WNBA All-Star Game 2023: Location, schedule, rosters, news, more – ESPN

LAS VEGAS — Brittney Griner dunked (twice). Jewell Loyd scored an All-Star Game record. And Team Stewart exacted revenge.
Loyd, the leading scorer this season in the WNBA, was named MVP of Saturday’s 2023 WNBA All-Star Game, scoring 31 points to lead Breanna Stewart‘s team to a 143-127 victory over A’ja Wilson‘s squad.
Loyd scored all her points on 3-pointers, including one 4-pointer, shooting 10-for-21 from beyond the arc. The Seattle Storm guard’s 31 points broke the previous mark of 30, set last year by the Las Vegas Aces‘ Kelsey Plum.
For the second consecutive year on Team Wilson, Plum scored 30 points. Wilson and Napheesa Collier, a reserve for Team Stewart, each added 20 points.
Griner, who missed the 2022 season during a 10-month detainment in Russia, was named an WNBA All-Star Game starter in June, just six months after she returned to the United States in a prisoner exchange. Griner dunked early in the first quarter and finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds.
After the game, Griner said the support from her peers as well as from WNBA fans during her detainment “meant everything to me.”
“It gave me hope,” she said. “I just love being here, I love competing, I love just doing everything for the fans. … I’m just honored to be on this court.”
As the leading vote-getters in All-Star balloting, the Aces’ Wilson and the New York Liberty‘s Stewart were named captains for the second consecutive year. Team Wilson defeated Team Stewart 134-112 in Chicago last year.
Brittney Griner was all smiles all weekend, and she reminded everyone of how dominant she can be even in an exhibition, finishing with 18 points, 13 rebounds and two blocked shots. Griner, who also dunked twice, said she cherished being back and getting to interact with her peers. “What you see on the court is fun,” she said, “but in the locker room before the game, that’s where all the little moments that you take away always happen.”
Voepel: Top takeaways from All-Star weekend
Earlier Saturday, commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced that Phoenix will host the 2024 WNBA All-Star Game.
Las Vegas’ Chelsea Gray and Kelsey Plum edged New York’s Sabrina Ionescu and Courtney Vanderbilt in the 2023 skills challenge Friday at Michelob Ultra Arena. But Ionescu had the last laugh.
The Liberty guard broke WNBA and NBA records for most points in a 3-point shooting contest by hitting all but two of her treys in the final round of Friday’s competition. Ionescu’s 37 out of a possible 40 points surpassed the single-round record of 31 in the NBA (done by Stephen Curry in 2021 and Tyrese Haliburton in 2023) and 30 in the WNBA (Allie Quigley in 2022). Ionescu hit 20 consecutive shots at one point.
The Seattle Storm’s Sami Whitcomb came in second with 22 points, followed by the Dallas Wings’ Arike Ogunbowale with 11.
A look at Friday’s participants:
Skills challenge teams
Team Aces: Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum
Team Dream: Allisha Gray, Cheyenne Parker
Team Liberty: Sabrina Ionescu, Courtney Vandersloot
Team Wings: Arike Ogunbowale, Satou Sabally
3-point shooting contest participants
* With 2023 3-point stats
DiJonai Carrington, Connecticut Sun (14-for-36, 38.9%)
Sabrina Ionescu, New York Liberty (54-for-121, 44.6%)
Kelsey Mitchell, Indiana Fever (48-for-129, 37.2%)
Arike Ogunbowale, Dallas Wings (51-for-171, 29.8%)
Sami Whitcomb, Seattle Storm (37-for-101, 36.6%)
Jackie Young, Las Vegas Aces (50-for-103, 48.5%)
TEAM WILSON
Starters
A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces (captain)
Chelsea Gray, Las Vegas Aces
Jackie Young, Las Vegas Aces
Aliyah Boston, Indiana Fever
Arike Ogunbowale, Dallas Wings
Reserves
Kelsey Plum, Las Vegas Aces
Allisha Gray, Atlanta Dream
Alyssa Thomas, Connecticut Sun
Cheyenne Parker, Atlanta Dream
DeWanna Bonner, Connecticut Sun
Elena Delle Donne^, Washington Mystics
^ Injured; replaced by Rhyne Howard, Atlanta Dream
The 2023 WNBA All-Star Game starters are set 🤩 pic.twitter.com/SAuBad1heA
TEAM STEWART
Starters
Breanna Stewart, New York Liberty (captain)
Brittney Griner, Phoenix Mercury
Jewell Loyd, Seattle Storm
Satou Sabally, Dallas Wings
Nneka Ogwumike, Los Angeles Sparks
Reserves
Courtney Vandersloot, New York Liberty
Sabrina Ionescu, New York Liberty
Ezi Magbegor, Seattle Storm
Napheesa Collier, Minnesota Lynx
Kelsey Mitchell, Indiana Fever
Kahleah Copper, Chicago Sky
Philippou and Voepel: Team Wilson and Team Stewart mock draft
Fans (50%), current players (25%) and media (25%) voted for the starters, while WNBA head coaches picked the reserves.
Starters
Aliyah Boston*, F/C, Indiana Fever
Chelsea Gray, G, Las Vegas Aces
Brittney Griner, C, Phoenix Mercury
Jewell Loyd, G, Seattle Storm
Arike Ogunbowale, G, Dallas Wings
Nneka Ogwumike, F, Los Angeles Sparks
Satou Sabally, F, Dallas Wings
Breanna Stewart, F, New York Liberty (captain)
A’ja Wilson, C, Las Vegas Aces (captain)
Jackie Young, G, Las Vegas Aces
The 2023 WNBA All-Star Starters are set ⭐️ pic.twitter.com/oW6CVd5zOb
Reserves
DeWanna Bonner, F/G, Connecticut Sun
Napheesa Collier, F, Minnesota Lynx
Kahleah Copper, G/F, Chicago Sky
Elena Delle Donne, F/G, Washington Mystics
* Out due to injury
Allisha Gray*, G, Dallas Wings
Sabrina Ionescu, G, New York Liberty
Ezi Magbegor*, C, Seattle Storm
Kelsey Mitchell*, G, Indiana Fever
Cheyenne Parker*, F, Atlanta Dream
Kelsey Plum, G, Las Vegas Aces
Alyssa Thomas, F, Connecticut Sun
* First-time All-Stars
The Aces’ Becky Hammon will coach Team Wilson, and the Sun’s Stephanie White will coach Team Stewart.
Last year, Team Wilson defeated Team Stewart 134-112 in Chicago.
The 2023 WNBA All-Star reserves are set 🔥 pic.twitter.com/NuNsrpeV16
Should Connecticut’s Alyssa Thomas and Minnesota’s Napheesa Collier been voted All-Star starters? Which players got snubbed for the All-Star Game? Who might win MVP? More from Voepel and Philippou

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