Three Dallas Wings players earned Associated Press honors on September 5, as the Wings rounded out the 2017 season and have advanced on to the first round of the 2017 WNBA Playoffs.
Topping the list was rookie guard Allisha Gray, who was named Associated Press Rookie of the Year and Associated Press All-Rookie Team. Gray has had a monumental rookie season averaging 13.0 points per game, 3.9 boards per game and 1.6 steals. She ranked in the top five amongst all rookie leaders throughout the entire season, leading the way in rebounds, steals, blocks and minutes. Her performance this year ranked as the best rookie campaign in franchise history since 2014. Earlier this season Gray was awarded back-to-back WNBA Rookie of the Month awards (May and June).
Joining Gray to the AP All-Rookie team is rookie standout Kaela Davis. Davis, made franchise history at the start of the season, becoming the first rookie in franchise history to lead the team to victory scoring 20 points against the Mercury in the opening game of the season. Overall, Davis has come off the bench with outstanding performances, leading all rookie in 3-point field goal percentage, ranking in the top five with Gray in three rookie leader categories. Overall, she is averaging 6.1 points per game, and 15.6 minutes per game.
Veteran Skylar Diggins-Smith was named to the AP WNBA First Team, joining other WNBA standouts, like Candance Parker, Nneka Ogwumike, Tina Charles and Sylvia Fowles. Diggins-Smith has had a stellar performance this season. This year, the all-star guard is averaging 5.1 points more per game than in 2016. She is also dishing out 2.4 more assists per game than in 2016, and 0.8 more than in her career. Diggins-Smith has also grabbed more boards this year with 107 total, 21 more than she has grabbed in previous seasons, lifted her rebound per game average with 1.7 more boards per game. Reached the 2000-point mark against the Dream on 8/19 and is now at 2052 points overall in her career.
The Wings begin post season play tonight, as they take on the Washington Mystics on the road in the first round. Tip-off is set for 7 pm CT and will be seen on ESPN 2.