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Mechelle Voepel
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Alexa Philippou
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ESPN- Covers women’s college basketball and the WNBA
- Previously covered UConn and the WNBA Connecticut Sun for the Hartford Courant
- Stanford graduate and Baltimore native with further experience at the Dallas Morning News, Seattle Times and Cincinnati Enquirer
CHICAGO — All-star games regularly showcase a combination of a league’s seasoned vets and its promising young stars, but Sunday’s 2022 WNBA All-Star Game at Wintrust Arena — a 134-112 victory for Team Wilson — felt more than most as a passing of the torch from the W’s old guard to the new.
Sylvia Fowles and Sue Bird, named to their eighth and 13th All-Star Games, respectively, bowed out of their final showing in the event in style, with co-captains A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart presenting them flowers at midcourt during the game. Fowles got the crowd going late in the first half with a breakaway dunk, and she and Bird — who finished scoreless for the first time in a WNBA All-Star Game — received a standing ovation from the crowd as they checked out of the game for the last time.
But as Fowles and Bird said adieu, the likes Stewart, Wilson and top scorers Kelsey Plum (30 points), Jonquel Jones (29) and Jewell Loyd (21) came through to assure all that the WNBA remains in good hands as its longtime legends step away.
Plum, who was named MVP after tying Maya Moore’s WNBA All-Star Game scoring record, wasn’t the only first-time All-Star to turn some heads, as Sabrina Ionescu (19 points) and Rhyne Howard (13) also made impressive debuts.
“The best part about all these players is they are, what, like 26 and younger, and I can tell you now, it’s only going to get better,” Bird said. “You’re only going to get smarter, and you’re only going to get more skilled, you’re…
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Source : espn
