Liberty's Sabrina Ionescu Shares 3-Point Contest Prize Plans
New York Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu made her money shooting on Friday night, but she may be best-remembered for a vital assist in the eyes of one competitor.
Following her historic win in the WNBA 3-Point Contest on Friday, part of the prelude to Saturday's All-Star Game (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC), Ionescu announced that she would give half of the $62,575 cash prize earned from her long-distance prowess to competitor Sonia Citron of the Washington Mystics. Citron was the lone rookie to appear in Friday's activities and will make her All-Star debut alongside Mystics teammate and fellow freshman Kiki Iriafen on Saturday.
Sonia Citron is going to benefit from Sabrina Ionescu’s WNBA 3-Point Contest win pic.twitter.com/6KT5FLLM10
— Robin Lundberg (@robinlundberg) July 19, 2025
"I told Sonia that I would give her half if I won, when we were sitting on the bench," Ionescu said in video from Robin Lundberg of SI. "Being the only rookie, she was nervous. I was nervous for her. I obviously have to hold up my end of the bargain, so half of that is going to go to her. I have to text her and let her know I'm going to give her half of it. Just her participating, that takes a lot of courage to be able to be able to do that as a rookie, and what she did, and I was really proud of her."
The rest, Ionescu said, will be going to her SI20 Foundation, one formed to "inspire kids to stay active through sport while building relationships with their teammates to foster deeper community connections."
Ionescu stole the show with a 30-point showing in the final round of Friday's long-distance shootout, defeat defending champion Allisha Gray (Atlanta) by nine. It was tied with Allie Quigley's final 3-Point showing in 2022 for the second-best championship round in the event's history, behind only Ionescu's 37-point tally during her maiden voyage in 2023 (a record in both the WNBA and NBA editions of the event).
With the win, Ionescu also becomes just the second woman to earn multiple triumphs in the 3-Point Contest, joining the aforementioned Quigley, a Chicago Sky legend who won four between 2017 and 2022.
A native of White Plains, the Liberty's brief home for two seasons, Citron entered the league as the third pick of this past draft. The Notre Dame alumna and Miss New York Basketball winner (following in the footsteps of league legends like Chamique Holdsclaw, Sue Bird, Tina Charles, and current Liberty rep Breanna Stewart) is averaging 14.1 points and 5.0 rebounds for the Mystics and played for deep-ball glory against Ionescu, Gray, Lexie Hull (Indiana), and Kelsey Plum (Los Angeles).
Though Citron was eliminated after round one, she put up a respectable score of 19 in her debut, just six points behind Ionescu's opening stage tally of 25. She'll make her Barclays Center debut next month when the Mystics visit Brooklyn on Aug. 28.
Geoff Magliocchetti is a veteran sportswriter who contributes to a variety of sites on the "On SI" network. In addition to the Yankees/Mets, Geoff also covers the New York Knicks, New York Liberty, and New York Giants and has previously written about the New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, Staten Island Yankees, and NASCAR.