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The Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark leads Angel Reese of the Chicago Sky in the race for WNBA Rookie of the Year honors at the midpoint of the season, according to a national panel of voters who also rank the AP Power Poll each week.
Clark and Reese have garnered national attention with record-setting rookie seasons—leading to them being the first rookie duo to make the All-Star team since 2014—so it’s no surprise that they’re the leading candidates for the award.
Clark has helped the league enjoy huge increases in ratings, attendance and merchandise sales, and Reese has contributed to the rise. With so much basketball still to be played, an argument can be made for either to win the award.
But at the halfway point, the 15-member panel gives the edge to Clark in a 9-5 vote. One person didn’t vote.
“Today, I would say Clark, only because they have one more win overall as a team and have a 2-1 lead head-to-head,” said voter Christy Winters-Scott, a basketball analyst for the Mystics. “Clearly this could change as the WNBA season progresses. It has been a complete joy for me to witness how both players have evolved as professionals in such a short amount of time in the league.”
Clark is leading the WNBA in points accounted for (points plus points off assists) with 713, according to ESPN. The Indiana Fever’s No. 1 pick also became the first rookie to have a triple-double in a game, doing it in a win over New York on Saturday.
Clark has had double-figure assists in her last three games, including a 19-point, 12-rebound and 13-assist effort against New York last Saturday. The Fever have gone 6-3 in their last nine games. Indiana has a busy upcoming schedule, hosting Washington at noon on Wednesday for and Phoenix on Friday night before visiting Minnesota on Sunday.
Through 22 games, Clark is averaging 16.1 points, 6 rebounds, 7.4 assists, 1.4 steals and 0.8 blocks per game while shooting 39.3% from the field.
Reese set the WNBA record for consecutive double-doubles with 13, passing Candace Parker’s mark of 12 set across the 2009 and 2010 seasons. She’s leading the league in rebounding.
Reese is averaging 14.1 points, 11.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.4 blocks per game while shooting 41.8% from the field.
The panel also picked Las Vegas star A’ja Wilson as the unanimous choice for Player of the Year at this point in the season. Wilson felt she should have won the award last year and this year has been even more dominant. She is averaging 27.0 points, 10.9 rebounds and 2.7 blocks.
The Aces star forward is on pace to shatter the record for average points in a season. She became the Aces’ all-time scoring leader on Sunday.
Cheryl Reeve gets the mid-season nod for Coach of the Year. She guided the Minnesota Lynx to a Commissioner’s Cup title and has the team sitting in third in the standings. Reeve was a near unanimous choice, with Connecticut’s Stephanie White garnering the only other vote.
AP WNBA poll
New York remains in the top spot in this week’s AP WNBA power poll with Connecticut moving back into second. Las Vegas, Minnesota and Seattle were the next three. Indiana and Phoenix were tied for sixth. Chicago and Atlanta followed. Washington, Los Angeles and Dallas rounded out the poll.
Fever attendance
The Fever have drawn an average of 16,167 fans per game in 22 total games this season, including an average of 16,814 in nine home games. The Fever’s overall attendance average is nearly 5,500 ahead of the average drawn by the New York Liberty, which is second in that category.
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How is this possibly a “race”?