Tag: WNBA All-Star Game

Mercury aim for Phoenix to be a basketball destination in the world

Tickets for the 2024 WNBA All-Star Game on July 20 will go on sale to the public on Jan. 30.

The Phoenix Mercury will host the 2024 WNBA All-Star Weekend July 19-20, the third time the team has hosted the event. On July 19, players will participate in the 3-Point Contest and Skills Challenge. Then, on July 20, players will compete in the All-Star Game at the Footprint Center.

Last year, the 2023 WNBA All-Star Game was the most watched in 16 years. The game took place at Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas and drew 850,000 viewers, with a peak of 955,000.

“With Phoenix being one of our original franchises, now under new ownership, they are very excited,” Engelbert told ESPN in July. “The city is also hosting a women’s Final Four coming up (in 2026). I think they want to be a center of basketball, so the Mercury were very interested in having All-Star.”

Another staple of the weekend is WNBA Live, which will “offer fans the opportunity to experience meet-and-greets with the WNBA’s top stars, viewing parties, fan skills competitions and more.” It will celebrate the intersection of the WNBA, fashion, music and culture. The event is open to the public and will take place at the Phoenix Convention Center.

“We’re real big believers that Phoenix is a basketball destination, not only for women’s and men’s players but for fans,” said Mercury and Suns owner Mat Ishbia. “It’s one of the best basketball hotspots in the country, and we’re eager to showcase that.”

Tickets for the 2024 WNBA All-Star Game will go on sale on Jan. 30.

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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

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].

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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:

Top 10 Notre Dame women’s basketball players according to ChatGPT

Does the bot know women’s basketball?

I asked AI information bot ChatGPT to list what it believes are Notre Dame’s top 10 men’s basketball players. It only makes sense for me to give the women equal treatment. Plus the women have both a better recent past and future than the men. You know people want to know who’s made the program so special.

Please note that ChatGPT’s knowledge cuts off at September 2021, so you won’t find [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] on this list. Heck, she probably wouldn’t have made it anyway since she just completed her sophomore season. She still has a legacy to complete.

Here is ChatGPT’s disclaimer regarding the list:

“As a language model, I do not have personal opinions or beliefs, and my responses are generated based on data and information available to me. However, I can provide you with a list of some of the most notable Notre Dame women’s basketball players, based on their achievements, accolades, and impact on the program.”

It also says this:

“Please note that this list is not exhaustive and is subject to personal opinions and interpretations. There have been many talented and accomplished players in Notre Dame women’s basketball history, and different people may have different criteria for their top 10 selections.”

With that out of the way, let’s see who the information bot has deemed worthy of making this list and what it had to say about each player:

WNBA All-Star Game, live stream, TV channel, time, how to watch WNBA All-Star Game

The 2022 WNBA All-Star Game will be held on Sunday afternoon from Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois.

The 2022 WNBA All-Star Game will be held on Sunday afternoon from Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois. A’ja Wilson and Brianna Stewart received the most amount of fan votes and will be captains of their teams while they pick their respective teams.

This will be a great WNBA All-Star Game, here is everything you need to know to watch and stream the action.

2022 WNBA All-Star Game

  • When: Sunday, July 10
  • Time: 1:00 p.m. ET
  • TV Channel: ABC
  • Live Stream: fuboTV (watch for free)

WNBA Odds and Betting Lines

WNBA odds courtesy of Tipico Sportsbook. Odds were last updated Sunday at 10:30 p.m. ET.

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Sabrina Ionescu and Zoe Brooks win WNBA Skills Challenge

Former Duck great Sabrina Ionescu won the WNBA Skills Challenge with high schooler Zoe Brooks.

Winning is in Sabrina Ionescu’s genes, no matter what type of competition she may be in.

In typical Sabrina fashion, with her teammate and high school star Zoe Brooks, she won the WNBA Skills Challenge at All-Star Weekend in Chicago.

“I had a great partner, which helped,” Ionescu told the press afterward. “I told myself I wasn’t gonna get too competitive, but I got really competitive. I’m happy we won.”

Each WNBA participant was paired with a high school player from the Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) participating in the 2022 Nike Nationals. All the teams had to go through an obstacle course that tested various skills including ball-handling, passing, and shooting. Being a master of the triple-double, this type of thing was right up Ionescu’s alley.

But it wasn’t as easy as one would think for the former Duck great. Ionescu faced a slight bit of adversity in the first round when Chicago Sky’s Azura Stevens inadvertently knocked the ball away from Ionescu after the layup portion of the course.

She bounced back, however, and made the 3-pointer first to advance to the semi-finals. Ionescu then managed to cruise through that round, easily knocking out Las Vegas Aces guard Kelsey Plum.

In the final round, she was matched up against the Indiana Fever’s NaLyssa Smith where the No. 2 overall pick of this year’s WNBA draft made a surprise run through the event, upsetting hometown favorite Courtney Vandersloot of the Sky in the first round and reigning MVP Jonquel Jones of the Connecticut Sun in the semis.

Ionescu put an end to Smith’s run, though.

Four former Notre Dame players named WNBA All-Stars

Which All-Star is your favorite?

[autotag]Muffet McGraw[/autotag] isn’t long removed from coach, so her legacy in form of WNBA players will continue for some time. Eventually, we hope to see the same effects from [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag]’s coaching. For now, Notre Dame fans should be pleased that four former Irish players have been named to the 2022 WNBA All-Star Game. No other university has more representation in this year’s event.

The number of Irish alumni in this year’s game became official with the announcement of the 12 reserves, On Saturday, they, along with the 10 selected starters, will be split up into teams captained by A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces and Breanna Stewart of the Seattle Storm. The teams then will face off in the game, which is being held in Chicago.

If you’re a Notre Dame women’s basketball enthusiast, you won’t be disappointed with this game. Here are the players for you to watch and reminisce about: