Rhyne Howard Stars as Vinyl Beat Laces, Advance to Semifinals in Unrivaled Playoff Bracket

Led by a strong performance from Rhyne Howard, Vinyl BC took down Laces BC by the final score of 82-69 in the 2026 Unrivaled playoffs on Saturday to advance to the semifinals.

Howard scored 30 points on 12-of-20 shooting, including 6-of-11 from behind the arc. She also grabbed eight rebounds and dished out four assists compared to just two turnovers.

Here's a look at the updated playoff bracket following the victory by Vinyl.

Unrivaled Playoff Bracket

First Round 

No. 6 Vinyl def. No. 3 Laces, 82-69

No. 5 Breeze def. No. 4 Rose, 60-50

Semifinals

No. 1 Phantom vs. No. 6 Vinyl, Monday at 7:30 p.m. ET

No. 2 Mist vs. No. 5 Breeze, Monday at 8:45 p.m. ET

Finals

Semifinal Winners, Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. ET

Vinyl got off to a strong start in Saturday's contest, taking an 8-2 lead to open the first quarter. Laces quickly responded with a 13-4 run to jump in front, though.

Neither team was able to pull away for the remainder of the first half, as Laces held a 46-42 advantage at halftime.

Vinyl eventually jumped back in front by three points with just over four minutes left in the third quarter before Howard took over the game, scoring 16 consecutive points for her team and burying multiple pull-up triples.

She helped give Vinyl a 71-63 lead heading into the final period and Laces could never recover. Dearica Hamby eventually tipped in a game-winning layup, as Vinyl reached the target score of 82.

Hamby finished with 25 points and two steals, shooting 11-of-14 from the field. Rae Burrell also chipped in with 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting for Vinyl.

Laces guard Brittney Sykes scored a team-high 22 points and connected on 52.9 percent of her field goals, but it ultimately wasn't enough to emerge victorious.

Vinyl will now face Phantom BC in the semifinals on Monday.