Azzi Fudd wins WNBA 3-point contest, becomes first rookie champion

Azzi Fudd put on a historic shooting display during her first WNBA All-Star weekend. The Dallas Wings guard won Friday night’s 3-point contest, becoming the first rookie in league history to win the event.

Fudd finished the first round with 30 points, 10 shy of the maximum possible score. Portland Fire star Bridget Carleton was eliminated after scoring 19 in the round. Fudd took 27 shots, missing just six of her attempts en route to winning the coveted title.

Fudd acknowledged she experienced some nerves Friday night. “You saw ‘only’ six shots, but I feel like that was a lot,” Fudd said. “But honestly, I was really nervous. I was excited.”

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Fudd added: “It’s fun to do because… and I don’t want to sound cocky… but it’s easy to me, just the set shot. Take the ball from the rack; it really is muscle memory. It’s what I’ve been doing since I was young.”

Fudd entered the All-Star break averaging 2.2 shots from beyond the 3-point arc this season. She’s knocked down 53 total 3-pointers so far during her rookie year.

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While injuries impacted Fudd’s college basketball career, Dallas valued her overall talent and took her with the first selection in April’s WNBA Draft.

Fudd also said her injury setbacks came with an unexpected benefit. The repetitive shooting she did during rehab helped sharpen her form and build the rhythm needed to knock down shots from the same spots in Friday’s 3-point contest.

“That was a lot of chair shooting, a lot of stationary shots, so you get really good at shooting off of a rack and being stationary and robotic and having to knock your shot down.”

Before the 3-point contest, the WNBA debuted another All-Star event in Chicago — the Shooting Stars competition.

Replacing the past skills challenge, the Shooting Stars competition featured four three-person teams. Each roster included one former player designated as a legend, one current player and one rising young player. Team Washington defeated Team Seattle to win the inaugural event.

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