Paige Bueckers of the Dallas Wings has been named the WNBA Rookie of the Year, receiving 70 of 72 votes from sportswriters and broadcasters. The announcement was made by the league on Tuesday. The other two votes went to Washington Mystics guard Sonia Citron.
Bueckers, the No 1 overall pick in this year's draft, was a standout performer for a team that finished with a league-worst 10-34 record, tied with the Chicago Sky. The former UConn star averaged 19.2 points on 47.7% shooting, along with 3.9 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.6 steals per game.
Her 692 points and 194 assists were the third-most by a WNBA rookie. She scored a season-high 44 points in a loss to the Los Angeles Sparks in August, the highest single-game total in the league this season and the most ever by a rookie. She also became the first player in league history to score 40 or more points while shooting 80% from the field in a game.
That performance came near the end of a 30-game double-digit scoring streak, the third-longest to start a career, behind A'ja Wilson's 33 games in 2018 and Candace Parker's 32 games in 2008.
