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At this point, Unrivaled is the Lunar Owls’ league and everyone else is just playing in it.
The Lunar Owls improved to 6-0 with an 85-68 victory over Vinyl on Monday. Vinyl has now lost four in a row after a 2-0 start and fell to 2-4 on the campaign.
Napheesa Collier was dominant with 36 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and four steals as one of four Lunar Owls to score in double figures. Allisha Gray added 20 points in support, while Skylar Diggins-Smith (14 points, six assists and two steals) rounded out the dominant trio.
Rhyne Howard did what she could on the other side with 21 points and five rebounds, but it wasn’t enough to counter the firepower of the first-place squad.
Social media had plenty of reaction to the showing from Collier and Co.:
Vanshay Murdock 🎥🎥 @VanshayM
I need Skylar Diggins-Smith and Allisha Gray on the Lynx 😂😂😂
They play so well with Phee . pic.twitter.com/ieIQ2vJofp
Dré @_Dre420
Phee is really a beast 💪🏾 #Unrivaled
Really Rei @MzLuckylefty
Defense
Offense
Conditioned
Vets
Well coached
Perfection 🤌🏽🦉 #unrivaled
CaDarius Washington @CWTalksSports
Allisha Gray, one of my players to watch on my #Unrivaled Rundown show, is dang sure playing like it 🔥
Farad Thee Sexy Stallion @faradportee
Lunar Owls putting on a clinic. #Unrivaled
Sapphire @thatsapphiree
Lunar Owl is a perfect team. #unrivaled
The Lunar Owls wasted no time reminding everyone why they are the only undefeated team in the league as they jumped out to a double-digit lead in the first quarter with Unrivaled co-founder Collier dominating on the inside, controlling the boards and even facilitating when defenders collapsed on her.
Vinyl battled back some behind Howard’s scoring, but the Lunar Owls finished the first half with a five-point burst from Diggins-Smith and a string of free throws to push the advantage to 14 by intermission.
It was more of the same that fans have seen all season with the Lunar Owls.
When opponents finally contain Collier for a stretch, Gray finds her shooting stroke or Diggins-Smith explodes into the lane. Throw in Courtney Williams providing a spark of energy off the bench, and the league leaders have so many ways to control the game and avoid slow stretches.
The only question for the second half was how impressive Collier’s final statline would look as she impacted the game in a variety of ways. She fittingly got the scoring started for her side in the fourth quarter as the Lunar Owls chased the target score of 84.
Gray mixed in an and-1 finish in the lane just for good measure, but it was Diggins-Smith who drilled the three-pointer to clinch it.
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