The Rose Basketball Club fell in a 71-64 loss to the Laces on Monday. The Rose are now tied with the Phantom with a record of 1-3 and are one game ahead of the Mist, who are in last place in the newly-founded league.
Guard Brittney Sykes, a former WNBA Defensive Player of the Year for the Washington Mystics, led the Rose with 18 points as she made six of her 11 tries from the floor. Laces guard Kayla McBride led the squad with 31 points, marking the third time this Unrivaled season a player has scored 30 points or more against the Rose.
The Rose as a whole struggled to score against one of the top teams in the Unrivaled standings. The team hit less than 32% of their shots and just over 23% of their 3-point attempts, both season lows for the experienced squad. The guard duo of Kahleah Copper and Chelsea Gray, who shined in the Rose's first win of the Unrivaled season, scored a combined 17 points and hit 23% of their shots.
While they managed to hold the Laces to just under 40% from the floor, they couldn't keep McBride and Las Vegas Aces guard Tiffany Hayes from scoring a combined 55 points. A few missed free throws and some key plays from Sykes seemed to spark a comeback, but a mid-range step-back from McBride would ultimately seal the Rose's third loss of the season.
Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese scored a season-high 17 points as she hit three of her five shots and five of her six free throws. The rookie All-Star knocked down an open 3-pointer to tie things up at 41-41 in the third quarter, marking the first time the sophomore sensation hit a shot from long-range in her first Unrivaled campaign. She added seven rebounds, including three on offense, along with two steals. Reese is averaging 10.8 points and a Rose-leading 8.3 rebounds in just more than 11.5 minutes per contest.
The Rose will tip off against the Phantom at 7:15 p.m. EST on Friday. The game will be broadcast on TNT.