By Patrick Donnelly
Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS — Lynx star Maya Moore said she’s routinely asked if she has room for all of the awards she’s won in her basketball career. She’ll have to make space for another trophy after her performance on Saturday.
Moore won her third straight All-Star MVP award to lead Team Parker past Team Delle Donne 119-112 in the WNBA All-Star Game.
“Thank you for your concern for my storage space,” Moore deadpanned after she was asked the question again after she scored 18 points, grabbed eight rebounds, and dished out six assists to win the MVP award on her home court.
“It’s crazy, it really is, to just be fortunate enough to continue to be in positions to win, to be playing well, to be healthy,” said Moore, who joined Lisa Leslie as the only three-time MVP of the game and became the all-time scoring leader in All-Star history, passing Tamika Catchings’ mark of 108 points.
Allie Quigley of the Chicago Sky also scored 18 points and Skylar Diggins-Smith of the Dallas Wings added 17 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists for Team Parker.
Team Delle Donne’s Kristi Toliver of the Washington Mystics led all scorers with 23 points, including 7-for-11 shooting on 3-pointers. Rookie A’ja Wilson of the Los Vegas Aces added 18 points.
Jewell Loyd led the Seattle Storm’s three All-Stars with 12 points in 17 minutes for Team Parker.
Breanna Stewart and Sue Bird started for Team Delle Donne and Stewart scored 10 points and Bird added five points with eight assists.
Toliver made five 3s in the final 5 minutes of the game as Team Delle Donne came back from a 14-point deficit. But Moore drilled a 3-pointer of her own with 1:26 to play, pushing Team Parker’s lead to six and all but sewing up the MVP award.
New format
Eschewing the traditional East-vs.-West format for the first time, the league let captains Elena Delle Donne of the Mystics and Candace Parker of the Los Angeles Sparks chose up sides from a pool of the top players in All-Star voting.
That allowed for the rosters to be heavily dominated (16 of the 22 players) by the Western Conference, home of six of the top seven teams in the league standings.
“You’re not going to make a bad pick,” Parker said of the process. “Everybody who’s out here is here is here for a reason, so it was just about having fun and playing with players you haven’t ever played with.”
Viva Las Vegas
WNBA President Lisa Borders announced that the 2019 All-Star Game will be held in Las Vegas, home of the Aces, who relocated from San Antonio after last season.
The Aces, who were represented by Wilson and guard Kayla McBride, reached the All-Star break only 11⁄2 games out of the final playoff spot.
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