CHICAGO (AP) — Elena Delle Donne, Shakira Austin and high schooler Jezelle Banks led team Washington to the Shooting Stars championship at WNBA All-Star on Friday night.
The trio scored 31 points to edge Seattle’s three in the finals, with Banks hitting two of the 4-point shots from just inside halfcourt to put the team over the top.
Seattle had 24 points to finish as runner-up after missing all of the team’s 4-point shots.
This was the first year that the contest was conducted. A skills competition was done in previous All-Star weekends. The format was a two-round, timed shooting competition in which teams had 70 seconds to score as many points as possible from seven shooting locations around the court. The competition featured shots ranging from a layup to the 4-pointer.
Washington had the highest score in the preliminary round, posting 35 points. Once again, Banks hit 4-point shots to help her team reach the championship round.
Seattle’s squad needed to beat the 20 points that the Detroit/Dallas team put up to advance to the finals. High schooler Tatianna Griffin hit two of the 4-point shots to help Seattle reach the finals. Minnesota finished in fourth with 19 points with a team of Courtney Williams, Rebbekah Brunson and Ryan Carter.
Detroit/Dallas had former Shock great Deanna Nolan, Wings All-Star Jessica Shepard and high schooler Morghan Reckley.
Each shooting stars winner received $15,000. Each competitor, not including the high school players, will receive $7,500. Last year, the winners of the skills contest each received $2,575 from the WNBA.
___
AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
