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DeWanna Bonner Named 2009 WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year
By Lee Michaelson
Correspondent
Photo Caption: Phoenix Mercury rookie DeWanna Bonner received the league’s 2009 WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year Award. Bonner led all rookies in rebounding, and ranked third in points, despite coming off the bench in each of the 34 games in which she played this season.
Photo Credit: Full Court/Lee Michaelson
You heard it here first. Last week Full Court Press named Phoenix Mercury forward DeWanna Bonner its 2009 Sixth Woman of the Year, and yesterday, the WNBA followed suit. (See “Full Court’s End of Season WNBA Honors.”) It was the second year in a row that a rookie took home the hardware for the award which honors the league’s top bench player. Last year, the award went to Minnesota’s Candice Wiggins.
This year the top three vote getters for the award were all rookies. Bonner received 20 votes from a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters to earn the award. Atlanta Dream forward Angel McCoughtry, who finished the season in her team’s starting line-up after Chamique Holdsclaw underwent knee surgery, came in second with 10 votes and Detroit Shock guard Shavonte Zellous finished third with four votes.
as Atlanta Dream forward Angel McCoughtry finished second with 10 votes and Detroit Shock guard Shavonte Zellous finished third with four votes.
Drafted with the fifth overall pick in the 2009 WNBA draft, Bonner, a standout at Auburn University, quickly made an impact in Phoenix. Coming off the bench in all 34 of the games in which she has played, Bonner averaged just over 21 minutes per game over the course of the regular season and was good for 11.2 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. With her help, the Mercury, which missed the playoffs in 2008, finished the regular season 23-11, with the best overall record in the league.
Bonner ranked first among this year’s rookie class in rebounding and third in points per game. She also led all rookies in double-doubles (six, including tonight’s 16-point, 13 board performance in Game Two of the Western Conference Semifinals against the San Antonio Silver Stars, a must-win situation for the Mercury. To a degree, the 5.8 rebounds per game statistic understates Bonner’s role as a relentless pounder on the boards. Because Bonner comes off the bench, that figure works out to 10.8 boards per game when adjusted to a “per-40-minute” basis. But even the raw numbers are impressive. On a team already loaded with talent, Bonner led the Mercury in rebounding and was third in scoring, and her 196 total rebounds in the regular season were the most ever for a Mercury reserve. (The previous record—147—was set by Kelly Schumacher in 2007.) Bonner also set a Mercury record for the most rebounds in a single season by any rookie, starter or reserve.
Bonner was a standout in several key games, in particular, games against last year’s Western Conference champs, the San Antonio Silver Stars, with whom the Mercury are now deadlocked in their three-game Round One playoff series. In her professional debut, Bonner posted a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds, helping her team to a 90-79 win over the Stars. Tonight, with her team’s season on the line, she came up big once again. As opposing coach Dan Hughes pointed out tonight, on many teams, Bonner would have been a starter.
Bonner’s season high of 21 points came in a 104-80 win over the Minnesota Lynx, another double-double for the rookie who hauled down 10 rebounds in the outing.
Bonner was named the WNBA’s Rookie of the Month in June, a month in which she averaged 11.5 points and 6.1 rebounds in 10 games.
The Auburn standout was named the SEC’s Player of the Year as a senior, after leading the SEC in scoring (the first Auburn player ever to do so). She was a three-time All-SEC First Team member.
With the Sixth Woman Award, presented by WNBA sponsor Kia Motors, Bonner will receive $5,000 and a specially-designed trophy from Tiffany & Co.
Below are the complete results of the 2009 WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year Award voting and a list of past recipients of the honor, which was inaugurated in 2007.
VOTING RESULTS: 2009 WNBA SIXTH WOMAN OF THE YEAR
| Votes | Player | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | DeWanna Bonner | Phoenix Mercury |
| 10 | Angel McCoughtry | Atlanta Dream |
| 4 | Shavonte Zellous | Detroit Shock |
| 1 | Kara Braxton | Detroit Shock |
| 1 | Kristi Toliver | Chicago Sky |
| 1 | Hamchetou Maiga-Ba | Sacramento Monarchs |
| 1 | Crystal Langhorne | Washington Mystics |
ALL-TIME WINNERS: WNBA SIXTH WOMAN OF THE YEAR
| Year | Winner | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | DeWanna Bonner | Phoenix Mercury |
| 2008 | Candice Wiggins | Minnesota Lynx |
| 2007 | Plenette Pierson | Detroit Shock |
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