WNBA Rookie Report: WNBA Debuts of Sabrina Ionescu, Satou Sabally, Chennedy Carter, Tyasha Harris and more. Week 1.

Chennedy Carter, Satou Sabally, Atlanta Dream, Dallas Wings, WNBA

August 4, 2020 ~ Aneela Khan ~ Leave a comment

Week 1 of the shortened WNBA season has come to a close and WNBA rookies have finally played a WNBA game. Some rookies had a great first week, other rookies struggled, some did not get enough playing time and some rookies got injured. We have it all covered for you from our WNBA Rookie Report comittee members Teylor Hines, Blake O’Tain and myself (Aneela Khan). The rookies are put together by their respective draft order.

Sabrina Ionescu

As one of the most anticipated WNBA rookie debuts in WNBA history, Sabrina Ionescu’s first game was against one of the top WNBA teams in the Seattle Storm. She struggled from the field and was 0-8 from three. She finished with 12 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Four days later, she turned it around against the Dallas Wings, another young team in the WNBA. She had 33 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists. She shot 55% from the field and 60% from three. Two days later, she suffered an ankle injury and was out the rest of the game. She had 10 points in 12 minutes before the injury. Ionescu’s injury will keep her out for a month, maybe longer and so unfortunately there will be no more rookie updates of Sabrina Ionescu for a while. – Aneela

Satou Sabally

As one of the most versatile players in this draft, Satou Sabally’s WNBA rookie debut was also much anticipated. Her first game was against the Atlanta Dream in which she fouled out but had 11 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals. Her second game was against New York and fellow rookie and Oregon team mate in Sabrina Ionescu. Sabally struggled in the game and finished with 12 points and 4 rebounds. In Sabally’s third game of the season against the Indiana Fever, she showed her versatility and promise as she had a big game and scored 23 points and had 17(!) rebounds. In her final game of the week, she struggled and ended up with 10 points and 6 rebounds. Satou Sabally still has so much upside and will continue to get better as she gets used to the WNBA. She is now one of the leading candidates for Rookie of the Year. – Aneela

Lauren Cox

Cox has still not made her WNBA Debut and still remains in COVID protocol. -Blake

Chennedy Carter

Chennedy Carter is just as great as advertised. Her handles are great and she can create her own shot whenever she pleases. The most surprising, but, also positive observation of Carter’s game has been her willingness to distribute. We often discuss Chennedy’s focus on scoring the ball, but she has shown in spurts of games that she can shift her mindset. However, it’ll be in the Dream and Carter’s best interest if she starts to cut down on the turnovers. Most of her turnovers come from trying to do too much and not letting the game flow, but those errors can be fixed. Carter wrapped up the first week of play averaging 15.3 points per game along with 4 assists. -Teylor

Bella Alarie

Bella has had a slower start in the WNBA than I expected, only putting up 3 points per game. She is definitely still adjusting to this new level of competition in the WNBA. In her 12.5 minutes per game, she is averaging 1 block, which is 3rd best among rookies. -Teylor

Mikiah Herbert Harrigan

Mikiah Herbert-Harrigan started the season not playing in the Lynx’s opener, but unfortunate injuries opened the door for playing time. In the last three games, she’s averaging nearly 13 minutes on the floor. Herbert-Harrigan has yet to find her touch offensively and that could be due to adjusting to playing heavily on the perimeter. As the season progresses, the hope is that those open shots will start to fall. On the contrast, her defensive presence has been impressive. Herbert-Harrigan’s active hands and ability to be an effective defender without fouling, specifically, in the Chicago game makes her a viable asset to the Lynx’s rotation. -Teylor

Tyasha Harris

Ty Harris has the makings of an All-Rookie team candidate. Harris has showed a little bit of everything that she’s capable of since her debut. Noticeably, she’s great with change of pace and has displayed amazing court vision early on. Harris wrapped up the first week of play averaging 7.5 points per game and 4 assists on nearly 48 percent shooting from the field. Harris’ assist-to-turnover ratio sits at 4:1 to start the season. -Teylor

Ruthy Hebard

Ruthy Hebard’s playing time has been limited due to the depth of Chicago’s front court. However, with Dolson foot injury it has allowed Hebard to come off the bench and make a difference specifically with rebounding. Most notably, in her eight minutes of play against Washington she pulled down six rebounds. With making that kind of impact in such a short amount of time, Hebard’s confidence and growth going forward for the Sky could be major. -Teylor

