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WNBA Rookie Report: Last stretch of season updates for Satou Sabally, Te’a Cooper, Chennedy Carter, etc. Weeks 5-7

Julie Allemand of the Indiana Fever
~ Aneela Khan ~ Leave a comment

The WNBA is now nearing towards the end of the season and it is now time to update on all of the rookies from the mid season point. We have all the rookies covered for you from the WNBA Rookie Report committee members Teylor Haines, Blake O’Tain and myself (Aneela Khan). The rookies are reported on by their draft order.

Satou Sabally

Since her last rookie report update, Sabally has continued to shine for the Dallas Wings. She is now averaging 13. 1 points per game, 7.8 rebounds per game and 2.5 assists per game. She has now 5 double doubles up to this point. She continues to be one of the impact players for Dallas and is still very much a candidate for Rookie of the Year. -Aneela

Lauren Cox

Cox has now played in 14 games for the Fever, and started in one game. She is
still adjusting to the faster pace in the WNBA. She’s averaging 3.6 points per game, and 3.3
rebounds per game. Cox is still adjusting but has made some promising contributions for
Indiana. – Blake

Chennedy Carter

Chennedy Carter returned from her ankle injury and quickly reminded everyone of how important she is to Atlanta’s offense. Prior to the injury it appeared that Rookie of the Year was hers to lose because she was putting on the show every night. However, the injury may have put her at a disadvantage because Sabally and Dangerfield have shined as well. Since the return, Carter has averaged nearly 16 points per game (15.7) on 46 percent shooting. – Teylor

Bella Alarie

Alarie has appeared in 19 games averaging 2.2 points per game and 2.7
rebounds per game. Bella is also averaging 0.9 blocks per game. Alarie has still been unable to drain a 3 in the WNBA. Struggles on the offensive end continue for Bella. -Blake

Mikiah Herbert-Harrigan

Mikiah Hebert-Harrigan has made the most with playing 12 minutes per game. We’ve seen glimpses of her potential as a outside threat. Though the sample size is small, Herbert-Harrigan leads the league in three-point percentage at 51.9 percent. -Teylor

Tyasha Harris

Ty Harris has shown spurts where it looks like she can be the starting point guard in Dallas, but the opportunity tends to fluctuate with her minutes given per game. Although, I’ve been on the train to have Harris on the All-Rookie for majority of the season, the last five games haven’t been the best indication of what a great she is gonna be in this league. – Teylor

Ruthy Hebard

Ruthy Hebard has already come along so well in her young career. Despite injury opening the door for Hebard to see the court in major minutes, she has made the most of them. In last five games, Ruthy is averaging just over 17 minutes per game. She’s even recorded her first double-double against Indiana with 12 points and 11 boards. -Teylor

Megan Walker

Walker has appeared in 14 games for the Liberty. She’s averaging 3.2 points and 1.6 boards per game. She has really struggled from the 3 point line, only 11% from 3.
Rough shooting for Walker but if she can approve upon that in the off-season I think she is a very promising player. -Blake

Jocelyn Willoughby

Is averaging 5.1 points, and 2.2 rebounds per game. Willoughby is shooting 34.5% from 3. Willoughby has contributed some meaningful minutes for this young team. -Blake

Jazmine Jones

Jones has continued her great play as of late. She’s averaging 10.5 points
per game, ranked 4th among rookies. Averaging 3.4 rebounds which also ranks 4th among
rookies. 1.3 steals per game, 2nd among rookies. – Blake

Kylee Shook

Kylee Shook has been sidelined due to an ankle injury suffered against Atlanta but did play recently versus the Los Angeles Sparks. – Teylor

Kathleen Doyle

Doyle has played in 15 games so far. She has 1.3 points per game, on 22% from the field, and 23% from 3. Not great for the 14th pick so far, hope to see her improve as we wrap up the season. -Blake

