This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Temple chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.<\/p>\n
In 2023,\u00a0WNBA stars\u00a0Napheesa\u00a0Collier of the\u00a0Minnesota\u00a0Lynx and Breanna Stewart\u00a0of the New York\u00a0Liberty\u00a0founded the basketball club league\u00a0Unrivaled<\/a>.\u00a0It consists of eight teams:\u00a0Hive, Lunar Owls, Breeze, Laces, Vinyl, Mist, Phantom, and\u00a0Rose. Each\u00a0team has six players,\u00a0such as Sonia Criton\u00a0of\u00a0the Washington Mystics and Paige Bueckers of the Dallas Wings.\u00a0The league has their season starting in January and usually only plays\u00a0in Miami at the Sephora\u00a0Arena,\u00a0but this year\u00a0they decided to have their first event outside of Florida,\u00a0here\u00a0in Philadelphia.\u00a0<\/p>\n This was the first live basketball game I have ever seen, and it blew my expectations out of the water!\u00a0Being able to\u00a0see something you have watched a thousand times on your TV live is something everyone should get to\u00a0experience.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The\u00a0event was held at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Jan.\u00a030,\u00a0and they had four teams playing, Breeze vs.\u00a0Phantom\u00a0for the first game starting at\u00a07:30\u00a0p.m., and Lunar Owls vs.\u00a0Rose for the nightcap game.\u00a0Paige Bueckers, Kate Martin, and Dominique\u00a0Malonga\u00a0were the starters\u00a0for Breeze.\u00a0For\u00a0Phantom,\u00a0it\u00a0was\u00a0Kelsey Plum,\u00a0Aliyah Boston, and Tiffany Hayes.\u00a0The first game ran until 8:30\u00a0p.m. Phantom\u00a0won.\u00a0At the end of it,\u00a0broadcaster Ros Gold-Onwude\u00a0interviewed\u00a0#15\u00a0Natasha Cloud.<\/a>\u00a0She\u00a0got emotional with how\u00a0grateful\u00a0she was\u00a0to be able to play and win back in her hometown, as\u00a0she\u2019s\u00a0from Delco.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The second game began as the first one ended.\u00a0The starters for\u00a0Rose were\u00a0Kahleah Copper, Chelsea Gray, and Shakira\u00a0Austin,\u00a0and\u00a0the Lunar Owls were Marina Mabrey,\u00a0Skylar Diggins, and Temi Fagbenle.\u00a0And, right\u00a0off the bat,\u00a0Lunar Owls blew Rose out of the\u00a0water,\u00a0and\u00a0the final score was\u00a085-75.\u00a0\u00a0Marina Mabrey broke records that\u00a0night\u00a0for most three-pointers in one game\u00a0(10), highest single-game\u00a0point total\u00a0(47), and most points in a single\u00a0quarter\u00a0(27).\u00a0It was so cool seeing how Mabrey\u2019s\u00a0crash\u00a0out\u00a0jar<\/a>\u00a0paid off.\u00a0The Lunar Owls\u00a0are\u00a0one of my favorite teams in the\u00a0league,\u00a0and they clearly did not come to play around.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n During half-time and\u00a0between\u00a0quarters,\u00a0they held many different games.\u00a0Some of them were pulling fans\u00a0off\u00a0the stands for a free throw challenge or\u00a0naming more pizza toppings\u00a0than\u00a0Paige Bueckers.\u00a0Also,\u00a0in between\u00a0games,\u00a0singer\u00a0Lay\u00a0Bankz\u00a0came out and\u00a0performed\u00a0a few songs,\u00a0including\u00a0\u201cTell Ur Girlfriend\u201d<\/a>,\u00a0which has blown up on TikTok.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Unrivaled also designed\u00a0exclusive\u00a0merch for this game. They\u00a0brought out new shirts and hoodies for every team\u00a0and were also selling\u00a0all\u00a0the\u00a0players\u2019\u00a0jerseys. Personally, I was wearing\u00a0Paige\u00a0Bueckers Dallas jersey.\u00a0It was\u00a0really great\u00a0to see everyone show up and show out for this\u00a0league,\u00a0especially since there were a few Philadelphia\u00a0natives playing.\u00a0Natasha Cloud, as\u00a0previously\u00a0said, is from Delco and plays for Phantom and New York\u00a0Liberty.\u00a0Kaleah\u00a0Copper\u00a0is from North Philadelphia and\u00a0plays for Rose and Phoenix Mercury.\u00a0On the first night in Philly,\u00a0Copper got Philly cheese steaks for all four teams to welcome them in.\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n There are people that love to say \u201cnobody watches\u00a0women\u2019s\u00a0sports\u201d which is\u00a0interesting\u00a0because this game was fully sold out.\u00a021,490\u00a0is\u00a0compacity\u00a0for Xfinity Mobile Arena and\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0the\u00a0number\u00a0of people they had\u00a0there\u00a0that night.\u00a0That was also the highest demand Philly has had\u00a0for a regular season basketball game in this arena\u00a0ever<\/a>.\u00a0This proves how much Philly wants a\u00a0women\u2019s\u00a0basketball team, something\u00a0we\u2019ve\u00a0never had\u00a0before\u00a0and something we\u00a0won\u2019t\u00a0get until 2030.\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n Women\u2019s basketball has something so electrifying about it. It is truly my favorite sport from\u00a0arranging\u00a0my summer to\u00a0watch\u00a0games to\u00a0being known by friends as the one that has a giant Paige Bueckers flag.\u00a0This sport means so much to me and\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0become\u00a0clear\u00a0to me\u00a0that it means just as much to this city around me.<\/p>\n \t