Rose BC and Vinyl BC to vie for Unrivaled’s inaugural championship

The GIST: The Big Dance isn’t the only shimmying and shaking happening on the hardwood. After last night’s semifinals, tonight’s Unrivaled final is set: Rose BC vs. Vinyl BC at 7:30 p.m. ET.

• And this one’s for all the marbles, plus a cool $50K for each member of the championship-winning squad. Cha-ching.

Thrilling semifinals feature two double-digit comebacks: The first game of the night was the Chelsea Gray show — the point gawd put the Rose on her back, scoring 21 straight points (of her league record 39 total) in Rose BC’s 63–57 comeback win over Laces BC. Then Vinyl BC followed suit, rallying from a 10-point fourth quarter deficit to eliminate the top-seeded Lunar Owls 73–70.

• These teams played just one week ago, and the Rose thoroughly dominated the Vinyl to the, ahem, tune of 74–46. Gray was also instrumental in that dub, dropping 33 points while the Vinyl shot 0% (yes, zero) from three. That almost certainly won’t happen again — buckle up.

Zooming out: No matter which team takes home the inaugural title, one thing is certain: The biggest winner has been women’s basketball. From opening weekend garnering 31M views on Bleacher Report platforms to the 1-on-1 tournament’s season-high 377K viewership to the growing number of investors, the brand-new league thrived in its debut.

• And Unrivaled delivered more than just entertainment for fans and cash for investors: The league changed the game for athletes, offering top-tier facilities, childcare services, increased pay, and so much more.

• The bar is high, and the timing couldn’t be better: WNBA players opted out of their collective bargaining agreement in October, and Unrivaled’s unprecedented standards will undoubtedly influence those negotiations. As they should.