Storm’s Stewart named WNBA Rookie of the Year

Herald news services

NEW YORK — Seattle’s Breanna Stewart is the WNBA rookie of the year.

The league announced Thursday that Stewart received 38 of the 39 votes from a national media panel. San Antonio’s Moriah Jefferson, Stewart’s former teammate at UConn got the other vote.

“It’s a tremendous honor to be able to come into the league and make a big impact like I did in my rookie season,” Stewart said. “It’s all you can ask for.”

The No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 draft out of Connecticut, Stewart averaged 18.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.9 blocks, becoming the sixth player in league history to reach those averages in the same season, joining Sylvia Fowles, Yolanda Griffith, former Seattle MVP Lauren Jackson, Lisa Leslie and Candace Parker.

Stewart led all first-year players in those three categories, while finishing sixth, second and third in the WNBA as a whole.

She helped the Seattle Storm advance to the playoffs for the first time since 2013. Seattle finished 16-18 in Stewart’s first professional season.

“What I want to do next is build Seattle and help the Storm get better,” Stewart said. “We got to the playoffs this year and we want to get back there and get better; we’re trying to win championships here, too.”

It’s the first time in the league’s 20-year history the same team had back-to-back winners. Seattle’s Jewell Loyd was the rookie of the year in 2015.

The 6-foot-4 Stewart scored in double figures 31 times and had 12 double-doubles. She had a season-high 38 points in a win against Atlanta on July 10. She swept the league’s rookie of the month honors this season.

She appeared in all 34 regular-season games and tied for the league lead in minutes at 34.7 per game. She ranked second among rookies in assists (3.4) and steals (1.2) and was third in field-goal percentage (45.7) and free-throw percentage (83.3).

Stewart, a native of North Syracuse, N.Y., scored in double figures 31 times and logged 12 double-doubles.