ARLINGTON, Texas (September 12, 2023) – Dallas Wings forward Satou Sabally has been named the Associated Press Most Improved Player of the Year, the AP announced today. Guard Arike Ogunbowale and forward Satou Sabally have also been named to the Associated Press All-WNBA Second Team.
Sabally, in her fourth season in the WNBA, averaged 18.6 points, 8.1 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.8 steals in 38 games, while shooting a career high 43.5% from the field and 36.1% from beyond the arc. Last season Sabally appeared in 11 games and averaged 11.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists, while shooting 39.8% from the field and 23.3% from beyond the arc.
Sabally finished the 2023 season ranked ninth in the league in scoring and tied for 11th in rebounding en route to her second All-Star appearance and first as a starter. Sabally is one of five players in the WNBA to average 18+ points and 8+ rebounds in 2023. (B. Stewart, A. Wilson, N. Collier & N. Ogwumike). She finished the season with 14 double-doubles, which was the fifth-most in the league this season, while also recording her first career triple-double on 7/28 against Washington, where she recorded 14 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. Sabally recorded a new career high in points, pouring in 40 points against Indiana (9/1) and became the first player in WNBA history to record 40 or more points in under 30 minutes of game action.
Ogunbowale, in her fifth season, averaged 21.2 points, 4.5 assists and 1.7 steals in 2023. Ogunbowale’s 21.2 points was the fifth highest average in the WNBA and she also recorded the second most made three-point shots (117), while her 1.7 steals were tied for the seventh-best mark in the league. Ogunbowale finished the season with 849 points and doing so became the sixth player in WNBA history to record 800+ points in a single season. Ogunbowale set a new career high in points in 2023, when she recorded 41 points against Seattle (6/7), of which was the 25th 40+ point game in the 27-year history of the WNBA. She was also named the Kia Western Conference Player of the Month for May and made her second career All-Star appearance as a starter.