WNBA players using the rapid pace of Unrivaled games to prepare for upcoming season

MEDLEY, Fla. (AP) — Satou Sabally was all over the court. The leading scorer for Unrivaled's Phantom BC drained a 3-pointer at the top of the key at Wayfair Arena in Miami, dove for a loose ball a couple possessions later, then took a few deep breaths as she made her way to the bench.

“I am tired,” Sabally said before she began a courtside interview on TNT.

That's what players are getting used to with the intense and physical 3-on-3 play at Unrivaled, which is pushing a fast-paced, pickup-style game that moves with the speed of a track race.

Games are played on a condensed full court that’s 72-feet long and 49.2-feet wide — a WNBA court is 22 feet longer and less than a foot wider. The 18-second shot clock is shorter than the W's 24-second shot clock and college basketball's 30-second timer.

The result: Constantly running up and down the floor, passes zipped across the court with lightning speed and no plays off.

“I think people would think it’s not as physical or fast because it’s a shorter court,” said Kate Martin of the WNBA's Golden State Valkyries, playing for Unrivaled's Laces BC, “but it makes it so much more physical and so much faster because you’re in every single action offensively and defensively. You can’t really hide out there and take a possession off."

Half-court sets in a typical 5-on-5 game don't always require every offensive player to be involved in the play. That's not the case with Unrivaled. Because there's only three players, someone has the ball, someone may be setting a screen, someone may be cutting to the basket, and so on.

“So somebody is getting hit with a screen, whether it’s off-ball or on-ball, or you’re just running around like crazy," Martin said. “It just it makes it fun though, which, that’s what you want is the really physical and fast pace. It’s going to make us better.”

Martin pointed out the intensity after her Laces team got a physical win over the Vinyl squad last Friday.

“Unfortunately, sometimes plays will happen where I get popped in the mouth or hit on the screen," Martin added, "kneed in the thigh, whatever. That’s just kind of the name of the game. And it happens.”

Fatigue appeared to set in for players as some games went on during the second week of competition.

Mist BC coach Phil Handy called a timeout late in the second quarter of his team's matchup against Phantom after it appeared players were getting winded. Some players could be heard pointing out that their opponents looked tired.

“It’s a different type of toll on your body because you’re getting hit left and right all the time," said Las Vegas Aces guard Chelsea Gray, playing for Rose BC. “There’s not really a time where you take a possession off because there’s only three players on the floor. ... You’ve got to be in shape for sure to be able to play this game.”

The primary goal is player development — to have these 36 WNBA players improve their games against elite competition during this nine-week stretch of their offseason.

Some players are finding the balance of using the games for conditioning while not overextending themselves before the WNBA season, which begins about two months after Unrivaled wraps up with the championship on March 17.

“Obviously, this is the middle of our offseason,” said New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu, who plays for Phantom, “and I think there’s a fine line of understanding you’re here to get better and continue to work on your game. But also for me, I can’t be mentally locked in like I am in the W season here now, or I’d be burnt out by the time the W starts, because I am so competitive and take everything so seriously.”

Ionescu said she's been working on her conditioning since about a week after the Liberty defeated Minnesota in the WNBA finals in October. She plans to continue that with Unrivaled so she can be "in the best shape of my life.”

“This time here you’re going to really be able to improve on that to be able to kind of take off into the W season in the best shape, and also refining your game as well,” Ionescu said. “You’re able to tell the people that put in a lot of work to get in shape because you're just going, you’re running, you’re playing defense, then you’re sprinting down the floor (and) shooting.

"It’s really going to put it to the test, and hopefully just make us better individuals.”

AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

Vinyl's Dearica Hamby, right, fouls Rose's Chelsea Gray, left, during an Unrivaled 3-on-3 basketball game Friday, Jan. 17, 2025, in Medley, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Phantom center Brittney Griner (42) defends against Mist forward Breanna Stewart (30) during the first half of an Unrivaled 3-on-3 basketball game Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, in Medley, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Vinyl forward Dearica Hamby (5) goes to the basket as Laces guard Tiffany Hayes, right, defends during the second half of an Unrivaled 3-on-3 basketball game Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, in Medley, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Laces guard Kate Martin (20) defends as Vinyl guard Jordin Canada (3) shoots during the first half of an Unrivaled 3-on-3 basketball game Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, in Medley, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Phantom forward Satou Sabally (0) talks with an official during the first half of an Unrivaled 3-on-3 basketball game against Mist, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, in Medley, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Laces guard Kate Martin dribbles during the first half of an Unrivaled 3-on-3 basketball game against Vinyl, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, in Medley, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Phantom forward Satou Sabally (0) drives to the basket as Mist forward Aaliyah Edwards (3) defends during the second half of an Unrivaled 3-on-3 basketball game Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, in Medley, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

