It was an eventful last week in the WNBA before players are either headed to the upcoming WNBA All-Star Game taking place this weekend in Phoenix, going on vacation or headed to Paris for the upcoming Summer Olympics to compete for medals for their countries. Or, some players are going to both the All-Star Game as well as competing in the Olympics. Now, that’s tough and deserves respect. It isn’t easy being a WNBA player, but these players try and compete as hard as they can.
Two rookies – Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese are both headed to the All-Star Game as they both were in the top five when it came to fans voting results. We also saw Reese’s streak of consecutive double-doubles end this week against the New York Liberty. The Chicago Sky also lost that game.
With the upcoming Olympics, the WNBA Rookies Watch will be put on hold and will be resumed once the Olympics are over and the WNBA is back in action. I will be watching and blogging about Team Canada as they try to aim to win a medal in women’s 5×5 basketball.
It is now time to recap the ninth week of WNBA Rookies Watch. You can read the previous week here.
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WNBA Rookies Watch – Last week before the Olympic Break
As we continue these WNBA Rookies Watch posts, please be aware only a small handful of WNBA rookies are getting extended minutes to play while other rookies are not. This is not to dismiss their talent. There is just strong competition and it is tough to compete against WNBA veterans who have experience and have also played overseas.
*Note – These are games played from July 10th, 2024 to July 16th, 2024*
- Caitlin Clark – Guard, Indiana Fever
We have a new #1 rookie for this week! It is Caitlin Clark. She deserves the top spot before the Olympic break begins because she played extremely well in the three games the Fever played in. They won two out of the three games. She had two double-doubles this week. One was against the Washington Mystics and the other was against the Phoenix Mercury. She scored 29 points, had 13 assists, 5 steals, 3 blocks in a close loss versus the Mystics. In the next game at home versus the Phoenix Mercury, she scored 20 points, 13 assists, had 2 blocks in a close win. In the next game, it was a big win as the Indiana Fever defeated the Minnesota Lynx on the road. In this game, she struggled from the field as she shot less than 30% FG, but still finished with 17 points, 6 assists and 3 rebounds. She helped her team by winning a big road game over the Lynx and that is why she takes the #1 spot over Angel Reese who drops down to the #2 spot for this final week of WNBA Rookies Watch before Olympics.
2. Angel Reese – Forward, Chicago Sky
It was a whirlwind week for Angel Reese. She had been cruising to the top spot in these WNBA Rookies Watch posts because she was putting up double-doubles every night and playing great defense as well. She’s second in the league in rebounds per game as she averages 11.9 per game. However, it all came to a halt this week when her streak of consecutive double-doubles ended at 15 and she was accused of stat-padding to keep her record going. She did finish this week off strong as she put up a double-double of 13 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists in a big win against the Las Vegas Aces on the road. She will look to continue that at the All-Star Game as she will be on the Team WNBA roster alongside Caitlin Clark.
3. Rickea Jackson – Forward, Los Angeles Sparks
Rickea Jackson ended her final week of WNBA regular season before the Olympic break on a strong note. Despite her team being currently ranked tenth out of twelve teams, she helped her team win against the Dallas Wings this week. She finished the game with 23 points, 7 rebounds and had 2 assists. She also shot 57.1% FG from the field. In her last game against the Seattle Storm at home, she finished the game with 16 points, 6 rebounds and had 4 assists in a close loss. She struggled shooting from the field as she shot 35.3% FG and 20% from three. It hasn’t been an easy season for the Sparks but Rickea Jackson has been the third-best rookie all season long. She will now look to rest as the Olympic break begins.
4. Julie Vanloo – Guard, Washington Mystics
Despite this being her first season in the WNBA, Julie Vanloo continues to start for the Washington Mystics to provide some point guard help. This season, the Mystics are struggling and are currently ranked eleventh out of twelve teams, but Julie Vanloo is doing everything she can to help provide a spark. The Mystics started this week with a close win over the Fever and she scored 13 points, 2 rebounds and had 2 assists. She shot 40% FG from the field and 42.9% from three. In the next game versus the Las Vegas Aces, Vanloo struggled as she scored 9 points and had 7 assists. She shot 30% FG from the field but shot 42.9% from three in a loss. In the final game of this week, despite losing to the Phoenix Mercury, she ended the game with 17 points, 5 assists and had 2 rebounds. She shot 46.2% FG from the field and 41.7% from three. Julie Vanloo’s been inconsistent this season and now will look to shake it off as she heads to Paris to play for Team Belgium at the Olympics.
5. Aaliyah Edwards – Forward, Washington Mystics
Aaliyah Edwards continues to improve and try and get better as it’s been a difficult season for the Washington Mystics. She now comes off the bench to help lift the Mystics and give them a boost. In the first game versus the Fever, she scored 12 points, 6 rebounds and had 4 assists in 21 minutes. She also shot 50% FG from the field. In the next game versus the Aces, she was held to 6 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and shot 40% FG from the field. In her final game for the Mystics versus the Mercury, she scored 10 points, 5 rebounds and shot 62.5% FG from the field. She did all of this in just 13 minutes. Now, that is impressive. She will now look to continue to get better as she heads off to Paris to represent Team Canada at the Olympics.
Honourable mention
Kamilla Cardoso – Center, Chicago Sky
Kamilla Cardoso finished her last week before the Olympics began on a slow note. She still deserves a mention, but gets pushed down to the honourable mention spot. She still does play solid defense and is an active rebounder, but there’s not much else. In her first game versus the Liberty, she finished with 8 points, 7 rebounds and shot 80% FG from the field. In her second game which was against the Liberty again, she finished with 6 points, 5 rebounds and one block but was held to 37.5% FG from the field. Both of these games were losses. In her final game before the Olympic break began, she finished with 6 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and shot 50% in a win over the Aces. She will now look to rest as Team Brazil were unable to qualify for this year’s Olympics.
