Jewell Loyd entered the 2023 WNBA All-Star Game on Saturday night as the league's leading scorer, and left with the All-Star scoring record and MVP trophy. The Seattle Storm guard caught fire from downtown, and poured in 31 points to etch her name in the record books and lead Team Stewart to victory over Team Wilson.
"I had extra motivation," Loyd said. "My family's here. I want to say happy 40th anniversary to my parents. My nephew and niece are up there too. They wanted me to shoot a lot of 3s, so that's what I did. Threes are more than twos. I think I told Sabrina [Ionescu] that -- we're gonna put a lot of 3s up. It's a special moment, honestly. It's beautiful for the league and I'm happy I was able to do it in front of my family."
BEEN HER 👑@jewellloyd dropped 31 PTS, 4 REB, & 6 AST to secure the #TeamStewart victory 🙌#MoreThanGame | @ATT #WNBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/nFo08HkhmX
— WNBA (@WNBA) July 16, 2023
Loyd hit her first triple a few minutes into the game, but then went cold for a bit and had a stint on the bench. Late in the second quarter, though, she drained 3s on back-to-back possessions and was able to carry that momentum into the second half. She hit a few more just after the break, and was already up to 25 points mid-way through the third quarter. When she added another in the middle of the fourth, everyone realized she was within striking distance of the record -- even Team Wilson.
But despite facing a double-team, Loyd was eventually able to break free and find some space off an offensive rebound. With just over two minutes remaining, she took a pass from Brittney Griner and walked into an open 3 that caught nothing but net.
TEN THREES. 31 POINTS. JEWELL LOYD IS SETTING RECORDS 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/4mkAj7v0ZS
— Seattle Storm (@seattlestorm) July 16, 2023
"There was a lot of pressure, they were trying to get me open and I got double-teamed over here," Loyd said. "I was just trying to do what my teammates wanted me to do, and it went in, so I'll take it."
Loyd finished with 31 points, four rebounds and six assists on 10-of-21 from downtown (including one 4-pointer). She did not make a single shot inside the arc, and in fact only attempted one.
The previous record for points in an All-Star Game was 30, set by Maya Moore in 2015 and tied by Kelsey Plum last year. Loyd's 10 3s are also a new All-Star Game record. She joins Swin Cash -- who won the award in 2009 and 2011 -- as the second player in Storm franchise history to be named All-Star MVP.
