Allie Quigley became the first WNBA or NBA player to win four 3-point contests when she made the third shot on the right wing rack, which was her money rack. Quigley finished 3-of-5 on that rack and then capped the historic Saturday afternoon in Chicago by perfecting her final rack for a total of 30 points in the championship round.
Quigley exemplified composure and savvy throughout the competition, never forgetting a DEW Zone ball (as some of the contestants did before having to go back) and going perfect on her strategically placed money rack in the opening round.
Allie Quigley the master of 3-pt contest strategy. Makes her entire money rack.
— Swish Appeal (@SwishAppeal) July 9, 2022
She topped second-place Ariel Atkins’ score of 21 in the final. Third-place Rhyne Howard had 14.
Atkins, whose money rack was the left corner, made her first four shots in the first round en route to 24 points, but went 2-of-5 on her money rack in the final. She was 1-of-2 on DEW Zone balls in the final and 1-of-5 on the right wing rack before finishing perfect from the right corner as Quigley did.
Howard, a WNBA rookie, also achieved a score of 24 in the first round, while Quigley led the way with 26.
In the first round, Arike Ogunbowale, Jewell Loyd and Kelsey Plum all failed to advance with scores of 21, 18 and 14, respectively. Plum is first in the league in 3-pointers made (71) and seventh in percentage (42) and was expected to be Quigley’s main competition.
Skills Challenge
NC State commit Zoe Brooks, who came in telling Sabrina Ionescu she better make her threes, built a big lead in the final for Team Ionescu by sending her first pass through. Ionescu also made her first pass and maintained the big lead over Team Smith, featuring NaLyssa Smith and Victoria Flores. Ionescu then made her first three, allowing Team Ionescu to win the Skills Challenge by a mile.
In the semifinals Team Ionescu and Team Smith both held onto early leads to win, with Ionescu defeating Kelsey Plum and Smith defeating Jonquel Jones.
In the first round, Ionescu’s third 3-point attempt squeezed in ahead of Azruá Stevens’ third 3-point attempt. In Team Smith’s first-round matchup against Team Vandersloot, all-time assist average leader Courtney Vandersloot notably missed her first pass, but still got her three off at the exact same time as Smith — only to see Smith’s ball rattle in and hers rattle out. Team Plum came from behind to defeat Rhyne Howard in the first round and Team Jones came from behind as well. Jackie Young had a chance to defeat Jones, but missed her first three and Jones didn’t give her a second chance, sinking her first triple from way out.