In an All-Star Game that garnered headlines for featuring a court that actually resembled an All-Star Game court, the game that ensued on Saturday evening at Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona was more than worthy of this year’s unique hardwood.
This year’s rendition featured much more defense than the typical All-Star fare even though it was higher-scoring than the last time the All-Star Game was contested under the Team WNBA vs. Team USA format – 2021 at Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas.
And similar to that year’s All-Star rendition, Team WNBA once again prevailed over its foes from the national team. Team WNBA bested Team USA by a final score of 117-109.
Also similar to 2021, Arike Ogunbowale took home MVP honors. The Dallas Wings star set a new individual scoring record for the All-Star Game by tallying 34 points to claim the victory for Team WNBA. Ogunbowale was also eight of 13 from behind the 3-point arc and was true on six of her seven free throw attempts.
Ogunbowale scored 26 in the game in 2021 – a matchup where Team WNBA dispatched Team USA by eight – 93-85.
Believe it or not, Ogunbowale actually was scoreless in the first half before going peak Ogunbowale in the third quarter. She scored 21 points in the third frame alone – including sinking five of her 3-point tries. Her evening also included a pair of steals.
Ogunbowale is now the only active player that has claimed multiple All-Star Game MVP awards. The other three are no longer active players – Lisa Leslie, Swin Cash and Maya Moore.
Ogunbowale’s performance had added significance because this year’s All-Star Game marks the third consecutive WNBA midseason event where an individual scoring record was either tied or broken. In 2022 at Chicago’s Wintrust Arena, Kelsey Plum scored 30 points (to tie Maya Moore’s 30 from 2015 in Connecticut) and Jewell Loyd added 31 points at Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas last season.
Team WNBA also got itself a great performance courtesy of Allisha Gray. She added 16 points to its cause – plus five steals, three assists and going nine out of 10 from the free throw line. Perhaps…if Ogunbowale did not put together the evening she did, we may be talking about the Atlanta Dream star being MVP on the heels of winning the Skills Challenge and the 3-Point Contest the previous evening.
Gray and Ogunbowale are in the primes of their careers. Nneka Ogwumike is a wily veteran that still gets the job done. She finished with 14 points. Kelsey Mitchell, who substituted for Erica Wheeler in the previous day’s Skills Challenge due to flight issues, contributed 13 points. Nine of those 13 came also courtesy of the third quarter.
Many onlookers – both at the venue and watching on ABC in primetime – were curious as to how Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark would perform in their respective All-Star debuts. Reese proved once again why she is the double-double Barbie by scoring 12 points and hauling in 11 boards. As for Clark, she had herself an off-game points-wise with four but dished out a game-high 10 assists. One of those dimes was – indeed – to Reese.
As for coach Cheryl Reeve’s Stars and Stripes, they were spearheaded by the 31 points and 10 rebounds of Breanna Stewart. Of the 31 points she had, 17 of those occurred in the second half. Also, it was a 22-point night at the office for A’ja Wilson. She also was eight of 13 from the field, connected on two of her three 3-point attempts, grabbed six rebounds and collected three steals.
Chiming in with 14 for Team USA was hometown favorite Diana Taurasi. She was also three of seven from behind the arc in addition to sending out five assists.
Another who fed off of the home crowd, Brittney Griner, was the leading scorer off the bench for Team USA with 10. She also contributed seven rebounds.
We knew that when Phoenix was announced as the host city for All-Star weekend in 2024 that it would certainly draw a crowd. After all, the Mercury’s X-Factor shows up to support its team even in down years. It was announced towards the close of the contest that over 16,000 were on hand at the Footprint Center.