Megan Walker

Megan has played in 3 games for the Liberty, after passing COVID protocol. She has struggled to begin her career, she’s only shooting 18% from the field, and 0-11 from 3. Megan has scored 2 points in each of the Liberty’s 3 games. Walker was a junior who declared for the draft early, so she is younger but having a very slow start to her career to say the least. -Blake

Jocelyn Willoughby

Willoughby has made meaningful contributions for the Liberty early in this season. She’s averaging 7 points and 3.3 rebounds per game, and is shooting 55 percent from 3! Willoughby has been strong defensively too, against Atlanta she had 3 steals and 2 blocks. She has definitely put of some strong stat lines for a WNBA rookie. -Blake

Jazmine Jones

Jones has played in 3 of New York’s games. She had an outstanding performance against the Atlanta Dream. Jones scored 20 points in that game, along with 2 steals and 2 blocks. Jazmine is averaging 10.3 points per game, which is 4th among rookies. Jones has also been a good rebounder averaging 3 rebounds per game, which is 5th among rookies. -Blake

Kylee Shook

Kylee Shook got off to a rough start in her first two games, but averaged 8 points and 4.5 boards in her last two. With such a young team, Shook will get a solid amount of playing time to perfect pick and pops with Clarendon running point. The main question for Shook is if she’ll be able to adapt to the physicality of the league and make a difference on the defensive of the ball like she did in college. -Teylor

Kathleen Doyle

Doyle suffered an ankle injury in practice which delayed her WNBA debut. She did make her debut against Atlanta on Sunday. She played 7 minutes 0-1 from the field, with one assist, and one turnover. Not a lot of time on the court yet for Kathleen, after her delayed debut. -Blake

Leaonna Odom

Leaonna Odom played in all four New York Liberty games in her first week as a rookie. She played the most minutes in New York’s first game and scored 9 points and had 3 rebounds. She was held scoreless in the Liberty’s second game but had 4 rebounds. In the third game, Odom scored 3 points and had 2 rebounds. In the final game of the week, Odom scored 4 points and had 1 rebound. She has shown flashes of what she can do as rookie but still has a long way to go. – Aneela

Crystal Dangerfield

Crystal Dangerfield excelled in the point guard role for Minnesota in her first week as a rookie. She had 10 points and 2 rebounds in her first game but was held scoreless in her second game. Due to injuries, Crystal Dangerfield played heavy minutes in the final two games of the week for the Minnesota Lynx and had 9 and 17 points respectively. She has played well in starters minutes, so we will see if it will be kept that way for the rest of the season. – Aneela

Brittany Brewer

Brittany Brewer has not gotten much playing time so far in the WNBA and has only seen action in 2 games for the Atlanta Dream this week. She played just 17 minutes against the Dream and had 2 points, 2 steals and 4 blocks. She just played only 3 minutes versus Indiana and was held scoreless across the board. – Aneela

Te’a Cooper

Te’a Cooper exudes the energy that the Sparks often need from their second unit along with Sykes. Her ability to execute on the pick-and-roll with both Ogwumike and Parker will keep her on the floor. The best part of Cooper’s game thus far has been her defensive prowess with how she picks players up mid-court and causes havoc. It doesn’t always result in steals or blocks, but the disruptions make a difference. It’ll be big for the Sparks if she can knock down 3-pointers consistently going forward. Through the first week of play, Cooper averaged 7.3 points per game on 47 percent shooting. -Teylor

Joyner Holmes

Holmes has played in all 4 of New York’s games so far. She’s averaging 3.5 points per game, and 2.8 rebounds per game. She is yet to hit a 3 pointer (0-7 on three point attempt). Joyner did have an excellent game against the Dallas Wings. She scored 7 points, her career high, along with 4 rebounds. -Blake

Beatrice Mompremier

Beatrice Mompremier only got limited time and played in only 3 games out of 4 for the Connecticut Sun. The most playing time she got was on July 26th against Minnesota in which she scored 2 points and had 3 rebounds in 9 minutes. – Aneela

Kaila Charles

Kaila has played in 3 of the Sun’s games, she is averaging 5.3 minutes per game. She hasn’t made a field goal yet in her WNBA career (0-3 on field goal attempts). We will see if Charles can develop a little bit more, and if the Sun utilizes her more within these next couple of games. – Blake

Jaylyn Agnew

Agnew has seen limited minutes thus far for Atlanta. In that time, the former Creighton star hasn’t been able to find a groove with her 3-point shot until their most recent game sinking both of her attempts. – Teylor

