Dallas Wings star Paige Bueckers was a runaway choice for WNBA Rookie of the Year after one of the best debut seasons in league history.
Bueckers received 70 of the 72 votes from sportswriters and broadcasters in balloting announced by the league on Tuesday. The other two went to Washington Mystics guard Sonia Citron.
Bueckers, the No 1 overall pick in this year’s draft, was a bright spot on a team that tied the Chicago Sky with a league-worst 10-34 record. The former UConn star averaged 19.2 points on 47.7% shooting along with 3.9 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.6 steals. But those numbers don’t tell the complete story.
Her 692 points and 194 assists were the third-most by a WNBA rookie. The highlight was when she scored 44 in a loss to the Los Angeles Sparks in August. That was the WNBA’s highest point total this season and the most ever by a rookie. She also became the first player in league history to score 40 or more while shooting 80% in a game. That performance came near the end of a 30-game double-digit 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.
