New York, NY (My Sportsbook) - Indiana Fever forward Tamika Catchings was honored as the WNBA's Defensive Player of the Year, the league announced Friday. Catchings was nearly a unanimous selection, receiving 34 of the 40 first-place votes to win the award for the third time in her career (2005 and 2006). She joins Sheryl Swoopes as the only three-time winners of this award. Los Angeles' Candace Parker and Atlanta's Erika de Souza both garnered two votes, while Washington's Alana Beard and Seattle's Lauren Jackson each received one vote from a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. Catchings led the WNBA in steals per game (2.91) and ranked eighth in total defensive rebounds with 159. Her 99 steals were one shy of the league's all- time single-season record set by New York's Teresa Weatherspoon in 1998. The eight-year veteran averaged 15.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.1 assists this season. |
