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When seeing some of the performances in the 3-Point Contest on NBA and WNBA All-Star Weekends, it can be easy to take for granted that players are shooting in a competitive setting. They aren’t just getting up shots at the gym, where certain players are borderline automatic.

New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu could have fooled fans watching the WNBA contest on Friday. She dominated the competition with a score of 37 out of 40 in the final round.

MORE: Ionescu sets 3-Point Contest record, Aces wins Skills Challenge

The performance secured the NBA 2K24 cover athlete an easy win. She entered the round needing 11 points to avoid elimination.

At one point, Ionescu hit 20 shots in a row, a record for both the NBA and WNBA shootout. Her 37 points were also a record for a round, surpassing the 31 by Tyrese Haliburton in 2023 and Stephen Curry in 2021. The previous WNBA record was Allie Quigley’s 30 in 2022.

Pick a superlative to describe the performance.

The 40-point format hasn’t been in place in the NBA and WNBA for very long; it debuted in 2020, when Buddy Hield won the NBA competition. But regardless of format, 25 of 27 shots made is an otherworldly pace.

“Yeah, I knew they were going in,” Ionescu said afterward, per ESPN. “There’s adrenaline. It was the final round. I had just lost in the skills (competition) and I wasn’t going to lose again.”

Who won the WNBA 3-Point Contest in 2023?

New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu dominated in the final round to secure her first WNBA 3-Point Contest win.

She scored 26 of a possible 40 points in the first round, good for second place, before scoring 37 out of 40 in the final round, crushing the Seattle Storm’s Sami Whitcomb, who scored 24.

Ionescu made 25 of 27 shots, including 20 in a row at one point, an NBA and WNBA record.

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Ionescu unseated the previous WNBA record-holder, Chicago Sky star Allie Quigley, who had 30 in a round in 2022. Quigley did not compete this year as she took a break from the WNBA. The four-time 3-point contest winner was, however, in attendance to watch Ionescu’s legendary performance.

Best single-round scores in NBA & WNBA 3-point contests since 2020

A look at the best single-round scores in the NBA and WNBA 3-point contests under the current 40-point format:

Year Player Score Round Team
2023 Sabrina Ionescu 37 Second New York Liberty
2023 Tyrese Haliburton 31 First Indiana Pacers
2021 Stephen Curry 31 First Golden State Warriors
2022 Allie Quigley 30 Second Chicago Sky
2022 Karl-Anthony-Towns 29 Second Minnesota Timberwolves
2023 Sami Whitcomb 28 First Seattle Storm
2022 Luke Kennard 28 First Los Angeles Clippers
2021 Stephen Curry 28 Second Golden State Warriors
2021 Mike Conley 28 First Utah Jazz
2021 Allie Quigley 28 First Chicago Sky
2021 Allie Quigley 28 Second Chicago Sky
2021 Jonquel Jones 27 First Connecticut Sun
2021 Mike Conley 27 Second Utah Jazz
2020 Devin Booker 27 First Phoenix Suns
2020 Buddy Hield 27 First Sacramento Kings
2020 Buddy Hield 27 Second Sacramento Kings

Ionsecu’s .957 shooting percentage was also the best final-round mark in WNBA history.

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