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Sabrina Ionescu Shared How Steph Curry Motivated Her for WNBA Three-Point Contest Win

Ionescu hit the "night night" celebration with her new trophy.
Blake Silverman|
Sabrina Ionescu and Steph Curry competed in a three-point challenge in Indianapolis last year
Sabrina Ionescu and Steph Curry competed in a three-point challenge in Indianapolis last year | Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

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New York Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu captured her second WNBA three-point contest victory Friday night in Indianapolis. She scored 30 points in the final round, which is tied for the second most in WNBA three-point contest history—behind only herself, when she set the record with 37 in her 2023 win.

She didn't compete in the WNBA three-point contest last year, but she did compete in another shootout: the challenge against Steph Curry, which also happened to be in Indianapolis, during the '24 NBA All-Star weekend.

Curry came out on top during that challenge, when he scored 29 points in the final round to edge out Ionescu's 26. But the narrow defeat gave the Liberty star some extra motivation to get the job done in the same city on Friday night.

"It means everything. The last time I was here in Indy against Steph, I lost," she said, holding her new trophy on the ESPN broadcast. "So I feel like I had to come back and redeem myself."

She even had to call the NBA's all-time leader in threes after the win.

"I called Steph after and was showing the trophy off because last time he beat me when we were here in Indy," Ionescu said, via Deyscha Smith of The Next.

And of course she hit Curry's signature "night night" celebration, too:

She beat Allisha Gray, last year's three-point champion, in the final, where the Dream guard finished with 22. Both Ionescu and Gray scored 25 in the first round to advance to the finals. Ionescu is now just the second WNBA player to win multiple three-point contests, joining four-time winner Allie Quigley.

Her Liberty teammate Natasha Cloud won the skills challenge earlier in the night for a clean New York sweep. Now, Ionescu has the All-Star Game in front of her on Saturday, where she will compete against her New York co-star, Breanna Stewart.

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Blake Silverman
BLAKE SILVERMAN

Blake Silverman is a writer at Sports Illustrated, primarily covering the NBA and WNBA. Before joining SI in November 2024 as a breaking/trending news writer, he covered the WNBA, NBA, G League and college basketball for numerous sites, including Winsidr, SB Nation and A10Talk. He’s an alum of both Michigan State and St. Bonaventure University, receiving a master’s degree from the Bonnies’ sports journalism program. Outside of work, he’s a husband, father, yogi and fairly mediocre tennis player who’s open to any tips on how to play defense in EA Sports College Football.

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