WNBA's skills challenge moves to pairings format

July 12, 2023 ndowd

Alexa Philippou, ESPNJul 11, 2023, 07:42 PM ET
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- Covers women’s college basketball and the WNBA
- Previously covered UConn and the WNBA Connecticut Sun for the Hartford Courant
- Stanford graduate and Baltimore native with further experience at the Dallas Morning News, Seattle Times and Cincinnati Enquirer

The 2023 WNBA Skills Challenge ahead of this weekend’s All-Star Game will feature a new format in which four sets of All-Star teammates will compete in a set of relay competitions highlighting agility, dribbling, passing and shooting skills, the league announced Tuesday.

The pairings are as follows: Team Aces, Chelsea Gray and Kelsey Plum; Team Dream, Allisha Gray and Cheyenne Parker; Team Liberty, Sabrina Ionescu and Courtney Vandersloot; and Team Wings, Arike Ogunbowale and Satou Sabally.

The Las Vegas Aces, who are hosting the All-Star Game, led all squads with four All-Star selections, followed by the New York Liberty and Atlanta Dream with three.

All four pairings will compete in the first round of the Skills Challenge, with the two teams that get through the obstacle course the quickest advancing to the final round and going head-to-head for the championship.

The Skills Challenge and the 3-point Contest will take place Friday at 4 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on ESPN. The participants of the 3-point Contest have yet to be announced by the league.

The 2023 WNBA All-Star Game will be held Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET and will air on ABC.

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