Allie Quigley: the modest superstar

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Sky guard Allie Quigley has beaten NBA legend Chris Paul in a game of H-O-R-S-E, is a three-time WNBA All-Star, a two-time WNBA 3-point Contest champion, and a two-time Sixth Man of the Year.

But you’d never know it just by reading her social media accounts. In fact, her most recent Twitter feed (@alliequigley), was devoted to younger sister Sam’s accomplishments:

*Congrats to my sis!! This is big time!! Everywhere she goes she wins🏆so much passion and so inspirational. Love ya sis! So proud❤️ let’s goooooooo @SIUECougars @siuewbb !!!”

Yet, since 2013, Quigley has turned in stellar performances; a ‘quiet riot’ for the Sky, quick to give away the credit to her teammates or coach for a good game plan, or being at the right place at the right time, or ”just got lucky and went for the shot. “

What’s not on her Twitter feed?

• In an extraordinarily gracious move for a starting player, Quigley agreed to lead the Sky’s second unit off the bench this season.

• She’s averaging 11.8 points in 21 minutes off the bench.

• She’s the all-time leading scorer on the Sky, with over 3,000 points and counting.

• She set a record for most shots made in an All-Star three-point competition across both the NBA and WNBA (29 points), sinking 20 of 25 shots.

• She’s averaged at least 15.0 PPG for the third time in four seasons (2016-2020).

Nor would you find that, at 35 years old, she’s competing in the WNBA’s 3-point Contest at halftime of the WNBA All-Star 2021 game on Wednesday, July 14. Three of her competitors are a whole lot younger.

Quigley will be making her fourth appearance in the 3-Point Contest. She won back-to-back titles at the 2018 All-Star Game in Minneapolis and the 2017 All-Star Game in Seattle. She also participated in the 3-Point Contest in 2019.

First-time participants include Jonquel Jones (age 27) of the Connecticut Sun, Niles West (IL) alum Jewell Loyd (age 27) of the Seattle Storm and Sami Whitcomb (age 32) the New York Liberty.

I’m so excited to be part of this year’s 3-Point Contest at the All-Star Game,” Quigley said. “Vegas does such a good job of hosting and putting on such a great event for our fans.”

In her 13th season, Quigley is averaging 1.5 3-pointers made per game and is connecting on 39.2 percent of her attempts. She’s second on the team with 20 threes made this season, while averaging 11.8 points per game.

But you won’t really hear that from Quigley herself. It’s all in the record books, team stats, interviews with coaches, and the mouths of her teammates, especially her wife, Sky “Floor General’ Courtney Vandersloot.

Where does the humble come from? Quigley talked about her upbringing, as one of four children in a single-parent home, to Illinois Policy online:

“I feel like we were lucky” she said. “My brothers and sister and I were able to get scholarships to have a Catholic education. We lost our dad when we were young and my mom, a young mom herself, took care of us four kids. I think we were all under 7 years old at that time.”

Quigley, her brothers and sisters went to school on scholarship, and reflected on the experience.

“When you’re young, you don’t ask these kinds of questions,” she told Illinois Policy. “You just think, ‘This is life. I get to do this and have this opportunity.’ So, being older, it just makes me appreciate that we had generous people that were able to help us get through those tough times and give me these memories that I will cherish forever.”

Quigley spent her formative years in Catholic education, from grade school to Joliet Catholic High School, where she was named a WBCA All-American. Then to DePaul University, where, under the tutelage of Coach Doug Bruno, Quigley was a standout DePaul Lady Blue Demon from 2004-08. In that time, the Lady Blue Demons earned four berths to the NCAA tournament. She is one of just four players at DePaul to score more than 2,000 points, and ranks third all-time in points and assists.

Coach Bruno reflected on Quigley’s time at DePaul for DePaul Online in 2016:

“Allie had this innate, quiet, caring about other people,” Bruno said. “Allie was a great sharer of the ball as well as a great scorer. As a teammate, (Allie had) this innate sincerity and innate care for other people. She’s got it in her nature and her background.”

Her basketball skills? They’re an innate strength in her 5’10, 142-pound frame.

“She’s deceivingly quick and athletic,” Bruno continued. “Her body type might look frail, but it’s a really strong wire-y body that’s long and athletic. People think she’s just a three point shooter, but she’s quick and athletic with the ball.”

In 2019, Quigley led the WNBA with 70 three-point field goals, the first Sky player to lead the league in this category and the first player not named (Diana) Taurasi, (Ivory) Latta or (Maya) Moore to lead the league since 2002.

“All that stuff is cool, but they’re just individual awards,” Quigley told the Chicago Sun-Times in 2020. “A true testament to how good of a player you are is if you can lead your team to a championship or be one of the pieces to help your team get a championship. So that’s definitely No. 1 on my list and we have a chance (this year.)”

The same is true in 2021. Expect Quigley to do her part. But don’t expect her to pat herself on the back for her efforts.