The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Storm’s Stewart named Player of the Year
NEW YORK — Breanna Stewart has taken her game to a new level this year to lead Seattle to the top spot in the league.
Her efforts earned her Associated Press WNBA Player of the Year honors on Tuesday. The award was chosen by the 14-member media panel that votes for the weekly poll.
Stewart averaged 21.8 points, 8.4 rebounds and shot 52.9 percent from the field this season to help the Storm earn a bye until the semifinals of the playoffs. She received 12 of the 14 votes with Liz Cambage of the Dallas Wings earning the other two.
“To be recognized as the best player is where I want to be and I want to continue to get better,” Stewart said in a phone interview. “The biggest change I made besides improving on the court was preparing myself off the court. Make myself strong and take care of my body nutritionally.”
Atlanta’s Nicki Collen was chosen as the AP’s Coach of the Year, receiving 13 of the 14 votes. In her first season as a head coach, she guided the Dream to a second-place finish in the standings despite Atlanta facing a lot of injuries during the year. The team finished the season with seven wins in its final eight games.
Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson was the unanimous choice as Rookie of the Year. She averaged 20.7 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.6 blocks to help the Aces to 14 wins this season.
Wilson was joined on the all-rookie team by Chicago’s Diamond DeShields, Indiana’s Kelsey Mitchell, Dallas’ Azura Stevens, New York’s Kia Nurse and Washington’s Ariel Atkins.
Other award winners include Connecticut’s Jonquel Jones, the Sixth Woman of the Year; Seattle’s Natasha Howard, Most Improved; Minnesota’s Sylvia Fowles, Defensive Player of the Year; and DeWanna Bonner, Comeback Player of the Year.
Stewart headlined the AP first-team All-WNBA. Also on the squad were Cambage, Elena Delle Donne, Diana Taurasi and Tiffany Hayes. The second team was Candace Parker, Maya Moore, Brittney Griner, Sylvia Fowles and Skylar Diggins-Smith.
POWER POLL
The Seattle Storm were the best team in the league all season and finished the year atop the AP Power Poll. The Storm received all 14 first-place votes and held the top spot for the final seven weeks. Atlanta was second.
The Dream were followed by Washington, Connecticut, Phoenix and Los Angeles. Minnesota, Dallas, Las Vegas, Chicago, New York and Indiana rounded out the poll.