Leaonna Odom

Leaonna Odom has played in all of New York Liberty’s games so far and has started in 14 of them. She has had mixed results and scored a career high 12 points in the loss to Atlanta a couple of days. She has looked good in some games, not so great in other games. She is currently averaging 5.1 points per game and 2.6 rebounds per game in her limited minutes on the floor – Aneela

Crystal Dangerfield

Crystal Dangerfield has continued on from the mid season point and has continued to perform well for Minnesota. She should be the front runner for the Rookie of the Year because she has maintained her excellent play. She has helped Minnesota win close games and has been a leading scorer in some of the games played. She is currently averaging 15.9 points per game and 3.6 assists per game. – Aneela

Brittany Brewer

Brittany Brewer has continued to not get playing time for the Atlanta Dream and is one of the last players off the Dream bench. Her rookie season has been played in limited minutes and in limited games, so it’s hard to say anything about her impact. – Aneela

Te’a Cooper

Te’a Cooper has continued to show throughout this season that she’s a strong, capable defender. There’s been stretches where her or Sykes are tasked with guarding the best of the guards while Gray takes the lighter load to have energy for offense. She’s proved that she has the potential to be elite in that area. Cooper’s stats aren’t the most dazzling, but from the eye test alone I wouldn’t be surprised if she finds her way on the All-Rookie Team. – Teylor

Joyner Holmes

Holmes has played in 15 games, and averaged 3.1 points per game, and 3.1 rebounds per game. She is only shooting 8% from 3. Holmes need to try to improve her three point shot, to fit in this new Walt Hopkins system. – Blake

Beatrice Mompremier

In limited minutes on the floor, Beatrice Mompremier is averaging 2.3 points per game and 3.2 rebounds per game. She still needs time to grow and develop but her play is coming on nicely. She still needs to work on her free throw shooting as she is just hitting 42.9% from the free throw line – Aneela

Kaila Charles

Charles has played in 19 games. She’s averaging 5.1 points and 2.3 rebounds per game. She’s now shooting 44% from the field, and 40% from 3. Her shooting percentages continue to improve, she’s blossoming into a strong rotation player for Connecticut. -Blake

Jaylyn Agnew

Jaylyn has played limited minutes for the Atlanta Dream and has not played in some of the games. She has yet to make her impact for the Dream. – Teylor

Stella Johnson

Stella Johnson has had a rough go at it with an ankle injury that is expected to keep her out for the remainder of the season. The promising guard hasn’t seen the court since August 23rd. -Teylor

Ezi Magbegor

Ezi Magbegor continues to flourish with the Seattle Storm albeit in limited minutes. She has proven that she can play and compete at the WNBA level and has played in all 19 games so far. She is averaging 6.6 points per game and 2.3 rebounds per game. – Aneela

Julie Allemand

Allemand has had an excellent rookie campaign so far. She’s averaging 5.6 assists per game which is the most by a rookie, and third in the league. Julie is shooting 44% from 3. She is getting 1.3 steals per game. Allemand is averaging 8.1 points per game Julie is keeping herself in the rookie of the year conversation. -Blake

Who is the Greatest WNBA Player of All Time? Tournament Bracket Challenge!

Greatest of All Time Player Bracket Challenge!
~ Aneela Khan ~ 9 Comments

Welcome to the Greatest WNBA Player of All Time Tournament Bracket Challenge presented by wbasketballblog.com!

The constant debates between who REALLY is the Greatest WNBA Player of All Time can be put to rest in this bracket challenge. There are so many different ideas of what makes a great player in terms of scoring the ball, defending, rebounding and what kind of impact they had in the game, etc.  We thought it would be a great idea to put it in the public’s hands once and for all to determine who is the Greatest WNBA Player of All Time.

The world is consumed of bad news everyday and since the NCAA Tournament was cancelled, why not throw our own tournament but still represent the WNBA and women’s basketball? So, we came up with this idea.

In order to undertake this challenge of putting the top 64 players, I reached out to ask individuals if they would like to participate. In turn, I received a lot of interest and we were able to quickly form a committee. The following committee members are: Kevin Brown, Glenn Starkey, Nathan Hiatt, Lamar Smith, Michael Olsen and myself (Aneela Khan).

