Tag: Jackie Young

Top 10 3-point shooters in Notre Dame women’s basketball history

Who has most hit from downtown in Irish history?

Several months back, former Notre Dame guard [autotag]Jackie Young[/autotag] advanced to the finals of the annual WNBA 3-Point Contest. But nobody was going to beat Sabrina Ionescu, whose final-round score of 37 was higher than even the highest score ever recorded in the NBA version of the contest. Almost immediately, many wondered how Ionescu would favor in a shootout with NBA 3-point king Stephen Curry.

This past NBA All-Star Weekend, fans got their wish. It was the highlight of the weekend with Curry needing the final rack to beat Ionescu, 29-26. There are hopes that something like this can continue next year and beyond, especially with women’s basketball increasing in popularity.

While we contemplate the future of women’s basketball and only can guess what it holds, we know who’s helped lay the groundwork for that future. Among them are the top 3-point shooters in Notre Dame history. Since 3-pointers are the latest thing to bring male and female basketball players together, let’s see who rounds out the top 10 for the Irish:

Three former Notre Dame players on U.S. team training camp roster

Keep a lookout for this year’s Olympic roster.

With the 2024 Olympics in Paris only months away, now is the time for USA Basketball to plan its teams. That includes a women’s 5-on-5 team that can keep the gold medal in the U.S. Sure, the U.S. has won nine of the past 10 golds, but one never can be too certain.

Out of the 18 players on the U.S. training camp roster, 12 will be selected for the upcoming Olympic qualifying tournament. It should be noted that the U.S. is participating in the tournament despite automatically qualifying for the Paris Olympics by virtue of taking the gold in the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics. The next few weeks will serve as player evaluation more than anything else.

Three players on the roster will be familiar to Notre Dame fans because they all played for the Irish. While none of these names are surprises, it still is nice to see them have this opportunity. Here they are:

Two former Notre Dame players named to All-WNBA Second Team

Congrats, Jackie and Jewell!

We’re getting close to Notre Dame’s women’s basketball team’s defense of its ACC regular-season title. First, we need to acknowledge two former Irish who had fantastic seasons in the WNBA. In fact, they were recognized for those seasons by being named Second Team All-WNBA.

Statistically, [autotag]Jewell Loyd[/autotag] of the Seattle Storm had the better season. She won the league’s scoring title with 24.7 points a game, the second-highest scoring average in league history. She also was named MVP of the WNBA All-Star Game by setting event records in points (31) and 3-pointers (10). However, her standout season was not nearly enough to keep the Storm from having the league’s second-worst record at 11-29.

[autotag]Jackie Young[/autotag]’s Las Vegas Aces are one win away from the WNBA championship. She is largely responsible for the season the Aces have had, averaging a career-high 17.6 points a game and shooting 44.9% from 3-point range, the second-best such shooting percentage in the league. She also was voted to start in the All-Star Game.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

WNBA playoffs predictions: Will the Liberty crush the Aces’ chances of winning back-to-back?

For basketball heads everywhere, the WNBA playoffs are an out-of-body experience.

The WNBA playoffs are here. This is when regular season records mean nothing, and wins mean everything. It’s buzzer beaters, emphatically blocked shots, “what did I just see?” moments and scoring so good you’ll need a pulse check.

For basketball heads everywhere, this is an out-of-body experience. The level of play is elevated, and so are the expectations.

Will the Lynx fly too close to the Sun? (See what I did there?) Will the Liberty crush the Aces’ chances of winning back-to-back titles?

Who wins? Who’s out?

These are your 2023 WNBA playoff predictions:

Jewell Loyd sets WNBA All-Star scoring record, wins MVP

Notre Dame was well-represented in the WNBA’s annual showcase.

