Delle Donne Named to All-WNBA First Team

WNBA Most Valuable Player Breanna Stewart of the Seattle Storm was unanimously selected to the 2018 All-WNBA First Team, the WNBA announced today.  The 6-4 forward was the only player named to the First Team on all 39 ballots in voting by a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters.

 

Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi was voted to the All-WNBA First Team for the 10th time, extending her WNBA record for First Team selections.  She also earned her 13th selection to the All-WNBA First Team or Second Team, passing Tamika Catchings and Lisa Leslie (12 each) for the most in league history.

 

Joining Stewart (195 points) and Taurasi (179) on the All-WNBA First Team are Dallas Wings center Liz Cambage (190), Washington Mystics forward Elena Delle Donne (184) and Atlanta Dream guard Tiffany Hayes (138).  This marks the first All-WNBA nods for Cambage and Hayes. 

 

The 2018 All-WNBA Second Team consists of Los Angeles Sparks forward Candace Parker (97 points), Wings guard Skylar Diggins-Smith (79), Minnesota Lynx forward Maya Moore (76), Mercury center Brittney Griner (74) and Chicago Sky guard Courtney Vandersloot (58).  Vandersloot is making her All-WNBA debut.   

 

Voting for the All-WNBA First and Second Teams was conducted at the conclusion of the regular season.  Players were selected by position and received five points for each First Team vote and three points for each Second Team vote.  If a player received votes at multiple positions, she was slotted at the position where she received the most votes.

 

2018 All-WNBA First Team

 

Breanna Stewart, Storm: Stewart earned her first All-WNBA First Team honor and first WNBA MVP award after ranking second in the league in scoring (21.8 ppg), third in rebounding (8.4 rpg), seventh in blocked shots (1.44 bpg), eighth in steals (1.35 spg), 10th in field goal percentage (52.9) and eighth in three-point field goal percentage (41.5) for league-leading Seattle.

 

Liz Cambage, Wings: In her first WNBA season since 2013, the Australian center led the league in scoring (23.0 ppg) and ranked second in rebounding (9.7 rpg).  She scored a WNBA-record 53 points against the New York Liberty on July 17. 

 

Elena Delle Donne, Mystics: In leading Washington to a franchise-record-tying 22 victories and notching her third All-WNBA First Team selection, Delle Donne (20.7 ppg, 7.2 rpg) averaged at least 20.0 points and 7.0 rebounds for the third time in the last four seasons.

 

Diana Taurasi, Mercury: The WNBA’s all-time points leader tied for third in the league in scoring with 20.7 points per game, her highest average since 2011.  She also made a WNBA-high 106 three-pointers, shot a league-leading 92.5 percent from the free throw line and finished fourth in assists (5.3 apg). 

 

Tiffany Hayes, Dream: The seven-year veteran averaged career highs of 17.2 points and 2.7 assists to lead Atlanta to the WNBA’s second-best record.

 

2018 All-WNBA Second Team

 

Candace Parker, Sparks: An All-WNBA selection for the eighth time, Parker (17.9 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 4.7 apg) was the only player to reach those averages in points, rebounds and assists this season. 

 

Skylar Diggins-Smith, Wings: Now a three-time All-WNBA honoree, she averaged a career-high 6.2 assists (third in the WNBA) to go with 17.9 points while playing a league-high 34.1 minutes per game.

 

Maya Moore, Minnesota Lynx: Moore averaged 18.0 points, 5.1 rebounds and a WNBA-leading 1.68 steals as she earned All-WNBA honors for the seventh consecutive season.  

 

Brittney Griner, Phoenix Mercury: Making her fourth All-WNBA Team, Griner led the WNBA in blocks (2.56 bpg) for the sixth straight season and ranked sixth in scoring (20.5 ppg) and eighth in rebounding (7.7 rpg).

 

Courtney Vandersloot, Chicago Sky: The eight-year veteran set WNBA records for assists per game (8.6) and total assists (258), along with averaging a career-high 12.5 points.  

 

In honor of their accomplishments, each member of the First Team will receive $10,000 and each member of the Second Team will receive $5,000.

 

Below are the voting results for the 2018 All-WNBA Teams.

 

2018 ALL-WNBA FIRST TEAM

 

Position         Player, Team                               1st Team     2nd Team      Total

Forward         Breanna Stewart, Seattle                  39                 —               195

Center            Liz Cambage, Dallas                        38                 —               190

Forward         Elena Delle Donne, Washington      35                 3                184

Guard             Diana Taurasi, Phoenix                   31                 8                179

Guard             Tiffany Hayes, Atlanta                     21                 11              138

                                                                            

2018 ALL-WNBA SECOND TEAM

 

Position         Player, Team                               1st Team     2nd Team      Total

Forward         Candace Parker, Los Angeles          2                 29                97

Guard             Skylar Diggins-Smith, Dallas          5                 18                79

Forward         Maya Moore, Minnesota                  5                 17                76

Center            Brittney Griner, Phoenix                 1                 23                74

Guard             Courtney Vandersloot, Chicago       5                 11                58