Stella Johnson

Stella Johnson has seen the court for a total of one minute and it came in the Sky’s decisive 96-78 victory over the Sparks. There wasn’t much to dissect at that point, but hopefully Johnson can receive minutes before the team’s backup point guard arrives. -Teylor

Ezi Magbegor

Ezi Magbegor got off to a great start in her first week as a rookie. She was a terrific finisher and a great defensive presence for the Seattle Storm. She only averaged about 14 minutes per game in the four games she played but she made the most out of her minutes scoring 7.8 points per game and 2.8 rebounds per game. – Aneela

Megan Huff

Megan Huff has only played in 2 games out of 4 for the Minnesota Lynx in her first week as a rookie and has only played 3 minutes so far. – Aneela

WNBA ROOKIE REPORT: Previewing Sunday’s WNBA rookie debuts of Chennedy Carter, Satou Sabally, Bella Alarie and more.

Atlanta Dream rookies Chennedy Carter, Jaylyn Agnew and Brittany Brewer.

July 26, 2020 ~ Aneela Khan ~ Leave a comment

The WNBA season tipped off and half of the league played in the WNBA season opening games. The other half of the league tip off today and with that, comes the exciting debuts of Satou Sabally, Chennedy Carter, Bella Alarie and more. We continue with our rookie previews written by Blake O’Tain, Teylor Hines and myself (Aneela Khan).

We start with the 12 pm match up between the Connecticut Sun and the Minnesota Lynx. In this match up, there are 5 rookies featured, 2 from the Sun and 3 from the Lynx.

CONNECTICUT SUN

BEATRICE MOMPREMIER (20th overall pick)

Drafted by the LA Sparks, the Connecticut Sun signed her as a rookie free agent. Beatrice Mompremier was a double double machine in college for the University of Miami. She will look to help Connecticut off the bench as the Sun lost some bench players and have added some new players. It may her take some games and she may not get the minutes right away, but she is capable – Aneela Khan

KAILA CHARLES (23rd overall pick)

After a very underwhelming senior season Charles slipped down to the twenty-fourth pick of the WNBA draft. Charles is a good rebounder for her height. She is excellent at driving to the basket, and shooting in the mid range. Charles impact may not be immediate for this strong Connecticut team, however Charles could develop into a very meaningful role for the Sun. – Blake O’Tain

MINNESOTA LYNX

MIKIAH HERBERT HARRIGAN (6th overall pick)

Mikiah Herbert-Harrigan was a surprise pick at sixth to some, but the talent is very much there. She is a well-rounded player who score at will whether it’s off the dribble, pick-and-roll or spot up situations. At 6’2 she’ll most likely move to the small forward position, but her athleticism allows for that to not be a drastic change. It’ll be important for Herbert-Harrigan to play with her competitive ferocity on both ends in order to make noise this year and beyond for the Lynx. – Teylor Hines

CRYSTAL DANGERFIELD (16th overall pick)

Crystal Dangerfield was thought to be a first round pick but fell to the second round and Minnesota Lynx drafted her 4th (16th overall). She was a steady point guard at UCONN and is very unselfish. Her size may prevent her against bigger opponents but she can develop into a very smart point guard and help the Minnesota Lynx’s bench. She may not have spectacular stats in her rookie season but she can still be a contributor. – Aneela Khan

MEGAN HUFF (2019 WNBA Draft, 26th overall pick)

Megan Huff was drafted last year by the New York Liberty and was cut from the team following preseason action. She was signed by the Minnesota Lynx after Cecilia Zandalasini said she would opt out for personal reasons. Megan Huff is a versatile scorer and rebounder and played overseas in Latvia during the winter. She will have the chance to prove herself in the WNBA and can help out the Lynx bench. – Aneela Khan

Next up, we move to the afternoon match up (3:00 pm EST) between the Chicago Sky and the Las Vegas Aces. In this match up, there are 2 rookies featured, both from the Chicago Sky.

CHICAGO SKY

RUTHY HEBARD (8th overall pick)

Ruthy Hebard is a All-American post that was one of the most efficient scorers in the nation. Hebard’s touch around the basket and her ability to get rebounds will be needed for the Sky. With the team being down a post player, Ruthy will get the opportunity to flex her wings early and show what she can do. The anticipation centered around Ruthy is to see how the pick-and-roll works with Chicago’s guards. If that connection can be built early on then she’ll certainly be another gem within that deep rotation. – Teylor Hines

STELLA JOHNSON (31st overall pick)

Stella Johnson was drafted and waived from the Mercury prior to being signed by the Sky. Although, Johnson led the NCAA Division I in scoring her load with the Sky should be light. It’ll be tough to get minutes with such a deep roster but she’ll may see the floor with such a condensed season. – Teylor Hines

Last but not least, we move onto the final match up of the day, the Atlanta Dream versus the Dallas Wings at 5:00 pm EST. There are 6 rookies featured in this match up, 3 from the Atlanta Dream and 3 from the Dallas Wings.

