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There’s a new queen of the WNBA 3-point contest.
The New York Liberty’s Sabrina Ionescu won the title Friday at 2023 All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas after turning in “the greatest performance we have ever seen in this contest,” ESPN play-by-play announcer Ryan Ruocco exclaimed. Ionescu was nearly perfect in her final run, knocking down 25 of 27 three-point shots. That’s an all-time record for either the NBA or WNBA.
“I was just focused on making one at a time. I wasn’t sure how many I missed but I knew it wasn’t a lot,” said Ionescu, who won the 2022 WNBA All-Star Skills Challenge. “I practice a lot of these live reps, and I was able to do it today.”
Ionescu finished with a score of 37 points. (Money balls are worth two points and Starry balls are worth three points.) The Seattle Storm’s Sami Whitcomb (24) finished in second place, while the Dallas Wings’ Arike Ogunbowale (11) came in third place.
Ionescu was cheered on by the crowd at Michelob ULTRA Arena, her fellow contestants and even Allie Quigley, who has reigned over the 3-point contest since 2017, winning four out of the last five shootouts. Quigley is sitting out the 2023 season and wasn’t in the field for Friday’s contest, clearing the way for Ionescu to hoist the 3-point trophy.
“I’m really blessed to be in this position,” Ionescu added.
Whitcomb put up the highest score (28) in the first round to advance to the final, along with Ionescu (26) and Ogunbowale (21). The Connecticut Sun’s DiJonai Carrington (18), Indiana Fever’s Kelsey Mitchell (15) and Las Vegas Aces’ Jackie Young (15) failed to advance.
The 2023 WNBA All-Star 3-point contest concluded the festivities for Friday. The All-Star Game will be held Saturday.
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Team Vegas win Skills Challenge
The Las Vegas Aces’ All-Star Chelsea Gray just proved why she was the No. 1 overall All-Star pick off the board.
Gray lifted Team Aces to a win in the 2023 WNBA All-Star Skills challenge over defending champion Sabrina Ionescu, who was on Team Liberty with New York teammate Courtney Vandersloot.
“Chelsea carried us,” Kelsey Plum said of her teammate.
Plum wasn’t lying. Plum had a rough go during the final round of the skills challenge, which consisted of a 25-inch chest pass, pylon dribbles, a basket in lane, corner three and a basket at the other side of the floor. She couldn’t knock down a corner three, missing all three of her attempts, but Gray came to the rescue.
Gray executed a perfect run to lock in a time of 46 seconds for Team Vegas. “I was practicing before and just tried to make as many as possible. This is a cool event and I’m happy,” Gray said after hosting the skills trophy with Plum.
Team Liberty finished with a time of 58 seconds after Vandersloot and Ionescu both struggled to knock down a three. Vandersloot missed all three of her corner three attempts, while Ionescu missed two threes in the corner and at the opposite basket. Ionescu didn’t struggle in the three-point contest, however.
Gray and Plum will play on Team A’ja Wilson Saturday in the All-Star Game, while Vandersloot and Ionescu will be on Team Breanna Stewart.
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