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The 2024 WNBA All-Star Game had a familiar feeling. Team WNBA beat Team USA 117-109 on Saturday at Footprint Center in Phoenix.
Dallas Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale scored an All-Star record 34 points in the win and was named MVP of the 20th edition of the midseason showcase.
The league traditionally has pitted WNBA All-Stars against the U.S. national team in Olympic years. And three years ago ahead of the Tokyo Games, Team WNBA came out on top then, too. The MVP in 2021? That's right, Ogunbowale.
On Saturday, Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark set a rookie All-Star record with 10 assists, and Angel Reese of the Chicago Sky became the first rookie to have a double-double (12 points and 11 rebounds) in the All-Star Game.
Breanna Stewart, who already has won two Olympic gold medals, had 31 points and 10 rebounds to lead Team USA.
Now the WNBA heads into a monthlong break while the Olympics (July 26 to Aug. 11) are being held. The league resumes Aug. 15.
Here's everything that went down and all the players who showed out in Phoenix.
Led by MVP Ogunbowale, who scored all of her points in the second half, Team WNBA beat Team USA 117-109.
Allisha Gray made it a double.
The Atlanta Dream guard became the first player in WNBA history to win both the 3-point and skills competition in the same year. Gray edged Jonquel Jones in the final of the 3-point shooting contest and beat Sophie Cunningham in the skills challenge final.
Gray, who is also an All-Star on Team WNBA in Saturday's game, received $2,575 from the league for each victory, per the collective bargaining agreement, and an additional $110,000 from Aflac, which supplemented the winnings with a $55,000 bonus for the winner of each event.
The participants for Friday's events were:
Skills challenge
Sophie Cunningham, Phoenix Mercury
Allisha Gray, Atlanta Dream
Brittney Griner, Phoenix Mercury
Marina Mabrey, Connecticut Sun
Erica Wheeler, Indiana Fever
3-point shooting contest
Stefanie Dolson, Washington Mystics
Allisha Gray, Atlanta Dream
Jonquel Jones, New York Liberty
Marina Mabrey, Connecticut Sun
Kayla McBride, Minnesota Lynx
Rookies Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever and Angel Reese of the Chicago Sky were named to the 12-player Team WNBA.
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Clark and Reese, the No. 1 and No. 7 picks in the 2024 draft, are the only first-time All-Stars of the group. Nneka Ogwumike will be making her ninth All-Star appearance.
Indiana has the most selections of any team with three.
The Team WNBA roster:
DeWanna Bonner, Connecticut Sun
Aliyah Boston, Indiana Fever
Caitlin Clark, Indiana Fever
Allisha Gray, Atlanta Dream
Dearica Hamby, Los Angeles Sparks
Brionna Jones, Connecticut Sun
Jonquel Jones, New York Liberty
Kayla McBride, Minnesota Lynx
Kelsey Mitchell, Indiana Fever
Arike Ogunbowale, Dallas Wings
Nneka Ogwumike, Seattle Storm
Angel Reese, Chicago Sky
TEAM WNBA VS. TEAM USA ALL-STARS ARE SET =%
— ESPN (@espn) July 3, 2024
Who you rocking with? < pic.twitter.com/tUMx7uiCfv
The top 10 All-Star vote-getters -- determined by 50% fan voting, 25% current player voting and 25% media voting -- were automatically named to the All-Star Game, with those who weren't previously named to the Olympic 5-on-5 team assigned to Team WNBA.
Those 10 were, in alphabetical order: Boston, Clark, Napheesa Collier, Kahleah Copper, Hamby, Sabrina Ionescu, Ogunbowale, Breanna Stewart, A'ja Wilson and Jackie Young. Clark (700,735 votes) and Boston (618,680) received the most fan votes, followed by Wilson (607,300), Stewart (424,135) and Reese (381,518).
The U.S. national team's roster was announced June 11.
Diana Taurasi of the Phoenix Mercury, who will be appearing in her record sixth Olympic Games, headlines the roster. She will be joined by Breanna Stewart, A'ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray, Napheesa Collier, Jewell Loyd and Brittney Griner -- all of whom played on the 5-on-5 team in Tokyo in 2021.
Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young, who helped the U.S. women win the inaugural 3x3 gold medal at the Tokyo Games in 2021, are also on the roster, along with first-time Olympians Ionescu, Alyssa Thomas and Kahleah Copper. All three played on the American team that won the World Cup in Australia in 2022.
This is the full squad:
Napheesa Collier, Minnesota Lynx
Kahleah Copper, Phoenix Mercury
Chelsea Gray, Las Vegas Aces
Brittney Griner, Phoenix Mercury
Sabrina Ionescu, New York Liberty
Jewell Loyd, Seattle Storm
Kelsey Plum, Las Vegas Aces
Breanna Stewart, New York Liberty
Diana Taurasi, Phoenix Mercury
Alyssa Thomas, Connecticut Sun
A'ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces
Jackie Young, Las Vegas Aces
Two tune-ups for the <�<� #USABWNT are around the corner!
— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) July 1, 2024
=� July 20 vs =� Team @WNBA
=� July 23 vs <�<� Germany pic.twitter.com/npz0tECN8D
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| Seattle's Ezi Magbegor is averaging career highs in rebounds (8.8) and blocks (2.2) per game, which ranks seventh and third, respectively, in the WNBA. |
Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese as WNBA All-Star teammates has "breaking the internet" potential on gameday.
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