Allie Quigley made history Saturday with her victory in the WNBA All-Star 3-Point Contest, becoming the first WNBA or NBA player to win four 3-point shootouts.

The Chicago native showed out in her hometown, with Sky teammate Candace Parker and wife Courtney Vandersloot in the house to cheer on Quigley.

“I am a witness to it. She can shoot,” Parker told ESPN ahead of the competition while wearing a Quigley DePaul jersey. “It’s Allie, she focuses, she puts the time in. She is one of the best shooters ever, male or female. She is going to prove it today.”

Shooting last, Quigley outscored her competition, notching 26 points in the first round after draining her entire money ball rack. Atlanta’s Rhyne Howard and Washington’s Ariel Atkins each logged 24 points to advance to the final round with Quigley.

Las Vegas’ Kelsey Plum, Seattle’s Jewell Loyd and Dallas’ Arike Ogunbowale were eliminated after the opening round.

Quigley saved her best for last, bettering her first-round tally and blowing away the competition with a final-round score of 30 to take home the trophy for the fourth time.

The WNBA announced Thursday the lineup for the 3-point contest during All-Star weekend, with the Chicago Sky’s Allie Quigley as the headliner.

Quigley is a three-time winner of the event and the defending champion.

“I’m so excited to be a part of the All-Star weekend in my hometown,” Quigley said. “After winning the event last year I really thought it would be my final time taking part. But the opportunity to compete one more time and to do so in Chicago was too good to pass up. I can’t wait to shoot in front of our home fans; it’s always a great time.”

Joining her is the current WNBA leader in 3-pointers made, Kelsey Plum (3.2 per game), as well as Ariel Atkins, Rhyne Howard, Jewell Loyd and Arike Ogunbowale.

Atkins, Howard and Ogunbowale are all first-time 3-point contest participants.

There was some discourse on Twitter, with Lexie Brown – who currently sits fourth in the WNBA in 3-point percentage at 45.9 percent – seemingly responding to her exclusion from the competition.

Brown is tied for 13th in made three pointers with 1.9 per game.

Also not included are Marine Johannes, who is currently second in league standings in percentage (47.4) and made threes per game (3.0), and Jackie Young who is third in percentage. Young will be in attendance as a WNBA All-Star for the first time this year.

Both the 3-point contest and skills challenge will take place inside McCormick Place, with participants from the Nike Tournament of Champions and Nike Girls Nationals in attendance.

The competition will air live on ESPN at 3 p.m. ET Saturday.

Allie Quigley and Courtney Vandersloot are each returning to the Chicago Sky on one-year deals, the team confirmed Thursday. The move reunites the married couple and longtime teammates after they helped lead the Sky to their first WNBA championship last season.

Quigley’s fully-protected deal is worth $135,000, while Vandersloot’s is also fully protected for $195,000, sources tell Just Women’s Sports.

With Quigley and Vandersloot locked in, the Sky enter the 2022 season with their entire starting five from the 2021 WNBA Finals under contract.

Quigley, the No. 22 pick of the Seattle Storm in the 2008 draft, bounced around the WNBA — Phoenix, Indiana, San Antonio and back to Seattle — and overseas leagues before settling in with the Sky in 2013. The Illinois native and DePaul grad revived her career with the Sky and has been integral to the team’s success during her nine seasons.

A three-time WNBA All-Star, two-time Sixth Woman of the Year and three-time champion of the 3-Point Contest, Quigley has averaged 12 points and 2.1 assists per game to go along with 40 percent shooting from the 3-point line during her time in Chicago.

Vandersloot has been with the Sky since they drafted her third overall out of Gonzaga in 2011. The point guard, who’s led the league in assists for five consecutive seasons, also holds the all-time WNBA records for the most assists in a season (300), the most assists in a game (18) and the highest assists average in a season (9.1 per game). A three-time All-Star, Vandersloot has averaged 10.1 points and 6.7 assists per game on 44 percent shooting from the field during her 11-year career.

Vandersloot’s decision to return to Chicago comes after a report earlier this month that UMMC Ekaterinburg was considering paying her to sit out the WNBA season. At the time, ESPN’s Holly Rowe reported that the Sky had made Vandersloot a “disrespectful” offer.

The Sky were aggressive early in free agency, placing the core designation on 2021 WNBA Finals MVP Kahleah Copper and later signing her to a multi-year deal. They also agreed to terms with Emma Meesseman, the 2019 Finals MVP with the Washington Mystics, adding skill at the forward position after losing Stefanie Dolson to the New York Liberty in free agency.

Meeseeman gives Chicago another scoring weapon in the frontcourt alongside Candace Parker and Azurá Stevens, while Quigley, Vandersloot and Copper fill out the backcourt. The Sky also addressed their bench depth, acquiring point guard Julie Allemand from Indiana in a three-team trade and signing 2021 No. 4 pick Kysre Gondrezick to a training camp contract.

