It was a less than conventional setting for WNBA All-Star Saturday as it emanated from the largest convention center in the country – McCormick Place – instead of the Chicago Sky’s home venue of Wintrust Arena – and without fans.
Even with the litany of hitches that took place during Saturday, WNBA All-Star Saturday still took place as scheduled with the Skills Competition and the 3-point contest as its headline events.
In the 3-point contest, Allie Quigley of the Sky, after declaring that she would never again participate in the event following winning it last year in Las Vegas, once again proved why she is the queen of the 3-pointer.
Allie Quigley is the queen of the 3 yet again! 4peat!#Skytown #WNBAAllStar #MoreThan #WNBATwitter @BeyondTheW @LoIra_BTW @stepheelovell @iamlamarcarter @IAmSoulTronik pic.twitter.com/7q7JkL4A21
— 𝗔𝗸𝗶𝗲𝗺 𝗕. 𝗕𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘂𝗺 👨🏾💻🎙🖥🎥📰📺📸 (@AkiemBailum) July 9, 2022
Quigley posted a 30 score in the final round which bested Ariel Atkins of the Washington Mystics who finished with a 21 score. Rookie sensation Rhyne Howard of the Atlanta Dream also made the final round and managed a 14 score in the final round.
Her success at All-Star 3-point competitions even sparked conversation as to if the event should be named after her. To which Quigley replied…
If they want to do that, I’d be okay with it … it’s cool, but they don’t got to do that.
–Allie Quigley, Chicago Sky, 4-time 3-point contest champion
Quigley qualified for the final round of the 3-point competition after posting a 26 in the opening stanza whereas Atkins and Howard each came through with 24 scores.
#WNBAAllStar 3 pt finalists
Allie Quigley #Skytown
Rhyne Howard #DoItForTheDream
Ariel Atkins #Mystics25 #WNBATwitter #MoreThan@BeyondTheW @IAmSoulTronik @LoIra_BTW @stepheelovell @iamlamarcarter pic.twitter.com/4s7h8v1gSW— 𝗔𝗸𝗶𝗲𝗺 𝗕. 𝗕𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘂𝗺 👨🏾💻🎙🖥🎥📰📺📸 (@AkiemBailum) July 9, 2022
The Dallas Wings’ Arike Ogunbowale, the Seattle Storm’s Jewell Loyd and the Las Vegas Aces’ Kelsey Plum also participated in the contest. Ogunbowale, Loyd and Plum posted 21, 18 and 14 scores, respectively.
#WNBAAllStar 3 pt finalists
Allie Quigley #Skytown
Rhyne Howard #DoItForTheDream
Ariel Atkins #Mystics25 #WNBATwitter #MoreThan@BeyondTheW @IAmSoulTronik @LoIra_BTW @stepheelovell @iamlamarcarter pic.twitter.com/4s7h8v1gSW— 𝗔𝗸𝗶𝗲𝗺 𝗕. 𝗕𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘂𝗺 👨🏾💻🎙🖥🎥📰📺📸 (@AkiemBailum) July 9, 2022
As for Sabrina Ionescu, the rising New York Liberty star lived up to the Atlantic and Flatbush mantra of Own The Crown at the Skills Competition. She – along with high school up-and-comer Zoe Brooks teamed together to win the WNBA Skills Challenge.
They didn’t even really seem nervous which was … hats off to them because (Brooks) asked me if I was nervous and I told her yeah. So, funny that they weren’t but it’s amazing. What an amazing opportunity for these kids to be out here watching, interacting, taking pictures, asking questions, kind of seeing what a day in the life is like at an All-Star event. I obviously felt like one of them because this was my first time here, but what an amazing opportunity for us to be able to kind of integrate high school sports into the WNBA.
–Sabrina Ionescu, New York Liberty, 2022 WNBA Skills Competition co-champion
Each WNBA player was paired with a high school player from the Elite Youth Basketball League from this year’s Nike Nationals.
Ionescu bested the Indiana Fever’s NaLyssa Smith in the final round. She came from behind to defeat the Sky’s Azura Stevens in the first round, then made short work of the Aces’ Kelsey Plum in the semifinals.
Smith’s path to the final round went through the Sky’s Courtney Vandersloot in the first round and Jonquel Jones (Connecticut Sun) in the semifinals.
It was Ionescu who brought up the idea of the 3-point competition being named after Quigley during her postgame media availability.
Fans may have been restricted from attending the two events, but there were individuals in the stands – many of them from the EYBL teams that were on hand for the Nike Nationals. It was a number of AAU events that were taking place in the area surrounding All-Star.
