Napheesa Collier and Alanna Smith Named to WNBA All-Defensive Team

September 29, 2024 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Minnesota Lynx News Release

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL - The WNBA today announced that Lynx forward Napheesa Collier has been named to the All-Defensive First Team while Alanna Smith has earned All-Defensive Second Team honors. For Collier, the 2024 Defensive Player of the Year, this is her first All-Defensive First Team selection, having been named to the Second Team twice (2020, 2023). This marks the first WNBA award of Smith's career.

Collier and Smith led the league's 2nd-ranked defense (94.8 Defensive Rating) while anchoring a team that finished first in opponents' field goal percentage (41.0%), second in points allowed (75.6 per game), second in three-point field goals allowed (6.83 per game) and second in steals (8.57 per game). Overall, Minnesota kept a WNBA-best 15 of 40 opponents below 40% from the field, going 14-1 in those contests.

Collier finished the season ranked second in the league in steals (1.91 per game), seventh in blocks (1.41 per game) and third in rebounds (9.7 per game), with all three averages representing career bests. Smith completed her first year in Minnesota by ranking fifth in the WNBA in blocks (a career-high 1.46 per game) and 14th in steals (a career-high 1.36 per game). Her 57 blocks are the 4th-highest single-season total in Lynx history.

Minnesota begins its best-of-five semifinal playoff series vs. the Connecticut Sun tonight at Target Center. Tip is set for 7:30 p.m. CDT and the game can be seen on ESPN and heard on KFAN (100.3 FM).

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Women's National Basketball Association Stories from September 29, 2024

• Aces Drop Semifinal Game 1 to Liberty 87-77 - Las Vegas Aces
• Liberty Top Aces in Semifinal Opener - New York Liberty
• Minnesota Lynx Cheryl Reeve Named WNBA Coach of the Year and WNBA Basketball Executive of the Year - Minnesota Lynx
• Minnesota Lynx's Cheryl Reeve Named WNBA Coach of the Year and WNBA Basketball Executive of the Year for 2024 Season - WNBA
• Natasha Cloud Named to WNBA All-Defensive Second Team - Phoenix Mercury
• A'ja Wilson Named to WNBA All-Defensive First Team - Las Vegas Aces
• Napheesa Collier and Alanna Smith Named to WNBA All-Defensive Team - Minnesota Lynx
• Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones Named to 2024 WNBA All-Defensive First and Second Teams - New York Liberty
• DiJonai Carrington and Alyssa Thomas Pick up WNBA All-Defensive Team Honors - Connecticut Sun
• Napheesa Collier Named 2024 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year - Minnesota Lynx
• Minnesota Lynx's Napheesa Collier Named 2024 Kia WNBA Defensive Player of the Year - WNBA

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