Kelsey Plum Dropped 40 Points…& Ran Into the Breanna Stewart Championship Machine

 

All roads lead to the trap” said an anonymous wnba player

That’s how one player described the postgame plans while talking about heading to The Booby Trap, one of Miami’s most famous strip clubs (they’re not wrong. Either them, Tootsies, Scarlett’s or Playhouse, it’s definitely top 5). And honestly, why wouldn’t they?

A championship had just been won.

Inside the Sephora Arena, Mist BC celebrated their Unrivaled title after defeating Phantom BC in one of the wildest games the league has seen in its young history.

Veronica Burton was doing what point guards do best. Only instead of distributing the rock, she was dishing out (y’all catch that?) cheese pizza. Burton stood by a giant box like the team’s unofficial locker room caterer, making sure teammates and coaches got slices while champagne bottles and beers started circulating around the room.

As Mist was eating cheese pizzas, drinking big bottles of champagne and beer, and the players were ecstatic about getting this championship, Breanna Stewart took the podium with Zach O’Brien addressing the media speaking about their championship victory.

The vibes were immaculate.

But on the court, the celebration almost never happened.

Because Kelsey Plum showed up with a flamethrower, and decided to raise hell, come hell or highwater. Plum decided f**k it, and delivered a historic 40-point performance, setting the Unrivaled playoff single-game scoring record and lighting up the court from the opening possession.

The problem?

Breanna Stewart was on the other team, and championships have a peculiar habit of finding her. Word to the wise, if you just started watching women’s basketball or have been living under a rock for the last two decades, the one thing about Stewie, is that she’s a winner, and if there’s a championship to get won, she’s going to win it. Its,  like those mosquitoes that love flying around outside and see the blue light in a bug zapper and just keep flying toward it anyway. That’s championships around Stewart. Let’s do one better. For all my anime fans, it’s closer to Gojo’s cursed technique “Blue.” When Gojo activates it, everything with mass gets pulled toward him.

When Stewart enters a league, titles eventually gravitate toward her.

Sooner rather than later too.

 

“I pride myself on being a winner…at halftime I was like, I’m not celebrating if we don’t win. Like there’s nothing to celebrate if we don’t win.”

“I Pride Myself on Being a Winner.”

Stewart finished the game in takeover mode. Putting up another classic statline on route to winning a championship, and this time she finished with 32 points, four assists, and two blocks. The performance, once again legendary as she earned the 2026 Unrivaled Finals MVP. Stewart leading Mist BC past Phantom BC in this championship game that felt like two completely different basketball experiences.

The first half?

That was the Kelsey Plum Show.

Plum’s opening quarter felt like someone accidentally activated the NBA Jam cheat code. In the media box we were talking about Plum during the game stating that she was going to score 40 tonight. I literally exclaimed she needs to get to 50 if they’re going to win. Plum played like she heard us talking, and went off. Three straight possessions, and came three three-point field goals from KP. Plum Dawg went off scoring 13 of Phantom’s first 17 points and finishing the first quarter with 18 points. Plum shot 7-for-8 from the field and 4-for-4 from deep, which is basically the equivalent of Toji fighting Gojo with the inverted speak of heaven. In non anime speak, she was trying to shoot Phantom to victory.

The Mist saw Plum’s effort and didn’t flinch. The scoring outburst from Plum was barely keeping Phantom in the game by a few possessions separating the two teams.

Then the Mist showed the strength of their team, their depth. Zach O’Brien looked at his bench and called up Arike Ogunbowale and Alanna Smith. The two showcased why the depth was nothing to f**k with and both started cooking. Smith and Ogunbowale fired back with a 10-3 run of their own, bringing Mist level at 24-24.

Plum said f**k it still, and kept cooking.

By halftime Plum had 22 points, setting the Unrivaled playoff record for most points in a half while carrying almost half of Phantom’s offense. Meanwhile, Kiki Iriafen added muscle inside with 13 points and eight rebounds, helping Phantom maintain control.

The Mist though kept hanging  in the game and Stewart and Ogunbowale each had 12 points at halftime. Both of these dynamic scorers quietly set the stage for what would become the turning point of the game.

Remember how we said in championship games, always bet on Stewie? Just keep reading because Breanna Stewart eventually did what she always does when teh money’s on the line, she tookover.

stew’s house of horrors 

The second half looked like the Breanna Stewart Championship Clinic.

Stewart welcomed everyone to her clinic, and for her opponents she welcome them to her house of horrors. Stewie started a 12-2 run in the third quarter that changed the entire landscape of the game. For the first time all game, the Mist had a double-digit lead, and people started realizing (once again), that Stewie is not one to bet against>

After the game Stewart explained the mindset.

 

I think the first thing that came to my mind was just like, we deserve this,” Stewart said after the game. “We’ve been tested, we’ve gone through things, we’ve lost games. We got punched in the mouth in Brooklyn, but this group doesn’t waver.

Mist destroyed Phantom’s defense in the third and nearly hit 70% of their shots (66.7%) dominating the paint and forcing turnovers.

The game that had looked like Plum’s personal highlight tape suddenly turned into a Mist avalanche.

Phantom tried to answer, and they really did try. Plum kept scorching and Tiffany Hayes joined the party. The two lefties combined for 16 of the team’s 19 3rd quarter points. Plum entered the fourth quarter with 30 points, and it was only a matter of time before the record books were changed.

Those record books did change but the comeback didn’t.

Mist opened the fourth quarter with haymaker of their own going on a 6-0 run, and pushed the lead to double digits again (this time 12 points). Phantom though kept fighting back and managed to get the game as close as four points. However, remember when we said don’t bet against Stewie in championship games?

Stewart went to the free throw line, and hit the game winner (on another note that’s wild how games are ending in FT’s in the championship, honestly.) Plum was able to hold her head high as she walked away etching her name in the record books. A 40 piece special on 14-of-21 shooting, including 6-of-7 from three, is nothing to scoff at, Toji.

Phantom was also without defensive anchor Aliyah Boston, something Plum acknowledged afterward.

“We’re down an All-Unrivaled player, All-WNBA player, Defensive Player of the Year,” Plum said. “She anchors us defensively all year.”

Plum also tipped her cap to the champions.

 

“You’ve got to give them a lot of credit,” she said. “Stewie was phenomenal.”

Two seasons into its existence, Unrivaled got the championship game every young league dreams about.

A scoring record. A superstar MVP. Momentum swings, and a trophy lift. Jf the night proved anything, it’s that the league’s stars aren’t just building the brand. They’re putting on a show while they do it.

Also, always bet on Stewie in a championship game.