ATLANTA DREAM

CHENNEDY CARTER (4th overall pick)

Carter is a feisty, shoot first point guard who the Dream will look to run the offense. With some missing roster pieces she’ll get the green light to make things happen. Carter has an insane ability to create her own shot, but it’ll be pivotal if she can show more of her facilitating skills with this team. It’s expected for Carter to be a star in this league someday and it may start just start from day one. – Teylor Hines

BRITTANY BREWER (17th overall pick)

Drafted by the Atlanta Dream, Brittany Brewer has tremendous potential. The Dream drafted her in the second round to help out the Dream bench and develop, but she will get the chance to play right away as the Dream are down two forwards (Glory Johnson and Kalani Brown) and will not be available to play at the start of the season. – Aneela Khan

JAYLYN AGNEW (24th overall pick)

Jaylyn Agnew was drafted and waived by the Mystics prior to the season. The Dream needed to fill a dire need for shooting and the fit made sense. The reigning Big East Player of the Year knocked down just over 37 percent of her three-point attempts last season. With what could be a fluid bench rotation, Agnew will be able provide a spark of scoring coming from the second unit. – Teylor Hines

DALLAS WINGS

SATOU SABALLY (2nd overall pick)

Drafted second overall, Satou Sabally comes in with very high expectations and hopes to help turn the Wings franchise around. She is a very talented forward who can score, rebound, even pass the ball. She will probably be competing with Sabrina Ionescu for Rookie of the Year honors. She can also defend and is versatile. There are many great things ahead for this rookie – Aneela Khan

BELLA ALARIE (5th overall pick)

Alarie standing 6’4 can bring lots of useful traits to this young Wings team. She has a huge wingspan which allows her to be a great rebounder and a very strong shot blocker. Bella has also shown she can launch threes from deep. This Wings team is so young, Alarie could be a starter in her debut. – Blake O’Tain

TYASHA HARRIS (7th overall pick)

Ty Harris is a pure point guard who has a great feel for the game. She’s a floor general who plays with composure that’s needed within this young team. Harris’ playmaking skills with her quickness will open up more spot up opportunities for their shooters and allow her create own shots. If her shots are falling and her assists to turnover ratio proves to be efficient, she could be a vital piece to their future. – Teylor Hines

WNBA ROOKIE REPORT: Previewing Saturday’s WNBA Rookie Debuts of Sabrina Ionescu, Joyner Holmes, Julie Allemand and more.

July 24, 2020July 24, 2020 ~ Aneela Khan ~ Leave a comment

The WNBA season tips off tomorrow and the New York Liberty’s top pick, the first overall pick, Sabrina Ionescu finally makes her long awaited WNBA pro debut. This season, there are 27 rookies, which is by far the most rookies in a WNBA season in recent years. Because of the sheer volume of rookies playing this year, we are going to file rookie reports on all 26 rookies. The rookie reports will come out every two weeks and will highlight which rookies played well, who had standout weeks, who did not play, etc.

In creating these rookie reports, we previewed the rookies who will be playing in Saturday’s Slate. Sunday’s slate of Rookie Debuts will be up by tomorrow. The Rookie Reports are written by Teylor Hines(@HipsterHoopz) Blake O’Tain(@wnbadaily) and myself. (Aneela Khan)

We will start with the first game of the season, the Seattle Storm vs the New York Liberty. There are 8 rookies featured in the game and New York has 7, the most of any team this year in the WNBA.

SEATTLE STORM

EZI MAGBEGOR (2019 WNBA DRAFT, 12th overall pick)

Ezi Magbegor is the only Seattle Storm rookie in this year’s team. However, she’s not a rookie by any means as she plays professionally in the WNBL for the Melbourne Boomers. She was drafted last year as 12th overall pick. She has basketball experience and is just 20 years old, which is younger than most if not all the 2020 WNBA draftees this year. She averaged 8.7 pts per game and 4.3 rebounds per game while playing in the WNBL. She is one of the intriguing rookies and will look to develop more behind Mercedes Russell and Natasha Howard. – Aneela Khan

NEW YORK LIBERTY

SABRINA IONESCU (1st overall pick)

