Pac-12 women's basketball at WNBA All-Star 2021
SAN FRANCISCO – OREGON’s Satou Sabally and WASHINGTON’s Sami Whitcomb will be on the court when AT&T WNBA All-Star 2021 tips on Wednesday, July 14 at Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas.
Sabally is on the roster for Team WNBA, which will face off against the USA Basketball Women’s National Team in the WNBA All-Star Game at 4 p.m. PT on ESPN. Making her first all-star appearance, Sabally is the leading rebounder (6.3) and third-leading scorer (12.4) for the Dallas Wings this season. She was named to the WNBA All-Rookie Team a year ago when she became the fifth first-year player in league history to average 13.0 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game (Lisa Leslie, Tamika Catchings, Candace Parker, Breanna Stewart).
Sabally was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 WNBA Draft after a junior season at Oregon in which she averaged 16.2 points and 6.9 rebounds and was selected a WBCA All-American. With her inclusion, a Pac-12 player has been named to seven consecutive WNBA All-Star Game rosters.
As part of the league’s 25th season celebrations, the WNBA will also honor the gold-medal winning 1996 U.S. Olympic Women’s Basketball Team with a special presentation during the game highlighting the impact the team had on women’s sports and the role it played in launching the WNBA. Led by Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer, that 12-woman roster featured USC’s Lisa Leslie along with the Cardinal’s Jennifer Azzi and Katy Steding. Colorado’s Ceal Barry was also one of VanDerveer’s three assistants.
Leslie and fellow USC legend Tina Thompson will serve as co-head coaches of Team WNBA.
Whitcomb is one of four who will participate in the WNBA MTN DEW 3-Point Contest, which will take place live on ESPN during halftime of the AT&T WNBA All-Star 2021. The contest is a two-round event, with the top two performers from the first round advancing to the championship round. All players will be shooting for a charity of their choice.
Whitcomb, who is in her first season with the New York after four years and two WNBA titles in Seattle, currently leads the league in 3-pointers made (56) and is fifth in the WNBA in 3-point field goal percentage (.438). She’s averaging career highs in points (12.1), rebounds (5.8) and assists (2.8) in 21 games for the Liberty this season.