NEW YORK (AP) — Caitlin Clark has been named WNBA Rookie of the Year in a near-unanimous vote, becoming the Indiana Fever's second consecutive winner, joining Aliyah Boston in last season's honor.
A national panel of sportswriters and sportscasters gave Clark 66 of 67 votes in a vote released Thursday. The other went to Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese.
Clark, the No. 1 overall pick out of Iowa State, averaged 19.2 points and a league-high 8.4 assists per game, helping set WNBA attendance records and garner mainstream attention. She struggled a bit early in the season, but regained her form and was named an All-Star starter. The unanimous AP Rookie of the Year led the Fever to the playoffs for the first time since 2016, posting a 20-20 record after a 1-8 start.
“I'm a tough scorer. I feel like we had a great year,” Clark said after the Fever were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. “What's fun for me is I feel like I'm just scratching the surface and have a hand in everything I do. I want to help this franchise. …I have so much more to offer. That excites me the most because I know there's a lot of room for improvement. I feel like I'm only going to get better.”
Clark was not selected for the U.S. Olympic team, a decision that disappointed many fans, but in the weeks that followed she showed that she might have been useful. Feverguard averaged 24.7 points and 9.3 assists in the first 10 games after the Olympic hiatus, leading Indiana University to an 8-2 record.
Clark was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Month for August, and has been named Player of the Week three times and Player of the Month four times. She became the first rookie in WNBA history to record two triple-doubles, set the league's single-game record with 19 assists, and became the first rookie to record at least 30 points and 10 assists in a game.
Clark led the league in 3-point shooting with 122, was second in free-throw line accuracy at 90.6 percent, and averaged 5.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals. She set a league single-season record with 337 assists, and set rookie records with 769 points and 122 3-pointers made.
Reese averaged 13.6 points and 13.1 rebounds for the Sky.
Off the court, Clark, Reese and their fellow rookies were a ratings and attendance boon for the WNBA. This year, six different league television partners set viewing records for the WNBA's most-watched games. All of these games included Fever.
Indiana led the league in attendance both at home and on the road. The average number of people with fever was 17,036 at home and more than 15,000 when away. When Indiana came to town, four teams moved their home games to larger arenas to accommodate more fans.
in spite of Indiana loses to Connecticut in Game 1The game averaged 1.8 million viewers, making it the WNBA's most-watched playoff game since the 2000 Finals, according to ESPN. Even though it was against the NFL, it was the most-watched playoff game ever on ESPN.