[autotag]Jewell Loyd[/autotag] has turned in one phenomenal scoring performance after another for the Seattle Storm this season. That carried over into this year’s WNBA All-Star Game in Las Vegas. Her 31 points and 10 3-pointers both were records for the event, and they were key in Team Stewart’s 143-127 win over Team Wilson. Plus, she was named All-Star MVP, making her the second former Notre Dame player in three years to earn the honor after [autotag]Arike Ogunbowale[/autotag] did so in 2021.

Ogunbowale also played in this game, scoring 18 points for Team Wilson but shooting only 2 of 11 from 3-point range. [autotag]Jackie Young[/autotag], the third Irish legend in the game, was teammates with Ogunbowale for this affair. She didn’t fare much better, knocking down only a pair of 3-pointers on 2-of-12 shooting from the field.

Maybe Notre Dame’s representation wasn’t terrific across the board, but the fact that three of its players were there shows how great the program is. Check out how they looked under the bright All-Star lights:

Arike Ogunbowale advances to WNBA 3-Point Contest finals

The former Notre Dame star can say she was a part of history.

[autotag]Arike Ogunbowale[/autotag] was busy when it came to tipping off WNBA All-Star Weekend. The Notre Dame legend and current Dallas Wings star, who now is a three-time All-Star selection, participated in both of Friday’s events that served as precursors to Saturday’s game in Las Vegas. After her and Wings teammate Satou Sabally’s 52.6 seconds were not enough to advance in the Skills Challenge, it was time for the 3-Point Contest.

In the first round of the 3-Point Contest, Ogunbowale made four of five shots on her “money ball” rack, and her 21 points were enough to advance to the finals. Fellow former Notre Dame star [autotag]Jackie Young[/autotag], who leads the WNBA with a .480 3-point shooting percentage, had a chance to eliminate Ogunbowale as the last first-round competitor. The Las Vegas Aces guard only scored 15, and her elimination surely was a disappointment to the hometown crowd.

Ogunbowale was off the mark in the championship round, scoring a contest-low 11 points, but she would have had to be almost perfect to win anyway. The New York Liberty’s Sabrina Ionescu turned in a historic performance with 37 points while missing only two shots and making 14 straight in between misses. That’s a record for either a WNBA or an NBA 3-Point Contest. In fact, you need to see it to believe it:

If Ogunbowale was going to lose this contest, at least it happened in part because of a performance like that. Now, the 2021 All-Star MVP can focus on the game itself. That should be fun for her, Young and [autotag]Jewell Loyd[/autotag].

[lawrence-related id=73911]

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Three former Notre Dame guards to start WNBA All-Star Game

The Irish will be well-represented in the WNBA’s annual showcase of top talent.

We’ve mentioned several times on this site that Notre Dame has an influx of former players in the WNBA. We’ve also mentioned before that several of those players are pretty darn good. 2023 has been no exception. The latest evidence of that is that three of this year’s All-Star Game starters are former Irish guards.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise as all three guards are among the top five WNBA scoring leaders. And while some of them have been professionals longer than others, it doesn’t change the fact that Notre Dame is and will continue to be a hotbed for women’s basketball talent. Heck, there are at least a couple of players on the Irish’s current roster also destined for the WNBA.

Here are the three former Irish who will get to flaunt their skills among the rest of the best the WNBA has to offer July 15 in Las Vegas:

Notre Dame players in WNBA for 2023 season

Who are the former Irish to watch this season?

The 2023 WNBA season is upon us at an all-time high in popularity for women’s basketball. More opportunities are opening up for female hoopsters at all levels, and everyone is better for it. After the thrilling college season we just had, it’s time for the professionals to show what they can do. Particular attention should be given to these players since they paved the way for the sport to reach these unprecedented levels of attention.

Notre Dame has been one of the best women’s programs for some time now. Their two national championships since the turn of the century are evidence of that, but you can see it in the WNBA, too. Ten former Irish are suiting up in the league this season, which gives Notre Dame the second-most players of any program. If you need a refresher as to who to follow over the next few months, here they are:

2023 WNBA draft is April 10 and to be televised exclusively on ESPN

This year’s draft class is exceptionally talented with South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston leading the way.

