Angel Reese was named the Defensive Player of the Year for the inaugural season of the Unrivaled women’s basketball league on Saturday.
Reese, who plays for Rose, averaged a league-leading 12.1 rebounds in her 14 appearances to go along with 13.1 points, 1.9 assists, 0.7 steals and 0.6 blocks.
With Reese leading the way defensively, Rose finished in second place in the regular-season standings, going 8-6.
The 22-year-old Reese starred collegiately at Maryland and then LSU, leading LSU to a national championship and earning NCAA tournament Most Outstanding Player honors in 2023.
Reese went seventh overall to the Chicago Sky in the 2024 WNBA draft, and she made a sizable impact as a rookie.
Although a fractured wrist ended Reese’s WNBA rookie season after 34 games, she was named an All-Star and a member of the All-Rookie Team.
Reese led the WNBA with 13.1 rebounds per game to go along with 13.6 points, 1.9 assists and 1.3 steals per contest.
By virtue of her high-level production, Reese finished second to Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark in the WNBA Rookie of the Year voting, and she even received MVP votes, finishing 12th.
Reese has not missed a beat in Unrivaled, and she has Rose firmly in the mix to win the first-ever Unrivaled championship.
As the No. 2 seed, Rose will face the third-seeded Laces in the semifinals of the playoffs Sunday, and the winner of that game will take on the winner of the top-seeded Lunar Owls vs. the No. 4-seeded Vinyl in the championship game on Monday night.
