Arike Ogunbowale scored 34 points — all in the second half — and Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese had memorable All-Star debuts in Team WNBA’s win.
PHOENIX — Breanna Stewart summoned her inner Yogi Berra after Team WNBA upset Team USA at the 2024 WNBA All-Star Game on Saturday night.
“It was like a little bit of a déjà vu feeling, honestly”, Stewart said.
All over again.
Saturday unfolded in an eerily similar way to the 2021 All-Star Game in Las Vegas: Team WNBA pulled off an eight-point win again, 117-109 this time. Arike Ogunbowale led all scorers, this time with a WNBA All-Star Game-record 34 points. And Ogunbowale won MVP. Again.
This year’s WNBA All-Star Game was part of a weekend that rewrote the record books, from Allisha Gray’s historic double win in the skills challenge and 3-point contest on Friday night to Ogunbowale’s starring role Saturday, and from Stewart becoming the first player with 30 points and 10 rebounds to Angel Reese becoming the first rookie in WNBA All-Star history with a double-double.
Here’s are the biggest takeaways from All-Star weekend as the WNBA takes a monthlong break during the Olympics.
It didn’t matter that Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese were first-timers: They made a meaningful splash in their first All-Star Game and were integral pieces to Team USA’s victory. Clark had a quiet scoring night (4 points) but recorded yet another game with double-digit assists (10), a rookie record and one shy of Sue Bird’s all-time All-Star Game mark (with the all-time great looking on and apparently chirping courtside).
The maestro of double-doubles this season, Reese finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds to become the first rookie to record a double-double in an All-Star Game.
There’s little doubt a lasting memory from Saturday will be when Clark found Reese under the basket for a layup early in the third quarter, and the two high-fived while running back on defense — what could be a preview of All-Star Games, maybe even international competitions representing the United States, to come.
Now both stars — who have been under such a spotlight for over a year and have been playing nonstop since November — finally get a bit of a breather before their two WNBA teams — ranked seventh and eighth in the standings — duke it out for coveted playoffs spots.