ADEN, Yemen (AP) — Southern separatists in Yemen said Saudi warplanes carried out new airstrikes Saturday on a military camp in the port city of Mukalla and other areas where their forces are stationed, as Saudi-backed forces moved to retake the city.

There was no immediate Saudi comment. It was the latest direct intervention by Saudi Arabia, which in recent weeks has bombed the separatist Southern Transitional Council, or STC, and struck what is said was a shipment of Emirati weapons destined for it.

The Saudi strikes hit Barshid Brigade camp west of Mukalla in Hadramout, one of two governorates seized last month by the STC, according to the group’s AIC satellite news channel.

Yemen has been engulfed in civil war for more than a decade, with Iran-backed Houthi rebels controlling much of the north and a Saudi-led coalition supporting the internationally recognized government in the south. But coalition member the United Arab Emirates also supports the separatists, who call for South Yemen to secede again from Yemen.

The latest Saudi strikes came a day after the separatist movement announced a constitution for an independent nation in the south.

Last month, the STC moved into Hadramout and Mahra and seized an oil-rich region. That pushed out allies of the Saudi-supported National Shield forces, a group in the anti-Houthi coalition.

After Saudi pressure and an ultimatum from anti-Houthi forces to withdraw from Yemen, the UAE said early Saturday it had pulled out all its forces.

The tensions in Yemen have further strained ties between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, neighbors on the Arabian Peninsula that have competed over economic issues and regional politics, particularly in the Red Sea area. Ostensibly, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have shared the coalition's professed goal of restoring Yemen's internationally recognized government.

An official with the STC told The Associated Press on Saturday that more than 100 Saudi airstrikes struck multiple locations across Hadramout over the past 24 hours, resulting in deaths and injuries. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to brief the media.

Mukalla residents Ahmed al-Faradi and Salem Maadan told the AP the city was now controlled by the Hadramout Tribes Confederacy and the National Shield forces.

Col. Ahmed Baqatyan, a military commander in the Hadramout Tribes Confederacy, said that striking the Barshid Brigade camp was necessary because it sits on the route to the southern port city of Aden. He said clearing the camp of STC forces was aimed at preventing them from regrouping and launching a return to Mukalla.

Meanwhile, Yemen’s Transportation Ministry, aligned with the STC, condemned Saudi airstrikes late Friday it said targeted the international airport in Seiyun, “exposing the airport to serious risks that could damage its infrastructure, hindering its operation and the resumption of flights.”

Earlier on Saturday, Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry said it plans to hold a conference in its capital, Riyadh, to bring together all southern factions in Yemen "to discuss just solutions to the southern cause."

Saudi Arabia was responding to a request for dialogue from Rashad al-Alimi, head of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, the ruling organ of the internationally recognized government.

There were no immediate details about the proposed conference.

The anti-Houthi coalition was showing other signs of strain. Clashes erupted on Friday between National Shield forces and the southern forces in Hadramout and their allies, killing at least eight people, paramedic Ahmed al-Ketheri told the AP.

Hilal Khashan, political science professor at the American University of Beirut, said that when Saudi Arabia and the UAE began a military operation against the Houthis a decade ago, the Saudis were interested in controlling the mountains of Saada, while the UAE wanted to capture Aden because of its importance as a gateway to the Red Sea.

Khashan said the situation got out of control in recent weeks when the UAE-backed STC started capturing areas in Hadramout that border the kingdom.

“For the Saudis that was a red line,” Khashan said, adding that the Saudis felt that they were being “held captive between the Houthis in the north and the UAE in the south.” They ”decided to stop the UAE from its regional expansionism," he said.

Khaled reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report.

Supporters of the Southern Transitional Council (STC), a coalition of separatist groups seeking to restore the state of South Yemen, hold South Yemen flags during a rally, in Aden, Yemen, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (AP Photo)