WNBA
Melanie Jackson, ESPN.com 8y

Breanna Stewart named WNBA's top rookie

WNBA, Seattle Storm, Connecticut Huskies

For the second consecutive season, the WNBA's top rookie hails from Seattle.

The Storm's Breanna Stewart was named the league's 2016 Rookie of the Year on Thursday. The 6-foot-4 forward led all first-year players in scoring (18.3, sixth overall in the WNBA), rebounding (9.3, second) and blocked shots (1.9, third) in the regular season.

"It is truly an honor to be given this award in such a competitive league full of powerful women," Stewart said.

Stewart, whose Seattle teammate Jewell Loyd won the honor in 2015, received 38 votes from a national panel of 39 sportswriters and broadcasters. San Antonio's Moriah Jefferson, Stewart's college teammate the past four years at UConn, received the other vote.

Stewart also headlined the WNBA All-Rookie Team, which included Jefferson, Dallas forward Aerial Powers, Chicago center Imani Boyette and Fever guard Tiffany Mitchell.

In helping Seattle return to the postseason for the first time since 2013, Stewart tied for the league lead in minutes (34.7 per game), tallied 12 double-doubles and scored in double figures in 31 of 34 games. She scored a season-high 38 points on two occasions.

"We are really proud of Breanna," Storm coach Jenny Boucek said. "She had a fairly seamless transition into this league in part because of her talent but also because of her coachability, attitude, humility and her love for the game."

Since April, Stewart has led UConn to an unprecedented fourth consecutive NCAA championship, won her third straight Naismith Player of the Year award, received the first pick in the WNBA draft and made her Olympic debut, winning her first gold medal in Rio with USA Basketball. She also swept all four WNBA Rookie of the Month awards this season.

The Storm, who lost to Atlanta in the first round of the WNBA playoffs, are the first team in league history to have Rookie of the Year honorees in consecutive seasons.

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