NEW YORK – Jewell Loyd of the Seattle Storm, the 2015 WNBA Rookie of the Year presented by Samsung, leads the 2015 WNBA All-Rookie Team, the WNBA announced today.  Loyd, who became the first player to win Rookie of the Year with the Storm, is joined on the All-Rookie Team by Seattle teammate Ramu Tokashiki.

The All-Rookie Team also features two players from the New York Liberty, Kiah Stokes and Brittany Boyd.  The Indiana Fever’s Natalie Achonwa and the Los Angeles Sparks’ Ana Dabovic round out the list of first-year players being honored.

Loyd received 10 votes from a panel of the WNBA’s 12 head coaches, who each selected five players regardless of position.  Stokes collected nine votes, followed by Boyd with eight and Tokashiki with six.  Achonwa and Dabovic each received five votes and tied for the final spot on the All-Rookie Team.  Coaches were not permitted to vote for players on their own team.

Loyd, the top overall selection in the 2015 WNBA Draft presented by State Farm, led all rookies in scoring (10.7 ppg) and minutes (25.9 mpg).  She shot 90.4 percent from the free throw line, tops among rookies and the fourth-highest mark in the league.  The 5-10 guard scored in double digits 18 times in 34 games (23 starts) and averaged 3.5 rebounds and 1.9 assists.

Tokashiki was the third-leading rookie in scoring at 8.2 points and contributed 3.3 rebounds.  Like Loyd, Tokashiki was prolific from the foul line, ranking second among first-year players at 86.2 percent.  The 6-3 forward started 16 of her 30 games and scored in double figures 10 times.

Stokes and Boyd helped power the Liberty to a WNBA-best 23-11 record.  Stokes, who appeared in all 34 games and started six times, paced rookies and ranked fourth in the league in blocks (1.97 bpg).  The 6-3 center also led first-year players in rebounding (6.4 rpg) and was eighth in scoring (5.8 ppg).  Boyd, a 5-9 guard, led all rookies in steals (1.17 spg), ranked sixth in scoring (6.6 ppg), and added 2.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 30 games (four starts).

Achonwa was the rookie leader in field goal accuracy, shooting 55.0 percent in 28 games (17 starts) for the Fever.  The 6-4 center averaged 8.0 points and 3.5 rebounds and connected on 74.6 percent of her free throws.

Dabovic ranked second in the rookie class in scoring (8.8 ppg) to go with 1.9 assists and 1.6 rebounds.  She was third among first-year players in three-point field goal percentage (33.3) and fourth in free throw percentage (80.8).  The 6-foot Serbian guard helped the Sparks finish the season with a 6-3 surge by scoring in double figures in eight of those nine games.

Below are the top finishers in the voting for the 2015 WNBA All-Rookie Team:

2015 WNBA ALL-ROOKIE TEAM

Player                         Team                                      Position                      Votes 

Jewell Loyd                 Seattle Storm                          Guard                          10

Kiah Stokes                 New York Liberty                    Center                         9

Brittany Boyd              New York Liberty                    Guard                          8

Ramu Tokashiki          Seattle Storm                          Forward                       6

Natalie Achonwa         Indiana Fever                          Center                         5 (tied)

Ana Dabovic               Los Angeles Sparks                Guard                          5 (tied)

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