As a committee, we decided that Diana Taurasi is the overall #1 seed and the four #1 seeds are Diana Taurasi, Lauren Jackson, Maya Moore and Lisa Leslie. The four regions are named W, N, B and A. Tomorrow, we will release the 64 players bios to give you an informed opinion on who to vote for.

Voting will begin at 10 am EST on Monday, March 30th and we will conduct the polls via Twitter. We will do one region each day. The winner will be announced some time in April.  Voting will be for 24 hours.

The G.O.A.T bracket is below. (We apologize for the size of the table and how small it is but it will make it easier for you to see.) Again, we deeply apologize for the size and the fact that there are no printed copies. Truly.

Listed below are the committee members bios who contributed to making this bracket happen. They are very diverse and come from different walks of life.

Aneela Khan – Twitter – @whoopsblogger

Aneela Khan is the owner of wbasketballblog.com. She became a fan of the WNBA in the year 2008 when Candace Parker entered the league. She was a fan of the San Antonio Stars before they were sold to Las Vegas. She started to blog and write about women’s college basketball, WNBA, Canada’s Senior Women’s National Team seriously in the year 2016.

Glenn Starkey  – Twitter – @Starkman55

Glenn Starkey has followed the WNBA since the year 2000. In 2004, he became a season ticket holder to the New York Liberty. He married a fellow New York Liberty fan, Rebecca in 2011. He has seen the New York Liberty go through many ups and downs throughout their tenure and has found a community with many other fellow Liberty fans. Glenn works in business insurance and also supports six women’s college basketball teams.

Kevin Brown – Twitter – @over_short

Kevin Brown has been a WNBA fan since the inaugural season. He preferred the WNBA over the ABL because of how dominant Sheryl Swoopes was. Kevin has tracked WNBA stats and trivia over at his personal website WNBA odds and ends in which he has kept records from old and new seasons. His site has been simply instrumental in keeping WNBA data when there was no other option.

Lamar Smith – Twitter – @inside380

Lamar Smith is a sports journalism Masters graduate at Arizona State University. He is an avid basketball fan and in the fall he will be publishing his first book.

Michael Olson – Twitter – @colombianmikey

Michael Olsen is a senior in high school. He is from Minnesota and is a Lynx fan and was able to witness the Lynx’s great dynasty. He really became supportive of the WNBA in 2016 and in his free time, he watches women’s college basketball, the WNBA and he also plays basketball. He also likes to study both the history of the league and historical players while still watching the young talent we see in the game today.

Nathan Hiatt – Twitter – @NATE_HIATT

Nathan Hiatt is a sports journalist who graduated from Oklahoma State University in May 2018. He currently attends Arizona State University as a graduate student and is set to graduate this coming May.

Canadian Senior Women National Team Olympic Qualifying Tournament Preview

nayo raincock-ekunkwe, new york liberty.
~ Aneela Khan ~ Leave a comment

The Canadian Senior Women’s National Team is set to face in the final Olympic qualifying tournament which tips off on Thursday afternoon in Ostend, Belgium. Canada will face Belgium, Sweden and Japan in this tournament.

In order to qualify for the Olympics, Canada must finish in the top 2 as Japan has already qualified for the tournament since they are the host nation.

Canada will be tested in this final Olympic qualifying tournament as Belgium, Sweden and Japan are worthy opponents.

Belgium, the host nation is ranked 9th in the world but have never qualified for the Summer Olympics before. They hope to change that led by Washington Mystics forward Emma Messeman who is apart of the reigning WNBA champions. Kim Mestdagh and Ann Wauters are also familiar names that will try to help Belgium make history. They will be a tough team to battle.

Japan, which does not need this tournament to qualify as they have already qualified due to the Olympic host nation, are ranked 10th in the world. They finished in 8th place at the 2016 Olympics. They will still be a tough team to face as they have nothing to lose and are using this tournament as a tune up for the Olympics.

