SEATTLE — Halfway through the WNBA season, the Rookie of the Year race has shaped up exactly how everyone predicted.
In reality, no one predicted Angel Reese would have a slight edge on Fever guard Caitlin Clark nine weeks into the season. But after Reese notched her 12th consecutive double-double in the Sky’s win over the Storm on Friday, it’s hard to argue against her controlling the top spot at this point in the season.
“Barbie is Rookie of the Year,” Chennedy Carter said after the game. “There’s no other way to put it.”
Let’s get the argument against Reese out of the way.
Many want to negate her historic double-double streak because of her poor shooting. After shooting 33% through the first nine games, Reese has improved to 47.2% over the last 10. On Friday, she made her first career three-pointer, going 2-for-2 from deep against the Storm.
She leads the league in defensive rebounds per game with 130 and has averaged a league-best 11.7 rebounds. She has had 10 or more defensive rebounds in six games.
Reese had a season-high 14 defensive rebounds Tuesday against the Dream, whose frontcourt includes 2012 WNBA MVP Tina Charles — who holds the regular-season rookie record for rebounds per game (11.7) — and Cheyenne Parker-Tyus.
“Oh, it wasn’t all offensive [rebounds] like people say,” Reese joked after the Sky’s victory over the Dream.
Put plainly, Reese’s history-making rookie season and impact on the Sky can’t be invalidated.
She became the first player in WNBA history to record 10 consecutive double-doubles in a single season in the Sky’s loss to the Lynx on June 30.
She’s tied with Candace Parker for the most consecutive double-doubles in WNBA history. On Sunday, she’ll have the opportunity to own the record outright. If she does, the question will become: How high can she take it?
“I don’t really think about [the double-doubles],” Reese said. “I just go out there and do my job. My job is to rebound. So I’m going to go out there and do my job and rebound.
“I don’t want anybody to think that any given night that I’m going to take a play off. My teammates rely on me, and I never want to let my teammates down.”
Playing for the franchise just under 200 miles southeast of Chicago, Clark has made history of her own.
Against the Storm on June 27, Clark became the fastest player in WNBA history to record 300 points, 100 rebounds and 100 assists, doing it in 19 games. According to ESPN, no player had accomplished those marks in fewer than 22 games. It took Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu 27 games.
In the Fever’s win over the Mercury on June 30, Clark broke the team’s franchise rookie record for assists through 20 games (138). Clark is third in the league in assists per game, averaging 7.1, and fourth in three-pointers made with 57.
Saturday, Clark became the first rookie in WNBA history to record a triple-double, finishing with 19 points, 13 assists, and 12 rebounds in the Fever’s win over the Liberty. It was also the first triple-double in Fever history.
Reese and Clark will be the only rookies in the All-Star Game on July 20 in Phoenix. They finished in the top five in fan voting, with Clark leading the way. It will be the first time they share the court as teammates.
Given that the Sky and Fever could end up in a battle for a spot in the postseason come August, this race is certain to heat up in the second half of the season.