Laces beat Phantom BC 76-75, and Brittney Sykes made the shot that won the game. But Coach Andrew Wade wasn’t pleased. Instead, he thought about what went wrong, like the slow stretches, the defensive breakdowns, and the times his best team, with Jackie Young, disappeared. Wade wanted answers because winning by one point shows weaknesses.

In his postgame review, Wade directly addressed the shortcomings.

“The film will tell everything. We didn’t really feel like we played with a ton of force in the second half, which was disappointing,” he said. “We have elite players, and the best players show up when the moment calls. That’s exactly what happened. We have a lot to learn, honestly. Still don’t feel like we’re playing our best basketball. We show it in moments, but not for a full game. Really looking forward to putting that all together because we know this group is special.”

The numbers back up Andrew Wade’s frustration.

Phantom closed a nine-point gap in the first quarter to four points by halftime and then took the lead 69-67 in the fourth quarter. Kelsey Plum had 25 points and seven assists, and Aliyah Boston had 23 points. Laces’ roster depth, with Alyssa Thomas scoring 19 points and Young scoring 17, should have been enough to win, but Phantom stayed in the game the whole time. One-point margins require perfect play, but Laces only gave it a few times.

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Andrew Wade’s method includes making strategic improvements. When asked about his aggressive pick-and-roll blitzes against Plum early on, which he later toned down, he went into more detail.

“Yeah, great question. It’s something we worked on all week. It’s a gamble. Obviously, you’re in a scramble situation, but the way we framed it to our group is that the offense is scrambling as well. We liked some of the stuff we got tonight out of the blitzes. Didn’t love most of it, which is why we dialed it back, but it’s something we wanted to get on film and look at. We may use it later in the season.”

Laces, who finished third last season, sees Friday’s win as proof that they still have work to do, not as a sign of progress. Wade’s refusal to celebrate shows that the organization expects championship-level consistency.

Meanwhile, the Hive vs Rose game had something no one saw coming.

Hive ends Rose’s perfect run in Unrivaled upset

Hive, who had lost every game and was desperate, beat Rose 78–75, and everything changed. The defending champions looked like they couldn’t lose going into Friday, but Hive had other ideas.

Kelsey Mitchell scored 24 points, and Chelsea Gray scored 36 points and had 7 assists, but it wasn’t enough. One team finally got through, and the league’s perfect record was broken.

From the first tip-off, Hive was ready to fight, with Ezi Magbegor and Mitchell scoring right away. Sonia Citron kept making three-pointers as Hive took a strong 66-54 lead into the fourth quarter. Rose looked like she was outgunned. Gray and Azurá Stevens got up after that. The two stars made a comeback that had everyone on edge, bringing the score down to just three points with the game on the line.

It became a shootout in the last quarter.

Rose made it 75, with only one point needed to win. Mitchell stepped up when it mattered most, driving inside and scoring over Stevens to give Hive its first win. Gray and Copper hit three-pointers to fight back, but it was too little, too late.

Mitchell scored 24 points, which was more than any other Hive player. Rose showed that Gray’s individual brilliance wasn’t enough to make up for the team’s collapse in the fourth quarter.

Rose’s loss puts them at 3-1, tying with Laces at the top.