The 2023 WNBA draft will be held on Monday, April 10. It will be exclusively televised on ESPN from 7-9 p.m. EST and available on the ESPN app.

According to the WNBA’s website, fans have multiple ways to get involved with the draft and follow along:

Launching in March, Draft Central on wnba.com will enable fans to access multiple offerings in the days leading up to the draft. Elements will include an interactive draft board; prospect profiles with insights powered by SAP; in-depth features on the top draft prospects; coverage of all draft events; and more.

Fans will also be able to access an array of content across WNBA channels that will include the unique stories and personalities of the prospects via Instagram and TikTok; a Twitter Spaces mock draft debate; cross platform live coverage including the Orange Carpet and more.

The draft consists of three rounds and 36 picks. The WNBA only has 144 roster spots, so the higher a player is picked the larger likelihood they will make a roster. Only a small percentage of players drafted make a WNBA roster.

The league is looking to expand in the next few years, but has no concrete plans for expanded rosters. Leagues such as Athletes Unlimited provide 44 more roster spots for elite basketball players to play domestically, but many opine it is still not enough to harness the sheer talent of women’s basketball players in the United States.

However, the top picks of the draft are almost guaranteed a spot. The last 10 No. 1 overall draft picks were:

2013: Brittney Griner, Phoenix Mercury

2014: Chiney Ogwumike, Connecticut Sun

2015: Jewell Loyd, Seattle Storm

2016: Breanna Stewart, Seattle Storm

2017: Kelsey Plum, Las Vegas Aces (formerly San Antonio Stars)

2018: A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces

2019: Jackie Young, Las Vegas Aces

2020: Sabrina Ionescu, New York Liberty

2021: Charli Collier, Dallas Wings

2022: Rhyne Howard, Atlanta Dream

The WNBA held its 22nd annual draft lottery on Nov. 11 to determine the order. The Indiana Fever received the first pick. The Minnesota Lynx have the second pick. The Atlanta Dream are third and the Washington Mystics (via Los Angeles Sparks) have the fourth pick.

The full lineup of picks for the first round is below:

Pick Team
1 Indiana Fever
2 Minnesota Lynx
3 Atlanta Dream
4 Washington Mystics (via Los Angeles)
5 Chicago Sky (via Phoenix)
6 New York Liberty
7 Indiana Fever (via Dallas)
8 Atlanta Dream (via Washington)
9 Seattle Storm
10 Connecticut Sun
11 Dallas Wings (via Chicago)
12 Minnesota Lynx (via Las Vegas)

This year’s draft class is exceptionally talented with South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston leading the way. She is projected to go No. 1 in the draft and when you look at her 2022 accomplishments, not to mention her whole career, it is hard to disagree.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1366]

[mm-video type=video id=01gsdysrvyk9yb4jc9xd playlist_id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01f1jxkahtwnvzepyp image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gsdysrvyk9yb4jc9xd/01gsdysrvyk9yb4jc9xd-f0dd261431663e06a01ea3a14b8b3b8a.jpg]

The Aces brought Las Vegas its first ever championship parade and these 15 photos captured how spectacular it was

The Las Vegas Aces had their city turned all the way up.

For a city having its first ever championship parade, Las Vegas sure did show up and show out for the Aces after they returned home from the WNBA Finals against the Connecticut Sun.

The newly minted WNBA champions held their championship parade on the Vegas strip on Tuesday and it looked more like a party than anything else.

Champagne was popped. Shots were taken. A’ja Wilson was on 10. Finals MVP Chelsea Gray was also on 10. Kelsey Plum may have been on 20. The vibes were immaculate all around.

Not sure if these photos actually do the moment justice, but here are 15 incredible pictures from the Aces’ celebration.

Enjoy.