Ionescu made history as only the second person to win a 3-point competition in the WNBA — the other one being Allie Quigley, the retired Chicago Sky player who won the event four times.
She scored 30 points in the final, including 11 straight shots made.
Last year’s winner, Allisha Gray, just couldn’t keep up with Ionescu’s rhythm in the final.
The win netted Ionescu a hefty $60,000 in prize money from sponsors along with $2,575 from the league.
Meanwhile, her Liberty teammate Natasha Cloud took the competition by storm in the Skills Challenge when she narrowly beat Erica Wheeler.
Wheeler, who had previously played for the Indiana Fever which made her one of the crowd favorites at Gainbridge, finished the course within 37.5 seconds which Cloud had to beat in the final.
It went down the wire as Cloud finished off the course with 1.1 ticks left to spare.
The win netted Cloud $55,000 along with the $2,575 from the league.
Friday’s events delighted a crowd who is reeling from hometown bet Caitlin Clark missing out on the action due to a groin strain she suffered recently.
However, Clark will continue to participate in the event on Saturday (Sunday, Manila time), by helping coach Team Clark against Team Collier along side New York Liberty coach Sandy Brondello.
Clark was also supposed to compete against Ionescu in the 3-point competition but had to find a replacement late into the week due to her injury.
