Dream's Angel Reese named WNBA Defensive Player of the Year - ESPN

Atlanta Dream center Angel Reese has won the WNBA's Defensive Player of the Year award, the league announced Thursday, making her the first player in franchise history to win the award.

Reese received 46 of the 74 votes from a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters, while Golden State's Gabby Williams received 20, Las Vegas' A'ja Wilson got four, Washington's Shakira Austin received two, and Golden State's Veronica Burton and Atlanta's Rhyne Howard each got one.

«I told my coaches earlier in the season I am going to be the Defensive Player of the Year,» Reese told ESPN. «I don't know if it's going to be this year, I don't know if it's going to be next year, but I'm challenging myself, and I want you guys to challenge me every day to be that. And here it is.»

Reese told ESPN that when she joined the Dream, she had «expectations knowing how good the team was going to be.»

«I always think team success leads to individual success,» she said. «I've always been a great defender… but I knew coming to Atlanta, it was going to put me on a bigger [stage]… and lead to wins.»

In her first season with the Dream — and third in the league — Reese set multiple WNBA records, including the most rebounds in a single season (500) and the most rebounds in a single game (26 against the Los Angeles Sparks).

Reese also set the WNBA single-season record with 32 double-doubles. She finished the regular season averaging a league-best 12.3 rebounds per game. With her 16.4 points per game, she was one of just two players to average a double-double.

During the regular season, the Dream limited opponents to 7.9 points per 100 possessions fewer when Reese was on the floor than when she was off of it — the second-best defensive differential among