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While Caitlin Clark won’t be competing on the first day of WNBA All-Star Weekend, there will be plenty of stars to watch in Friday night’s skills challenge and 3-point contest. The festivities will also feature a 3-on-3 exhibition game between the USA Basketball Women’s National 3-on-3 Team and the USA Basketball U23 National 3-on-3 Team.
The Skills Challenge includes a timed obstacle course to test skills such as dribbling, bounce passes, chest passes and outlet passes, as well as elbow jump shots and three-point shots from the top of the arc and the corner. The Three-Point Contest is a two-round timed competition with five shooting locations around the arc.
WNBA Skills Challenge Participants: Brittney Griner (Phoenix Mercury), Allisha Gray (Atlanta Dream), Marina Mabrey (Connecticut Sun), Erica Wheeler (Indiana Fever) and Sophie Cunningham (Phoenix Mercury).
WNBA 3-point contest participants: Jonquel Jones (New York Liberty), Stefanie Dolson (Washington Mystics), Allisha Gray (Atlanta Dream), Marina Mabrey (Connecticut Sun) and Kayla McBride (Minnesota Lynx).
The WNBA All-Star Game, which will pit Team USA against Team WNBA in preparation for the Olympics, will take place on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET.
How to watch the WNBA 3-point contest and skills challenge
Date: Friday, July 19
Time: 9 pm Eastern Time
Channel: ESPN
Follow Yahoo Sports’ Cassandra Negley for live updates as WNBA All-Star Weekend kicks off on Friday.
Live7 updates
Another local favourite, Sophie Cunningham, finishes in 35.5 seconds, which should put her into the next round.
Marina Mabrey, recently transferred to the Connecticut Sun, finishes in 35.7 seconds, eliminating Brittney Griner.
Next up was Allisha Gray, who finished in 31.2 seconds.
Brittney Griner takes first place in the skills challenge. She finishes in 46.3 seconds.
Home court advantage for Mercury’s Brittney Griner
Local fans in Phoenix are happy to see Brittney Griner.
It’s safe to say that EVERYONE in Phoenix loves Brittney Griner
She will have many fans cheering her on in the skills competition tonight. photo.twitter.com/2ZqFwYG5c9
— WNBA (@WNBA) July 20, 2024
Great moment for Griner to be able to enjoy this after everything that has happened.
Kelsey Mitchell replaces Erica Wheeler at WNBA All-Star Skills Challenge
If you missed the news, Indiana Fever’s Erica Wheeler was stranded due to Microsoft’s nationwide service outage that grounded several airlines’ flights. Her teammate Kelsey Mitchell will take Wheeler’s place.
The Fever attempted to charter a flight for Wheeler but none were available.
Please read more here.
Allie Quigley jokes that she should get back pay for winning four WNBA 3-point contests
Former WNBA three-point champion Allie Quigley heard about the $55,000 bonus this year’s winner will receive and jokingly asked if She could receive some back pay:
And oh yeah… Hey @aflac Have you heard of retroactive pay?
Honestly, 4 time WNBA 3 point champion just kidding (a little) GOOD LUCK EVERYONE TONIGHT!!!! #wnba https://t.co/o3zl1nKOnp— Alexandria Quigley (@alliequigley) July 19, 2024
Quigley won the three-point shootout in 2017, 2018, 2021 and 2022 while with the Chicago Sky.