Harrison, Canada highlight Athletes Unlimited opening night

The Athletes Unlimited season began on Thursday night with a doubleheader. It was . Team Williams vs. Team Sims and Team Cloud vs. Team Cole. Team Williams came out on top 96-93 in a thrilling opener and the evening concluded with Team Cloud beating Team Cole 78-72.

The first game of the day couldn’t have been any better. It was an OT thriller with an outstanding performance from Isabelle Harrison, who ended the game with 23 points for Team Williams. Odyssey Sims represented her team well and was by far the most productive player on her squad with 30 points.

Team Sims was never out of it, but every time it closed the gap or took a brief lead, Team Williams would respond with a run of its own to regain control. A perfect encapsulation of this occurred in the closing minutes of the fourth. Team Sims had a three-point lead and looked to be on the way to a win when Harrison went on her own 5-0 run to regain the advantage.

A NaLyssa Smith three did force overtime, but Harrison and Courtney Williams were too much firepower for Team Sims to overcome.

Other action

Team Cloud over Team Cole, 78-72

In the second matchup, Team Cloud took the win thanks to Jordin Canada being an absolute bucket with 21 points. Natasha Cloud wasn’t too far behind with 15 points.

Team Cole had the dynamic duo of Allisha Gray and Crystal Bradford scoring 21 each in the defeat, but was unable to close the gap late in the game to pull off the comeback win.

The game was all Canada.

The L.A. Sparks point guard’s talents were on full display Thursday. She was quickly getting to the basket, creating her own shot and getting others going with her passing ability.

Canada may have been the star for Team Cloud, but the team captain reminded us whose team it was in the fourth. With her team up just two, Cloud served up a dime to G’mrice Davis, which resulted in a layup. Cloud then iced the game with three free throws, concluding an exciting first day of AU basketball.

AU will continue with games Friday and Sunday. Almost every game is available via WNBA League Pass and there is a pregame show happening at the beginning of each week. Season two is off to a great start.