Satou Sabally of the Dallas Wings was named the WNBA’s Most Improved Player on Thursday after averaging career bests with 18.6 points, 81. rebounds and 4.4 assists per game.
The fourth-year pro set a franchise record with seven consecutive double-doubles early in the season and finished with 14 double-doubles — fifth in the league — and her first career triple-double.
Sabally and the Wings reached the playoffs for the third consecutive year and won a postseason series for the first time since moving to the Dallas area from Tulsa, Oklahoma, for the 2016 season. They swept Atlanta in a best-of-three and are set to play defending champion Las Vegas in the best-of-five semifinals.
The second overall pick in the draft by Dallas in 2020 out of Oregon, Sabally averaged 11.3 points and 4.8 rebounds in 11 games last season. She shot a career-high 43.5% from the field this season after shooting 39.8% a year ago.
The 25-year-old’s 3-point percentage jumped to 36.1% from 23.3% last season.
Sabally finished ninth in scoring, 10th in rebounding and fourth in steals (1.8 per game) and was an All-Star Game starter for the first time in her second appearance.
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