Azzi Fudd of the Dallas Wings made history Friday night by winning the WNBA All-Star 3-point contest, becoming the first rookie to claim the title. She scored 30 points in the first round, finishing 10 points shy of the maximum possible score.
Fudd missed just six of her 27 shots during the contest. Portland Fire star Bridget Carleton was eliminated after scoring 19 in the first round, according to league officials. Fudd said she experienced nerves but was excited to participate.
“You saw ‘only’ six shots, but I feel like that was a lot,” Fudd said. “Honestly, I was really nervous. I was excited.” She added that her confidence in shooting was based on muscle memory developed over years of practice. “It’s easy for me, just the set shot. It’s what I’ve been doing since I was young.”
Fudd entered the All-Star break averaging 2.2 three-point attempts per game and has made 53 three-pointers this season. Despite injuries impacting her college career, Dallas selected her first overall in April’s WNBA Draft, valuing her talent and shooting ability.
Fudd noted that her rehab process, which involved extensive stationary shooting, helped refine her form and rhythm. “That was a lot of chair shooting, a lot of stationary shots, so you get really good at shooting off of a rack and being stationary and robotic,” she said.
In addition to the contest, the WNBA debuted the Shooting Stars competition during the All-Star festivities in Chicago. Replacing the skills challenge, the event featured four teams of three players, including a legend, a current player, and a rising star. Team Washington defeated Team Seattle to win the inaugural event, league officials said.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
