Quigley Wins 3-Point Contest For Her Dad


MINNNEAPOLIS – Allie Quigley walked to the baseline Saturday for her third round of shooting in the 2018 WNBA 3-Point Contest for another 60 seconds of launching balls at the net from beyond the arc and you had to assume she would be tired, worn out from the first two rounds.

Turns out, not so much.

Quigley, the Chicago Sky sharpshooter, dominated a thrilling final round tiebreaker. After Las Vegas Aces’ guard, Kayla McBride, sank a final shot to tie Quigley’s total of 18 in the championship round, Quigley put up an astounding 29 in the tie-breaking round to win the title for the second year in a row.

“I was like, it’s go time, now or never,” Quigley said about the final overtime round. “You’ve just got to be relaxed and confident and kind of hope they go in. I kind of fed off the crowd and Team Parker. They helped a lot.”

Quigley’s win means a $10,000 donation for the Patrick Quigley Foundation, named after her late father.

“Yeah, it’s for my dad,” Quigley said. “He passed away when I was young and he went to this high school that it’s going to go towards and so did I, and it’s just for underprivileged kids that aren’t able to maybe have the money to go to this school, so it’s just a nice scholarship that I’m able to give back, and it means a lot. Every time even last year I think about him right before I start shooting, so that’s probably the reason why I’m able to win it.”

The 3-point shooting contest win capped an all-around great day for Quigley, who scored 18 points and hit four 3-pointers to help lead Team Parker to a 119-112 win over Team Delle Donne in the first WNBA All-Star game in which the rosters were not separate by conference, but chosen by team captains Candace Parker and Elena Delle Donne.

Quigley got a shout-out from MVP Maya Moore after the game, a reflection, Quigley said, of what a “class act” Moore is.

“Yeah, I was shocked,” Quigley said. “I mean, Maya is a proven winner. She’s a legend. For her to say that, that’s just the kind of person she is, the kind of player she is. She wins an MVP and she’s talking about the rest of her team and how amazing the fans are, so she’s just a class act and great for our league.”

Quigley, a native of Joliet, Ill., has twice been named the WNBA’s Sixth Woman of the Year (2014 and 2015) and she is leading the Sky in scoring heading into the stretch run at 16.0 points a game. She ranks fourth in the league in 3-point percentage at 43.5 shooting beyond the arc.

With eight games to go in the WNBA season, the Sky would have to make up five games to earn a shot at the playoffs. But Quigley is an undeniable bright spot for Chicago.

Moore credited Quigley with giving Team Parker a victory boost.

“I’m a basketball fan. I’m a fan of greatness. I think anybody who knows anything about basketball knows it’s all about great shooters,” Moore said. “That’s kind of one of the first things you think about, people who can shoot the ball, and Allie is one of those players.”

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