Rachel Galligan is a basketball analyst at Just Women’s Sports. A former professional basketball player and collegiate coach, she also contributes to Winsidr. Follow Rachel on Twitter @RachGall.

Allie Quigley lifted the championship trophy in front of a packed arena in July after winning the 3-Point Contest during the WNBA All-Star Game in Las Vegas. The longtime Chicago Sky guard hit shot after shot from beyond the arc, making it look easy and effortless on her way to claiming the title for the third time.

Quigley’s success in the contest has become so automatic that players joked in Las Vegas that the league should name it after her.

“I’m just not surprised at all by her,” says Sky center Stefanie Dolson. “If she’s not making shots in a game, we’ll have a last-minute shot or a last-chance play to win a game, and we’ll still go to Allie. She is one of the greatest shooters. We always have the most confidence. So even during that 3-point contest, I was like, she’s still got it.”

In her 13th WNBA season, Quigley certainly still has it. Connecting on a career-high 45.4 percent of her 3-point shots during the regular season, she posed a constant scoring threat whether she started or came off the bench. She helped the Sky turn around their season after a 2-7 start to earn the No. 6 seed in the playoffs, where they’ll face the Dallas Wings in the first round Thursday.

It’s hard to imagine that a sharpshooter as calm and effective as Quigley struggled to get a foothold in the WNBA. But there was a time when the 35-year-old wondered if she’d ever find her place in the league, when she lacked confidence in her abilities.

In 2008, when the Seattle Storm drafted her in the second round out of DePaul, Quigley was so excited to hear her name called that she didn’t consider the next steps.

“I didn’t know too much about the team. Didn’t really know much about the coach or the process involved, either,” Quigley says. “You’re a little bit naïve to think, I’m drafted so I’m on the team. Then, the more you look at the roster and you get to camp, you realize, OK, I really have to make this team. And it’s looking like it’s going to be pretty hard to do that actually.”

Landing in the right situation means everything for a draft pick in a 12-team league where roster spots are limited. For Quigley, being in Seattle meant sitting behind veteran players who already had defined roles with the team.

During 2008 training camp, then Storm head coach Brian Agler had Quigley playing backup point guard. It was a position she wasn’t used to after a standout four-year career at DePaul, where she graduated as one of only four players to score 2,000 career points. But Quigley did her best to soak up professional basketball knowledge and be flexible while learning a whole new system in order to stick with the team.

It didn’t work. Just before the start of the season, the Storm waived Quigley. From there, she landed with the Phoenix Mercury as a free agent but was cut the next season. In 2010, she had brief stints with the San Antonio Stars and the Indiana Fever. She returned to Seattle in 2011, appearing in only seven games.

When Quigley showed up for Storm training camp in 2012, her mind was in Europe, where she’d found success playing in Hungary and in the EuroLeague.

“I was contemplating getting my Hungarian passport to play overseas for the year or to try and make the Storm roster,” Quigley says. “I was feeling good about my chances, but the passport was going to help me out with getting better basketball opportunities over in Europe.

“I talked to Brian about it, and he knew the European process and the league, and he said, ‘I think you need to get the passport and we’ll keep you in mind.’ Went and got the passport, was in Hungary for a month or two, and Seattle never called back.”

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Quigley shoots during the 3-Point Contest of the 2021 WNBA All-Star Game. (Jesse Louie/Just Women's Sports)

In 2012, as the WNBA season continued on without her, Quigley played basketball overseas. At the time, she was dealing with confidence issues and questioned whether she was good enough to play in the WNBA.

Quigley comes from a basketball family. She spent her childhood playing with her brothers and sister in the backyard or at the YMCA in their hometown of Joliet, Ill. They grew up loving the game. So it was hard for them to watch Quigley struggle when they knew how hard she was working.

“We Skyped a lot, just talked about like, what are some other things [she] could be doing?” says Quigley’s younger sister, Sam. “Coaches would sit her down and say, ‘You’re doing everything right, you had a great training camp, but we’re gonna cut you.’ And she was like, ‘Wait, I don’t understand.’

“I remember her saying that she sat down with Agler and just said, ‘Why? Can you just tell me why?’ And he gave her some truths and probably some pretty blunt answers of things she needed to improve on.”

While playing in Europe, Quigley focused on ball-handling, reading pick and rolls, learning how to score off the pick and knowing when to shoot or pass. The more experience she gained overseas, the more confident she felt. When she went up against players in the WNBA, she realized she could not only hold her own but flourish.

Others noticed her improvement, too. Pokey Chatman was the head coach of Russian basketball club Spartak during Quigley’s early years in the WNBA. Although her team never played against Quigley, Chatman kept a close eye on the guard. She liked what she saw in her and, as the head coach of the Chicago Sky by that time, she wanted Quigley on her team.

“I was watching her game evolve, not just watching the stats and highlights, and watching her compete and not just be a catch-and-shoot player,” Chatman says. “Her handles were getting better, everything. It was a no-brainer.”

For Chatman, seeing Quigley’s basketball evolution in real time was the difference. It also helped that there was a fit in the Sky’s system.