Sabrina Ionescu is entering her WNBA pro debut with a lot of attention and publicity riding on her shoulders. As the top overall pick, she will be closely watched to see how she leads this very young New York Liberty team against stronger, veteran teams in the league. She will have to learn quickly and adjust to the pro game if New York wants to have any success this season. – Aneela Khan

MEGAN WALKER (9th overall pick)

Megan was one of the few Juniors that decided to declare for the WNBA Draft. Walker was an excellent shooter in college, and will bring some much needed shooting to the Liberty. – Blake O’Tain

JOCELYN WILLOUGHBY (10th overall pick)

Willoughby is another talented shooter selected by the Liberty, in the draft. Willoughby started every game of her collegiate career. She is a great scorer, rebounder, and defender. It will be exciting to see how quickly she can translate those skills, into the much tougher WNBA. – Blake O’Tain

JAZMINE JONES (12th overall pick)

Jones is another strong shooter to add to this youth filled lineup. In college Jones did not shoot a lot of threes, but that is something she can develop as she translates her game to the pros. For her height Jones is a very talented rebounder. – Blake O’Tain

KYLEE SHOOK (13th overall pick)

Shook is a post drafted high in the second round with the opportunity in New York to get decent minutes. The Liberty’s young roster will allow the reigning ACC Defensive Player of the Year to show her ability to track down shots and knock the three. With a steady point guard at the helm, she could thrive early on pick and pop situations. – Teylor Hines

LEAONNA ODOM (15th overall pick)

Odom is a forward from Duke who was drafted in the second round. In New York, she will get the opportunity to prove herself, although it may be in a bench role. She can play multiple positions which should help her get some playing time. She may not be asked to do much in her rookie season, but she could really help elevate the Liberty’s bench. – Aneela Khan

JOYNER HOLMES (19th overall pick)

Holmes is a late addition to the Liberty team. She was selected by the Seattle Storm in the second round of the WNBA Draft, she was later released. Joyner brings a strong defensive presence to this young Liberty team. Her other strengths include inside scoring, and rebounding. – Blake O’Tain

Next up, is the Los Angeles Sparks vs the Phoenix Mercury. With such veteran led teams, only one rookie is featured in it.

LOS ANGELES SPARKS

T’EA COOPER (18th overall pick)

Cooper is a classic combo guard that was drafted and waived by The Phoenix Mercury due to roster cuts. This led to her signing with the Sparks where she’ll be looked at to shoot, shoot, and shoot again with Toliver out. Cooper’s pressure on the defensive side of the ball may also allow her to get more minutes in a scattered Derek Fisher rotation. Her path to making a roster was unorthodox, but her play could cement her place in the league for years to come. – Teylor Hines

Finally, we have the last matchup of the day, the Indiana Fever vs the defending WNBA champions, the Washington Mystics. There are 4 rookies featured in this matchup.

INDIANA FEVER

JULIE ALLEMAND (2016 WNBA Draft, 33rd overall pick)

Julie is a skilled passer, with excellent vision, and a good 3 point shooter. This will be Allemand’s first WNBA game, however she has already played with and against some highly skilled WNBA players. With Erica Wheeler out due to COVID-19 Allemand should see a good amount of playing time in the season opener on Saturday. Allemand will face her Belgium national team mate Emma Messamen, in the first game of Allemand’s WNBA career. – Blake O’Tain

LAUREN COX (3rd overall pick)**

Not available to play right away due to COVID 19 protocols and probably will not play in the season opener, Cox is an outstanding all-around player. She stands 6’4 but is a tremendous defender, a great shooter, and is an exceptional passer for her size. The Fever finished near the bottom as a team defensively last season. Cox will definitely help improve their defensive rating, for years to come. – Blake O’Tain

KATHLEEN DOYLE (14th overall pick)

Doyle is the definition of a floor general. She is a do-it-all kind of point guard, she is a great passer, but also is a very strong shooter. With Erica Wheeler not in the lineup due to COVID-19, look for Doyle to get lots of minutes in her first WNBA game. – Blake O’Tain

WASHINGTON MYSTICS

KIARA LESLIE (2019 WNBA Draft, 10th overall pick

Kiara Leslie’s start to her WNBA career was put to a halt due to injury after being drafted 10th by the Mystics in 2019. This year with the reigning champ’s roster looking a little different and coaches expecting to use their benches more, she’ll get the chance to show us what was missed. Leslie is a wing player that can score at all three levels, so she could be viable scoring option for Washington’s second unit. – Teylor Hains