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| | Thursday, August 17 Swoopes named Defensive Player of Year | |||||
| Associated Press HOUSTON -- Sheryl Swoopes came into the WNBA as an offensive force. Defense was not a part of her repertoire. Now it is. Swoopes won the WNBA scoring championship for the first time this season and on Tuesday she added the league's defensive player of the year award to her trophy case. That made her coach proud. "When she came here in 1997, we just asked her to go find someone in the league that she could guard," Comets coach Van Chancellor said. "Now she's the defensive player of the year." Swoopes received 33 of 62 votes in the media balloting. Yolanda Griffith of Sacramento, the 1999 winner, was second with 18 votes. "I came from college where we played a 2-3 zone so for me to come in here and be the defensive player of the year is very special to me," said Swoopes, who starred at Texas Tech. "But defense has allowed me to get my hands on the ball and get some easy baskets." Swoopes led the WNBA with 2.81 steals per game while also averaging 1.06 blocks and 6.3 rebounds. She led the league in scoring with a 20.7 averaging, wresting the title from teammate Cynthia Cooper for the first time in the WNBA's four-year history. "I felt that last season I had a good year defensively, not to take anything away from Yolanda," Swoopes said. "She had a great year too. I just take a lot of pride in it. "I went over to Fonde (Recreation center) and played with the guys in the offseason. Usually, the guys are faster so I figured if I could hold my own with them, I'd be OK." Other players receiving votes included Tina Thompson of Houston; Mery Andrade of Cleveland; Tamecka Dixon, Allison Feaster, Lisa Leslie and Delisha Milton of Los Angeles; Debbie Black of Miami; Teresa Weatherspoon of New York; Ticha Penicheiro of Sacramento; Natalie Williams of Utah and Vicky Bullett of Washington. Weatherspoon won the award the first two years. | ALSO SEE Comet cleans up: Swoopes named MVP of WNBA Liberty's Phillips named WNBA's most improved Minnesota's Lennox earns Rookie of Year honor | |||||