MEDLEY, Fla. (AP) — She was a two-time state champion in high school coming out of the Syracuse area. She then was a four-time NCAA champion at UConn. She’s won three WNBA titles, three World Cup gold medals, three Olympic gold medals, even two EuroLeague titles.
And now, add an Unrivaled title to the mix — a league that she co-founded.
Breanna Stewart has won it all.
Stewart and Mist are the queens of Unrivaled for 2026, topping Phantom 80-74 in the championship game Wednesday night to cap the league’s second season. Stewart scored 32 points, setting the tone by scoring Mist’s first 12 points of the second half and her team — which went 0-2 against Phantom in the regular season — wouldn’t trail again.
“What I'll remember the most about this Mist team is we might not be the loudest, but we're going to work the hardest,” said Stewart, who was picked as MVP of the final — and whose team will split a $600,000 winners' pool.
It ended somewhat controversially: an offensive foul on Stewart was overturned to a block on review, giving her a free throw to win the title. Stewart swished the shot, and confetti fell from the roof in celebration.
“Just focused on doing it for my team,” Stewart said.
Kelsey Plum carried Phantom with 40 points on 14-for-21 shooting, along with six rebounds and five assists.
It was a brilliant effort — but Stewart and Mist had just a bit too much.
“It's hard when it ends like this,” Plum said. “But overall, it was an amazing season.”
Arike Ogunbowale had 19 and Allisha Gray scored 12 for Mist, while Kiki Iriafen scored 13 and Tiffany Hayes had 12 for Phantom.
“There was complete faith in this group,” Mist coach Zach O'Brien said. “I'm just glad we got it done.”
Stewart and Napheesa Collier are credited as the co-founders of the league, one that if nothing else has filled a void on calendar for the women’s pro game.
“I think that there was a space that wasn’t kind of being used as far as what professional women’s basketball players were doing,” Stewart said. “We used to have a seven-month blackout period where you didn’t know what these professional basketball players were doing. And now you know.”
The question is what comes next.
The WNBA and its players do not have a labor agreement for next season, one that is slated — at this point — to start in about two months. The WNBA has told the players’ union that it needs to get a deal in place by this coming Tuesday to start the season on time.
And for now, there’s no indication that’ll happen. That means the Mist-Phantom final could be the last professional women’s game in the U.S. for a while.
Some will point to poor television ratings as a sign of trouble, while others can point to crowds drawn this season in Brooklyn and Philadelphia as signs of potential for Unrivaled. Players say it works, and there's no plans to stop now.
“People probably doubt us, that we can sustain it," Unrivaled CEO Alex Bazzell said. "That's what drives us and that's also what drives these players They’re all competitors and we are, too.”
Unrivaled — a 3-on-3, full-court game played on a 72-foot floor, shorter than an NBA or college court — sells itself on being fast-paced, with an 18-second shot clock, 7-minute quarters and plenty of open space for players to create.
The title game didn’t disappoint in that regard.
They were the top two seeds entering the playoffs — Phantom 1, Mist 2 — and Wednesday was back and forth. It was 24-24 after one quarter, 43-43 at the half, neither team having led by more than seven at any point.
Mist led 68-62 going to the fourth, an untimed final quarter where 11 points get added to the leading score as the end-of-game target.
To win the title: first team to 79 wins. Mist scored the first six points of the final quarter, going up by 12. Plum answered with five straight points, pushing her total to 35 for the night and getting Phantom within 74-67.
But Mist held the lead the rest of the way, and Stewart — as she has so many times — had a title to savor.
“It was our goal from Day One to be here, to be on this podium,” O'Brien said.
AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
Phantom BC guard Kelsey Plum (10) reacts after making the game-winning shot during the second half of a semifinal in their Unrivaled 3-on-3 basketball game against Vinyl BC, Monday, March 2, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Mist BC wing Arike Ogunbowale (24) looks to pass during the second half of a semifinal in an Unrivaled 3-on-3 basketball game against Breeze BC, Monday, March 2, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Mist BC wing Breanna Stewart (30) celebrates with teammate Alanna Smith (8) after scoring during the second half of a semifinal in an Unrivaled 3-on-3 basketball game against Breeze BC, Monday, March 2, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Republican U.S. Sen. Steve Daines of Montana dropped his bid for a third term on Wednesday in a surprise withdrawal just minutes before a filing deadline for candidates.
