — to book a spot in the final. The guard finished 12 of 19 from the field, including 4 of 8 on 3-pointers. Eriavin, who participated in Boston’s place, added 17 points (8 of 13 from the field). Hamby finished with 30 points (11 of 14 from the field) and Ryan Howard added 16, but hit 2 of 9 3-pointers after draining eight from beyond the arc in the first drive.
(2) Fog 73, (5) Al-Naseem 69
Everything was a breeze early. They opened with a 13-0 run. Stewart-Mist missed her first five shots and was whistled for her third foul with 3 minutes, 18 seconds left in the first quarter. The Breeze dominated the paint and led by as many as 16 points. But then the fog intensified, outscoring the Brees 28-18 in the second quarter to cut the deficit to 44-38 at halftime.
On her 29th birthday, she helped Ogunbowale take charge late in the game. The guard scored eight points in the fourth period (Stewart scored seven) and hit the game-winning 3-pointer. Unrivaled’s top reserve in the regular season, Ogunbowale finished with 21 points, going 5-for-9 on 3-pointers. Stewart had 13 of her game-high 23 points in the second half, Alana Smith was a perfect 3-for-3 from downtown and Gray notched some timely buckets on the comeback.
For the Breeze, Dominic Malunga scored 18 points, the highest for the team in the match, and grabbed 14 rebounds. Paige Bueckers (8 of 22 from the field) and Rekia Jackson each scored 17 points.
Results of the first round
(6) Vinyl 82, (3) Laces 69
The game was won in the third period. Vinyl trailed by four points at halftime, but Howard scored 13 straight Vinyl points and finished with 21 of her team’s 29 points in the third quarter. Howard single-handedly outscored Laes, who finished the period with 17 points.
(5) Al-Naseem 69, (4) Al-Ward 50
Bickers set the tone early. From a -1 on the opening possession to a 3-pointer in the fourth, the guard scored from all three levels. Bueckers finished with a game-high 29 points, hitting 11 of 19 field goals, including 4-for-5 on 3-pointers. Malunga scored six of her eight points in the fourth quarter, but her 17 rebounds were even greater.
