Diggins-Smith, Ogwumike Earn AP Honors

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WNBA Seattle Storm

Diggins-Smith, Ogwumike Earn AP Honors

September 22, 2024 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Seattle Storm News Release


NEW YORK - Seattle Storm guard Skylar Diggins-Smith was named the Associated Press Comeback Player of the Year and forward Nneka Ogwumike was selected to the AP All-WNBA Second Team as announced by the AP today. The awards were voted on by a panel of national women's basketball sportswriters.

Diggins-Smith posted impressive numbers in 2024, returning to the court after missing the 2023 season after giving birth to her second child. Diggins-Smith set a new franchise record in her first season with the Storm, tallying a career-high 257 assists and ranking fourth in the league with 6.4 assists per game. She wrapped up the season ranked fifth in steals (1.7 spg), 12th in blocks (0.9 bpg), and 18th in scoring (15.1 ppg). Her 36 total blocks were the most by a guard in the league in 2024.

Diggins-Smith caught fire late in the season, averaging 18.5 points, 6.3 assists, 2.0 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game over 15 games following the Olympic Break, while shooting 47.6% from the field. She scored in double-figures in each of the 15 games, scoring 20+ points five times and leading the league in scoring in five of the final 10 regular season games. Since the break, Diggins-smith accounted for 490 points (or 40.1%) of the Storm's points, scoring 277 with her 95 assists leading to another 213 points.

Diggins-Smith also reached rare air late in the season, collecting her 1,500th career assist, becoming the 11th player in WNBA history to reach the milestone. In addition, she hit the mark in her 291st career game, doing so in the fifth-fewest games among the field of 11.

Ogwumike continued her impressively consistent career, averaging 16.7 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 1.9 steals per game in her first season with the Storm and 13th in the WNBA. She scored in double figures in 34 of 37 games played this year and finished the season ranked 15th in scoring, 13th in rebounds, and second in steals.

Ogwumike, one of the league's best shooters over her career, had 21 games this season where she shot 50% or better from the field while attempting at least 10 shots, the second most in the league in 2024. For the season, she shot 51.1% from the field, 40.5% from three-point range, and 87.6% from the free throw line, the only player in the league to finish in the Top 10 in all three categories. What's more, Ogwumike is just the ninth player (done 11 times) in WNBA history to shoot 50%+ from the field, 40%+ from three-point range, and 85%+ from the line for a season, and the second Storm player behind Lauren Jackson, who shot 51.9%/40.2%/88.3% during her 2007 MVP season.

The complete list of AP WNBA honors can be found here: https://apnews.com/article/awards-wilson-clark-ap-wnba-55eb092dba5a1face9dff9031a564d15. The official WNBA Awards will be announced throughout the 2024 WNBA Playoffs.

The Storm opens the 2024 WNBA Playoffs tonight with game one of a best-of-three, first-round matchup against the Las Vegas Aces at 7 pm inside Michelob ULTRA Arena. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.

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