This marks the first time in franchise history when two rookies have been named to the All-Rookie team in the same year. Joining the two in All-Rookie honors are Indiana’s Caitlin Clark, Los Angeles’s Rickea Jackson and New York’s Leonie Fiebich.
Reese and Cardoso were also named to the Associated Press 2024 All-Rookie Team.
In this year’s 2024 WNBA Draft, the Sky selected Cardoso as the No. 3 overall pick and Reese as the No. 7 overall pick, securing two first round draft picks since 2018.
On June 12 against Connecticut, the duo became the first rookie pair to record 10+ points and 9+ rebounds in the same game in the league since 2014 with Connecticut’s Chiney Ogwumike and Alyssa Thomas. Just two games later, the rookies became the Sky’s first rookies in franchise history to tally more than five offensive rebounds in the same game and the first to do so in the league since New York’s Jocelyn Willoughby and Joyner Holmes in 2020.
On June 23 against Indiana, they became the first rookie duo in league history since 1998 to notch double-doubles over multiple games in the same season. In that same game, they became the only the fifth pair of teammates and first rookie teammate pair to have at least 15 points and 10 rebounds while shooting over 65.0% from the field in the same game. By the end of June 2024, the duo also became the first rookie teammates in the WNBA since 2010 to record more than 10 rebounds in the same game.
With Cardoso’s 15 points and 14 rebounds and Reese’s 14 points and 11 rebounds on Aug. 17, it marked the 12th time two rookie teammates each had double-doubles in the same game. Cardoso and Reese account for the last four in the record books. The pair combined for 33 double-doubles this season and Reese and Cardoso rank first and second, respectively, in franchise history for most double-doubles in a rookie season.
They also led the Sky in offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds and total rebounds. The duo accounted for almost half of the Sky’s total rebounds this season, notching 700 of 1,464.
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