Oregon women’s basketball legends Sabrina Ionescu and Satou Sabally will each start next month’s WNBA All-Star game, the league announced on Monday afternoon.
The pair of sixth-year pros are among the 10 players announced on Monday to participate in this year’s game which will take place on July 19 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, home of the Fever. This will be Ionescu’s fourth all-star game appearance and Sabally’s third.
Teammates for three seasons at Oregon from 2017-20, they led Oregon to its best run of women’s basketball success, culminating with a Final Four appearance in 2018-19, followed by the lost pandemic season in which the Ducks were serious contenders to win the national title after running out to a 31-2 record before the tournament was axed.
Both players had been among the league’s top vote getters announced earlier this month. Ionescu finished with the third most votes for a guard behind Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers, while Sabally was sixth among frontcourt players, with Napheesa Collier, A’Ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Aliyah Boston and Nneke Oguimike ahead. Clark and Collier will be this year’s captains.
Last season Ionescu helped New York win the WNBA Finals for the first time in franchise history. She became the Liberty’s all-time leader in made three-point shots (417) earlier this month and ranks 10th in the WNBA in scoring (a career-high 18.6 ppg) and ninth in assists (5.1 apg) this season. She set the NBA and WNBA single-round record 3-point Contest record with 37 points in the final round.
An All-WNBA First Team selection and the Most Improved Player in 2023, Sabally is an All-Star in her first season with Phoenix. The 6-4 forward ranks sixth in the WNBA in scoring (a career-high 19.1 ppg) and seventh in rebounding (8.0 rpg) while helping the Mercury to a 12-5 record, the second-best mark in the league. She has scored at least 20 points in nine of 17 games.
