Rough Notes: Official Predictions for Unrivaled's 1-on-1 Tourney
All of these predictions will prove 100% correct :)
It’s the most delicious little surprise of the winter: the much-anticipated 1-on-1 Tournament at Unrivaled — airing tonight, starting at 7pm ET. The tournament captures what Unrivaled does best, which is giving WNBA players a chance to embrace their self-drawn character-ness, as though inviting us into a real-life video game of their own design. And competing alone, these women’s basketball stars pop from the screen - no team, just one at a time, raw talent. It combines this glitzy fantasy world of Unrivaled with the slightly terrifying twist of 1-on-1, or what a friend recently called “literally the most vulnerable thing that any professional can do.”
Which means: the 1-on-1 tournament really pulls back the curtain to reveal Each Player’s True Self. Which is the lens I used to predict three of the toughest & most competitive matchups from the first round, beginning today. These are foolproof, so feel free to use them for your Unrivaled Bracket Challenge, duh! Here are the official Rough Notes predictions:
Marina Mabrey vs. Sonia Citron
Let’s start with the fact that both of these players are willing to scramble/back-bend for any loose ball, and I’ll tell you why. It’s because they have siblings. Playing basketball against your siblings is a key ingredient to getting great at 1-on-1. And while Marina is way more famous for having siblings, Sonia has them too, okay? They include her older brother Will, who is the reason she first wanted to play as a kid (& who she now beats regularly in basketball):
Meanwhile, there are some genuinely upsetting allegations being thrown around the Mabrey family, including by guy-with-the-most-oldest-sibling-energy-of-all-time Roy Mabrey:
He posted this TikTok just after his sister Marina scored 47 points in a game (a league record!) Truly unhinged behavior, which I would call gendered, but I think is potentially just Mabrey-ed, since this claims to be the most competitive family ever. Whatever’s going on, Marina is likely pissed (though that’s nothing new), and will now see all her Unrivaled 1-on-1 opponents exactly like this:
At this point, signs suggest Marina would have an edge over Sonia. But then things get complicated. Because Sonia Citron was recruited to play basketball at Notre Dame by none other than Michaela Mabrey, the eldest of the Mabrey sisters. And like all Mabrey’s, Michaela seems constantly annoyed with Marina. Maybe she’s secretly plotting to take her down with her real Fighting Irish protege?
Ok, but then there’s the kicker. It starts with the fact that only one of these two players, Marina + Sonia, has ever worn the infamous StudBudz chain, which clearly possesses secret powers that could influence the 1-on-1 tournament.
Except that’s not all. The person who put said chain around Sonia Citron’s neck was, in fact, Saniya Rivers. Yes, that’s Marina’s #1, Saniya Rivers.
Which means that Marina has been recently betrayed by the people she loves most, both of whom have been pouring into her young one-on-one opponent. I don’t think she’s gonna take that lightly. And Marina, as a nearly-30 year-old armed with vengeance and her own special powers crash out jar of accountability, will be just TOO FIRED UP to lose this game. Which means that…
The Winner = Marina Mabrey.
Rhyne Howard vs. Rae Burrell
First off, both Rae and Ryne have swagger. And some mischievousness. Check out these looks:
Like if we were filling out this same 1-on-1 bracket, but instead of predicting the winners basketball games, the prompt was “who would you most want to have a few drinks with at the company holiday party while playing practical jokes on people?” - these would be at the top of my list.
Honestly, they have such different-yet-overlapping wavelengths that if I * had * to choose a single 1-on-1 matchup as a Heated Rivalry, it’s this one. And if that’s true, then who knows whether it’s episode 2 or episode 5, and who holds the emotional upper hand, and whether or not they’ve already stared at each other in the club…?! All of that makes Rhyne vs. Rae a total toss-up.
Then there’s the fact that these two are current teammates — both coached by Teresa Weatherspoon. Normally I would just choose the person coached by T-Spoon, since she is probably most effective while hyping up her players behind-the-scenes.
Then there’s their style of play. While Rhyne Howard won WNBA Rookie of the Year in 2022 & probably the more-obviously favored player here, Rae Burrell has been more of a slow burn through the start of her career. That’s not actually quite the right metaphor because Rae’s greatest strength is that she’s like actually this athletic energizer bunny who never runs out of steam, to the point of visibly annoying Rhyne:
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
And that’s exactly the kind of hyper energy you need to take down an opponent one-on-one, which gives Rae an edge. I’m just not sure Rhyne can hang…
Except for one thing. Remember how Rhyne wasn’t so happy with last year’s 1-on-1 tournament? These were literally her re-tweets after losing to Courtney Williams:
Which means Rhyne is going to be, as they say, ON ONE. No matter who she’s playing against. She wants revenge not just against an opponent, but against Unrivaled itself, which ultimately tips the balance. There’s nothing more motivating right now than battling a women’s basketball league, which brings me to:
The Winner = Rhyne Howard
Aliyah Boston vs. Laeticia Amihere
We lost the ultimate boxing match of the century with Alyssa Thomas no longer playing against Aliyah Boston, but now we’ve got former South Carolina Gamecocks teammates and longtime friends going head-to-head!
Aliyah and Laeticia were part of the famous “freshies” class under Dawn Staley, and won a national championship together. I can’t imagine how many countless meals they’ve eaten together at Columbia, South Carolina’s downtown Chipotle location.
Let’s see what their former coach, the great Dawn Staley, has to say about her players. Dawn once described Laeticia Amihere by saying, “She’s the most versatile player that I’ve ever coached.” And recently, she said this about Aliyah Boston: “She probably came in as the smartest player ever in the history of our program.” Ugh. Most versatile vs. smartest? That feels like a deadlock.
Then there’s the fact that Laeticia Amihere is low-key Canadian, not in like an in-your-face kind of way, but in kind of back-pocket-lemme-go-back-up-there-once-in-a-while type of vibe. This, I think, can be used as a secret weapon.
But if you get deeper into Aliyah Boston lore, you’ll discover that she has a son. And by that I mean a really cute dog named Ozzy. Having children always makes you play for a bigger purpose, especially when there’s money on the line (which, by the way, there is: 200K, down from 300K last year, grrr.)
With that, I’d give a slight edge to Aliyah. But let’s go back to the Aliyah Boston “smartest player ever” thing. It’s true: Aliyah is wicked intelligent (& grew up partially in Worcester, Mass!) In fact, being so smart makes her one of the youngest multitaskers in the WNBA & Unrivaled, someone who is already a regular analyst for national broadcasts and shares a podcast with Candace Parker. Which means that this Unrivaled season, she’s been working her ass off on the court, and behind the mic:
Meanwhile, Laeticia Amihere has been training every day with the 2026 Development Pool, a crew that works out and practices non-stop while Laeiticia makes fun of a dude she calls “Little Ray”:
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
And when someone’s day-in-the-life video is marked by making fun of a male practice player, that’s when you KNOW a player is hungry for more. Getting plucked rom the development pool into the 1-on-1 tournament is Laeticia’s perfect opportunity.
Plus, deep down, I think Aliyah Boston knows her former teammate has always been deserving of more shine. Back in the day, she literally gave her SEC championship trophy away to one Laeticia Amihere. Today, I predict that Aliyah will be ready to bow down again, which means I’m going with the hot take…
The Winner = Laeticia Amihere.
P.S. TBH, I’m extremely sad to not get to see this matchup:
P.P.S. The folks at perhaps my fave women’s sports podcast ever — Burn It All Down — are in the midst of a comeback! Consider donating to their campaign :) And keep all independent women’s basketball media strong!