Sweden, who is ranked 22nd in the world, has never qualified for the Olympics just like Belgium. They are led by New York Liberty forward/center Amanda Zahui B. Farhiya Abdi and Elin Eldebrink are familiar names that aim to make history.

Canada will be led by veteran forwards Kim Gaucher and Miranda Ayim and WNBA stars Kia Nurse and Natalie Achonwa. 5 players have played in the 2019 WNBA season (Achonwa, Nurse, Alexander, Carleton, Raincock-Ekunwe) and Jamie Scott has some WNBA experience. 2 players (Amihere and Pellington) are currently playing in college. Canada has tons of experience in this group and to view the final roster, please read the press release Canada Basketball put out today.

Canada faces Belgium on Thursday, February 6th at 2:35 pm EST/11:35 am PST on CBC Network and streaming online at cbc.ca. Canada faces Sweden on Saturday, February 8th at 2:35 pm EST/11:35 am PST on CBC Network and online at cbc.ca. Canada’s final game will be against Japan on Sunday, February 9th at 12:05 pm EST/9:05 am PST and that will also air on CBC Network and online at cbc.ca. To Americans, all three games are available to stream online on ESPN+.

Canada is ranked a program high of 4th place but it has bigger goals in mind as the team prepares for the upcoming Olympic qualifying tournament. It will face tough opponents in this tourney but Canada now has plenty of veteran experience, youth and grittiness within the squad that will help them obtain a top 2 finish and all of Canada will be able to witness it as it is available through CBC.

The 2020 Summer Olympics games will tip off from July 24th to August 9 in Tokyo, Japan.

Women’s College Basketball Player Rankings – Class by Class! Week 10

kathleen doyle, iowa
~ Aneela Khan ~ 1 Comment

This past week was a pretty historic week as quite a handful of top ranked and ranked teams fell to non ranked teams. There were many great feats accomplished such as Arizona State (which was not a ranked team) who was able to upset both Oregon and Oregon State (the #2 and #3 teams in the nation last week) in one weekend! Not only that, Iowa was also able to defeat two ranked teams as well.  Baylor looked very good when they faced Connecticut (who was #1 last week).

There is no clear cut #1 team right now in women’s college basketball and I think that’s a great sign of parity. For YEARS, the #1 team in the country was above every other team. It was difficult to beat them. Now? Not so much. Because of the shakeup of what occurred this past week, it shook up the rankings this week. Many players who have made this list weekly are not in this week. This gives us a chance to spotlight those players who normally don’t get the shine due to the other strong players on top teams. In 4 years of writing and blogging these rankings, I have never seen so many top players miss out in these rankings.

Listed below are the top 36 seniors, the top 27 juniors, the top 18 sophomores and the top 9 freshmen for the week of Jan. 6th to Jan. 12th. If you have questions or this is your first time reading these rankings, please read the FAQ page first. Click here for the previous week’s rankings.

**I have done this in a previous rankings post, but I thought I would start this up again. If you would like to view last year’s Week 10 rankings, click here. If you would like to view 2018’s Week 10 rankings, click here. If you would like to view 2017’s Week 10 rankings, click here. *

SENIORS

  1. Kathleen Doyle – Iowa
  2. Te’a Cooper – Baylor
  3. Bella Alarie – Princeton
  4. Ja’Tavia Tapley – Arizona State
  5. Lauren Cox – Baylor
  6. Tynice Martin – West Virginia
  7. Robbi Ryan – Arizona State
  8. Ayana Mitchell – LSU
  9. Jordan Danberry – Mississippi State
  10. Tyasha Harris – South Carolina
  11. Kylee Shook – Louisville
  12. Chante Stonewall – DePaul
  13. Ciara Duffy – South Dakota
  14. Makenzie Meyer – Iowa
  15. Reili Richardson – Arizona State
  16. Francesca Pan – Georgia Tech
  17. Jocelyn Willoughby – Virginia
  18. Jazmine Jones – Louisville
  19. Katherine Strong – Butler
  20. Borislava Hristova – Washington State
  21. Sabrina Haines – Kentucky
  22. Katie Campbell – Gonzaga
  23. Hailey Leidel – UMass
  24. Erica Ogwumike – Rice
  25. Davion Wingate – FGCU
  26. Alana Gilmer – Marist
  27. Mariah Leonard – Drexel
  28. Chanette Hicks – Norfolk State
  29. Ciani Cryor – Texas Southern
  30. Jasmin Samz – Ball State
  31. Stella Johnson – Rider
  32. McKenzie Johnston – Montana Grizzlies
  33. Le’Jzae Davidson – Furman
  34. Taylor Edwards – Old Dominion
  35. Cinia McCray – North Carolina A&T
  36. DJ Williams – Coastal Carolina

