Team Stewart claims victory in record fashion over Team Wilson in WNBA All-Star Game
Brittney Griner finished with 18 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Jewell Lloyd won MVP with 31 points, while North Philly's Kahleah Copper added 16.
LAS VEGAS — In the capital of glitz and excess, the WNBA came together to celebrate its best and brightest stars.
And celebrate they did — in record fashion. Team Stewart, captained by the New York Liberty’s Breanna Stewart, won, 143-126, on Saturday night at the Las Vegas Aces’ Michelob Ultra Arena, the home court of A’ja Wilson, the other team captain. Team Stewart’s 143 total eclipsed the All-Star Game record of 134 set last season by Team Wilson.
Phoenix star Brittney Griner showed out early, scoring six of Team Stewart’s first 10 points — and the other four came on a bucket from Jewell Loyd, one of nine four-pointers (defined as a bucket in one of the circles beyond 28 feet).
Loyd sparkled, leading all scorers with a game-record 31 points en route to MVP honors, while Griner finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds in front of a star-studded audience that included WNBA royalty like Sheryl Swoopes and Sue Bird as well as current and former NBA stars including Kevin Durant, Dwyane Wade, and Anthony Davis.
Loyd joked that her award was an anniversary gift for her parents, who she said are celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary.
Griner, who was starting the All-Star Game a mere seven months after being freed from her 10-month wrongful detention in Russia also received a special welcome at the first timeout, as the league highlighted the Bring Our Families Home campaign, which works to secure freedom for Americans held hostage or wrongfully detained overseas.
Chicago Sky guard Kahleah Copper, a North Philadelphia native, entered at the 3-minute, 4-second mark of the first quarter and hit a reverse layup with about 10 seconds left to give Team Stewart a 29-27 lead at the first-quarter buzzer. She played 15 minutes and finished with 16 points.
Vegas’ Kelsey Plum led Team Wilson with 30 points, while Wilson added 20.
Team Stewart, meanwhile, began to pull away starting in the second quarter, building a double-digit lead as the Liberty’s Sabrina Ionescu came alive from deep. She followed her record-breaking performance in Friday night’s three-point challenge with 18 points, 15 of which came in the first half on 4-of-8 shooting.
Copper offered a behind-the-scenes glimpse into life on the court, tweeting from the bench. Some of it was tactical — “Ok we bout to play a lil more D This half.” While other tweets were more comical; “I’m hungry tho.”
Copper was right. Team Stewart held Team Wilson to “only” 30 third-quarter points as its lead grew to 110-93, thanks in part to Copper, who entered with 49.1 seconds left and quickly hit buckets on three consecutive possessions.
Griner provided one of the game’s defensive highlights, blocking a shot by Plum with 4:20 to go. She tied the game’s scoring record at the 3:24 mark, and Stewart broke it on a layup with 2:48 left.
Next season’s All-Star Game is heading to Griner’s place as the Phoenix Mercury will host the showcase at the Footprint Center.