Former Arizona Wildcat Sam Thomas was named to the Associated Press' WNBA All-Rookie Team on Tuesday, joining Rookie of the Year Rhyne Howard (Atlanta) as well as Shakira Austin (Washington), Rebekah Gardner (Chicago) and NaLyssa Smith (Indiana).
An undrafted free agent who latched on with the Phoenix Mercury in training camp, Thomas played in 24 regular-season games, shooting 21% from the field while averaging 0.4 points, 0.2 rebounds and 0.3 assists in 4.9 minutes per game.
Despite the modest numbers, Thomas is coming off the best game of her pro career. On Sunday, she played a career-high 12 minutes and scored a career-high six points in the Mercury's regular-season finale against the Chicago Sky. It marked the first time all season that Thomas had scored more than two points in a game, though she put up nine in a preseason tilt against Seattle.
Thomas and the Mercury made the WNBA playoffs as the No. 8 and final seed. The team will take on top-seeded Las Vegas in Wednesday's first-round opener, set for 7 p.m. on ESPN.
Seattle's Breanna Stewart was named the AP's Player of the Year. Las Vegas' A'ja Wilson was named Defensive Player of the Year, and Atlanta's Tanisha Wright is coach of the year.ย The AP's All-WNBA first team consists of Stewart; Wilson; Chicago's Candace Parker, Las Vegas' Kelsey Plum; and New York's Sabrina Ionescu. The second team consists of Connecicut's Jonquel Jones and Alyssa Thomas; Los Angeles' Nneka Ogwumike; Chicago's Courtney Vandersloot; and Phoenix's Skylar Diggins-Smith.
A 10-member media panel that covers the league voted on the awards.