JUNIORS

  1. Michaela Onyenwere – UCLA
  2. Kysre Gondrezick – West Virginia
  3. Rennia Davis – Tennessee
  4. Selena Lott – Marquette
  5. Dana Evans – Louisville
  6. Arella Guirantes – Rutgers
  7. Brice Calip – Missouri State
  8. Kiana Williams – Stanford
  9. Mia Davis – Temple
  10. Jenn Wirth – Gonzaga
  11. Temi Carda – Creighton
  12. Hannah Sjerven – South Dakota
  13. Lindsey Pulliam – Northwestern
  14. Arsula Clark – Tulane
  15. Macee Williams – IUPUI
  16. India Pagan – Stony Brook
  17. Nadiria Evans – UNC Asheville
  18. Maddi Utti – Fresno State
  19. IImar’I Thomas – Cincinnati
  20. Vanessa Austin – CSU Bakersfield
  21. Jordan Brock – Tennessee Tech
  22. Aja Boyd – UNC Greensboro
  23. Olivia Noah – North Alabama
  24. Micaela Kelly – Central Michigan
  25. Taylor Turney – CSU Fullerton
  26. Erin Whalen – Dayton
  27. Kimberly Burton – Louisiana

SOPHOMORES

  1. NaLyssa Smith – Baylor
  2. Rhyne Howard – Kentucky
  3. Taylor Robertson – Oklahoma
  4. Sonya Morris – DePaul
  5. Paiton Burckhard – South Dakota State
  6. Madi Williams – Oklahoma
  7. Jessika Carter – Mississippi State
  8. Jasmine Franklin – Missouri State
  9. Sydni Harvey – South Florida
  10. Katie Douglas – Dartmouth
  11. Lasha Petree – Bradley
  12. Michaela Harrison – Mount St. Mary’s
  13. Megan Walker – Lehigh
  14. Amber Leggett – Sam Houston State
  15. Ayzhiana Basallo – San Jose State
  16. Stephanie Visscher – Stephen F. Austin
  17. Luana Serranho – Campbell
  18. Jonai Johnson – UMKC

FRESHMEN

  1. Zia Cooke – South Carolina
  2. Aliyah Boston – South Carolina
  3. Haley Jones – Stanford
  4. Jordan Horston – Tennessee
  5. Kierstan Bell – Ohio State
  6. Adelaide Fuller – Davidson
  7. Ayoka Lee – Kansas State
  8. Charisma Osborne – UCLA
  9. Ashten Prechtel – Stanford

Women’s College Basketball Player Rankings – Class by Class! Week 9

emily engstler syracuse
~ Aneela Khan ~ 1 Comment

Conference play is now underway and we have already had some surprises early in the conference season. It shall get more interesting as the weeks go by and to truly measure just how good teams are. It has already started to affect these rankings as you will see this week that there were a lot more mid majors/smaller schools added this week because some Power 5 conference teams did not play well or lost this week. However, it could change again next week. We have some good match ups coming this week, so make sure you tune in to watch them!

Listed below are the top 36 seniors, the top 27 juniors, the top 18 sophomores and the top 9 freshmen for the week of December 30th to Jan. 5th. Click here for the previous week’s rankings list. Click here for the FAQ page.

*As stated above, there are A TON more mid majors/smaller schools this week which is a bit higher than usual.*

 

SENIORS

  1. Sabrina Ionescu – Oregon
  2. Te’a Cooper – Baylor
  3. Mikayla Pivec – Oregon State
  4. Ruthy Hebard – Oregon
  5. Crystal Dangerfield – Connecticut
  6. Jordan Danberry – Mississippi State
  7. Kathleen Doyle – Iowa
  8. Becca Hittner – Drake
  9. Chante Stonewall – DePaul
  10. Tyasha Harris – South Carolina
  11. Jazmine Jones – Louisville
  12. Tynice Martin – West Virginia
  13. Alexa Willard – Missouri State
  14. Lauren Cox – Baylor
  15. Ciara Duffy – South Dakota
  16. Erica Ogwumike – Rice
  17. Sara Rhine – Drake
  18. Japreece Dean – UCLA
  19. Aislinn Konig – NC State
  20. Lexi Wallen – Illinois State
  21. Kamiah Smalls – James Madison
  22. Stella Johnson – Rider
  23. Tagyn Larson – South Dakota State
  24. Tytionia Adderly – FGCU
  25. Ellie Harmeyer – Belmont
  26. Michal Miller – Wright State
  27. Alana Gilmer – Marist
  28. Ellie Mack – Bucknell
  29. Dominique Golighty – Abilene Christian
  30. Deja Ford – Charleston
  31. Respect Leapheart – Southern Mississippi
  32. Ariona Gill – UTEP
  33. Jasmine Samz – Ball State
  34. Shakeela Fowler – Dayton
  35. Dayna Rouse – Longwood
  36. Nadine Soliman – UNCG

JUNIORS

  1. Chennedy Carter – Texas A&M
  2. Megan Walker – Connecticut
  3. Michaela Onyenwere – UCLA
  4. Vivian Gray – Oklahoma State
  5. Lauren Heard – TCU
  6. Kiara Lewis – Syracuse
  7. Kysre Gondrezick – West Virginia
  8. Kristin Scott – Iowa State
  9. Natasha Mack – Oklahoma State
  10. Destiny Slocum – Oregon State
  11. Kate Cain – Nebraska
  12. Kiana Williams – Stanford
  13. Satou Sabally – Oregon
  14. Dana Evans – Louisville
  15. Brice Calip – Missouri State
  16. N’dea Jones – Texas A&M
  17. Ivana Raca – Wake Forest
  18. Bethy Mununga – South Florida
  19. Jaelynn Penn – Indiana
  20. Macee Williams – IUPUI
  21. Jill Townsend – Gonzaga
  22. India Pagan – Stony Brook
  23. Paige McCormick – UMass
  24. Valerie Higgins – Pacific
  25. Maddi Utti – Fresno State
  26. Jasmine Robinson – Troy
  27. Julia Fleecs – North Dakota

SOPHOMORES

  1. Elissa Cunane – NC State
  2. Christyn Williams – Connecticut
  3. Emily Engstler – Syracuse
  4. Amy Dilk – Michigan
  5. Lexi Held – DePaul
  6. Ashley Joens – Iowa State
  7. Lasha Petree – Bradley
  8. Monika Czinano – Iowa
  9. Grace Berger – Indiana
  10. Brittney Smith – UCF
  11. Erica Johnson – Ohio
  12. Sam Simons – Saint Mary’s
  13. Emma Grothaus – Lehigh
  14. Krislyn Marsh – Howard
  15. Avery LaBarbera – Holy Cross
  16. Jordan Walker – Western Michigan
  17. Amber Leggett – Sam Houston State
  18. Sienna Durr – Columbia

FRESHMEN

  1. Zia Cooke – South Carolina
  2. Taylor Jones – Oregon State
  3. Rickea Jackson – Mississippi State
  4. Aliyah Boston – South Carolina
  5. Dyaisha Fair – Buffalo
  6. Haley Jones – Stanford
  7. Hanna Cavinder – Fresno State
  8. Elena Tsineka – South Florida
  9. Kayla Padilla – Pennsylvania