The New York Liberty owned the first night of the 2025 WNBA All-Star Weekend, with Sabrina Ionescu winning the 3-Point Contest and Natasha Cloud taking the Skills Competition. They won not just the trophies, but sponsor bonuses of $60,000 for Ionescu and $55,000 for Cloud, plus $2,575 each from the league, as outlined in the CBA.

A raucous crowd of 15,139 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse showed up not just for Fever players, but all the competitors. Erica Wheeler, who played in Indiana for six seasons and is now on the Seattle Storm, received one of the biggest cheers of the night as she competed in the Skills Competition.

While Caitlin Clark was not able to make her 3-Point Contest debut in front of her home crowd because of a groin strain she suffered this week, she was still on hand to cheer on her teammate Lexie Hull, who replaced Clark in the 3-Point competition. Clark will, however, plan on helping coach the All-Star team bearing her name, alongside Liberty coach Sandy Brondello.  

Here are some of the best moments of the weekend so far after the first night of competition:

Ionescu makes history in her second 3-Point Competition win

The last time Ionescu was in a 3-point competition in Indianapolis, she lost to Steph Curry on the NBA’s All-Star Weekend. She wanted to erase that memory, so she earned 30 points in the final. Ionescu said she called Curry afterward to show him the trophy.

Her win included 11 straight shots made. She still apologized for missing shots in her interview with ESPN.

“Well, I’m pretty disappointed,” Ionescu told ESPN’s Holly Rowe afterward. “I feel like I missed a few easy ones there that I definitely could have made, so I’m sorry about that. But just happy to be here and obviously happy to have won with my teammate, Natasha Cloud.”

Ionescu went first, and Allisha Gray, last year’s winner, could not come close to the rhythm Ionescu was in at the racks.

With the win, Ionescu became just the second person to win a second 3-point competition in WNBA history. She joins Allie Quigley, the retired Sky player who won the event four times. Ionescu also holds the basketball record — both men’s and women’s — for most points in the competition.

And while Ionescu won some cash, she won’t be keeping it. She said she promised half to Mystics sharpshooter Sonia Citron because she was the only rookie. The other half will go to Ionescu’s foundation.

Natasha Cloud’s win, celebration with Isabelle Harrison

Wheeler did not make it easy for Cloud to win the skills challenge. The Seattle Storm point guard ran the course in 37.5 seconds. Cloud went second, and the clock ticked down as she got close to the final shot, a layup. Wheeler ran onto the court and immediately hugged Cloud when she won it with just 1.1 seconds left on the clock. Ionescu ran onto the court to congratulate her teammate, but Cloud saved her biggest hug for Isabelle Harrison, her teammate in New York and girlfriend.

Cloud said before she competed that she was doing the competition for Harrison.

“It’s been a blessing for our careers to collide in New York. She told me I gotta win for a down payment on the house, so you gonna get that house!” Cloud said to ESPN after the win.

Allisha Gray’s custom A’Ones

Gray played with A’ja Wilson at South Carolina, and they have been close friends since their days in Columbia. On Friday night, as Gray attempted to repeat her double win from last season’s All-Star Weekend, she wore a custom pair of A’Ones, Wilson’s signature shoe. They were green with gold dollar signs all over the shoes.

Courtney Williams didn’t take home a title, but she’s still winning All-Star Weekend

Williams didn’t make it to the final in the Skills Challenge, but the pink-haired guard has still made a mark on the weekend in Indianapolis. Along with her Lynx teammate Natisha Hiedeman, Williams has promised to stream on their Twitch channel, “Stud Budz,” for 72 hours. They’ve kept up their promise so far, giving fans a behind-the-scenes look at parties and practices.

New York reminds fans of what they can do

With a record of 15-6, the Liberty are in second place behind the Minnesota Lynx in the standings. However, they’re just 5-5 in their last 10 games, and have cooled off since their undefeated run to start the season. These individual wins are a good reminder of how strong the Liberty’s roster is, and why they should not be overlooked going into the second half of the season as they look to repeat as WNBA champions.