Jewell Loyd scored a game-high 31 points Saturday night, all from behind the 3-point line, as Team Stewart outgunned Team Wilson 143-127 to win the WNBA All-Star Game in Las Vegas.
Loyd, the Seattle Storm star who leads the league in scoring at 24.3 per game, sank 10 of 21 3-point attempts and also hit a 4-pointer in setting a record for most points in the event. She added six assists and was named the game’s Most Valuable Player.
Brittney Griner (Phoenix) added 18 points and 13 rebounds for Team Stewart, picked by New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart. Napheesa Collier (Minnesota) tallied 20 points, while Sabrina Ionescu (New York) tallied 18 points and Kahleah Copper (Chicago) hit for 16.
Kelsey Plum (Las Vegas) pumped in 30 points for Team Wilson, composed of players selected by Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson. Wilson hit for 20, while Arike Ogunbowale (Dallas) scored 18 points. Rhyne Howard (Atlanta) netted 16 and Cheyenne Parker of Atlanta added 14 points.
Team Stewart canned 50 percent of its field goal attempts and earned a 64-47 advantage in rebounding.
It didn’t take long for the game to become what most All-Star games are — a chapter on high-scoring hijinks with defense merely an option. Griner dunked just over six minutes into the game to give Team Stewart a 23-16 lead, although Plum’s layup cut Team Wilson’s deficit to 29-27 after a quarter.
Team Stewart hit the figurative X button in the second quarter for 44 points. WNBA 3-point shooting champion Ionescu drained three 4-pointers — one spot on each wing about 33 feet out was marked as a 4-pointer — to help her team take a 73-63 halftime lead.
The margin grew as high as 20 late in the third quarter with the help of a 3-pointer and a reverse layup by Copper. Parker drew Team Wilson within 110-93 heading to the fourth quarter when she drilled a 3-pointer as time expired.
Earlier in the day, the WNBA announced that Phoenix would host next year’s All-Star Game.
–Field Level Media
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