Tag: WNBA

Charel Allen returns to Notre Dame as assistant coach

It’s a homecoming for one of the Irish’s own.

In the mid-2000s, [autotag]Charel Allen[/autotag] was one of Notre Dame’s biggest stars. She was an All-American twice, an All-Big East First Team selection twice and was team captain as both a junior and a senior. She finished her collegiate career with 1,566 points, ranking her 15th in Irish history. Now, she’s coming back to South Bend as an assistant coach under [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] after five seasons on the staff at Cal State Fullerton.

After Notre Dame, she was drafted by the WNBA’s now-defunct Sacramento Monarchs, for whom she played six games in 2008. She then thrived over eight seasons in Bulgaria, winning five championships, being selected to the all-league first team four times and earning one player of the year honor.

Ivey has this to say about the hire:

“Excited to welcome Charel back to the Notre Dame family. Charel brings a high-level mentality that leads to great player development. She possesses experience at every level – collegiately, professionally and internationally. She’s a rising star in this industry. She’s extremely passionate and loyal and understands what it takes to excel as a student-athlete at Notre Dame.”

Best of luck to Allen in her return.

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 Power Rankings Week 11: A jumbled bottom half of the league

Nobody wants to take control of No. 6-8 in the standings.

Welcome to Bet For The Win’s WNBA Power Rankings. Each week, we update our list of teams based not solely on wins and losses but also take into account the reasons for the results. Tune in every week for a look at where your favorite team ranks.

We’ve got a week’s worth of WNBA action in the books following the 2022 All-Star Break. Let’s take a look at those recent outcomes, as well as the shortened week prior to the ASB in order to re-rank our teams going into Week 11.

Who’s up? Who’s down? Let’s find out.

All odds via Tipico Sportsbook.

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W Bets: Lynx and Sun look like good bets to win on the road

The road favorites are the way to go.

Welcome to Bet For the Win’s W Bets, where we break down, explain and bet on the WNBA. Today, we’re running down the first Friday slate of the 2022 season.

Season picks (record): 8-14

Friday is a great day for WNBA basketball. The NBA Summer League is starting to wind down with the WNBA trade deadline passing, so it’s time to focus on the home stretch of the season. With that, the W’s two-game slate will be center stage. Minnesota and Indiana will lead things off before Connecticut and Atlanta close things out for the day.

Here’s a look at the matchups, odds, and storylines.

All odds via Tipico Sportsbook

W Bets: 3 underdogs to keep an eye on ahead of Tuesday’s games

Feeling bold? Bet these WNBA underdogs on Tuesday.

A quick and fun WNBA All-Star break is officially in the rearview and the homestretch of the 2022 season is now upon us. To help welcome the league back into the regular season from the miniature break, the WNBA is gifting fans with a five-game slate.

And while all the matchups should be good, there’s a chance a little extra money could be made by betting on some underdogs. Whether you actually do it or not is up to you and your confidence levels. Nevertheless, here’s a look at the ones that you should at least consider.

All odds via Tipico Sportsbook.

Look: Former Razorback assistant drops 30 points, earns WNBA All-Star Game MVP

Former Arkansas graduate assistant Kelsey Plum had a WNBA All-Star game performance to remember on Sunday.

A former Razorback assistant had the WNBA All-Star performance of a lifetime on Sunday.

[autotag]Kelsey Plum[/autotag], who served as a graduate assistant under head coach [autotag]Mike Neighbors[/autotag] from 2020-22, scored 30 points in Sunday’s WNBA All-Star Game for Team Wilson in their 134-112 win over Team Stewart at Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Ill, a performance that earned her the Most Valuable Player award.

Plum, who currently plays for the Las Vegas Aces, is having the best season of her career to this point, as she averages 20 points and six assists in 34 minutes per game.

Arkansas Women’s Basketball won at least 18 games per season while Plum served as a graduate assistant on Neighbors’ staff, making the NCAA Tournament both times.

Here is a look at the best images from Plum’s MVP performance:

 

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.

WNBA All-Star weekend begins on Saturday with highly anticipated 3-Point Shootout and Skills Challenge

Can Allie Quigley repeat as 3-Point champion?

WNBA All-Star weekend is here and ready to take center stage. The actual game will be played Sunday in Chicago, but before then, the weekend’s other festivities must transpire.

Of course, the WNBA Skills Challenge and the 3-Point Shootout are the two thrilling and entertaining festivities. Each will take place on Saturday, unlike last season in Las Vegas when the contests were performed at halftime of the All-Star Game.

From point guards to centers, the Skills Challenge will feature eight of the league’s best, who come with a bunch of impressive and varying abilities: Jonquel Jones, Sabrina Ionescu, Courtney Vandersloot, Rhyne Howard, NaLyssa Smith, Azura Stevens, Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young.

And the 3-Point Shootout will feature Kelsey Plum, Rhyne Howard, Ariel Atkins, Jewell Loyd, Arike Ogunbowale and Allie Quigley.

Sidenote — Quigley is the defending 3-Point Shootout champion and has three wins in her bag. Yet, her odds at some sportsbooks aren’t the shortest. It might be worth taking a swing at those for a potentially nice payout.

You can catch all of the action live on ESPN at 3 p.m. ET. Make sure to tune in.

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Breanna Stewart’s incredible new kicks are the first WNBA signature shoes in years

These shoes are beautifully done.

In 1995, Sheryl Swoopes and Nike debuted the Nike Air Swoopes, to make Swoopes the first woman in sports history to get a signature shoe. From there, many of the sport’s icons like Lisa Leslie, Dawn Staley and Diana Taurasi, carried the torch in an era of WNBA stars with signature shoes. A nearly 15-year era that ultimately ended with Candace Parker’s Adidas Ace Commander and Versatility in 2010.

But the return of the signature sneaker is back in the WNBA, with Puma Basketball and Breanna Stewart officially introducing the Stewie 1 Quiet Fire, Stewart’s first signature shoe.

Here’s a look at the heat:

Clean, right?

And it only makes sense that the first signature women’s basketball shoe in years goes to Stewie, a two-time WNBA champion, two-time Finals MVP, four-time All-Star, one-time league MVP and one of the faces of the modern WNBA.

Perhaps we’ll see Stewart debut her new shoe in this weekend’s All-Star Game between Team Stewart and Team Wilson.

Regardless, there’s a chance this could be the shoe that ushers in Stewie’s second MVP (+220 odds at Tipico Sportsbook), and third WNBA championship (+400).

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Sabrina Ionescu drops historic triple-double in wild New York Liberty win over Las Vegas Aces

Sabrina is cut from a different cloth.

Two words.

SABRINA IONESCU.

The third-year guard had herself a heck of a game on Wednesday night in Las Vegas, recording 31 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists as the Liberty scored a franchise-best 116 points in a massive win over the Las Vegas Aces.

Ionescu’s triple-double marked the third of her career, tying her with Candace Parker as the only two players in WNBA history to accomplish the feat. And as if that weren’t already impressive, Sabrina’s brilliance in Sin City made her the first and only WNBA player to record a 30-point triple-double.

Sabrina just wasn’t the only one having record-setting performances at Michelob ULTRA Arena on Wednesday night.

The Aces and Liberty combined to score 223 points, which was the most ever in regulation, as were the 31 combined 3-pointers between the two squads. Las Vegas’ 107 points scored were the most any WNBA team has ever scored in a losing effort.

Expect many more records to be crushed by Ionescu in the future.

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