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🤕 NAPHEESA COLLIER OUT OF ACTION
THE UNRIVALED CO-FOUNDER TO UNDERGO TWO SURGERIES
Photo via Unrivaled
Unrivaled has begun, but they’ll be without their co-founder this season.
On January 1, Napheesa Collier announced that she will miss this Unrivaled season due to surgery on both ankles.
Phee’s injuries occurred during the WNBA season and she had been working to rehab her injuries in time for Unrivaled. Now that she is undergoing surgery, she is out for Unrivaled and more than likely the start of the 2026 WNBA season, assuming it starts on time.
Roberta F. Rodrigues of Forbes, Beta Basket, and Tempestade Talk reported that Collier will be undergoing rehabilitation in Miami at the Unrivaled facilities following her surgeries.
Temi Fangbele will take Collier’s place on the Lunar Owls.
Collier is one of the game’s greatest players and most important figures. Hopefully she heals up quickly and is back on the court as soon as possible.
⛹️♀️ ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25
BIG SHAKEUPS ACROSS THE BOARD
Here’s the latest in the AP’s Top 25 rankings:
Rank | Team | Last week’s ranking |
|---|---|---|
1 | Connecticut | 1 |
2 | Texas | 2 |
3 | South Carolina | 3 |
4 | UCLA | 4 |
5 | Oklahoma | 8 |
6 | Kentucky | 11 |
7 | Vanderbilt | 12 |
8 | Maryland | 7 |
9 | Michigan | 6 |
10 | Louisville | 13 |
11 | Iowa State | 10 |
12 | LSU | 5 |
13 | TCU | 8 |
14 | Iowa | 14 |
15 | Michigan State | 24 |
16 | Baylor | 22 |
17 | Texas Tech | 21 |
18 | Ole Miss | 15 |
19 | Ohio State | 19 |
20 | Tennessee | 23 |
21 | USC | 17 |
22 | North Carolina | 16 |
23 | Washington | 23 |
24 | Princeton | 25 |
25 | Nebraska | 20 |
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🔥UPSET CENTRAL
THE TOP TEN GOT A MAJOR SHAKE UP
Photo via Morgan Simmons/UK Athletics.
There was a lot of moving and shaking in the Top 10 this week.
It started with No. 6-ranked Michigan. The Wolverines made a New Year’s trip to Seattle to face the Washington Huskies. They were in the Pacific Northwest to end 2025 as they outlasted Oregon in a double overtime battle on December 29. In their first game of 2026, Michigan set season lows in field-goal percentage, three-point percentage, and free-throw percentage. When you add all that up, it equals an upset.
No. 7 Maryland entered their matchup against Illinois undefeated at 13-0. They were down late and had a chance to tie the game and send it to overtime — but they missed and wound up losing a heartbreaker, 73-70. For Illinois, the women were historic on multiple fronts. It was the Illini’s first win against a top ten opponent since 2014 and first win against a top seven team since 2012. The win pushed their winning streak to 11, tying the longest mark in school history. Unfortunately, Illinois couldn’t break the school record, losing 81-75 to Michigan State on January 4.
The biggest shocker on New Year’s Day came in Baton Rouge. Undefeated LSU came into action ranked fifth overall in the country and leading in offense. The Tigers have gotten off to an historic start and will be a tough out come NCAA Tournament time.
All of that was thrown out the window as No. 11 Kentucky held the LSU to season lows in rebounds and field goal attempts. Despite that, LSU held a one-point lead in the final seconds. Unfortunately for them, that was all the time Tonie Morgan needed to deliver a stone-cold stunner:
gotta also add LSU lost off a very nice buzzer-beater by Tonie Morgan for Kentucky
— Douglas Reyes-Ceron (@dreyesceron.bsky.social) 2026-01-02T05:28:10.162Z
Morgan had the best game of her collegiate career, as she joined Caitlin Clark as the only players to have 24 points and 12 assists on the road against a top-five opponent. The win was the biggest so far in Kenny Brooks’ two seasons as head coach and UK’s first win against a top-five opponent since their upset against South Carolina in the 2022 SEC Championship game.
The road didn’t get any easier for Kim Mulkey’s Tigers. They traveled to Nashville for a showdown against No. 12 Vanderbilt on January 4. It was a back-and-forth battle for much of the night, and down the stretch, Vandy’s star sophomore took over.
Mikayla Blakes scored 15 of her game-high 32 points in the fourth quarter as the Commodores built a three-point lead late. The referees missed a crucial out-of-bounds call that would have given LSU a chance to tie the game in the final seconds. That said, LSU didn’t do itself any favors, as it committed a season high 22 turnovers and attempted a season low 13 free throws. Add them up, and it equals a second consecutive defeat in conference play.
On January 3, Utah took on an undefeated TCU team in Salt Lake City. Utah was leading by four with under two minutes to go before a pair of three-pointers put TCU out in front.
Utah had a chance to tie the game at the free throw, but they missed both attempts, and it looked like TCU was going to escape Salt Lake City with a hard-fought victory. But down three in the final seconds, senior guard Lani White hit the shot of the night that saved the Utes.
That three helped power Utah to an 87-77 upset win in overtime.
The party didn’t stop there as No. 10 Iowa State hosted then-No. 22 Baylor on January 4. Baylor held Iowa State superstar center Audi Crooks to just four second-half points as they consistently double-teamed her and sagged off of Iowa State guards for most of the game. The game was tied in the final seconds, and Taliah Scott stepped to the stage:
Final score: Baylor 72, Iowa State 70
The level of competition is only going to get tougher across the hoops landscape now that conference play has begun. Buckle up!
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💰 MONEY MOVES
YEAR 2 OF UNRIVALED IS HERE
Photo via Unrivaled.
Unrivaled officially kicked off its second season on January 5 with four games spread out across the day and evening. Before the games began, league leadership met with the media for a state-of-the-league address.
On January 5, Unrivaled Commissioner Micky Lawler and league President Alex Bazzell met with the media prior to the start of action. Lawler shared some early highlights that show where the league is and heading in the future:
@unrivaledwbb.bsky.social press conference happening now, and some early highlights from Micky Lawler: - 75 percent of the players in unrivaled are signed through 2028 - the league has a valuation of $340 million - added 15k feet of player spaces - 25% more seats in the arena (capacity of around 1k)
— busy ☝️☝️☝️⛈️ (@busyxb.bsky.social) 2026-01-05T16:44:51.288Z
Following a successful year one, Unrivaled is looking to go above and beyond in year two. And with the range of talent in the league and coming up the pipeline, the sky is the limit.
“My strong belief is once people remove the women's sports blinders and start looking at it in relative to what's going on in the ecosystem in terms of the data, it points to that right now. So we are very bullish on not just where we are today, but where we're going tomorrow with the names that are in our league, the names we hope to get in the league, the (Name, Image, and Likeness) players. These players are superstars, and they're superstars not just in women's sports, they're superstars in sports.
You have to believe, fundamentally, in that investment, which we do, and we believe it's going to reap a lot of benefits for the entire league, the ecosystem, and the fans as well.”
There were questions about whether the league would eventually partner with the WNBA. Noting that anything isn’t on or off the table.
“As long as you can look at the space in an innovative lens, anything is doable, anything is possible,” Bazzell said.
As the league enters its sophomore season, things are looking up. They’ve got great players on board and fan interest spanning the globe.
As women’s basketball continues to grow, Unrivaled promises to be an accessible option for fans looking to watch their favorites compete during the winter.
📰 WHAT WE’RE READING
At Black Rosie Media, we love to give flowers to other writers and creators in the women’s basketball community.
Here’s what we’re reading:
Breanna Stewart looks to shine in Unrivaled year 2 by Brian Fleurantin, The Local W
Chris DeMarco comes to New York Liberty with rave reviews by Lucas Kaplan, NetsDaily
Women’s basketball and UCLA deserve more coverage, but attacks from within don’t help by Thomas Costello, Land-Grant Holy Land
PJ Brown: The fight for media attention for women's sports continues by PJ Brown, The Undercovered: Women's sports with PJ Brown
Efforts to Reconnect Americans Face Challenges in a Lonely Time by Peter Smith, Associated Press
11 songs by Black women for healing & restoration — my 2025 music guide by Natelegé Whaley, Scene Serene
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