2010 WNBA ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM ANNOUNCED
NEW YORK, Aug. 29, 2010 � Indiana Fever forward Tamika Catchings, the 2010 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year presented by Kia Motors, headlines the 2010 WNBA All-Defensive Team, the league announced today. Catchings, who also earned Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2005, 2006 and 2009, collected 22 points from the league�s 12 head coaches. Atlanta Dream forward Angel McCoughtry and Chicago Sky center Sylvia Fowles finished second with 18 points apiece.
Seattle Storm guard Tanisha Wright (11 points) and New York Liberty guard Cappie Pondexter (10 points) round out the All-Defensive First Team.
Catchings earns her sixth consecutive appearance on the All-Defensive First Team. She is the only player to be named to the First Team every year it has been selected (2005-2010). Wright is the only other member of the First Team who was so honored last season. McCoughtry and Fowles, who were selected to the All-Defensive Second Team in 2008 and 2009, respectively, make their initial appearance on the First Team. For Pondexter, it is her first time earning All-Defensive Team honors.
The WNBA All-Defensive Second Team is comprised of Seattle Storm forward-center Lauren Jackson (15 points), Minnesota Lynx forward Rebekkah Brunson (six points), Atlanta Dream center Sancho Lyttle (seven points), Washington Mystics guard Lindsey Harding (nine points), and Indiana Fever guards Tully Bevalaqua and Katie Douglas (six points apiece).
Jackson, the 2007 Defensive Player of the Year, was twice selected to the All-Defensive First Team (2007 and 2009) and twice named to the All-Defensive Second Team (2005 and 2008). For Brunson, this marks her third selection to the All-Defensive Second Team (2007 and 2008), while Lyttle earns Second Team honors for a second consecutive season. The Fever guards, Bevilaqua and Douglas, are no strangers to this honor. Bevilaqua was selected to the All-Defensive First Team in 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2009, and to the second team in 2007; Douglas was a member of the First Team three consecutive seasons, 2005-2007. Harding is a first-time member of the All-Defensive squad.
A panel of the WNBA�s 12 head coaches voted on the WNBA All-Defensive Team, selecting First and Second Teams by position. Coaches were not permitted to vote for players from their own team. Players earned two points for each First Team vote and one point for a Second Team vote.
Below are the top finishers in the vote for the 2010 WNBA All-Defensive Teams:
2010 WNBA ALL-DEFENSIVE FIRST TEAM
Player Team | Position | Points | ||
Tamika Catchings | Indiana Fever | Forward | 22 | |
Angel McCoughtry | Atlanta Dream | Forward | 18 | |
Sylvia Fowles | Chicago Sky | Center | 18 | |
Tanisha Wright | Seattle Storm | Guard | 11 | |
Cappie Pondexter | New York Liberty | Guard | 10 |
2010 WNBA ALL-DEFENSIVE SECOND TEAM