Liberty fans enjoyed their fill at the 2025 WNBA All-Star weekend, as teammates Sabrina Ionescu and Natasha Cloud executed a New York sweep of Friday's 3-Point Contest and Skills Challenge titles.
Cloud took home the Skills Challenge trophy with a winning time of 36.4 seconds — just 1.1 seconds faster than second-place finisher Erica Wheeler of the Seattle Storm.
Ionescu then nabbed her second career 3-Point Contest title with a final-round score of 30, tying retired Chicago Sky guard Allie Quigley for the second-best single-round record in the event's history. Ionescu's 37 points to win the 2023 edition still stands as the event's all-time mark.
"It's fun — I was so excited for [Cloud]," Ionescu said after her win. "We were talking about it before we even came out here, about being able to participate in it together and cheer each other on."
The hefty prize pool raised the stakes for both players, with a heightened $55,000 going to the Skills Challenge winner while the 3-Point Contest champ picked up $60,000.
Cloud credited her motivation to securing a property down payment with Liberty teammate and partner Isabelle Harrison, saying "You're gonna get that house."
As for Ionescu, her winner's check will be fulfilling a pre-competition promise she made to rookie contender Sonia Citron, who will receive half of Ionescu's earnings while the other half goes to charity.
"That takes a lot of courage to be able to do that [3-Point Contest] as a rookie...I was really proud of her," said Ionescu after the competiton. "The other half will go to my foundation to continue to be able to give back in communities that mean a lot to me."
New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu will battle in her second WNBA All-Star 3-Point Contest in Indianapolis on Friday, with the reigning league champion confirming her participation to the New York Post on Sunday.
Ionescu won the 2023 event in her debut attempt — and did so in record-breaking fashion.
Sinking 25 of her 27 shots, Ionescu recorded 37 out of 40 possible points in the 2023 WNBA 3-Point Contest's final round, shattering the single-round record for both the WNBA and the NBA.
Three-time 3-Point Contest winner and new Chicago Sky retiree Allie Quigley previously held the mark, sinking 30 out of 40 points in 2022.
Joining Ionescu — the WNBA's single-season three-point record-holder — in the 2025 edition of the contest is Washington Mystics guard Sonia Citron, creating a full-circle moment for the rookie All-Star.
"Growing up, I loved Sabrina … I love her game, she does it all," Citron told basketball legend Lisa Leslie on the Between the Lines podcast last week. "She really makes your life hard as a defender. That's what I want to do when I'm playing."
While Ionescu and Citron are currently the only confirmed participants in the 3-Point Contest, other sharpshooters — including Indiana Fever star and WNBA All-Star captain Caitlin Clark — are expected to add their names before the event begins on Friday.
With $60,000 on the line for the competition's victor — a figure more than 23 times the $2,575 league bonus each athlete will earn for playing in Saturday's 2025 All-Star Game — Friday's contest will see the most lucrative shots the winner will take all WNBA season.
How to watch the 2025 WNBA All-Star 3-Point Contest
Along with the 2025 WNBA All-Star Skills Challenge, the 3-Point Contest will take the Indianapolis court at 8 PM ET on Friday, with both competitions airing live on ESPN.
Former Chicago Sky guard Allie Quigley made her retirement official on Tuesday, announcing her exit from professional basketball in a piece for The Players Tribune, nearly three years after her final WNBA game in September 2022.
The 14-year league veteran spent the last decade of her career playing for her hometown team, helping lead the Sky to a WNBA championship in 2021 while also picking up three All-Star nods and two WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year awards.
With a career average of 10.9 points per game and 39.4% shooting from beyond the arc, Quigley also claimed four 3-Point Contest victories, winning in 2017, 2018, 2021, and 2022 to set a record that still stands across the WNBA and NBA.
Chicago's all-time leading scorer for years, Sky guard Courtney Vandersloot — Quigley's wife — usurped her crown just two weeks ago.
"I love knowing that I can look back on my career and say it was really, really good — but it was part of the beginning of something truly great," Quigley wrote.
Explaining that she "never actually meant to do an Irish goodbye," Quigley initially took time off to become a mom, a process that took longer than expected.
Alongside Vandersloot, Quigley welcomed their first child, daughter Jana Christine, on April 8th — an event that spurred her to officially announce her retirement.
"[A]s special as the Sky winning a championship felt, and as proud of a moment as that was, bringing a baby into the world is our accomplishment we're most proud of," said Quigley.
Insurance giant Aflac is renewing their 2024 partnership with the WNBPA, raising the stakes at the 2025 WNBA All-Star Weekend by boosting prize payouts for individual competitions.
When WNBA standouts will take the Indianapolis court for the July 18th competitions, $60,000 will be on the line for this year's 3-Point Contest winner and $55,000 for the 2025 Skills Challenge champion.
Those figures reflect Aflac's overall purse increase from $110,000 to $115,000 — a move that aligns the two events' payouts with their NBA All-Star equivalents.
"Aflac's investment in us isn't a one-off. It's year two," said WNBPA president and nine-time All-Star Nneka Ogwumike. "We're excited about what's ahead as we grow this together. It's not just about the rewards; it's about building a future where our value is undeniable."
Gray, Clark are early favorites for All-Star contest payday
While the increase achieves gender pay equity with their NBA counterparts, Aflac's initial 2024 WNBA All-Star investment already dwarfed the mere $2,575 allocated to each contest's victor in the league's current CBA.
Cashing in on that significant pay increase was Atlanta Dream forward Allisha Gray, who cleaned up at the 2024 All-Star Game by winning both solo events.
As the first-ever player to dominate both contests in a single night, Gray collected roughly 62% of her annual $185,000 WNBA salary with the dual wins.
This year, however, the champ will have some new competition to her title defense, as 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year and notable sharpshooter Caitlin Clark plans to make her WNBA All-Star 3-Point Contest debut this summer.
How to attend the 2025 WNBA All-Star Weekend
Hosted at the Indiana Fever's home of Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game will tip off on July 19th, one day after both the 3-Point Contest and Skills Challenge.
Tickets for all three events will go on sale online at 2 PM ET on April 29th.