Bullet point summary by AI
- The WNBA 3-Point Contest takes place tonight at 8:00 p.m. on ESPN, featuring the league’s top shooters going head-to-head.
- This year’s event promises potential record-breaking performances, as none of the participants have ever won before.
- The updated prize pool offers $40,000 to the winner, with significant payouts also available for second and third place.
The WNBA All-Star Game is fun and all, but every year, there are countless eyes glued to the league’s 3-Point Contest that takes place the day before. All of the league’s best shooters, the ones who are launching it from half-court every night, will go head-to-head.
The contest will take place tonight, Friday, July 24, at 8:00 p.m and you can tune in on ESPN. If we’re lucky, we might see a record or two broken this weekend. If that ends up being the case, here’s a quick refresher of everything you need to know about past 3-point contests.
WNBA 3-Point Contest history and records
If you’ve been a fan of the W for a while, you’ll likely remember the years when Chicago’s Allie Quigley was nearly untouchable when it came to 3-point contests. Throughout her career, she competed in five and won four of them — 2017, 2018, 2021 and 2022 — making her the player with the most career wins. Honestly, we might never see this record broken. Sabrina Ionescu is closest behind Quigley with two wins. However, Ionescu will not compete this year. In fact, we’ll be getting an entirely new winner, as none of this year’s participants have won before — maybe this is just the starting point for one of them to break Quigley’s record.
Speaking of Sabrina Ionescu, she holds the record for most points scored in a 3-point contest. This also isn’t just the WNBA record but extends to the NBA as well. When the contest first hit the league, the total possible points was 30. In 2017, it increased to 34, and since 2021, the target number has been 40. In 2023, Ionescu scored 37 out of 40 points — claiming her spot in the WNBA and NBA history books.
Stephen Curry previously held the record with a score of 31 out of 40 in 2021. Tyrese Haliburton and Buddy Hield have also put up 31-out-of-40 performances in 2023 and 2025, respectively. But no one has been able to pass Ionescu — maybe tonight will be the day.
Every winner of the WNBA 3-Point Contest
*The league began holding 3-point contests in 2006, but has taken a couple of breaks. Now, they’ve taken place at every All-Star since 2017.*
|
YEAR |
WINNER |
WNBA TEAM |
FINAL SCORE |
|---|---|---|---|
|
2006 |
Dawn Staley |
Houston Comets |
17/30 |
|
2007 |
Laurie Koehn |
Washington Mystics |
25/30 |
|
2009 |
Becky Hammon |
San Antonio Silver Stars |
16/30 |
|
2010 |
Katie Douglas |
Indiana Fever |
23/30 |
|
2017 |
Allie Quigley |
Chicago Sky |
27/34 |
|
2018 |
Allie Quigley |
Chicago Sky |
29/34 |
|
2019 |
Shekinna Stricklen |
Connecticut Sun |
23/34 |
|
2021 |
Allie Quigley |
Chicago Sky |
28/40 |
|
2022 |
Allie Quigley |
Chicago Sky |
30/40 |
|
2023 |
Sabrina Ionescu |
New York Liberty |
37/40 |
|
2024 |
Allisha Gray |
Atlanta Dream |
22/40 |
|
2025 |
Sabrina Ionescu |
New York Liberty |
30/40 |
This year’s 3-Point Contest participants
|
PARTICIPANT |
3PM THIS SEASON |
3P% THIS SEASON |
|---|---|---|
|
Azzi Fudd, Dallas Wings |
53 |
38.7% |
|
Marina Mabrey, Toronto Tempo |
82 |
39.2% |
|
Rhyne Howard, Atlanta Dream |
79 |
35.4% |
|
Natisha Hiedeman, Seattle Storm |
58 |
34.3% |
|
Janelle Salaün, Golden State Valkyries |
67 |
39.4% |
|
Bridget Carleton, Portland Fire |
67 |
37.4% |
WNBA 3-Point Contest prize money
Additionally, the prize pool for this year’s WNBA 3-Point Contest has increased. The champion will receive $40,000, while second place will get $30,000 and third place will receive $15,000.
More WNBA news and analysis:
Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow
