‘It Was A Well-Deserved Win’: Bridget Carleton Details Watching Azzi Fudd’s 30-Point Final Round In WNBA 3-Point Contest

PORTLAND, Ore. — Bridget Carleton had the highest score of the night Friday and did not win the 3-Point Contest. She shot second in the final round at Wintrust Arena. Azzi Fudd shot first and scored 30.

“I was like, ‘Oh, crap,'” Carleton said Monday at Portland Fire practice. “I had just scored 29 before that, so I was thinking, ‘Okay, maybe one more.'”

The First Round Set The Bar

Carleton was the second shooter to take the floor in the opening round. She made 21 of 27 attempts for 29 points, hitting all five balls on her final rack and missing once from the corners.

Fudd needed at least 17 on her turn to avoid elimination and finished with 24, making six of her last eight jumpers. That total held up. Rhyne Howard scored 20, Janelle Salaün 19, Marina Mabrey 18, and Natisha Hiedeman 17.

The two highest first-round scores advance. Carleton and Fudd were the two.

Azzi Fudd Went First

The Dallas Wings rookie opened the final by making all five balls from the left corner and hit her first six shots overall. She finished 20-of-26 for 30 points out of a possible 40. Carleton then needed 30 to force a shootoff and 31 to win. She missed her first three attempts and ended at 19.

“I was confident, but Azzi had an incredible round,” Carleton said. “I was kind of upset that I had to shoot second in the final. I would’ve rather gone first and set the tone.”

Carleton entered the break shooting 37.4% from three, on 67-of-179 across 26 games, and ranked tied for fifth in the WNBA at 2.6 made threes per game. Portland selected her with its top pick in this spring’s expansion draft. She spent the previous six seasons with the Minnesota Lynx.

‘Her Form Is The Same Every Single Time’

Carleton described the matchup as one between two shooters with similar mechanics.

“She’s an incredible shooter. Her form is the same every single time,” Carleton said. “I think both of us have really good mechanics, and even though shooting off the rack is different, I think it worked to our advantage. It was a lot of fun, and she’s an incredible shooter. It was a well-deserved win.”

Fudd credited her parents afterward. Her mother’s shot, she said, is the same as her own. Fudd told ESPN the rack shooting is muscle memory by now, and that she was nervous going in anyway.

A First For A Rookie

Fudd is the first rookie to win the event in its 13 stagings, and the first Wings player to win it. Howard, who was in Friday’s field, had been the only rookie to reach the final round, doing so in 2022. Fudd was also the first Dallas player entered in an All-Star skills event since Arike Ogunbowale competed in 2023.

Sabrina Ionescu won a year ago with 30, the same number Fudd put up Friday. Ionescu scored 37 in 2023. Nobody has beaten that in either the WNBA or NBA version of the contest.

The No. 1 pick in April’s draft is averaging 13.2 points, 1.9 assists, and 1.7 steals. She has shot 45.7% from the field. Her 53 threes rank 10th in the WNBA.

Fudd made 6 threes at New York on May 24, a Wings rookie record. She hit 40 threes and 40 steals in 23 games that same night. No player had gotten there that fast since Tamika Catchings in 2002, and Catchings needed 19 games.

Fudd left UConn fifth in program history with 292 career threes. She shot 42.2% from deep there.

Bridget Carleton’s First All-Star Weekend

The trip to Chicago was Carleton’s first All-Star appearance in any form. She had never attended as a guest, either.

“It’s crazy how much the league has evolved because that was my first All-Star, and just going to it, it was incredible,” Carleton said. “There was so much going on. Obviously, all the players were there, but also the media and the fans. It was just an incredible weekend, and Chicago did a really good job hosting.”

No other Portland player was selected for the weekend. Carleton said the time with friends from around the league — she named Hiedeman, Courtney Williams, Rachel Banham, and Napheesa Collier — was the highlight.

“The 3-point contest went well, too,” she said. “I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I was going to be. I think the vibes were just really good, and I had a lot of fun.”

Up Next

Dallas is 18-9 coming out of the break. The Wings host Atlanta on Wednesday, July 29 at College Park Center. Portland is 11-16. The two teams played each other on July 22 at Moda Center, the last game before the break for both. Dallas won that one 101-97.