They say defense wins championships, and the two teams headed to the WNBA Finals, the Atlanta Dream and Golden State Valkyries, led the league with three All-Defensive selections apiece on Thursday.
Atlanta saw forward Angel Reese — the Defensive Player of the Year — and guard Rhyne Howard named to the All-Defensive first team and guard Jordin Canada recognized on the second team.
For Golden State, forward Gabby Williams was honored on the first team and guard Veronica Burton and center Kiah Stokes were named to the second team.
Five-time league MVP A’ja Wilson (Las Vegas) and center Shakira Austin (Washington) comprised the rest of the first team. The other second-team selections were guard Sonia Citron (Washington) and two-time MVP Breanna Stewart (New York).
Reese, in her first season with the Dream, led the league with 12.1 rebounds per game. She finished third in the league in steals per game (1.8) and set a career high with 32 blocked shots.
Meanwhile, her teammates Howard and Canada were the only players to rank above her in steals, topping the list at 2.3 and 1.9 per game, respectively. Howard’s 99 steals tie for second all-time behind Hall of Famer Teresa Weatherspoon, who had 100 in 30 games in 1998.
Williams and Burton each averaged 1.6 steals, and Stokes totaled 74 blocks, second in the league only to Wilson (79).
The second-seeded Valkyries and fourth-seeded Dream will tip off the best-of-seven WNBA Finals on Saturday in San Francisco.
–Field Level Media
