Unrivaled 1-on-1 tournament explainer, results: No. 8 Aaliyah Edwards blitzes No. 1 Breanna Stewart, cruises into semifinals

The debut season of Unrivaled took its 3x3 basketball playground format a step further Monday night with a 1-on-1 tournament, featuring 23 of the league's 36 players.

The featured matchup of the night between former UConn players and current Mist teammates saw No. 8 seed Aaliyah Edwards blitz No. 1 seed and two-time WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart in a 12-0 shutout.

Stewart got the ball first in the make-it, take-it format but missed a contested layup on her first shot. Edwards responded with a corner 3-pointer and a jumper from the elbow for a quick 5-0 lead. A contested layup extended her lead to 7-0 before her first miss of the night.

Edwards then denied Stewart on a layup and 3-point attempt to hold her to an 0-for-3 effort from the field before closing with a layup and another 3-pointer to secure the win.

What is Unrivaled's 1-on-1 tournament?

The Edwards-Stewart matchup was the featured game of eight played Monday night in the opening round of the tournament.

The midseason tournament leads into the NBA's All-Star break as Unrivaled looks to showcase its players in a new light with a cash prize as incentive. Players are competing for a $350,000 prize pool, with the winner taking home the lion's share prize of $200,000.

Second place earns $50,000, and the losers of the two semifinal games get $25,000 each. The winner gets to split the remaining $50,000 with each of her five regular-season Unrivaled teammates.

First round completed Monday night

Monday featured the first of three nights of tournament action and settled the opening round. The second round and quarterfinals will take place Tuesday night (7 p.m. ET, truTV). The semifinals and finals will be played Friday night and broadcast on TNT (7:30 p.m. ET) as a lead-in to the first night of NBA All-Star competition.

The tournament features a 32-slot bracket split into four quadrants with 30 players and the top two overall seeds receiving byes.

No. 1 seeds Jewell Loyd and Arike Ogunbowale received the first-round byes. Injuries knocked out seven players from competition, whittling the field to 23 and opening up byes for seven other players into the second round.

That meant eight games instead of the initially planned 14 for Monday's opening-round action in Miami, which still featured some of the best players in women's basketball.

How it works

For anyone who's played 1-on-1 in the backyard or on the blacktop, a lot of Monday's opening round of action looked familiar. One player shoots a 3-pointer for first possession. From there it's make-it, take-it.

Regular field goals count for two points, and shots beyond the arc count for 3. The first player to 11 points wins.

That is, unless, the game clock gets to 10 minutes. At that point, the player with the most points wins. But the game clock didn't come into play Monday night. A seven-second shot clock ensured swift action.

So, who advanced?

Before Edwards' upset of Stewart, No. 7 seed Shakira Austin pulled off the biggest upset of the night, with a dominant, 12-2 win over No. 2 seed Chelsea Gray.

No. 2 seed Rhyne Howard opened an 8-0 lead against No. 7 seed Lexie Hull, then held off a rally for a 12-7 win, demonstrating the potential for momentum swings in the make-it, take-it format.

Round 1 Final scores

No. 1 Napheesa Collier, 12
No. 8 Katie Lou Samuelson, 6

No. 7 Shakira Austin, 12
No. 2 Chelsea Gray, 2

No. 2 Kahleah Copper, 11
No. 7 Aliyah Boston, 6

No. 2 Rhyne Howard, 12
No. 7 Lexie Hull, 7

No. 4 Skylar Diggins-Smith, 11
No. 5 Dearica Hamby, 3

No. 3 Allisha Gray, 11
No. 6 Jordin Canada, 4

No. 5 Rickea Jackson, 11
No. 4 Jackie Young, 3

No. 8 Aaliyah Edwards, 12
No. 1 Breanna Stewart, 0

What about the second round?

The winners advanced to play in Tuesday's second round, which then made way for the quarterfinals later in the night. Gray rolled to another dominant win in the second round over Copper, but was then knocked out in the quarterfinals by Edwards — who ended up getting a bye in the second round.

Rae Burrell, who ended up getting a first round bye, upset top-seeded Jewell Lloyd with a lopsided win, too. But then Azurá Stevens cruised to a 12-2 win in their quarterfinals match.

Napheesa Collier, who also earned a top seed, had no issue in her two matches. She flew past Rickea Jackson and then beat Owls teammate Courtney Williams 12-4 to reach the semifinals, too.

Ogunbowale, after sneaking past Skylar Diggins-Smith in her second round match, then shut down Satou Sabally to snag the last semifinals spot. Ogunbowale drained back-to-back 3-pointers to open her match, and then she pulled out a huge pump fake to put Sabally away right before securing the 12-8 win.

Tuesday's final scores

Second Round

No. 3 Allisha Gray, 11
No. 2 Kahleah Copper, 5

No. 4 Rae Burrell, 11
No. 1 Jewell Lloyd, 4

No. 6 Azurá Stevens, 11
No. 7 Shakira Austin, 4

No. 1 Napheesa Collier, 12
No. 5 Rickea Jackson, 5

No. 6 Courtney Williams, 11
No. 2 Rhyne Howard, 9

No. 1 Arike Ogunbowale, 12
No. 4 Skylar Diggins-Smith, 8

No. 3 Satou Sabally, 11
No. 7 DiJonai Carrington, 4

Quarterfinals

No. 8 Aaliyah Edwards, 12
No. 3 Allisha Gray, 6

No. 6 Azurá Stevens, 12
No. 4 Rae Burrell, 2

No. 1 Napheesa Collier, 12
No. 6 Courtney Williams, 4

No. 1 Arike Ogunbowale, 12
No. 3 Satou Sabally, 8

Semifinal matchups

The semifinals and finals are set for Friday night.

Aaliyah Edwards vs. Arike Ogunbowale

Azurá Stevens vs. Napheesa Collier