LAS VEGAS — Sabrina Ionescu of the New York Liberty broke WNBA and NBA records for most points in a 3-point shooting battle by making all but two of her shots in the final round on Friday. This was the first event of the 2023 WNBA All-Star weekend.

Ionescu scored 37 out of a possible 40 points, which is more than the NBA and WNBA single-round records of 31 and 30, respectively, set by Stephen Curry in 2021 and Tyrese Haliburton in 2023.

Also in the final, Sami Whitcomb of the Seattle Storm came in second with 22 points, and Arike Ogunbowale of the Dallas Wings came in third with 11. DiJonai Carrington (18), Kelsey Mitchell (15), and Jackie Young (15), all of the Las Vegas Aces, were all knocked out in the first round.

Ionescu’s incredible run, which at one point included 20 straight makes, left everyone in awe, including Liberty owners Joe and Clara Wu Tsai, 30 of Ionescu’s family members in the crowd, and her peers in the league, like four-time 3-point contest winner Quigley, who is not playing this season but tweeted her amazement.

“UNBELIEVABLE!!! “No one will ever beat this record,” Quigley wrote.

Curry also wrote “RIDICULOUS!” on Twitter to show his admiration for Ionescu’s crazy shooting show.

Courtney Vandersloot, who plays for Liberty and is married to Quigley, told Ionescu to practice shooting from a rack before the game. Ionescu followed this advice, which paid off. But even in the regular season, Ionescu is second in the league with 54 three-pointers and fourth with a 44.6% shooting percentage. Before this year, Ionescu had never had a healthy season in which she shot better than 33.3% from beyond the hoop.

“Yeah, I knew they were going in,” Ionescu said of her performance, which set a record for the most 3-pointers made in a row in both the NBA and the WNBA. “There is excitement. It was the last time. I had just lost the Skills Challenge, and I wasn’t going to lose again.”

The former Oregon star, who is also the college leader in triple-doubles, said she will send the contest’s video to Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello so that she can add more 3-point plays to her once-games resume.

Ionescu said, “I’ve put in a lot of work to be able to shoot as well as I have from the 3-point line.” “This one pays off pretty well.”

Kelsey Plum and Chelsea Gray of the Aces won the Skills Challenge on Friday. They beat Ionescu and Vandersloot of the Liberty in the final. Allisha Gray and Cheyenne Parker of the Atlanta Dream, as well as Ogunbowale and Satou Sabally of the Wings, were all knocked out in the first round.

This summer was the first time that teammates from the same team worked together to fight for the prize.

“It had a vibe, and it was fun,” Gray said. “There was a great vibe.”

Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC is the 2023 WNBA All-Star Game.

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