“I think some people hear that a player bounced around and think, oh, that’s never gonna work,” Chatman says. “I just saw this silent assassin-type mentality, like her emotions very seldom changed. She just knocked down shots. I always said, ‘If you can space the floor, you have a shot to have some success.’ And that was the initiating factor in it — adding someone who had some pro experience, a little bit of grit and a chip on her shoulder, like, ‘Sh—, this is my last go-round, I’m gonna make this happen.’

“And that was the beginning of Allie having a beautiful impact on the Sky program.”

Quigley spent her first season with the Sky on the bench. She averaged only 9.4 minutes per game in 2013 but tried to make an impact whenever she got on the floor. Chatman was still feeling her out as a player at the time, but told her she’d have a bigger role the following season.

In 2014, Quigley’s minutes jumped up to 24.8 per game. She took full advantage, averaging 11.2 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game on 47.2 percent shooting from the field and earning the Sixth Woman of Year award. In 2015, she repeated the same production off the bench and won the award again.

Her career hasn’t waned since.

Quigley became a full-time starter in 2017 and was voted to her first All-Star Game. Now in her ninth year with the Sky, she’s one of the best 3-point shooters in the history of the league, ranking fifth all-time with a 39.9 3-point percentage.

Quigley’s career renaissance started and very well may end in Chicago. Looking back on her time in Europe, Chatman giving her an opportunity, winning back-to-back Sixth Woman of the Year awards — even her marriage to Sky teammate Courtney Vandersloot — Quigley can’t help but think it was destined.

“Just having been with different teams before that and thinking about giving it up, just to have that chance to be in Chicago and have my family be at every single game, it was perfect,” she says. “It was meant to be, to know that the previous five, six years of struggles were kind of worth it.”

Those who know Quigley best always believed her WNBA career would pan out.

“We weren’t surprised because of all the success she had growing up. I mean, she was phenomenal in many sports,” Sam says. “For us, it was like, we’re not surprised that Allie did this. What we’re most surprised about is her transformation as a person and as a woman. She’s become a professional.”

“Allie probably knew at some point, ‘I’m a great shooter. It doesn’t matter what else I can or can’t do on the court. I’m really good at shooting and people are gonna need that,’” Dolson adds. “And I’m just glad that Chicago took that chance on her and really committed to her being on the team and has stuck with her for so long.”

Chatman will always revel in the memory of helping bring Quigley back to the WNBA, and she couldn’t be more proud of the player Quigley has become.

“She deserves it because she’s put in the work. And it’s not just the shooting anymore. That’s what I want people to highlight — she’s not just catch and shoot,” Chatman says. “Of course, she’s a laser. We called her ‘laser.’ But it’s just the evolution of her game to positively impact it in different areas of offensive play. I think it was timing, environment. She just rocked it, and I’m glad she did.”

As the Sky head into the playoffs, Quigley is calm and confident. The days of questioning her skill and place in the WNBA are a distant memory. These days, she has the same belief in herself and her basketball abilities as she does in her teammates.

“We’ve beaten almost every team ahead of us so far. Especially the top three teams,” Quigley says. “So I think we just need to use that confidence, to know that we can do anything.”

Lyndsey D’Arcangelo is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports, covering the WNBA. She also contributes to The Athletic and is the co-author of Hail Mary: The Rise and Fall of the National Women’s Football League. Follow Lyndsey on Twitter @darcangel21.

The much-anticipated WNBA 3-Point contest did not disappoint with Allie Quigley coming out on top.

Jonquel Jones — who Kevin Durant says reminds him of himself — kicked it off with an electric start, showing that her first-half warmup paid off, hitting three-pointers with scary accuracy for 27 points as the only center in the competition.

Jewell Loyd hit second, knocking down 18 points. Sami Whitcomb put up a big first round score as well, hitting the first money ball of the contest and finishing just shy of Jones with 26 points.

Allie Quigley was locked in from the start, hitting all five balls in the first rack. It came down to the wire between her and Whitcomb in the first round, but Quigley hit the final bucket to advance to the final with 27 points.

Jones went a little colder in the final, hitting the money ball at the buzzer for a strong 24 points.

But Quigley was calm and in-charge, hitting the entirety of the third rack to overtake Jonquel Jones with a 28-point round and become a three-time champion in the 3-Point contest.

The field for the 2021 WNBA 3-Point Contest has been announced.

Jones, a 6-foot-6 center, might be the most surprising candidate because of her position, but not because of her 3-point shooting abilities. She’s second among the players participating, averaging 44.8 percent on 4.5 attempts from beyond the arc per game.

Allie Quigley will be looking for her third 3-Point Contest title. Jewell Loyd has been one of the Storm’s best shooters this season, including on a couple of game-winning daggers. Meanwhile, Sami Whitcomb, who leads the candidates in 3-point percentage at 45.7, will be competing in her first 3-Point Contest.

You can catch the WNBA 3-Point contest at halftime of the All-Star Game on July 14, beginning at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.