Former Auburn women’s basketball All-American DeWanna Bonner has been named the 2009 WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year, the WNBA announced Friday.
Bonner, a rookie with the Phoenix Mercury, received 20 votes from a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters to earn the award. She becomes the second consecutive rookie to receive the honor, following 2008 winner Candice Wiggins.
Bonner made an immediate impact, pushing the Mercury to a 5-1 start
after the team missed the 2008 WNBA Playoffs. The Mercury finished the
2009 season with the best record in the league and home court advantage
throughout the playoffs. Bonner helped propel the Mercury to 23 wins, a
seven-game improvement from 2008. She led her team in rebounds (at 5.8 per game and points at 11.2 per game.
Despite coming off the bench in all of her 34 games played, Bonner averaged more than 20 minutes per game and led all rookies in double-doubles with five.
She led all rookies in rebounds and was third among rookies in scoring. Here 196 total rebounds were the most ever by a Mercury reserve.