Daines, 63, said in a statement that he wrestled with the decision for months before deciding to retire. He said he looked forward to spending time with his seven grandchildren and more time in Montana.
Montana U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme, also a Republican, entered the race shortly before the state's deadline for major party candidates.
The maneuver appeared to be carefully orchestrated. Alme was almost immediately endorsed by President Donald Trump, who praised Daines — and essentially confirmed the senator’s role in engineering Alme to become his successor.
“Sadly for our Country, Steve’s Term is up,” Trump said, “and he has decided to leave the Senate and, ‘pass the torch’ to Kurt Alme, my TRUMP 45 and TRUMP 47 U.S. Attorney.”
Other lawmakers also have used last-minute withdrawals to set up a handpicked successor. Last fall the House censured Rep. Chuy Garcia, an Illinois Democrat, for how he engineered his retirement to clear a path for his chief of staff.
Daines' announcement closely followed another shake-up in Montana's Republican field for November: On Monday, four-term Rep. Ryan Zinke announced his retirement because of health problems. Zinke quickly endorsed a former member of his staff, radio talk show host Aaron Flint, who also got backing from Trump.
Al Olszewski, a former state senator who is running for Zinke's seat, accused both Daines and Zinke of betraying the people of Montana and urged voters to reject their handpicked successors.
“We don't simply accept replacements selected by the deep state and D.C. for them to lord power over us,” said Olszewski, a Republican.
The maneuvering among the state's Republicans came on the same day that former University of Montana President Seth Bodnar launched an independent campaign for Daines’ seat.
Bodnar’s decision to run without party backing underscores Democrats' diminished status. The party hasn't controlled any statewide offices following the defeat of three-term incumbent Sen. Jon Tester two years ago.
No well-known Democrats entered the Senate race by Wednesday’s deadline.
Republicans have a slim majority in the Senate, holding 53 seats to Democrats’ 45 plus two independents. Daines is the 15th senator to announce his retirement since the 2024 election, the most in any single term going back to 2013.
Following Daines’ announcement, Bodnar said the lawmaker had “so little respect for Montana Republicans that he withdrew at the last minute to coronate his handpicked successor, instead of giving them a voice at the ballot box.”
Bodnar, a native of Grove City, Pennsylvania, graduated first in his class from West Point and served in the Army special forces before working as an executive at GE Transportation.
He said in a video message that America’s political system is broken and elected officials in Washington are looking out only for people who are wealthy and connected.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee called Bodnar a “fake independent” and criticized him as a “champion” of allowing transgender athletes to participate in college sports.
A spokesperson for Bodnar sidestepped questions about whether he would caucus with Democrats or Republicans if elected.
“When Seth gets into the Senate, he will fight for new leadership and negotiate a role that gives Montanans the strongest possible voice,” Roy Loewenstein said.
Alme was a federal prosecutor before being named U.S. attorney during both of Trump’s terms. He served under two Republican governors as a budget director and revenue director.
“As a native Montanan, I have always been committed to serving our communities, upholding the rule of law, and fighting for the safety and prosperity of every family in our state,” he said in a statement.
Daines served one term in the House before a successful 2014 run for the Senate seat formerly held by Democrat Max Baucus. He won by a wide margin over a little-known opponent after Baucus’ would-be Democratic successor, former Lt. Gov. John Walsh, dropped out of the race following reports that he plagiarized parts of his thesis while attending the U.S. Army War College.
In 2020, Daines beat Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock by 10 percentage points. At that time the campaign was the most expensive in Montana political history.
Federal Election Commission campaign filings show Daines had raised more than $8 million since his last election in 2020. He had about $5 million in cash on hand as of Dec. 31, according to the filings.
Associated Press writers Bill Barrow in Atlanta and Maya Sweedler in Washington contributed.
FILE - Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., speaks at the Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing for Scott Bessent, President-elect Donald Trump's choice to be Secretary of the Treasury, at the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)
FILE - University of Montana President Seth Bodnar speaks during spring commencement at the Adams Center in Missoula, Mont., on May 10, 2025. (Ben Allan Smith/The Missoulian via AP, File)
FILE - University of Montana President Seth Bodnar, right, and his wife, Dr. Chelsea Bodnar, ride in the university's homecoming parade in Missoula, Mont., Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025. (Ben Allan Smith/The Missoulian via AP, File)
